In 1928 Marcus Garvey predicted “…look to the East, a king would be crowned and that would be your sign.” This was in reference to the crowning of His Imperial Majesty Haile Selassie of Ethiopia, which occurred just two years after. Now, more than 75 years later, following in the tradition of National hero, Paul Bogle, another ‘Ras’- Natty King, from the East (St. Thomas), has received his coronation.
Natty King’s No Guns To Town took Jamaica, the Caribbean, Florida, New York and England by storm, racing to number one on record charts in these territories and sustaining this pivotal position for nine weeks in Jamaica. His follow up single Mister Greedy also went to number one on local charts. This heralded a string of accolades, including the Jamaica Federation of Musicians (JFM) 2003 award for ‘Best New Artiste. JFM president, Desmond Young refers to Natty King’s music as “conscious, enriching and uplifting”.
These sentiments are amply borne out by the lyrics of the nineteen songs featured on Natty King’s debut cd album, No Guns To Town, which was publicly launched last week. The issues which are explored on this album, expounded upon by Natty King, could be classified in six broad categories- exultation (No Guns To Town, The Way It Is, Pray, High High); treachery (When The Money, Fed Up, Mister Greedy, Cut Down the Price); natural resources (Environmentalist, St. Thomas), karma (Thunder A Roll); love (Please Stay, Rainy Time, Love Me, Perfect Harmony); and human rights (Easy Officer, Equality, Survivor).
A sample of his lyrics includes:
“…Gravalicious people sell out dem families and friends, Why they keep doing this over and over again, When de money dun, When de money dun we nuh ha no fren’…” (When The Money Done)
“…Dem too greedy, Like dem no remember the poor and needy…” (Mister Greedy)
“…For the herbs of creation, nuff people get lock up down a station, Facing bear tribulation, Oh Lord What an isolation…” (Easy Officer)
“…No tek dem bad influence with dem nuclears and violence…Do nuh bring no guns come to town, Yuh should have left dem at home, Shoulda bring love come, I seh, Spread de joy around…” (No Guns To Town)
“…I want the world to be living in harmony, Even the blind could see that we need equality, I want the world to be living in harmony, That’s the way it should be, We need no partiality…” (Equality)
“…If we don’t have fresh air, we won’t have good ‘ealth…” (Environmentalist)
A cautionary note to the producers of this album for future products aimed at the international market - beware of copyright infringement. Although there is an old adage that states that nothing is original in music, without giving credit to the original creators, many of the tracks on the cd come across as composites or samplings of other songs. Chart topper, No Guns To Town, borrows lyrics from the 1959 Johnny Cash hit, Don’t Take Your Guns To Town, while the rhythm is a retake of Delroy Wilson’s hit tune of the 1960s, Who Cares. Ras Michael’s None A Jah Jah Children No Cry is leaned upon heavily to supply the rhythm for track 5, The Way It Is.
The horn progressions on Pray (track 11) sound a lot like John Holt’s hit, Tonight High High (track 12) comes in part from a tune known to many of us as Peanut Vendor, made popular locally by Henry Jerome and his Orchestra but originally composed in the 1950s by Cuban Don Azpiazu with the title El Mansiero.
Equality (track 14) samples Stevie Wonder’s Ebony And Ivory and People Make The World Go ‘Round by the Stylistics. Please Stay (track 6) employs musical and lyrical phrases from the Drifters’ Don’t Go, Please Stay and Rainy Time adopts Air Supply’s All Out Of Love.
None of this however detracts from the quality or likeability of the cd album and Natty King’s fans will certainly enjoy his lyrics, interpretations and baritone voice on all the songs.
The liner notes needed more careful proof reading for grammatical, spelling and factual errors. For example, the ‘M’ in the acronym JFM stands for ‘Musicians’ not ‘Music’ and while credit is given to Ansel Collins who is the featured keyboardist on four tracks alongside riddim duo Sly and Robbie, his name is incorrectly spelt.
However, these minor oversights do not take away much from a very impressive presentation, which is further enhanced by the inclusion of a special video cd featuring the music videos for No Guns To Town and Mister Greedy, which adds more value to the overall product.
© 2005 C.H.E. Campbell.
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