Heart Of The Congos

20 years after the release of Heart Of The Congos, VP Records / 17 North Parade release a definitive, 2017 remastered edition, put together with both respect and gratitude to that illustrious antecedent. Heart of the Congos is a landmark reggae album whose initial obscurity was due to a dispute between producer Lee Perry and his label, Island Records.

Perry's idea to create a roots vocal album took shape when Cedric Myton and Roy Johnson auditioned at his Black Ark studio. The resulting album had Myton and Johnson wrapping their falsetto and tenor around one another in the sweetly rendered "Children Crying" and "La La Bam-Bam." Perry's production lent Heart of the Congos a hazy, dub-like sheen that swathed the Rastafarian imagery of songs such as "Sodom and Gomorrow" and "Ark of Covenant" in muted shadings.

Backed by a number of legendary session musicians including Sly Dunbar and Ernest Ranglin, Heart of the Congos could have been a smash, had Perry not held back the record from Island Records who handled his international distribution. Instead, it became a lost classic cherished by countless reggae aficionados.

3CD - This new deluxe hand-painted 30 Track 3CD edition features the now almost impossible to find original mix of the album, unavailable since producer Lee Perry withdrew the set in 1977. Also includes the more well-known remixes, dubs, disco mixes, seven and twelve inch versions, and "Don’t Blame It On I," an overlooked previously unreleased track unearthed, too late to include on the Blood and Fire release, by Steve Barrow and David Katz in 1997.

3LP - This new deluxe hand-painted 20 Track 3LP features the now almost impossible to find original mix of the album, unavailable since producer Lee Perry withdrew the set in 1977. Also includes the more well-known remixes, dubs, disco mixes, seven and twelve inch versions, and "Don’t Blame It On I," an overlooked previously unreleased track unearthed, too late to include on the Blood and Fire release, by Steve Barrow and David Katz in 1997.