It was the best of times. It was the worst of times. And now I understand what they meant. Here are the things that brought a smile to my face in an often tumultuous 2016.
Earth Disciples “Peace, Love and Harmony” In February, I went to Jamaica. Most of the trip was spent in Port Antonio (Piggy’s forever), but one day, my friend Corey and I did a trip to Kingston to dig for records and check out the Trenchtown Culture Yard. As we walked through the yard, we saw a group of guys sitting in a window across the way. When we got close, our guide walked us into the room behind them, where there was a little studio, with a man named Ziggy at the controls. He played us a couple solo pieces from an album he’d done recently, and then he called in the guys from the window. Turns out that the three of them were Earth Disciples, the first band Marley recorded in Tuff Gong other than his own. (I did a little internet sleuthing and found this article about them pasted into a message board.) Over thirty years later, they’ve still got it. (If you wanna hear the original tune, this is it.)
In between