BLACK UHURU - LIVE AT SOLEDA

Founded in the mid '70s, Black Uhuru really burst onto the reggae scene in the early '80s when Sly & Robbie took over artistic direction and produced such seminal albums as Showcase, Sinsemilla, Red, Chill Out and Anthem (note that a magnificent collection of their singles for Sly & Robbie's TAXI label is available on TAXI TRAXX, released by TABOU1 last year).

Not only were the albums revolutionary from an artistic point of view, but the live shows were formidable. An avalanche of lead-heavy drums and bass, augmented by guitars bordering on metal-rock thanks to the late Darryl Thompson, provided a bedrock of rhythm and energy for Michael Rose's lead vocals and the backing vocals of Duckie Simpson and Puma Jones. Black Uhuru's first U.S. tour took place in 1982. At the time, reggae was in it's infancy in the U.S. and there were only three reggae radio shows in California: Doug Wendt in San Francisco, Roger Steffens in Los Angeles and Lance Linares in Santa Cruz. In addition to his radio show at KUSP, Lance booked artists in Santa Cruz and worked with Soledad Prison to help inmates learn job skills that could be used once they were out of prison. Lance contacted the Black Uhuru organization and proposed organizing a concert in the prison itself. To his surprise, his idea was enthusiastically accepted and the band performed to a packed house at Soledad Prison. What we hear on this double LP is the entire concert, which was broadcast live on KUSP.