Sir Joe Gibbs 1943-2008

Since Joe Gibbs passed away exactly a month ago and I definitely wasn’t on top of the breaking news I won’t go into the specifics of Sir Gibbs’ career – there are plenty of sites that succinctly sum up his life better than I ever could – I’m just going to take this space and explain why it took me so long to acknowledge this sad news, then I’ll quit my rambling and present the fruits of my nearly month long labor of love.

I was really saddened to hear of the passing of the great Joe Gibbs and I initially had the intention of whipping up a quick mix in his honor but once I started compiling music I realized this was going to be a daunting task. I mean… I had every intention of highlighting the contributions the man made to Jamaican music and due to the amount of wicked releases he had his hands in, the playlist was coming in at around 8 hours. Then I decided maybe I’d approach the tribute from a different angle by highlighting only his rocksteady productions. But there were far too many reggae tunes that I couldn’t not include them. I thought about doing a dub only compilation but again I kept coming around to another solid roots track so I couldn’t go that route either. So what I present to you, for your listening pleasure, is a 40 track "megamix" of a bunch of Joe Gibbs’ hits, mixed with their instrumental versions. I hope that my efforts haven’t been wasted and that it serves as a fitting memorial for a man who engineered and produced four decades of spectacular music.

1. Dennis Brown – Money In My Pocket
2. Trinity – Three Piece Suit And Thing
3. Marcia Aitken – I’m Still In Love With You
4. Althea & Donna – Uptown Top Ranking
5. Sir Lord Comic – Doctor Feelgood
6. Nicky Thomas – Don’t Touch Me
7. Culture – See Them A Come
8. Shorty The President – Natty Pass Him GCE
9. Nigger Kojak – Massacre
10. Lui Lepki – Can’t Tek Mi Landlord
11. Yellowman – Gregory Free
12. Naggo Morris – Su Su Pon Rasta
13. Prince Far I – Heavy Manners
14. Dennis Brown & Big Youth – Equal Rights Style
15. Peter Tosh – Maga Dog
16. Bunny Flip – Maingy Dog
17. Joe Gibbs & The Love Generation – Fat Dog
18. I-Roy – News Carrier
19. Leo Graham – A Win Them
20. Gregory Isaacs – Babylon Too Rough
21. Cornell Campbell – Boxing
22. Nigger Kojak & Liza – Bam Bam
23. Joe Tex & U Black – Rub-A-Dub Evening
24. Dennis Brown – Stop Your Fussing And Fighting
25. Junior Murvin – Cool Out Son
26. Dennis Walks – Almighty I
27. Eddie Ford – You Wrong Fe Trouble Joshua
28. June Lodge – Some One Loves You Honey
29. Prince Mohammed – One Time Daughter
30. Trinity – Kingston Two Rock
31. Big Youth – Waterhouse Rock
32. Barrington Levy – Wife And Sweetheart Dem A Friend
33. Ranking Trevor – Wife And Sweetheart
34. George Nooks – Sadie
35. Papa Tullo – Fe Mi Time Now
36. Jacob Miller – I’m A Natty
37. I Roy – Knotty Knots
38. Leo Graham – Hard Times
39. Sylford Walker – Burn Babylon
40. The Professionals – CW Burning Version

Sir Joe Gibbs Tribute Megamix

I stumbled upon this wicked artwork of Joe Gibbs' store created by Edinburgh, Scotland illustrator & DJ Jerry Neville AKA Jeremyiah when looking for a Joe Gibbs photo for this post and it was too cool not to share. Check out more of his work here.