The premier exponent of soul inspired reggae presents a perceptive set of early seventies recordings

Black, proud and saying it loud, Derrick Harriott, interprets the music of the American black consciousness movement in Kingston, Jamaica for this sophisticated collection

After an incredible sixty years in the Jamaican music business the ever youthful Derrick Harriott is still actively involved in making music, reissuing classics from his copious catalogue, performing stage shows that would exhaust a man half his age and continuing to run his record shop in Half Way Tree, Kingston, Jamaica.

Derrick Harriott first entered the musical arena in 1955 through Vere Johns Junior's Opportunity Hour talent contest where his solo renditions of 'When You Dance' proved very popular with one of the most demanding audiences in the world. After teaming up with a school friend, Claude Sang Jnr., in 1957 they began to practise on a "captured piano in the main assembly hall during breaks" and the duo sailed through the opening rounds of the Opportunity Hour talent contests before eventually coming second in the finals with 'I'm In Love'.

A stunning selection of some of his rocksteady classics from between 1966 and 1969 is featured on this release ranging from Derrick's biggest hits such as 'Solomon' and 'Do I Worry' and the legendary Keith & Tex with 'Stop That Train' and 'Tonight' to sought after obscurities including Junior Soul's 'Glendevon Special' and 'Magic Touch' and instrumentals from Bobby Ellis.

His classic catalogue continues to exert a profound international influence and the timeless music of Derrick Harriott and his Musical Chariot, forerunners in Jamaican music from its very beginning, will always outdistance the opposition.