Dandy Livingstone - Rudy, A Message to You (1967)

Born in Kingston, Jamaica on December 14th, 1943, this Jamaican musician moved to the United Kingdom when he was fifteen years old. After jamming with a friend in his apartment building, a neighbor secretly recorded him and distributed the sessions on Planetone Records, effectively getting his name “out there” without his even realizing it. When the London-based record company Carnival Records was looking for a Jamaican duo, Dandy Livingstone applied for the spot by double-tracking his audio. It worked; soon Livingstone was releasing records using this technique under the misleadingly duo name of Sugar & Dandy. His success led him to signing with multiple record companies and recording songs such as “What a Life,” “Suzanna Beware the Devil,” and his hit heard below. He also spent a lot of time successfully producing other artists. Around 1971, Livingstone briefly moved back to Jamaica, but returned to the UK in 1973. He hadn’t performed live since 1972, but was scheduled to perform at the International Ska Festival in London, 2012. Although Livingstone reportedly was present for the soundcheck before going on stage, he never actually performed. Livingstone, still alive today, has released more than ten full length albums.

Written and originally recorded by today’s artist, this song is primarily remembered for the cover version recorded by The Specials in 1979. Interestingly, the trombone player Rico Rodriguez played on both Livingstone’s and The Specials’ versions. Livingstone’s version of the song featured the B-Side “Nite Klub” and never charted. Besides the cover by The Specials, the song has also been covered by the Barenaked Ladies, Amy Winehouse, and sampled by the punk band Propagandhi.



Dandy Livingstone - Rudy, A Message to You (1967)

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Lyrics:

Stop your runnin' about
It's time you straighten right out
Stop your runnin' around
Making problems in town

Rudy, a message to you
Rudy, a message to you

You're growing older each day
You want to think of your future
Or you might wind up in jail
And you will suffer

Rudy, a message to you
Rudy, a message to you

Stop your runnin' about
It's time you straighten right out
Stop your runnin' around
Making trouble in the town

Rudy, a message to you
Rudy, a message to you

The Equals - Police On My Back (1968)

Formed in 1965, this North London group was one of the first racially integrated groups of the time (which also influenced their name). Primarily remembered for their 1966 million-dollar selling song, “Baby, Come Back,” the band was composed of Eddy Grant, Pay Lloyd, John Hall, and twin brothers Derv and Lincoln Gordon. The group released a few moderately successful singles through the remaining years in the ‘60s and was even mildly successful until 1971, when Grant suffered a collapsed lung and heart infection. After returning to his birth country, Guyana, he took his musical career solo and released many successful songs throughout the ‘70s and ‘80s. Although the band carried on without him, they never had another hit and primarily resorted to playing live shows.

This song comes from the group’s first album, Baby, Come Back, which was created around the success from the single of the same name. Released in 1968, it was composed of material the group had been recording as far back as 1966. Written by Grant, this song was later successfully covered by the early punk group, The Clash, for their 1980 album Sandinista!.



The Equals - Police On My Back (1968)

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Lyrics:

Well I’m running
Police on my back
I’ve been hiding
Police on my back
They were shooting
Police on my back
And the victim
Well, he won’t come back

I been running Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday
Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday

Running
Down the railway track
Could you help me?
Police on my back
They will catch me
If I dare drop back
Come and give me
All the speed I had

I been running Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday
Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday

What have I done?

I'm still running
Down the railway track
Could you help me?
Police on my back
They will catch me
If I dare drop back
Come and give me
All the speed I had

I been running Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday
Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday

Running
Down the railway track
Yes, I’m running
Police on my back
Yes, I’m running
Police on my back
Yes, I’m running
Police on my back

Yes, I'm still running
Down the railway track
Could you help me?
Police on my back
They will catch me
If I dare drop back

I been running Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday
Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday

Running
Police on my back
Yes, I’m running
Police on my back
Yes, I’m running
Police on my back
Yes, I’m running
Police on my back

What have I done? Tell me. Please, somebody.

The Wailers - No Woman, No Cry [Demo] (1973)

In 1973, The Wailers were gathering increasingly larger crowds during a tour across England. The main members, Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, and Bunny Wailer, received no money for their “promotional” tour and were soon expected to do the same in the seedy nightclubs of the United States. Bunny refused. Hoping his friends would join him in his refusal, he was disappointed to find that Tosh and Marley were going to carry on with the group’s tutor, Joe Higgs, in his place. Shortly after the tour ended, Tosh parted ways with the group as well. He felt Chris Blackwell, the group’s producer, was ripping them off. He also felt that after twelve years of primarily being a backing vocalist, he wasn’t able to materialize the lyrics, music, and emotion that had built up inside of him. Bob Marley continued the group as Bob Marley & The Wailers with his new backing vocalists, The I-Threes.

