Leo Hall (2)

Even though he has been writing songs, singing and playing guitar for over 35 years by now, the name Leo Hall (2) probably won't ring a bell for many reggae fans on this globe. Unfortunately that's the way it goes sometimes for (too many) Jamaican artists... locally a star, but for whatever reason never achieving recognition on an international level. Leo Hall (2) (aka Leroy Hall) is such an artist whose works lingered in obscurity for decades, and that's a real pity because this veteran singer has recorded a notable amount of real good tunes throughout his enduring career as can be heard on this great "Lets Dub It Up Collection", a compilation cd that features original recordings from 1973 to 1996. It was in 1973 that Leo Hall (2) first entered the legendary Black Ark studio in Kingston's Washington Gardens to record his debut song. At the console was Lee Perry, while the session musicians were Basil 'Benbow' Crarey on drums, Aston 'Familyman' Barrett on bass, Gladstone Anderson on piano, and on guitar 'Tammy' from the now defunct Falcons Band. That day Leo Hall recorded "My Neighborhood", which was produced by Horace Hanlan and Danny Breakenridge. The song was released on Tommy Cowan's Top Ranking imprint, and is now included on this set. It has that typical Black Ark sound, and is a great classic tune worth of hearing. Leo Hall continued to record sporadically with Danny Breakenridge for the Upstairs Music label, but song such as the wonderful "No Place To Hide", the excellent conscious piece "Preacher Man", and the solid "Wake Up" were not released until now. In 1975 the burgeoning Leo Hall recorded the classic "Let Dub It Up" at Harry J Studio. It was produced by Bob Andy and Geoffrey Chung, and released on the Zig Saw label for Sound Track Records. In terms of success the tune didn't do as much for Leo Hall (2) as it did for D. Sharp out of London, who covered it with the same arrangement for Fashion Records in 1980. It went to #1 on the British Reggae Charts, bringing prominence to D. Sharp and successfully launching the label. In the interim, Leo Hall was recording new tunes, and in 1977 the great single "People Bawling (Babylon Is Falling)", produced by Upstairs Music and arranged by B.B. Seaton, was released on the Village label. Around 1979, Leo Hall (2), Vinton Roberts (former bass player with Cedric "Im" Brooks & The Light Of Saba and James Samuel (2) (a former member of Desmond Dekker & The Aces formed a vocal trio called Shakas. They recorded a a number of tracks fror percussionist/producer Harry T, which were issued on his African label. After releasing one LP, "Anytime", and a couple of singles for Upstairs Music including the here featured "Rockers From Shakas", the group disbanded. Leo Hall (2) continued his solo career releasing the fine single "Don't Give Up On Love", before joining forces with his neighbour and brethren Marcel 'Toen-I' Salmon to form the duo I'N'I. They recorded one cd in 1996 entitled "Rocking Time" for Upstairs Music, which included "It's Not An Easy Road". The latter aptly rounds off this truly worthwhile collection, which includes quite a few gems. All in all it's really good to have that many hard-to-find and previously unreleased recordings of Leo Hall preserved on compact disc, even if some of them had to be dubbed from vinyl.