Sylford Walker: Lamb's Bread - 1979

A lesser-mentioned rootsman was Sylford Walker, who recorded most of his roots material with Glen Brown in the mid-late seventies roots reggae boom, although a lot of it didn't see the light of day until about ten years later, ridiculously. 

The music is pretty standard seventies steppers fare - lots of flying cymbals, horns, dubby passages, echoey vocals and lyrics of Rastafarian devotion. 

Highlights are Lamb's Bread, the excellent roots of Deuteronomy, Chant Down Babylon, Give Thanks And Praise To Jah, Babylonians, Eternal Day and the totally infectious, upbeat Ghettoman Corner. Eternal Day has some excellent dub on it, mixed by King Tubby (as indeed was all the material on the album). Check out that trombone on My Father's Homeland too. 

Some of the vocals are provided by DJ Welton Irie too, such as on Wicked Tumbling, Money Man Skank and the amusing Stone A Throw (about big-hipped girls). The sound is good throughout and this is one of those hidden gems that reggae has lots of, particularly in the roots period (aided by the dub thing). It was quite incredible just how much music was recorded in such a short period of time, nevertheless. 

Nothing much else appears to be available from Sylford Walker. As you can see from the rear cover of this album, the dub versions of Walker's Lamb's Bread album was performed by Welton Irie and titled Ghettoman Corner. The albums serve as perfect partners.