''The Fittest of the Fittest'' is an album by the

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...

musician

Burning Spear Winston Rodney OD (born 1 March 1945), better known by the stage name Burning Spear, is a Jamaican roots reggae singer-songwriter, vocalist and musician. Burning Spear is a Rastafarian and one of the most influential and long-standing roots ar ...

, released in 1983.

Critical reception

Trouser Press ''Trouser Press'' was a rock and roll magazine started in New York in 1974 as a mimeographed fanzine by editor/publisher Ira Robbins, fellow fan of the Who Dave Schulps and Karen Rose under the name "Trans-Oceanic Trouser Press" (a reference to ...

'' called the album "excellent," writing that "keyboard stabs, creative percussion and intriguing arrangements provide a solid background to his cries and moans of passion."

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 ...

called it "a superb album, which while not in the same class as Spear's first five releases, proves that the artist still has a good deal of simmer left."

Track listing

All tracks composed by

Winston Rodney Winston Rodney OD (born 1 March 1945), better known by the stage name Burning Spear, is a Jamaican roots reggae singer-songwriter, vocalist and musician. Burning Spear is a Rastafarian and one of the most influential and long-standing roots ar ...

#"The Fittest of the Fittest" - 3:45 #"Fire Man" - 4:10 #"Bad to Worst" - 3:32 #"Repatriation" - 3:43 #"Old Boy Garvey" - 3:45 #"2000 Years" - 4:00 #"For You" - 4:04 #"In Africa" - 4:04 #"Vision" - 4:42

Credits

*Engineered by

Errol Brown Lester Errol Brown MBE (12 November 1943 – 6 May 2015) was a British-Jamaican singer and songwriter, best known as the frontman of the soul and funk band Hot Chocolate. In 2004, Brown received the Ivor Novello Award for Outstanding Contributi ...

*Assistant Engineer: Chris Lewis *Mixed by

and

*Recorded and mixed at

Tuff Gong Tuff Gong is the brand name associated with a number of businesses started by Bob Marley and the Marley family. 'Tuff Gong' comes from Marley's nickname, which was in turn an echo of that given to founder of the Rastafari movement, Leonard " ...

Recording Studio, Kingston, Jamaica *Original art and design by Wicked and Wild *Original photography by Howard Liebowitz, M.D. *Original typography and inner bag design by Keith Breeded (Assorted Images) and The Printed Word

Musicians

Burning Band

- vocals, percussion *

Bobby Ellis Bobby Ellis OD (2 July 1932 – 18 October 2016) was a Jamaican trumpet player. He worked with many reggae artists including Peter Tosh, Burning Spear and The Revolutionaries. Biography Born in Kingston on 2 October 1932, Bobby Ellis attended ...

- trumpet, flugelhorn *

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 ...

- saxophone *Anthony Bradshaw - bass *

Nelson Miller Nelson Miller (12 November 1954 – 30 June 2019) was a Jamaican drummer and record producer. Miller was born and raised in Port Antonio.''Modern Drummer'', Volume 7, Issues 7-12, p. 20, 1983 Influenced by Lloyd Knibb, Carlton "Santa" Davis, an ...

- drums, percussion * Michael Wilson - lead guitar, rhythm guitar *Devon Bradshaw - rhythm guitar, lead guitar * Anthony Johnson - keyboards

Additional musicians

* Aston "Family Man" Barrett - bass (track 3) * Tyrone "Organ D" Downie - keyboards (track 3) * Earl "Wire" Lindo - keyboards (track 3) *

Junior Marvin Junior Marvin (born Donald Hanson Marvin Kerr Richards Jr., June 22, 1949), also known as Junior Marvin-Hanson, Junior Hanson, Junior Kerr, and Julian Junior Marvin is a Jamaican-born guitarist and singer best known for his association with Bo ...

- guitar (track 3) * David Madden - trumpet *Glen Dacosta - saxophone * Barry Bailey - trombone *Calvin Cameron - trombone *Alvin Haughton - percussion *

Winston Wright Winston Wright (19431993) was a Jamaican keyboardist. He was a member of Tommy McCook's Supersonics, and acknowledged as Jamaica's master of the Hammond organ. Winston was born in May Pen, Jamaica on September 5, 1943 and died in Kingston, Jamaica ...

- piano, clavinet *Bobby Kalphat - organ *

Robbie Lyn Robert "Robbie" Bernard Lyn is a Jamaican session musician who plays piano, keyboard and synthesiser. Biography Robbie Lyn is a popular Jamaican session musician, who has played with various session/backing bands including Now Generation, Soun ...

- organ *

Peter Ashbourne Peter Ashbourne CD (born 14 July 1950) is a Jamaican musician and composer who has worked in classical music, jazz, and popular forms such as reggae, sometimes with his group The Peter Ashbourne Affair and more recently with the jazz band Ashes. ...

Prophet 5 The Prophet-5 is an analog synthesizer manufactured by the American company Sequential. It was designed by Dave Smith and John Bowen in 1977, who used microprocessors, then a new technology, to create the first polyphonic synthesizer with full ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fittest of the Fittest, The Burning Spear albums 1983 albums Heartbeat Records albums EMI Records albums