The Ladies At Joe Gibbs

During the mid- and late ‘70s, producer Joe Gibbs and engineer Errol Thompson rose to a position of dominance in the Jamaican recording industry with their simple, hard-hitting productions and talented stable of musicians and singers. Though male performers like Dennis Brown, Prince Far I, and Cornell Campbell dominated their release schedule, some of Gibbs and Thompson’s most memorable production work was done with female singers like Marcia Aitken, Hortense Ellis, and Beverly Bailey. Biggest of all these, of course, was Althea & Donna’s “Uptown Top Ranking,” an infectious anthem that remains one of Gibbs’ most memorable releases. Marcia Aitken’s rueful “I’m Still in Love” gives listeners a chance to hear the original cut on the same rhythm that sent “Uptown Top Ranking” up the charts; it provides a gentler, more soulful counterpoint to Althea & Donna’s flirty boastfulness. Many cuts will be familiar to anyone with a passing acquaintance with this era of Jamaican music, but among the best tracks here are more obscure numbers like Carol Gonzales’ disco-inflected “Sweet Sensation” and the heavy roots of Dhaima’s “Ina Jah Children.”