Me Nah Worry - The Anthology

Few things give the experienced reggae consumer quite as much pause as seeing a 52-track, two-disc anthology of Trojan recordings by a reggae singer that he or she has never heard of before. Everyone knows that the Trojan label's vault is nearly bottomless, and that the material contained within it is wildly variable. And while there are lots of great obscure reggae singers, most of the obscure ones are obscure with good reason — and it's one thing to cherry-pick the best of such artists' material, and quite another to present a comprehensive overview. In this case, though, the gamble pays off. Denzil Dennis' career may have ended up as a footnote in reggae history, but his voice was powerful and sweet and the rocksteady and early reggae rhythms with which he worked are mostly top-notch. This program is perhaps a bit too comprehensive (it's a good two-disc set that could have been boiled down to an excellent single disc), but the long format allows for the inclusion of such charming curiosities as the cheesily wonderful cover versions of "South of the Border," "My Way," and "(All I Have to Do Is) Dream" and a quite simply brilliant reggae version of Sam Cooke's R&B classic "Cupid." The sound quality is consistently very good, and there is a long and informative essay for those who want to know more about this unfortunately underrated singer. Recommended.