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This is definitely not your father's calypso – no living room limbo or Harry Belafonte cliches – and instead, a smoking batch of Caribbean grooves from The Mighty Sparrow! Sparrow was very much on the edge of the best styles in the 60s and early 70s – and although his basic groove might be termed calypso, he also brought in plenty of Cuban, Haitian, and Jamaican rhythms to his music too – as well as an occasional does of American soul! Like some of the best early sounds from Kingston, the grooves here often echo a deeper R&B sensibility, turned towards island rhythms – and really hit home strongly by Sparrow's wonderful vocals – as catchy, compelling, and charming as some of the best US singers of the time – with touches of the wit of Oscar Brown Jr, the warmth of Lou Rawls, the swing of a young Marvin Gaye, and the spookiness of Screamin Jay Hawkins! This massive collection is the first to really dig through his older records to pull out the best tunes – just the kind of special focus we'd expect from the Strut label, with a wicked track selection and great notes too! Titles include "Bongo", "Calypso Boogaloo", "Zinah", "Fool Fool Fool", "Ah Diggin Horrors", "Jook For Jook", "Sparrow Come Back Home", "Slave", "She's Been Gone Too Long", "Congo Man", "Ten To One Is Murder", and "Kennedy & Kruschev".

This is definitely not your father's calypso – no living room limbo or Harry Belafonte cliches – and instead, a smoking batch of Caribbean grooves from The Mighty Sparrow! Sparrow was very much on the edge of the best styles in the 60s and early 70s – and although his basic groove might be termed calypso, he also brought in plenty of Cuban, Haitian, and Jamaican rhythms to his music too – as well as an occasional does of American soul! Like some of the best early sounds from Kingston, the grooves here often echo a deeper R&B sensibility, turned towards island rhythms – and really hit home strongly by Sparrow's wonderful vocals – as catchy, compelling, and charming as some of the best US singers of the time – with touches of the wit of Oscar Brown Jr, the warmth of Lou Rawls, the swing of a young Marvin Gaye, and the spookiness of Screamin Jay Hawkins! This massive collection is the first to really dig through his older records to pull out the best tunes – just the kind of special focus we'd expect from the Strut label, with a wicked track selection and great notes too! Titles include "Bongo", "Calypso Boogaloo", "Zinah", "Fool Fool Fool", "Ah Diggin Horrors", "Jook For Jook", "Sparrow Come Back Home", "Slave", "She's Been Gone Too Long", "Congo Man", "Ten To One Is Murder", and "Kennedy & Kruschev".

A collection of tracks that amount to some of incredibly deep audio archaeology – a wonderful, consciousness wakening collection of globe spanning 78s from the first half of the 20th Century – all from the darkest corners of the EMI Vaults! Honest Jons does an impressive job of collecting recordings that are first and foremost exciting pieces of music – and they reportedly spent a couple of years going through thousands and thousands of 78s and to put this thing together. It was worth the effort! The album includes recordings from China in the 10s, Bali and London in the 20s, Constantinople, Kenya and Spain in the 30s, Uganda & Trinidad in the 50s, and much more from each decade in many parts of the world. Cuban rumbas, Middle Eastern & African string tunes, more pop oriented British tunes, vocal and pop with a global focus. Wonderful stuff! Titles include "The English Sound Table" by GU Hsu, "Lagu Kebiar" by Gamelan Gong, "Rumba Negra" by Sacasas, "Laughing" by Vemngopal Chari, "Different Kind Of Motor Car Noises" by Vengopal Chari, "The Queen's Canary" by Mighty Sparrow and more.