The original version of this song was released on the 1974 album, Natty Dread. Although it was the first record to be released without Tosh and Bunny, this demo version of this particular song still features Peter Tosh on piano. The female backing vocalists are unknown. Written by Bob Marley, the writing credits were officially given to Vincent Ford, a soup kitchen owner in the Kingston ghetto known as Trenchtown. Marley gave rights to Ford so that he could collect the song’s royalties and continue to feed the starving people in Kingston, Jamaica.

The title is often misinterpreted as meaning “no woman equals no crying;” but, in actuality, the singer is telling a woman, “no, woman, don’t cry”. The confusion arises from the Jamaican slang for “don’t,” pronounced “nuh”. So when the title was being listed, “no, woman, nuh cry,” it was confusingly written as “No Woman, No Cry”.



The Wailers - No Woman, No Cry [Demo] (1973)

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Lyrics:

No, woman, no cry
No, woman, no cry
No, woman, no cry
No, woman, no cry

‘cause, ‘cause
‘cause I remember when we used to sit
In a government yard in Trenchtown
Oba- observing the hypocrites
Yeah
Mingle with the good people we meet
Yeah
Good friends we have, oh, good friends we have lost
Along the way
(Yeah) Yeah
In this great future, you can’t forget your past
So dry your tears, I say
Yeah

No, woman, no cry
No, woman, no cry
Hey, yeah
A’little darlin’, don’t shed no tears
No, woman, no cry

Hey, said, said
Said I remember when we used to sit
In the government yard in Trenchtown
Yeah
And then Georgie would make the fire lights
I say, a’log wood burnin' through the night
Yeah
Then we would cook corn meal porridge
I say, of which I'll share with you
Yeah
My feet is my only carriage
And so I've got to push on through
But while I'm gone

Everything's gonna be alright
Everything's gonna be alright
Everything's gonna be alright
Everything's gonna be alright
Everything's gonna be alright
Everything's gonna be alright
Everything's gonna be alright
Everything's gonna be alright

So, no, woman, no cry
No, woman, no cry
I say, oh little- oh little darlin’, don't shed no tears
No, woman, no cry
Hey

No, woman- no, woman- no, woman, no cry
No, woman, no cry
One more time, I’ve got to say
Oh, little- little darling, please don’t shed no tears
No, woman, no cry

(Hey, little sister) No, woman
It’s his voice
No, woman, no cry
(No, woman, no cry)

I promise you
(Hey, little sister)
Everything’s gonna be alright
(Don’t shed no tears)
Everything’s gonna be alright
Everything’s gonna be alright
(No, woman, no cry)
Everything’s gonna be alright
Everything’s gonna be alright
Everything’s gonna be alright
Everything’s gonna be alright, hey
(Everything’s) gonna be alright
Everything’s gonna be alright
Everything’s gonna be alright
(Everything’s…)

Peter Tosh w/Mick Jagger - (You Gotta Walk) Don't Look Back (1978)

Born Winston Hubert McIntosh, this reggae legend was a core member of The Wailers alongside Bob Marley and Bunny Livingston, as well as an accomplished solo artist. Raised by his aunt in Jamaica, Peter Tosh taught Marley and Livingston how to play guitar. A devout Rastafarian, he was responsible for writing (or co-writing) some of The Wailer’s most popular songs, including “Get Up, Stand Up,” “400 Years,” and “No Sympathy.” In 1973, a head on car-crash (not his fault) claimed the life of his girlfriend, Evonne, and fractured Tosh’s skull. Although he survived, it was said to have changed his personality and made him much more ill-tempered. Sadly, in 1987, Tosh was murdered by men who broke into his Jamaican home, attempting to rob and extort him.

This song, originally simplified “Don’t Look Back,” was written by Smokey Robinson and Ronald White (members of The Miracles) for The Temptations. Originally released by The Temptations in 1965 and covered by Tosh’s Wailers in 1966, this reggae version of the song was released on Tosh’s 1978 solo album, Bush Doctor, noted for its marijuana-scented scratch-n-sniff sticker on the cover. The vocals are shared by Mick Jagger of The Rolling Stones, while two other songs on the album, “Bush Doctor” and “Stand Firm,” featured The Rolling Stones’ Keith Richards on guitar.



