Better Must Come / It Must Come - Single

By the time Delroy Wilson recorded this session with Bunny Lee, he had begun to shed some of the innocence displayed on earlier recordings like Good All Over in favor of a seasoned and worldly confidence. It should be noted that the immense popularity he was enjoying had come quickly and within only a couple of years he was both a teen sex symbol and respected among his elder peers, perhaps making this shift in demeanor a natural one. But also contributing to this change was the emerging reggae sound that would come to dominate the '70s. Consequently, a number of songs here probably have more in common with the canonical reggae sound than the familiar rocksteady setting heard on his previous outings. On tracks like "Try Again" and "Drink Wine," for example, nearly all of the instrumentation is limited to the two and the four beats. Others, like the meandering "Dance With You" and "Keep an Eye," are in a vein more typical of his earlier records. While his voice is still as commanding and elegant as ever, the instrumentation here is at times rather bland and considerably less intricate than heard on his recordings for Coxsone Dodd. As a result, it is probably better suited for fans of both '70s reggae and rocksteady instead of simply the latter. Either way, this is a fine session from one of the island's premiere vocalists. Recommended.