''King Tubby Meets Vivian Jackson'' (also known as ''Chant Down Babylon'' and ''Walls Of Jerusalem'') is the second album by Jamaican musician Yabby You (Vivian Jackson), in collaboration with Jamaican sound engineer and
dub music
Dub is an electronic musical style that grew out of reggae in the late 1960s and early 1970s. It is commonly considered a subgenre of reggae, though it has developed to extend beyond that style.Dub: soundscapes and shattered songs in Jamaican re ...
pioneer King Tubby.
The first half of ''King Tubby Meets Vivian Jackson'' is tracks by Yabby You with his backing band The Prophets, some of which had previously been released as 45s. The second half is dub versions of those tracks, made by King Tubby.
Background and release
In 1975 Jackson and his vocal group The Prophets released their debut album '' Conquering Lion'', which was popular in Jamaica and the UK.
''Walls of Jerusalem'' was first released in Jamaica in 1976, and was initially sold as an LP in a blank sleeve. Jackson later reissued the album on his label Prophet under the title ''King Tubby Meets Vivian Jackson''. In 1977 record label Nationwide released the album in the UK as ''Chant Down Babylon'', with alternate cover art and track names, and erroneously credited it to "Yabby Youth".
In 2019
Pressure Sounds
Pressure Sounds is a British DIY record label, specializing in releasing reggae music. Run by Pete Holdsworth, it is one of the most enduring reggae labels in the UK, specializing in reissuing obsolete tunes. It was originally a subsidiary o ...
reissued the album as ''Walls of Jerusalem'' on LP and CD. The reissue included a second disc of studio outtakes and dub versions.
Critical reception
Jo-Ann Greene of
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...
wrote that title track "Walls Of Jerusalem" is a "stellar single, a major hit, and a song that helps make You's own religious beliefs clear." ''The Rough Guide to Reggae'' said that "tracks like "Walls Of Jerusalem" and "Chant Down Babylon" are flawless, while the dubs are fully the equal of those on the classic ''Prophecy Of Dub'' set from Tubby."
David Katz described the track "Chant Down Babylon Kingdom" as "one of Yabby’s most forceful releases".
He also described the album, and its follow-up ''Deliver Me From My Enemies'', as being of the same standard as Yabby You's debut, and as "containing works of fearsome religious and political retribution, interspersed with the occasional love song."
Track listing
Personnel
*
Vivian Jackson
Vivian Jackson (14 August 1946 – 12 January 2010), better known as Yabby You (or sometimes Yabby U), was a reggae vocalist and producer, who came to prominence in the early 1970s through his uncompromising, self-produced work.
Biography
Jack ...
Clinton Fearon
Clinton Anthony Fearon (born 13 January 1951) is a Jamaican reggae singer and musician. He has lived in Seattle, Washington since 1987.
Career
Jamaica
Clinton Fearon was born near Kingston, and quickly moved to St. Catherine, a rural Jamaica ...
Robbie Shakespeare
Robert Warren Dale Shakespeare (27 September 1953 – 8 December 2021) was a Jamaican bass guitarist and record producer, best known as half of the reggae rhythm section and production duo Sly and Robbie, with drummer Sly Dunbar. Regarded as ...
– bass
*Anthony "Benbow" Creary,
Carlton "Santa" Davis
Carlton "Santa" Davis (born 21 November 1953) is a musician from Jamaica, primarily known for his drumming with bands such as Bob Marley & The Wailers, The Aggrovators, Soul Syndicate and Roots Radics. He has worked with reggae artists such as ...
Earl "Chinna" Smith
Earl "Chinna" Smith (born 6 August 1955), a.k.a. Earl Flute and Melchezidek the High Priest,Johnson, Richard (2013)The Melchizedek way, ''Jamaica Observer'', 6 October 2013. Retrieved 12 October 2013 is a Jamaican guitarist active since the late ...
Herman Marquis
Herman Marquis is a Jamaican saxophone musician who has played with many reggae artists including Burning Spear. He recorded for Arthur "Duke" Reid in the 1960s and was a member of The Revolutionaries and The Upsetters in the 1970s.Barrow, Steve ...
, Tommy McCook – horns
*
Ansel Collins
Ansel Collins is a Jamaican musician, composer, singer, songwriter and producer, best known for his work with Dave Barker as Dave and Ansel Collins.
Biography
Born 1949 in Kingston, Jamaica,Noel "Scully" Simms – percussion
Technical
*Carlton Lee, Anthony "Crucial Bunny" Graham, Ernest Hoo Kim, Errol "ET" Thompson, King Tubby,
Lee "Scratch" Perry
Lee "Scratch" Perry (born Rainford Hugh Perry; 20 March 1936 – 29 August 2021) was a Jamaican record producer, composer and singer noted for his innovative studio techniques and production style. Perry was a pioneer in the 1970s development o ...
, Pat Kelly, Sylvan Morris – engineering
*Dave Blackman – mastering
Artistic
*Happening, Theo Bafaloukos – photography