'Money in My Pocket' by the late Dennis Brown was originally issued in Jamaica on Joe Gibbs Music in 1978, before gaining a UK release on Lightning the following year. I initially had every intention of posting the full 12" version, complete with a brilliant and uncredited toast by Prince Mohammed (check it out here), but recently came across this wonderful live vocal performance from Top of the Pops and instantly knew it had to be the one. How great is this?
Friday, 14 June 2013
Lightning Strikes #5 - Dennis Brown
The range of it's catalogue was diverse,
eclectic and downright odd in places (and
I've only scratched the surface over the
past five days), but Lightning Records
greatest commercial successes and critical
acclaim came with their many licensed reggae
releases, usually from the Joe Gibbs stable
and most notably with the Number One hit
'Uptown Top Ranking' by Althea and Donna. So
with that in mind, it's only fitting that I
conclude this little trawl through the
Lightning records in my own collection with
a classic reggae selection.
'Money in My Pocket' by the late Dennis Brown was originally issued in Jamaica on Joe Gibbs Music in 1978, before gaining a UK release on Lightning the following year. I initially had every intention of posting the full 12" version, complete with a brilliant and uncredited toast by Prince Mohammed (check it out here), but recently came across this wonderful live vocal performance from Top of the Pops and instantly knew it had to be the one. How great is this?
'Money in My Pocket' by the late Dennis Brown was originally issued in Jamaica on Joe Gibbs Music in 1978, before gaining a UK release on Lightning the following year. I initially had every intention of posting the full 12" version, complete with a brilliant and uncredited toast by Prince Mohammed (check it out here), but recently came across this wonderful live vocal performance from Top of the Pops and instantly knew it had to be the one. How great is this?
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4 comments:
Just wonderful. Dennis was such a fine singer. I have a little mystery solve with 'Money I My Pocket' that I have yet to get to the bottom of; perhaps, with your superior knowledge, you may be able to help? Although it was issued in '78 in Jamaica, I can distinctly recall the first time I 'heard' it was when one of the Jamaican kids at school, pool cue in hand, wandered around singing the chorus to himself. Now, with the other pieces of this little memory in place, I could swear the year must have been '77 at the latest. Was it ever issued prior to '78? Was there another version? Whatever, it must have struck me as a cool tune as this tiny vignette has stuck with to this day. I even recall that the kid was called Hopeton Smith. I wonder where he is now? Enough of my ramblings!
Funnily enough when I was checking my facts & figures before penning the post, I noticed the following quote on Wikipedia, not always the most reliable source I know, about an earlier version of the song;
'...This original version of "Money in my Pocket" was in fact produced by Winston "Niney" Holness on behalf of Gibbs, with musical backing from the Soul Syndicate.'
...which was news to me. So young Hopeton presumably knew that version.
Thanks for the info, my friend. I knew there must have been something. Hopeton must have been tuned in.
A classic, great vid...hope there will be some more from your vaults
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