Go Seek Your Rights

Product Description:

The Mighty Diamonds: Donald "Tabby" Shaw, Fitzroy "Bunny" Simpson, Lloyd "Judge" Ferguson (vocals).

Additional personnel includes: Duggie, Toney, Albert Chin, Earl "Chinna" Smith (guitar); Dean Fraser, Marcus, Tommy McCook, Herman Marquis (saxophone); Junior Chin (trumpet); Ansell Collins, Ossie Hibbert (keyboards); Gladstone Anderson (piano); Winston Wright (organ); Lloyd Parks, George Fullwood (bass); Carlton Davis (drums); Sticky Thompson (percussion).

Producers: Joseph Hoo Kim, Karl Pitterson.

Engineers: Ernest Hoo Kim, Ossie Hibbert, Anthony Graham, Karl Pitterson.

Recorded at Channel One Studios, Kingston, Jamaica. Includes liner notes by Trevor Herman.

GO SEEK YOUR RIGHTS is compiled from the albums RIGHT TIME (1976), DEEPER ROOTS (1979) and PLANET EARTH (1979).

Personnel: Donald "Tabby" Shaw, Lloyd Ferguson, Fitzroy Simpson (vocals); Earl "Chinna" Smith (guitar); Dean Fraser (saxophone); Herman Marquis (alto saxophone); Tommy McCook (tenor saxophone); Ronald "Nambo" Robinson, Vin Gordon (trombone); Gladstone Anderson (piano); Winston Wright (organ); Ossie Hibbert, Ansel Collins, Bernard Touter Harvey (keyboards); Noel Benbow, Sly Dunbar, Carlton "Santa" Davis (drums); Bunny Diamond, Sky Juice, Uziah "Sticky" Thompson (percussion).

Audio Mixer: Karl Pitterson.

Liner Note Author: Trevor Herman.

Recording information: Channel One Studio, Kingston, Jamaica; Compass Point Studios, Nassau, Bahamas.

Unknown Contributor Role: Arnold "Willy" Brakenbridge.

Go Seek Your Rights is the type of calculating release that fuels fans' hatred of major labels. For why bother with the expense of keeping three albums in stock when you can cull a batch of tracks from the bunch, delete the originals, and fob fans off with a single inferior record. Eventually Caroline saw the error of its ways and reissued two of the deleted albums, thus making this set totally dispensable. For those readers just discovering the glories of the Mighty Diamonds, at first glance this set may appear to be a best-of compilation. But that's because the selector thoughtfully included the whole of the trio's debut album, Right Time (aka Need a Roof), within. Unfortunately, that only leaves room for six more tracks, and as the Deeper Roots album is just as crucial, and as its reissue appends its phenomenal dub set, why settle for a mere three tracks, especially since Right Time's back in print as well?

Those seminal sets were overseen by JoJo Hookim, the first backed by the Revolutionaries, the latter by the equally superb Soul Syndicate band. Which leaves Planet Earth, a bit of a fish out of water. Planet Earth actually fell between the release of Right Time and Deeper Roots, but unlike them was produced by Karl Pitterson, and features a much lighter sound than Hookim's heavy-hitters. It has not been reissued, but when you hear the three tracks culled from it, you'll understand why there's been little clamor to do so. If your prospects are so poor that you'll only ever be able to afford one Mighty Diamonds album, this is a decent choice. It features the trio at its "classic" peak, its sublime vocals wrapping around stellar cultural numbers and the occasional gorgeous lovers/lovelorn song. But you'll be cheating yourself of the glories of Deeper Roots, and you deserve better. And the Mighty Diamonds deserve better than this cash-in. ~ Jo-Ann Greene