Artist: Burning SpearAlbum: Man In the Hills
Company: Island
Catalog: ILSP 9412
Year: 1976
Genre: reggae
Grade: **** 4 stars
Condition: VG+ cover / VG+ LP
Comments: gatefold sleeve
Quantity available: 1
Price: $15,00
Produced by Jack Ruby, 1976's "Man In the Hills" wasn't nearly as impressive as the previous "Marcus Garvey", but song for song, I've always found it to be enjoyable. It served as a good example of the group's low-tech, roots-reggae sound ... Yeah, while most folks equate Burning Spear with Winston Rodney, in 1976 it was still a trio showcasing Rodney along with Delroy Hines and Rupert Willington on backing vocals. Anyhow, if you were looking for the spruced up reggae sound that managed to make its way on to mid and late-'70s radio, you probably wanted to avoid this one. As lead singer Winston's dry, raspy voice took a little getting use to (though I like it) and on tunes like the title track and 'Groovy' he occasionally sounded like he was singing with a mouth full of marbles. Sure, there were a couple of stabs at modernizing their sound (the synthesizers on 'Black Soul), but for the most part this was pretty raw with the songs seemingly serving as highly personnel recollections of their youth growing up in the hills of St. Anne's Bay, Jamaica. Probably not something you'd want to play all the time, but every now and then it makes for a nice, melancholy soundtrack.
"Man
In the Hills" track listing:
(side 1)
(side 1)
1.) Man
In the Hills (Winston Rodney) - 4:00
In
spite of my run-in with the man, I have to admit I like his music.
Yeah, the title track was a great example of his vocal limitations - to my
ears when he sings Rodney sounds like he's got a mouth full of marbles, but
there's just something endearing about his low-tech, minimalist approach to
the genre. You also had to admire his sincerity. I
certainly believe it when he sings about how much better it is to live in
the country than the city. The tune was tapped as a Jamaican
single:
-
1976's 'Man In the Hills' b/w 'Cultivation' (Wolf catalog
number) It takes awhile for the vocal to kick in, but YouTube
has a nice January 1981 German live performance of the tune at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZ335SUnBsE
rating: **** stars
2.)
It's Good (Fullwood - Winston Rodney) - 2:45
Nice
enough lyric, but Rodney and the backing singers sounded a bit rough and
raw, even for their standards. rating:
*** stars
3.)
No More War (Winston Rodney) - 3:19
Again,
how do you criticize the sentiments on something like 'No More
War'? That wasn't to imply this was special in any shape or
form. The lyrics was pretty throwaway and I think you could
probably get a 12 year old to write a computer program or app to come up
with something this generic. rating:
*** stars
4.)
Black Soul (Winston Rodney) - 3:25
'Black
Soul' was one of the more mainstream and commercial tunes he'd
recorded. It probably helped it you liked cheesy, mid-'70s
synthesizer washes in your arrangements. rating:
*** stars
5.)
Lion (Winston Rodney) - 3:14
Always
wondered what the lyric was about. Interesting interplay between
Winston and his male backing singers. Island tapped the tune as a
British single:
-
1976's 'Lion' b/w 'Door Peep' (Island catalog number WIP-6346)
YouTube has another clip from a January 1981 German television RockPalast
performance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B85Fbe9k0qk
rating: **** stars
(side 2)
1.) People Get Ready (Winston Rodney) - 3:22
Postscript:
I have a pair of used Burning Spear LPs for sale on my website and listed on a couple of websites that specialized in used music. I've owned these albums for about a decade and simply don't like them enough to keep them. They're both pretty common, mainstream releases. I found them at yard sales, but with a little bit of effort, anyone could find a copy with 10 or 20 minutes of research.
Anyhow, out of the blue I got this threatening email from the artist:
Burning Spear Copyright and Trademark Infringement Notice.
Re : Cease And Desist - Burning Spear - Catalog.
To Whom It May Concern,
This office of Winston Rodney professional known as “Burning Spear’ It has come to our
attention that Bad Cat Record (You) are currently distributing and other wise exploiting
Burning Spear entire catalog on your websitehttp:Musicstaack [sic]. The work including many unauthorizes [sic] releases Burning Spear People Of The World and other illegally manufactures singles. Please be advised that Mr Rodney at no time granted any entity, including you, the rights to create is entire Catalog (or any other physical reproduction) of any of his work you have listed. Accordingly you, your designees and affiliates have no right whatsoever to exploit the Work in any manner. Your exploitation of the work constitutes an infringement of Burning Spear rights, including copyright infringement under Title 17 of the United States Code and appropriation of Burning Spear Likeness in violation of his rights under the law World wide.
Base on the foregoing. Burning Spear demand that you immediately cease & desist from any further exploitation or other use of the work. Demand is further made that you account to us for all sales of the Work and provide the name (s) and contact information for third party distributor (s) that have utilized to distributor the Work.
If you fail to comply with the aforesaid demands, then please be advised that Burning Spear
will take any and all action necessary or appropriate in the circumstances to vigorously
enforce his rights and remedies at law or in equity. Without limiting the foregoing, to the
extent you have knowledge of the facts set forth herein and fail to comply with the demands
set forth herein we intend to seek any and all punitive damages available as the result of
your actions undertaken in bad faith in connection with this matter.
