Happy April... Time To Celebrate Arbor Day Inna Jamaican Stylee!

Before I go any further I should probably preface this post with an explanation. I put this mix together last month on a dare. I've been trading monthly/holiday themed mixes with some of my friends since Halloween and when it was suggested in jest that we should trade Arbor Day mixes, the other traders just laughed it off but I took it as a challenge. Now these mixes we've been compiling are definitely not exclusively Jamaican and I of course cram as many ska/rocksteady/reggae tunes in all my mixes, as long as they fit the theme. But after doing some digging I came to the realization that I could in fact do an Arbor Day Mix and that I could find all the tunes I needed in my favorite genres! And don't get me wrong, I like trees as much as the next guy and I do recognize their importance so I can perfectly understand and appreciate this holiday. Well now that you've got the lowdown you may read on.

For those elsewhere in the world let me briefly explain Arbor Day. The first Arbor Day was celebrated in Nebraska in 1872 and was originally conceived by politician Julius Sterling Morton. Morton proposed that a specific day should be set aside each year to plant trees and increase the awareness of the trees' importance. Well the idea spread and by the turn of the twentieth century all the states within the still expanding U.S. had dedicated their own statewide Arbor Day celebration with varying dates to coincide with their own regional winter thaw. In 1970, President Richard Nixon named the last Friday in April as National Arbor Day. Now the holiday is celebrated in countries all around the world though the official names vary.

Here's what you're gonna hear... perfect music for tree planting!

1. The Skatalites – Hanging Tree
2. The Melodians – Little Nut Tree
3. Ras Michael – Birds In The Treetop
4. The Pioneers – Tree Oak Tree
5. Gregory Isaacs – Willow Tree
6. Lady Saw – Sycamore Tree
7. Tony Rebel – Money Tree
8. The Saints – Sleeping Trees
9. Barry Isaac – My Collie Tree
10. Wailing Souls – Ishen Tree
11. Aston “Familyman” Barrett – Herb Tree
12. Culture – Where The Tree Falls
13. Miss Lou & Linton Kwesi Johnson – Under The Coconut Tree
14. Stranger Cole & Ken Boothe – We Are Rolling (Under The Tree Of Life)
15. Black Uhuru – Willow Tree
16. Bunny Wailer – Fig Tree
17. John Brown’s Body – Tree Of Life
18. Justin Hinds – Almond Tree
19. Everton Blender – Tabernacle Tree
20. The Robotiks – It Started Under A Coconut Tree!
21. Desmond Dekker & The Aces – The Hanging Tree

Enjoy!