Cherry Red's Doctor Bird imprint has reliably delivered Jamaican reggae and ska sounds from the vaults of Trojan Records.  Today we're looking at two of its recent releases.

First things first: the smiling woman on the cover of Delano Stewart's Stay a Little Bit Longer, to the left, is not the artist but rather a model.  Winston Delano Stewart is the male singer of '60s rocksteady group The Gaylads, formed in Kingston, Jamaica when Stewart and his singing partner Harris "B.B." Seaton decided to expand their sound.  In 1968, Stewart struck out on his own and embarked on a successful solo career.  1970's Stay a Little Bit Longer, his debut solo platter, has been reissued by Doctor Bird as a deluxe 2-CD edition with 60 tracks (13 new to CD), greatly expanding the original 12-song LP.

Stay a Little Bit Longer resulted from Stewart's short but creatively fertile affiliation with Sonia Pottinger, a pioneering female producer and impresario.  Having dipped her toes into the music business when her husband Lindon opened a studio in 1961 (the first in Jamaica to be owned by a black person), she stayed in the business after she and Lindon separated.  She opened a record store in addition to multiple labels including High Note, to which Delano was signed.  The Trojan release of a Stay a Little Bit Longer collected twelve High Note singles of Delano's - all original songs save a cover of Marvin Gaye's "Wherever I Lay My Hat (That's My Home)."  The release of the LP promised to make Stewart a major name in Jamaica, but he soon left the country to start anew in America.  Sadly, only a few more singles materialized on small labels throughout the 1970s as he pursued careers outside of music.

The first disc of this expanded reissue adds four bonus tracks from Delano Stewart including three alternate versions and one originally-unissued outtake.  It then presents Dr. No Go, a previously unreleased compendium from 1970 of Sonia Pottinger's productions for Trojan Records featuring Delroy Wilson, The Conquerors, The Hippy Boys, and others.  The second disc boasts another 30 tracks from Pottinger's discography, first released in 1969-1970 on the High Note and Gayfeet labels.

While Delano Stewart is the headlining artist of this CD - and it collects the entirety of his solo ska and rocksteady recordings - it's more of a primer for Pottinger, who retired from music in 1985 and received an Order of Distinction (OD) from the Jamaican government in 2004 for her contributions to the country's culture.  The set includes a 16-page booklet with liner notes by Harry Hacks, and Andy Pearce has remastered all tracks.

It's joined by the release of a two-fer from The Reggae Strings.  Doctor Bird's 2-CD set brings together Reggae Strings and Reggae Strings Volume 2, originally released in the U.K. by Trojan in 1973 and 1974, respectively.  While orchestral strings aren't considered a major part of the reggae sound, the "sweetening" of original Jamaican recordings played a role in the genre gaining widespread acceptance around the world.  The string versions of reggae hits on the two volumes came courtesy of British arranger-orchestra leader Johnny Arthey (Julie Rogers, Vince Hill, Sacha Distel).  The impetus for Arthey's work was Johnny Nash's success with "Hold Me Tight."  Nash's 1968 recording featured strings overdubbed by American arranger Arthur Jenkins; soon, other reggae artists were getting into the act including Bob [Andy] and Marcia [Griffiths] with their cover of Nina Simone's "[To Be] Young, Gifted, and Black."  After little success with the raw version, an overdubbed single with Arthey's strings reached the U.K. top 20.  A little sweetening went a long way.

Arthey soon became Trojan Records' go-to arranger for its many artists other than Jimmy Cliff, whose arrangements were written by American orchestrator Larry Fallon.  Ironically, the moniker Reggae Strings first appeared not on Trojan, but on Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss' A&M Records.  When Jamaican singer Horace Faith recorded the calypso classic "Shame and Scandal in the Family" with Arthey, the B-side of the A&M single featured an instrumental credited to Reggae Strings Conducted by Johnny Arthey. The conductor-arranger continued to work for Trojan prolifically through 1972 and sporadically after that.  In 1973, the label issued Reggae Strings, drawing on 12 examples of his 1970-1972 work.  These remixed versions of tracks by The Dynamites, The Uniques, Bob and Marcia, and others dropped the lead vocals and brought up the strings; no other overdubs were made.  This had the effect of making most of the original tunes all but unrecognizable, as the strings were supporting, rather than taking, the melody lines of each song. Yet the overall sound was smoothly appealing.  The album was a success in both the U.K. and in Jamaica where it was released on the Harry J label.

One year later, Trojan issued a follow-up with 16 songs.  Volume 2 followed the template of the first, though the author of this reissue's liner notes, Tony Rounce, asserts that some of the arrangements on Volume 2 might not have been Johnny Arthey's.  (Oddly, he wasn't credited on either volume.)  In addition, two tracks have been dropped from this reissue: "I'm Ready" and "Sha-La-La, Sha-La-Lee."  Rounce also lets readers know that almost none of the rhythm tracks on Volume 2 were actually recorded in Jamaica, a notable exception being Marcia Griffiths' winning reinterpretation of Van McCoy's "Sweet Bitter Love."

