Are there any problems specific to issuing early Jamaican music?
The biggest problem with releasing vintage Jamaican music compilations is finding good source material from which to master, as well as decent images for the artwork. Many of the old ¼” master tapes were either recorded over or destroyed, so often there’s no option but to use the original records. The trouble with that is firstly, the quality of old Jamaican vinyl was often pretty sub-standard, and secondly, early Jamaican music was first and foremost, dance music, so the records were played for all they were worth. And then of course, in the seventies, many of the old singles were considered worthless and treated as such – it wasn’t until 2Tone came along that people took interest in them once more and a collector’s market developed. The situation regarding images is equally problematic. Even major Jamaican stars rarely had their pictures taken until Bob Marley became an international star in the seventies. Due in no small part to this, fans of old Jamaican music have become reliant o
