Larry Marshall: I Admire You - 1975


A quite obscure (outside in depth roots reggae circles) artist was Larry Marshall, another Brentford Road/Studio One artist, whose material on this album is a mix of devotional stuff and easy going love songs in an accessible roots style. 

It was recorded after he left Studio One, frustrated at having had only one album release - Presenting Larry Marshall (which included his best known track, the organ-driven skank of Nanny Goat. The roots is there on Jah Fire, the impressive My Foreparent, Heavy Heavy Load, Captivity, Oh Jah and Is Whey Deh Money Deh while the loved-up feeling is generated on She Is My Woman, Shirley, Thelma, the lovely You Lied and the equally excellent extended dubby version of Oh Girl. 

It is inessential fare, to be honest, though, and not great in sound quality (a bit scratchy), but still worthy of attention, and quite a few of the rhythms were recycled on various versions and dubs, subsequently. 

Also well worth checking out is the almost ska beat of the lively, irrepressible Throw Mi Corn. There is nothing roots about it at all, despite Marshall's Dread look on the cover shown below. Indeed, the song has hints of Toots & The Maytals' Pressure Drop in its "it is you" chorus refrain. It is a great little-known reggae rarity. It was released in 1983, but its style is decidedly retro, as if it were from the late sixties/early seventies. It probably did date from then, it just took ages for it to be released, as was often the way.


As I said earlier, Marshall's sole Studio One release was Presenting Larry Marshall, here it is. It is quite difficult to obtain these days -



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