Saturday, 10 November 2012

Saturday Scratch #16

Watty Burnett was essentially a session vocalist for Lee Perry in the 1970s, on standby for whenever a Scratch production required a baritone harmony in the mix. This was exactly how he came to appear so prominently on one of the very greatest albums produced by the Black Ark, 'Heart of the Congos'. Indeed, Burnett's voice became so fundamental to The Congos' sound that by the time of the album's release he was a fully fledged member of the band.

In 1977, immediately prior to his adventures with The Congos, Scratch produced a solo single for Burnett, a cover of Brook Benton's 'Rainy Night in Georgia', re-titled 'Rainy Night in Portland'. Remarkably, the masterful 'Open the Gate' was originally hidden away on the flipside of that tune, only gaining a full issue in its own right in 1980.

After many years of providing backing vocals for such heavyweights as Jimmy Cliff and Bob Marley and participating in a number of Congos reunions, Watty Burnett finally released his debut solo album 'To Hell and Back' in 2002.

Have good weekend.


Previously on Saturday Scratch.
Posted by at
Labels: , , ,

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Really great. Where else is that rhythm track used? I know I've encountered it a few times but can't place it right now. As for The Congos, they made one od the best albums of all time.

10 November 2012 at 16:09
The Swede said...

I've not been able to turn up any variants of this rhythm SB, so if you can recollect any, I'd be very interested to check 'em out.

13 November 2012 at 17:55
Old Pa's Corner said...

Hard to believe this was a B side...Congos rule!

16 November 2012 at 10:30

Post a comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)

Greatest Hits

  • Disappear Into the Compost
    By the time Siouxsie & the Banshees' 'Join Hands' tour rolled into Ipswich on October 9th 1979 (39 years ago today), two of ...
  • Two Find Light in the Deep Light Shining
    Latin Playboys was a Los Lobos side project, consisting of two fifths of that band, David Hidalgo and Louie Pérez, plus producers Tchad Blak...
  • Monday Long Song
    In the summer of 2020, Grant Beyschau (trading as Tambourinen), released 'Wooden Flower' on the cassette only Avant Unity Music labe...
  • Sunny on the Outside, Stormy on the Inside
    I've never been what you'd call a voracious reader, but I've usually had a book or two on the go at once - up until a couple of ...
  • The Big Six One
    A group of us at work who were due to celebrate a milestone birthday or anniversary last year, came to an informal agreement when it became ...