Desmond Dekker: Intensified - 1970

 

This is a recommended album from Dekker, released in 1970, but largely containing material from the late sixties. 

A bit of background....

Desmond Dacres grew up in the church tradition of singing and, in 1961 auditioned at Studio One, as did so many reggae singers. He was initially rejected, however. Not deterred, though, he began singing ska, proceeding in the mid-sixties via rocksteady to being one of the main lights of the "skinhead reggae" boom of the late sixties/early seventies. 

Even then, his ska-developed instincts for a catchy tune prevailed, and many of those songs from the 1968-72 period became his biggest hits. We are talking, of course, in the first case, about the iconic Israelites, with its memorable vocal intro of "get up in the morning - slavin' for breads, sir..". What a song it was. Indeed it was the first song that got me into reggae when I first heard it as an eleven year-old. I loved it and have done ever since. It began a lifelong love of reggae. For me, it started here. 

For Dekker it began with the first producer to accept him, Leslie Kong, and he remained steadfastly loyal to Kong for throughout his most successful period. Kong's production had a clear, commercial tone to it and this is clear in many of Dekker's hits.

This album concentrates on Dekker's rocksteady sound, but crucially includes "boss" stompers Israelites, Rude Boy Train and It Mek. Although I have always imagined it to be a classic skinhead reggae album, there is actually a fair amount of easy-listening, unthreatening material on it, so it is not as boot-stomping as you might have imagined. Its sound is nowhere near as good as on the next one, You Can Get It If You Really Want, either.