Ethiopians

Ethiopians

Ethiopian - Everything Crash - Studio One - 1979

Leonard Dillion is the Ethiopian, during the late sixties and early

seventies he was a member of the Ethiopians along with Stephan Taylor

who died. They were one of the most successful vocal groups of the

time. So this album from producer Coxsone Dodd was most welcome.

Lyrical and vocally Leonard was in great form. When he sings of trials

and tribulations of living in the world today, you can hear that this

is from a man who knows. Listen to this album only if you want to feel

the pain.

Ethiopian & Gladiators - Dread Prophecy - Nighthawk - 1986.

To reunite the that magnificent singer-songwriter Leonard Dillion/The

Ethiopian with The Gladiators is inspired and yet so natural. You see,

Leonard and members of The Gladiators go way back. The excellent

sleevenotes will tell you more about that. That relationship is a good

one, the understanding is such that you can not only hear good music,

you can feel the good vibes present on this 4 track showcase. 'Dread

Prophecy' opens the with a powerful drum lick that sets the whole mood

of the album.

The Ethiopians - The Original Reggae Hitsound Of - Trojan - 1988.

Once again excellent sleeve notes, this time from Steve Barrow improve

the release of an LP. They tell you that in many respects The

Ethiopians were The Wailing Souls of the late 60's early 70's. No

other group could match the very high standard of material that took

in all the Rasta thought and ideology that was to crystalise a year or

so later with artitst like Bob Marley, Junior Byles and Max Romeo etc.

All the big hits are here - 'The Whip' 'Everything Crash' - 20 great

tracks in total.

The Ethiopians - Engine 54 - Dr Buster Dynamite - 1990

After two new albums and a compilation album, it was good to see

someone - in this case Dr.Buster getting around to reissuing one of

their albums released when the group was at their peak 'Engine 54' was

recorded for Wirl in 1968, but strangely is a mixture of Rock Steady

Doo-Wop and even Mento. Yet it all works, the best tracks are the big

hits like the title track, 'Train To Skaville' and 'Train To Glory'

but other tracks like 'You Got The Dough', 'Long Time Now' & 'Come On

Now ' are just as good.

Leonard Dillion The Ethiopian - On The Road - Heartbeat - 1992.

As time moves on it seems we have to wait longer and longer for new

releases from this generation of artists. Which in many ways makes

sense. Better to release one good album every five years or so, than 4

bad ones to every one good one, in the same amount of time. This in

every respect is a good one. Produced by Leonard himself, it a

traditional type of Ethiopian/s album in that it's a mix of

cultural/reality songs with love songs that have a lot more in them

than is usual for genre.