While Doctor Bird's reissue has unfortunately lost those two tracks, it does offer an entire second disc featuring the original versions of the 26 songs on Disc 1.  So this release presents both vocal and backing-track versions of both reggae originals and numerous pop covers, among them Henry Mancini and Johnny Mercer's "Moon River," Lennon and McCartney's "A World Without Love," Tammy Wynette and Billy Sherrill's "Stand by Your Man," Harold Arlen's "Let's Fall in Love" and "Over the Rainbow" (co-written with Ted Koehler and E.Y. Harburg, respectively), and Elton John and Bernie Taupin's "Jamaica Jerk-Off."

The 16-page booklet has Tony Rounce's liner notes as well as images of the original releases and the master tape boxes, and Andy Pearce has once again remastered.  The Reggae Strings volumes are a fascinating window onto the brief period when reggae went easy listening.

Both of the above releases from Doctor Bird are available now at the links below!

Delano Stewart, Stay a Little Bit Longer (Doctor Bird/Cherry Red DBCDD066, 2020) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

CD 1

Delano Stewart, Stay a Little Bit Longer (Trojan TBL 138, 1970)

1. Stay a Little Longer
2. Dance with Me
3. Hallelujah
4. That's Life
5. Don't Believe Him
6. Wherever I Lay My Hat
7. Got to Come Back
8. Rocking Sensation
9. Let's Have Some Fun
10. Tell Me Baby
11. Give Me a Chance
12. Wish It Could Last

Bonus Tracks

13. Stay a Little Longer (Instrumental)
14. Win Your Love (Outtake)
15. Don't Believe Him (Instrumental)
16. Got to Come Back (Strings Mix)

Dr. No Go (unreleased 1970 Trojan compilation)

17. Doctor No Go - The Hippy Boys
18. Your Number One - Delroy Wilson
19. National Dish - The Conquerors
20. Reggae Buddy - The Victors
21. You're Not My Kind - Naomi
22. Rum Bay - The Emotions
23. Jennifer - Junior Soul
24. Wailing Festival - The Federals
25. You Can't Stop Me - The Emotions
26. I've Tried My Best - Delroy Wilson
27. Sticker - Roland Alphonso
28. Toll Part Two - Marcia Griffiths
29. Toll Part One - Marcia Griffiths
30. Fatty - Bim & Bam

CD 2: Reggae Pressure (productions by Sonia Pottinger)

1. DJ - The Conquerors
2. Easy Squeeze - The Victors
3. Good to Me - Delroy Wilson
4. Chicken Licken - The Hippy Boys
5. The Storm - The Emotions
6. Slipping - Junior Soul
7. Cherrie - The Soul Twins
8. Cherrie Part II - The Gaytones
9. Praise Far I - The Ethiopians
10. I've Got the Power - The Conquerors
11. Love Is a Doggone Good Thing - The Melodians
12. Must Get a Man - Nora Dean
13. Musical Fight - The Crashers
14. What Do You Want from Me - Delroy Wilson
15. Broken Heart - The Beltones
16. Natural Woman - Naomi
17. (You Rule) Your Destiny - The Melodians
18. Reggae Pressure - Winston Wright
19. Give Him Up - The First Generation
20. Creation Version - Charlie Ace
21. Man Short (Ten to One) - Busty Brown
22. Love, Look Away - The Melodians
23. Soul Pressure - Winston Wright
24. She Want It - Dave Barker
25. The Valet - Nora Dean
26. Home Bound - Teddy & The Conquerors
27. Lover Boy - Roland Alphonso
28. No Nola - The Melodians
29. When - The First Generation
30. Landlord - Bim & Bam

Reggae Strings, Reggae Strings / Reggae Strings Volume 2 (Doctor Bird/Cherry Red DBCDD063, 2020) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

CD 1 (Instrumentals) / CD 2 (Vocals)

Reggae Strings (Trojan TRLS 54, 1973)

1. One Woman - Bob Andy
2. Moon River - Greyhound
3. Sweet Musille - The Dynamites
4. World Without Love - Del Davis
5. Roll Muddy River - The Pioneers
6. Lonely for Your Love - The Uniques
7. Rome - Lloyd Jones
8. Flip - Winston Wright
9. Stand by Your Man - Merlene Webber
10. Young Gifted and Black - Bob & Marcia
11. White and Wonderful, Black and Beautiful - Danny Ray
12. God Bless the Children - Nicky Thomas

Reggae Strings, Volume 2 (Trojan TRLS 92, 1974)

13. Let's Fall in Love - Bob & Marcia
14. How Many Times - Tito Simon
15. You Can't Be Serious - Tito Simon
16. Sweet Bitter Love - Marcia Griffiths
17. Jump Hallelujah - Tito Simon
18. Tell It Like It Is - Nicky Thomas
19. It's Too Late to Say You're Sorry - Laurel Aitken
20. I Don't Care - Bob & Marcia
21. Strange World - Bob & Marcia
22. Something [CD 1 Instrumental Only]
23. Over the Rainbow - The Cimarons
24. Scientist - Winston Groovy
25. But I Do - Bob & Marcia
26. Jamaica Jerk-Off - The Pioneers