King Tubby Meets Rockers Uptown (song)
| "King Tubby Meets the Rockers Uptown" | |
|---|---|
 Dutch single cover | |
| Single by Augustus Pablo | |
| from the album King Tubbys Meets Rockers Uptown | |
| B-side | "Baby I Love You So" |
| Released | 1974 |
| Genre | Dub, reggae |
| Length | 2:58 |
| Label | Mango |
| Songwriter(s) | Augustus Pablo |
| Producer(s) | Augustus Pablo |
"King Tubby Meets Rockers Uptown" is a dub instrumental track by reggae musician Augustus Pablo, first released under the title "King Tubby Meets the Rockers Uptown" as a single in 1974 on Island Records sublabel Mango Records.[1] It is a dub version of the Jacob Miller song "Baby I Love You So", also produced by Pablo.[2][3]
Island issued it as a single again in 1975 in the US, Canada, UK and Netherlands. As "King Tubby's Meet Rockers Up-Town", it was also released in Jamaica in 1975 as the B-side of "Baby I Love You So". With the title "King Tubby Meets Rockers Uptown", it was later included on the 1976 album King Tubbys Meets Rockers Uptown.[4]
At a time when other dub musicians emphasized bass lines and drums, Pablo and sound engineer King Tubby accentuated the melodica melody line in this cut using four-track recording technology.[5] Musicology professor Michael Veal wrote that the track's appeal stems partly from "Pablo's dynamic backing rhythm, built from an insistent, eighth-note bass pattern anchoring a I minor-IV minor chord sequence".[6]
Critical reception
[edit]AllMusic claimed that the song is "widely regarded as the finest example of dub ever recorded",[7] and it was listed as the third best song ever recorded by Mojo.
In 2021, it was listed at No. 266 on Rolling Stone's "Top 500 Greatest Songs of All Time".[2]
Other use
[edit]The track was featured on the reggae radio station K-Jah West in the soundtrack of the popular video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, released in October 2004.
References
[edit]- ^ Watson, Michael (21 November 2014). "Ten Things You Didn't Know About Jacob Miller". Midnight Raver. Archived from the original on 22 November 2014.
- ^ a b "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time". Rolling Stone. 2021-09-15. Retrieved 2022-07-18.
- ^ Embley, Jochan (2020-04-28). "WFH album of the week: King Tubbys Meets Rockers Uptown". The Standard. Retrieved 2024-10-13.
- ^ "1000 albums to hear before you die: Artists beginning with P". The Guardian. 2007-11-21. Retrieved 2024-10-13.
- ^ Hardy, Phil (2001). The Faber Companion to 20th-Century Popular Music (3rd ed.). Faber & Faber. p. 750. ISBN 9781849720922.
- ^ Veal, Michael (2013). Dub: Soundscapes and Shattered Songs in Jamaican Reggae. Wesleyan University Press. p. 123. ISBN 9780819574428.
- ^ Anderson, Rick. "King Tubby's Meets Rockers Uptown - Augustus Pablo". AllMusic. Retrieved 2011-05-31.
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