Peter Tosh w/Mick Jagger - (You Gotta Walk) Don't Look Back (1978)

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Lyrics:

If it's love that you're runnin’ from
There is no hiding place
(You can't run, you can't hide, you can't run)

Just your problems; no one else's problems
You just have to face
(You can't run, you can't hide, you can't run)

So if you just put your hand in mine
We're gonna leave all our troubles behind
We gonna walk and don't look back
(Don't look back)
Gonna walk and don't look back
(Don't look back)

Now if your first lover let you down
There's somethin’ that can be done
(You can't run, you can't hide, you can't run)
Tell ‘er what to do, now

Don't heal your faith in love
Rememberin’ what's become
(You can't run, you can't hide, you can't run)
Oh, no

So if you just put your hand in mine
We're gonna leave all our troubles behind
We gonna walk and don't look back
(Don't look back)
Gonna walk and don't look back
(Don't look back)

If you just put your hand in mine
We're gonna leave all our troubles behind
We gonna walk and don't look back
(Don't look back)
Keep on walkin’
Gonna walk and don't look back
(Don't look back)

Places behind you
There to remind you

If your first lover broke your heart
Something can be done
(You can't run, you can't hide, you can't run)

Don't heal your faith in love
Rememberin’ what’s been lost
(You can't run, you can't hide, you can't run)

But if you just put your hand in mine
We're gonna leave all our troubles behind
We gonna walk and don't look back
(Don't look back)
We gonna walk and don't look back
(Don't look back)
Gonna walk and don’t look back!

How far you been walkin’, man?
About a hundred miles
(Keep on walkin’, don't look back)
You still got some more to walk, man
(Keep on walkin’, don't look back)
I know, go ahead and let it go
(Keep on walkin’, don't look back)
I'm gettin’ kinda tired, but I got to keep on walkin’
(Keep on walkin’, don't look back)
I'm walkin’ barefoot
(Keep on walkin’, don't look back)
You know…
(Keep on walkin’, don't look back)

Keep on walkin’
We got to walk and don't look back
(Keep on walkin’, don't look back)
A’keep on a’walkin’
We gonna walk and don't look back
(Keep on walkin’, don't look back)
A’keep on a’walkin’…

The Wailers - Give Me a Ticket (1970)

First known as The Teenagers, then The Wailing Rudeboys, then The Wailing Wailers, and finally just The Wailers, this group was the primary force in spreading reggae from Jamaica to the rest of the world. The three core members, Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, and Neville Livingston a.k.a. Bunny Wailer/Bunny Livingston, began playing together in 1963. By 1974, Livingston and Tosh had quit and Marley continued with his new backing vocalists, The I Threes.

This song, originally titled “The Letter” and written by Wayne Carson Thompson, was a number one hit for The Box Tops in 1967. It has been covered by more than two hundred artists and, in this version, features Peter Tosh on lead vocals. Another version was released in 1971 where Rita Marley, Bob’s first wife, performs the lead vocals, where in this version she performs only backup vocals.



The Wailers - Give Me a Ticket (1970)

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Lyrics:

Give me a ticket for an airplane
(Give me a ticket)
Ain't got no time for the fast train
My lonely days are gone
But I’ll be goin’ home to my baby
Back to my baby
(Yes I am)

I said she wrote me a letter
Sayin’ she couldn’t resist without me anymore
(Listen mister, can't you see?)
Mister, mister, can’t you see?
Got to get back to my baby
(I got to get back to my baby once more)

Don’t care how much money I got to spend
I got to get back to my baby again
My lonely days are gone
But I’ll be goin’ home to my baby
To my baby
(Yes I am)

Wrote me a letter
She couldn’t resist without me anymore
(Listen, mister)

Ooh, listen mister, can’t you see?
I’ve got to get back to my baby once more
Anyway, yeah

Don’t care how much bread I got to spend
I know I got to -got to- get back to my baby again
My lonely dare are gone
But I’ll be goin’ home to my baby
Oh yes, my baby
(Yes I am)

Said she wrote me many letters
She couldn’t resist without me anymore
Listen mister, can’t you see?
I’ve got to get back to my baby (once more)
Ooh, yea
(Anyway)

Give me a ticket for the airplane...