U-Roy, Mykal Rose, Luciano, Early One - Fisherman Riddim

The Congoes' "Row Fisherman Row" is one of the most haunting songs and riddims out there, and more so given Lee Perry's hand at the mixing board, well its certainly not new news that Blood & Fire in connection with Rhythm & Sound voiced a slew of new versions which can be found on the L.P. set called Fisherman Style, and recently they started to put out some of those cuts on 7". Heres a showcase starting with Daddy U-Roy with "Fisherman Style" who still sounds like he has a lot to say, some I dunno 36 or so years since his first recordings, compare him with how he sounds on the "TrueTrueTrue" post below...like fine wine I'm tellin ya. Next up is Mykal Rose, "Let Your Love" has him in classic form, but for my money Luciano blows the doors off of any of these versions. In a tribute vocally & lyrically to Dennis Brown on "I'm Going Home", Luciano absolutly murders this riddim start to finish. This man is clearly in charge and has taken the place in the Reggae world once held by Bob Marley & Dennis and I think he'll be around with us for a lot longer than Bob or Dennis. Early One brings his toast "Jig Jig Jig" to the mix in a fine style, representing the modern version of the DJ tradition handed down to us from originators like U-Roy.
From time to time I read or hear criticism of versioning in reggae, "its all the same" etc, etc, but I'm tellin you, if its a timeless riddim like "Fisherman" than I say the more the better, some cuts I could hear a hundred versions and still want to hear more, I could go on and point out the similarities to versioning in jazz or hip-hop but I'm sure its all academic to those of you reading this, in the mean time goto http://www.badongo.com/file/1195320 and check out "Fisherman Style"