Listen: Quiet Place / The Paragons AQuietPlace.mp3

Listen: Poison Flour / Dr. Alimantado PoisonFlour.mp3

Listen: Dub Place / King Tubby DubPlace.mp3

‘Quiet Place’ is the original name of the oft covered Jamaican fave – ‘Man Next Door’. Same song, it just acquired a different name over the years. This is the original version by The Paragons, who came from the late rock steady period, into early reggae with tight pop harmonies like those showcased on this mid-70s track. The late ’70s roots era cover of ‘Man Next Door’ by Horace Andy is probably the best known remake, tho Dennis Brown had a famous version too.

An interesting side note for Rochester readers of this blog, The Paragons original version 7″, plus DJ mixes with I Roy & others, were released in this country on the Andy’s label from the Bronx. In the aftermath of the riots & fires of the Bronx in ’77, Andy left the Bronx & moved his record store to Rochester. Many of us old timers up there got our 1st Jamaican records from Andy.

‘Poison Flour’ is Dr Alimantado’s toast on the Horace Andy version. In it, the good Doctor retells the old timers story of a poison flour plague that killed a lot of people back in the olden days. He calls the proceedings to order straight off… “What the time you have there, dread?” The answer, “12:00 Natty!”

‘Poison Flour’ is followed by a wicked King Tubby dub of the same Horace Andy take, found on the b-side of his Bunny Lee produced 7″. In it, Tubby shows off his trademark EQ shifting flange effects, as well as his penchant for reaching under the mixing board & giving the huge spring reverb unit a good swat. Tubby’s voice almost never appeared in his mixes, but this record is an exception. He can be heard at the start yelling “Rolling…”

3 great tracks – All Killer, No Filler!

Duane