Friday, June 24, 2016

Day 237 of 365 Day Jamaican Music Challenge - Dennis Alcapone - Ba-Ba-Ri-Ba

I have been remiss in not giving Dennis Alcapone the limelight in these 7 months since I started this "adventure" but I am remedying that today.  Dennis Alcapone, born Dennis Smith, is a true Jamaican deejay legend who got his start in 1969 when inspired by other big sound systems and started his own El Paso Sound.  What makes Alcapone so legendary is the fact that his deejaying style had such a huge influence on generations of up and comers... Big Youth, Trinity, Jah Stitch and Dillinger all owe a great deal to his unique chanting or spoken-word style.  With that said, let's get to today's track... this one is called "Ba-Ba-Ri-Ba" or sometimes "Ba Ba Ri Ba Skank" and was recorded by Duke Reid in 1973 and originally released as a 7" in the UK on the Pyramid label and eventually on the Trojan album Soul To Soul - DJ's Choice the same year.  On this track Dennis (and Lizzy) ride Ken Parker's original 1970 version of "I Can't Hide," a riddim that would eventually be refurbished by multiple producers and used multiple times all the way into the 90s!  My partiality to I Can't Hide is probably a good indicator of why I chose this track but Dennis Alcapone's discography as a whole is a thing of beauty.  Nuff respect Alcapone!

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