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October 28, 2009
VP Records presents the best of Morgan Heritage
This must have compilation chronicles the favourites, highlights, and rarities celebrating the talented family's journey.
Since their 1997 VP Records debut, Protect Us Jah, Morgan Heritage has positioned themselves as one of Reggae's best bands. The accomplishments of the group and individual members are formidable; as songwriters, producers and a touring band. This family of talented performers has released eight studio and two live albums which has extended the audience and definition of Reggae. This finely honed modern roots identity, which has made Morgan Heritage one of Reggae's most enduringly successful acts, is showcased throughout this greatest hits CD/DVD compilation, The Journey Thus Far, in stores October 27.
This comprehensive disc features the group's finest recordings to date, plus two previously unreleased tracks. It also features concert footage of The Morgans performing in Senegal and Gambia plus nine of the group's most popular videos.
The CD commences with the title track from Protect Us Jah a simple yet heartfelt prayer for spiritual strength sung over Bobby Digital's brilliant reworking of the Heathen rhythm, an instrumentation from the Bob Marley song by that name.
Other tracks include Don't Haffi Dread, which remains one of the most requested in the group's hit-filled repertoire with its easily sung, catchy refrain. Two of the biggest reggae hits of 2004/2005 were produced on enormously popular one-drop rhythms by Donovan 'Don Corleon' Bennett and included on Heritage's 2005 VP Records release Full Circle. Peetah earned cheers from women everywhere as he rebuffed the advances of Your Best Friend on the Drop Leaf rhythm while, Tell Me How Come?
on the Seasons rhythm forcefully decries the injustices that abound in Jamaica from the continual fight against Rastafari, to the discrepancy in education offered to rich and poor children.
From the group's 10th Album Mission in Progress released by VP in 2008, Brooklyn and Jamaica produced by Shane Brown, draws gritty parallels between reggae's birthplace and the borough of kings, home to the largest population of Jamaicans off of the island.
The Journey Thus Far demonstrates Morgan Heritage's collective building process and their extraordinary evolution from a precociously talented teen aggregation into one of contemporary Reggae's most powerful sonic and lyrical forces. Throughout their profound journey, Morgan Heritage has pioneered Jamaican music's popularity in such far flung locales as the Seychelles Islands in the Indian Ocean to the rural Northern US, where many residents had never even heard the word reggae prior to their appearances there and they've made roots reggae relevant to a generation of fans who weren't yet born when Jamaican icons such as Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, and Dennis Brown were touring the world.