The Maytals "The Sensational Maytals" (1965)

org. vinyl release

The Sensational Maytals
release date: 1965
format: digital (1999 reissue)
[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,78]
producer: unknown
label: Jamaican Gold - nationality: Jamaica

Track highlights: 1. "It's You" (4 / 5) - 2. "Daddy" (4 / 5) - 7. "What's On Your Mind" (4 / 5)

2nd studio album by The Maytals originally released on BMN in Jamaica only and later that year in the UK by Doctor Bird Records, reissued by Jamaican Gold on extended cd edition as Sensational Ska Explosion in 1999.
The Maytals were formed in 1962 as a trio consisting of Nathaniel 'Jerry' Matthias, Henry 'Raleigh' Gordon, and Frederick Nathaniel 'Toots' Hibbert. All tracks here are credited the trio, but the band soon became famous as 'Toots & The Maytals' for his lead in the band, and he also wrote many of the trio's songs - later almost everything - and they then became Toots & The Maytals. In the early aftermath of this album, Hibbert spent 18 months in jail from '66 to '67, which explains an unwanted hiatus at a time when the band really was on top of music charts in Jamaica.
The production sound miss much in comparison with American and European releases from that time, but the music is simply golden. At this point reggae was not an "invented" genre but the music by Toots & The Maytals together with The Wailers and Peter Tosh, who all played Jaimaican ska in a combo with soul and r&b was fused into rocksteady, and later became known as reggae [from the 1968 single "Do the Reggay" by Toots and the Maytals].
'Toots' Hibbert has been compared to Otis Redding and this album really proves that analogy quite well. Hibbert doesn't have the same strength of vocal range but listening to this makes you wonder if Redding also listened to this and the debut by The Maytals to find inspiration. The album is stuffed with great tunes, and I have also found this much more inspiring than Bob Marley & The Wailers who experienced international fame in the 1970s when Toots & The Maytals were seen as 'just another' Jamaican band also playing reggae, when in fact they were among THE most important figures in shaping the genre.

1999 reissue

Jacques Brel "Au printemps" (1958)

Au printemps
release date: 1958
format: cd
[album rate: 3,5 / 5]

Track highlights: 2. "Au printemps" - 3. "Je ne sais pas" - 4. "Le colonel" - 8. "L'homme dans la cité?" - 9. "Litanies pour un retour"

3rd studio album by Jacques Brel originally released on Philips aka "Jacques Brel 3". This is another great album by Brel mostly consisting of his own compositions but also introducing 5 songs co-written with François Rauber who is also credited as orchestral conductor (tracks #2–3, #8–9, and #11–12) alongside André Popp (tracks #1, #4, #7, #10, and #13). The original lp contains tracks #1-10, with tracks #11-13 being bonus tracks on the 2003 remaster issued on Barclay Records as part of the 16-disc box set Boîte à Bonbons.