Wingless Angels, Vol. 1&2

September 1, 2010

Title: Wingless Angels, Vol. 1&2

Artists: Justin Hinds, Keith Richards, Wingless Angels

Label: Mindless Records

Formats: CD; Deluxe Ed. CD/DVD

Release date: September 23, 2010

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When the venerable Jamaican recording artist Justin Hinds died in 2005 it marked the end of one of the longest careers in Jamaican popular music. Musically Hinds migrated from ska through rocksteady to reggae, which he embraced in the 1970s as he continued to have great commercial success in Jamaica and the U.K. despite (like most reggae stars not named Marley) having little recognition in the U.S.  In fact his fabled one-take recording of “Carry Go Bring Come” (1963) is sometimes credited with sparking the ska style. Recording for Duke Reid at Treasure Isle records from 1964 to 1966, Hinds released seventy singles and was the label’s most successful act. Later Hinds recorded for other producers including Jack Ruby who produced Burning Spear’s seminal works Marcus Garvey and Garvey’s Ghost.

Toward the end of his life, Hinds and a community of Rastafarians near his hometown of Steer Town were playing and singing in the Nyabinghi tradition, which eschews most instruments other than sacred hand drums while centering thematically on praise and appreciation of Jah Rastafari. Hinds invited his friend, Rolling Stones’ Keith Richards, a longtime Jamaican music enthusiast, to play along with the group, even allowing, after serious contemplation and consideration, the playing of non-percussion instruments like guitars and harmonica. Recording these sessions yielded a sixteen-song recording released in 1997 as Wingless Angels. The sessions, undertaken in Richards’ Ocho Rios living room and later in a recording studio, featured Hinds, Locksley Whitlock, Maureen Fremantle, Warrin Williamson and Milton Beckerd with producer Brian Jobson on bass, Lee Jaffe on harmonica, Steve Jordan, Bernard Fowler and Lisa Fischer on vocals, Lili Haydn on electric violin, and Richards on guitar, bass and vocals, along with the fishermen, divers, friends, neighbors, and relatives of Hinds who formed the core of the aggregation.

Now Mindless Records has rereleased Wingless Angels in a two-disc compilation that features the original release plus a second disc featuring eleven more recordings from those 1995 sessions, the last recordings of Hinds’ career. The music is unlike mainstream reggae, certainly unlike the sweetened reggae that Island Records distributed in the U.S. and Europe as label chief Chris Blackwell broke reggae worldwide. The sound is highly reminiscent of important Jamaican musical documents like Count Ossie’s Mystic Revelation of Rastafari’s magnum opus Grounation. The performances are centered on the drums and chants with other instrumentation added sparingly and dramatically. Most of the vocals are shared, but one can definitely hear Hines’ plaintive voice at the center of the mix. Highlights include “Shady Tree” and “Oh What a Joy,” both probably a little too subtle for mainstream play, but dreamy masterpieces of contemplation and yearning rendered with undisguised commitment to the music and the higher power of Rastafari. Both are treats for the discerning listener, as are the other eight songs on the newly-released disc two. Songs like “Zion Bell,” “So Sweet,” and “Oh What a Joy” are expressive and joyful in a meditative setting that is very moving. “Come Down Wicked Man,” “Beautiful River,” and “Inviting You” reference the spiritual choices one makes in life from a Rasta point of view, and “Band of Angels” meditates on the social and inspirational value of soulful music.

In addition to the recordings (with extensive liner notes), Mindless Records is offering a “limited deluxe edition” that features pertinent drawings by Richards plus a DVD of interviews with Richards and video footage of the recording sessions for Wingless Angels. A limited number of the deluxe edition issue will be autographed by Richards.

The set lists:

Disc: 1

1. I Write My Name/ Good Morning; 2. No Dark There; 3. Key Man; 4. On Mount Zion I; 5. Morning Train; 6. Roll Jordan Roll; 7. Rasta Army; 8. We Shall Overcome; 9. Come in My Little Ones; 10. Four & Twenty; 11. Rivers of Babylon; 12. Ring Out Mt. Zion Bells; 13. Bright Soul Listen; 14. Enjoy Yourself; 15. Love, Love, Love; 16. Keyman a Cappella.

Disc: 2

1. Inviting You (intro); 2. Shady Tree; 3. Come Down Wicked Man; 4. Zion Bells 5. So Sweet; 6. No Dark Day; 7. Oh What A Joy; 8. Rasta Army; 9. Beautiful River; 10. Band of Angels; 11. Inviting You (outro).

Reviewed by Mike Tribby