Nothing contained herein or omitted here from shall constitute an admission of any facts or
a waiver of any of Burning Spear rights or remedies, whether at law or in equity, all of which
are hereby expressly reserved. See you and your illegal partners in Courts all over the world.
Artist have rights too.
Very truly Yours
Winston Rodney Aka Burning Spear
So what to make of it? I guess I can understand an artist wanting to protect their rights. On the other hand, we're talking about a pair of $10 used LPs. These are not bootlegs, nor am I pressing and releasing illegal copies of the man's work. While I'm not a lawyer,I'm pretty sure that I'm protected by the first use doctrine. You also have to wonder if any lawyer would really waste their time and effort going after $20? You can only hope they have bigger fish to fry.
A couple of months later and I guess Mr, Rodney has moved on to bigger fish.
(side 2)
1.) People Get Ready (Winston Rodney) - 3:22
No,
it wasn't a cover of the Curtis Mayfield song, rather was a likeable, breezy
reggae tune with some nice horn charts. rating:
*** stars
2.)
Children (Winston Rodney) - 3:44
I'm
no great expert at interpreting reggae lyrics, so this one's always been
kind of a mystery to my ears ... learn to fish when you're a kid
? rating:****
stars
3.)
Mother (Winston Rodney) - 3:37
Always
liked Tony Chin's scratchy guitar on
this one and it had the album's best horn charts (kudos to Bobby
Ellis, Vincent Gordon, Richard "Dirty Harry" Hall, and Herman
Marquis). rating:
**** stars
4.) Door Peep (Winston Rodney) - 2:40
4.) Door Peep (Winston Rodney) - 2:40
Musically
this may have been the album's most conventional tune, both in terms of
lyrical content and music. Interestingly the tune was originally recorded by
the group (just Rodney and Wellington at the time) back in 1969, appearing
as one of their first singles:
-
1969's 'Door Peep' b/w 'Soul Shake' (credited to The Brentford All Stars)
(Supreme catalog number ???) YouTube has a 1988 performance of
the tune at Paris' Zenith Theater: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJDIdHJwjpU
rating :**** stars
5.)
Groovy (Winston Rodney) - 3:53
Strange,
strange, strange ... good example of Rodney's penchant for singing the
same line over and over, twisting it into some odd and occasionally
beguiling avenues. rating:
**** stars
Postscript:
I have a pair of used Burning Spear LPs for sale on my website and listed on a couple of websites that specialized in used music. I've owned these albums for about a decade and simply don't like them enough to keep them. They're both pretty common, mainstream releases. I found them at yard sales, but with a little bit of effort, anyone could find a copy with 10 or 20 minutes of research.
Anyhow, out of the blue I got this threatening email from the artist:
Burning Spear Copyright and Trademark Infringement Notice.
Re : Cease And Desist - Burning Spear - Catalog.
To Whom It May Concern,
This office of Winston Rodney professional known as “Burning Spear’ It has come to our
attention that Bad Cat Record (You) are currently distributing and other wise exploiting
Burning Spear entire catalog on your websitehttp:Musicstaack [sic]. The work including many unauthorizes [sic] releases Burning Spear People Of The World and other illegally manufactures singles. Please be advised that Mr Rodney at no time granted any entity, including you, the rights to create is entire Catalog (or any other physical reproduction) of any of his work you have listed. Accordingly you, your designees and affiliates have no right whatsoever to exploit the Work in any manner. Your exploitation of the work constitutes an infringement of Burning Spear rights, including copyright infringement under Title 17 of the United States Code and appropriation of Burning Spear Likeness in violation of his rights under the law World wide.
Base on the foregoing. Burning Spear demand that you immediately cease & desist from any further exploitation or other use of the work. Demand is further made that you account to us for all sales of the Work and provide the name (s) and contact information for third party distributor (s) that have utilized to distributor the Work.
If you fail to comply with the aforesaid demands, then please be advised that Burning Spear
will take any and all action necessary or appropriate in the circumstances to vigorously
enforce his rights and remedies at law or in equity. Without limiting the foregoing, to the
extent you have knowledge of the facts set forth herein and fail to comply with the demands
set forth herein we intend to seek any and all punitive damages available as the result of
your actions undertaken in bad faith in connection with this matter.
Nothing contained herein or omitted here from shall constitute an admission of any facts or
a waiver of any of Burning Spear rights or remedies, whether at law or in equity, all of which
are hereby expressly reserved. See you and your illegal partners in Courts all over the world.
Artist have rights too.
Very truly Yours
Winston Rodney Aka Burning Spear
So what to make of it? I guess I can understand an artist wanting to protect their rights. On the other hand, we're talking about a pair of $10 used LPs. These are not bootlegs, nor am I pressing and releasing illegal copies of the man's work. While I'm not a lawyer,I'm pretty sure that I'm protected by the first use doctrine. You also have to wonder if any lawyer would really waste their time and effort going after $20? You can only hope they have bigger fish to fry.
A couple of months later and I guess Mr, Rodney has moved on to bigger fish.
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