Various The Linval Thompson Trojan Roots Albums Collection CD

By the late Seventies, increasing numbers of Jamaican performers were turning their hand to studio production work, and of these few made the transition more effectively than Linval Thompson.

Having already made his mark as one of the island’s premier roots performers, the singer-songwriter launched his Thompson Sound label in 1977, finding immediate success with a series of best-selling recordings, all produced at Kingston’s revered Channel One studio, where he enlisted the services of celebrated in-house band, the Revolutionaries.

Among the first artistes to benefit from Thompson’s talents as a producer were leading dee-jays, Big Joe and Trinity, whose work spawned two popular long- players, African Princess and Rock In The Ghetto.

Released by Trojan Records in 1978 and 1979, respectively, both of these lauded collections finally see their official reissue with this 2CD set, which also includes Thompson’s own best-selling album, I Love Marijuana, and ten bonus tracks, first issued by the famed London-based reggae company on its Attack subsidiary.