Spark1 Medicinal Cannabis will present a
Bob Marley Birthday Celebration featuring The Congos and The Mighty Diamonds with King Hopeton and the Yellow Wall Dub Squad on
Saturday, February 6th upstairs in the Eagles Ballroom at 10pm.
Tickets to this 21 and over party are $20 in advance and $25 at the door. Tickets are available now at Cactus Records and cactusrecords.net/. Doors at 9pm.
The Congos are a reggae vocal group from Jamaica which formed as the duo “Ashanti” Roy Johnsonand, Cedric Myton, later becoming a trio with the addition of Watty Burnett and have been active from the mid-1970s until the present day. They are best known for their Heart of the Congos album, recorded with Lee “Scratch” Perry, as well as their rapterous live show. Myton formed the Congos, initially as a duo with Johnson, recording the single “At the Feast” for Lee “Scratch” Perry. Perry expanded the group to a trio with the addition of Burnett, this line-up recording the classic roots reggae album Heart of the Congos in 1977 at Perry’s Black Ark studio. The album featured illustrious backing singers such as Gregory Isaacs, The Meditations, and Barry LLewellyn and Earl Morgan of The Heptones. The album has been described as “the most consistently brilliant album of Scratch’s entire career.” The Mighty Diamonds, Lloyd “Judge” Ferguson, Fitzroy ”Bunny” Simpson and Donald “Tabby” Shaw, formed in 1969 in the Trenchtown area of Kingston, Jamaica. They are the most consistent and long-running vocal trio in Jamaican musical history and for the past 46 years have been entertaining and educating the world with their sweet harmonies and conscious lyrics. With their soulful harmonies and polished performances, they quickly became known as the young group with the Motown sound. Their first recordings at Dynamic Sounds eventually led them to their classic hit “Shame and Pride” in 1973. Their first hit singles “Country Living” and “Hey Girl” were recorded on the Channel One label. After touring the US with Toots and the Maytals, the group signed to Virgin Records in 1975 and recorded four albums. Their debut album “Right Time,” produced by Joseph Hoo Kim, become a classic with generated hits such as “Africa,” “Have Mercy,” “Natural Natty,” “Them Never Love Poor Marcus,” and the reggae party album, “Pass the Kutchie,” which has been sampled by everyone from Lauryn Hill to Michael Franti to Wyclef Jean. By 1982, “Pass the Kutchie” from the album ‘Changes’ had become an international hit and has since been covered by Musical Youth, whose version “Pass the Dutchie” has also been a hit all over the world. Judge, Bunny and Tabby have produced over 40 albums in their long career.
The trio has toured the world extensively and has a strong following in Europe and Japan as well as in the US. In Jamaica they are forever loved. On stage antics of The Mighty Diamonds are reminiscent of the Four Tops with their animated hand gestures and energetic footwork. Favorites of the dance hall crowd, roots or progressive audiences. For more information about this and other shows, visit chickenjamwest.com/. •
