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Freddie McGregor
Push Comes to Shove
RAS
Ras Records RZACD 020
www.rasrecords.com

Freddie comes from a long and rather distinguished line of Jamaican child stars, having started his musical career at the age of seven in 1963, becoming an experienced recording artist by the mid-sixties and spending his musically formative years at the famed Studio One of the late Coxsone Dodd. He came to the fore in his own right at the very end of the seventies and on into the early eighties, with his smooth and soulful vocals making an immediate impact, writing much of his own material and later becoming a producer of note. Much of his material reflects his Rastafarian faith, though always avoiding clichés or simple sloganeering; he can also turn his hand to ballads or dance numbers when required.

The 20 tracks for this set were cherry-picked from the three albums he recorded for the Washington DC based Ras Records, covering a twelve year timespan beginning in 1983 when he signed to the label, with the focus on his harder-hitting songs, though a reworking of Sugar Minott’s ‘Lover’s Rock’ reveals his more secular side and ‘Rhythm So Nice’ the dancehall singer. There is also a previously unreleased cover of Buffalo Springfield’s ‘For What It’s Worth’ (not the first time a Jamaican singer has covered this song) which, surprisingly perhaps, sticks reasonably close to the original. It is the roots sound that predominates though, even including a cover of Marley’s ‘Natty Dread’ alongside such righteous anthems as ‘Rastaman Camp’, ’Jah Is The Don’ and ‘War Mongers’, to pick just three at random. The sound of modern dancehall roots music is present with 1994’s ‘Make It Snappy’, on which the firebrand mic chatter Capleton guests.

Freddie’s material can sometimes be difficult to find, so this is extremely welcome; doubly so given the high quality of the songs. - Norman Darwen