
I’ve been wanting to do this not-so-heavy tribute for Mr. Isaacs “The Cool Ruler”, because he was not able to show up at the Hollywood Bowl’s annual Reggae Night festival this year due to sickness. Sometimes we have to recognize how hard it is to work as a musician, but even worse as a reggae musician, that they don’t necessarily get the same financial benefits as the American kind, know what I mean? That being said, Gregory Isaacs had been around for a LONG time, and to see him perform at this age has to be commendable, at least. In honor of the people who wanted to see and hear him play at the Bowl, I’ve compiled some B-sides of his to fill in that “missing gap”. If you’re a fan, I’m sure you already have his greatest hits, so why bother to post the tried-and-true? This is the man who practically created the ‘Lover’s Rock’ genre, and some of you love birds wouldn’t have been able to whisper sweet nothings to each other without his tunes playing in the background. The transition he’s gone through over the years has been amazing, literally not having skipped a beat…until now. Hence, the tribute. Cheers.
You can find some of these tunes on Mr. Isaacs’ 1998 compilation release, “Sinner Man” on Recall Records.
- CLO