Do you want just reggae ? Or is earlier ska and rocksteady also part of what you're looking for ? In which case I'd advise Toots & The Maytals, Desmond Dekker and The Ethiopians, my Holy Trinity as far as Jamaïcan music is concerned. Compilations are fine.
For reggae, I'd say Burning Spears' Marcus Garvey and Peter Tosh's Legalize It are must-haves, I also like Augustus Pablo's East of the River Nile.
Other standouts of my own very small collection :
Culture - Two Sevens Clash
Max Romeo & The Upsetters - War Ina Babylon (brilliant !)
The Congos - Heart of The Congos
I also like Bunny Wailer, although I couldn't advertise any LP (I don't own any, only have a few tunes here and there). 'Burial' is one of the best reggae song I've ever heard though. Didn't hear much of him, but what I have i like very much - got to go deeper in this.
For dub, check out Lee Scratch Perry's Arkeology compilation.
For Bunny Wailer, you can't go wrong with Blackheart Man. One of the best!
Would have said much of what's already been mentioned (Toots, Desmond Dekker, The Congos, Lee Scratch Perry). The two I find most interesting though, possibly after the Bob who really did make some great stuff, are Linton Kwesi Johnson who recorded a great album in 1979 called Forces of Victory, and a South African bloke that calls himself Alpha Blondy who released Apartheid Is Nazism in 1985.
Capleton - Reign Of Fire (great album - recommended by an old Jamaican DJ I got talking to at Notting Hill Carnival in London a few years ago...)
Dandy Livingstone
Desmond Dekker (Shanty Town & Israelites are my 2 favourite reggae songs)
Horace Andy
Lee Scratch Perry (The master of Dub!)
The Revolutionaries
Toots & Maytals
also check out the Aggrolites - a band from California that has backed Tim Armstrong (Rancid) and has links to other cools bands (the Hepcats).
And of course my native NZ has a heap of great reggae bands.
Check out:
Katchafire
Black Seeds
Fat Freddys Drop
Salmonella Dub (earlier releases)
Kora
Dammit I was going to recommend all of those
He is right New Zealand has heaps of Reggae
Would have said much of what's already been mentioned (Toots, Desmond Dekker, The Congos, Lee Scratch Perry). The two I find most interesting though, possibly after the Bob who really did make some great stuff, are Linton Kwesi Johnson who recorded a great album in 1979 called Forces of Victory, and a South African bloke that calls himself Alpha Blondy who released Apartheid Is Nazism in 1985.
Alpha Blondy is from Ivory Coast actually (just pointing this out because he's quite famous in France).
Would have said much of what's already been mentioned (Toots, Desmond Dekker, The Congos, Lee Scratch Perry). The two I find most interesting though, possibly after the Bob who really did make some great stuff, are Linton Kwesi Johnson who recorded a great album in 1979 called Forces of Victory, and a South African bloke that calls himself Alpha Blondy who released Apartheid Is Nazism in 1985.
Alpha Blondy is from Ivory Coast actually (just pointing this out because he's quite famous in France).
You are quite right. For some reason I always thought he was from South Africa. Thanks for the correction.
Depends what sort of reggae you're into, I like that Junjo Lawes and Sugar Minott inspired early dancehall sound, as well as more roots-y and lovers' rock stuff. A few albums I see as essential include:
John Holt - Sweetie Come Brush Me
The Congos - Heart of The Congos
Sugar Minott - Ghetto-ology
I-Roy - Don't Check Me With No Lightweight Stuff (compilation)
Big Youth - Natty Universal Dread (3CD comp.)
Bunny Wailer - ... Sings The Wailers
Bunny Wailer - Rock 'n' Groove
Augustus Pablo - East of the River Nile
Culture - Two Sevens Clash
Culture - Culture At Work
Dr. Alimantado - Best Dressed Chicken In Town
Eek-A-Mouse - Wa Do Dem
any of the first four or five Black Uhuru albums, especially 'Guess Who's Coming To Dinner' and 'Red'
virtually any Gregory Isaacs album from about 1976 through to '81 or '82, but especially 'The Best of vol's. 1 & 2' (albums titled to help them sell better in the UK, not actually compilations), 'Extra Classic' and 'More Gregory'
more recently:
Sizzla - Waterhouse Redemption
Sizzla - Black Woman & Child
Sizzla - Da Real Thing
Tarrus Riley - Parables
Buju Banton - 'Til Shiloh
Richie Spice - In The Streets To Africa
I-Wayne - Lava Ground
I simply must mention the Curse of Monkey Island soundtrack. It's what got me interested in music way back in the first place, and it's still some of the best music I've ever heard. A bit of jazz mixed in there too.
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