Left: Master guitarist Ernie Ranglin is optimistic that his 1976 album 'Ranglin Roots' will get the success it deserves the second time around.   Right: Ranglin performs at a live session in 1971. - File Photos

THIRTY YEARS ago, guitarist Ernie Ranglin gathered some of Jamaica's top musicians at the Aquarius Sound Studio in Kingston to record his fifth album, Ranglin Roots. Though it was a hit with critics, the seven-track jazz/reggae record was not a commercial success.

Ranglin, now 74, believed the instrumental disc never got proper promotion. Recently, he teamed up with musician/producer Floyd Seivwright to re-issue the album as Ultimate Ranglin Roots.

In addition to the original tracks, the new edition of Ranglin Roots has eight songs Ranglin and Seivwright recorded during the past decade. It was released in the United Kingdom and the rest of Europe by Trojan Records last year, and locally two months ago by Seivwright's Tropic Entertainment company.

In an interview with The Gleaner from his St. Mary home last week, Ranglin said he hoped the songs from Ranglin Roots are finally given the respect he believes they deserve.

"Radio never played it when it was released, I guess because they were instrumentals they weren't into that kind of music," he said. "It just never got any justice."

Several of the songs from Ranglin Roots, like On Higher Ground and Double Talk, got some exposure. They were used as intros to television programmes by the state-run Association for Public Information, but with roots-reggae the rage on radio, disc jockeys largely tuned out.

Ranglin says at the time Ranglin Roots was recorded, he was on top of his game as a guitarist. Yet, he was not totally satisfied with the finished product.

Disenchanted

"I was going to use some female vocals, but I became disenchanted with the business side of the project, so to me it wasn't really finished," he explained. "If I had gotten the chance I would have gone further."

The Manchester-born Ranglin had cut four well-received albums prior to Ranglin Roots, two of them for Chris Blackwell's Island Records. He started out as that company's musical director in the late 1950s, and established himself as a top arranger/session musician in the 1960s.

He worked for rival producers Clement 'Coxsone' Dodd and Arthur 'Duke' Reid. His jazz phrasings helped make hits out of The Wailers' It Hurts To Be Alone, while he arranged and played on Millie Small's million-selling ska ditty, My Boy Lollipop.

For Ranglin Roots, he honoured his jazz influences by enlisting likeminded musicians such as saxophonist Cedric Brooks and keyboard player Leslie Butler.

For a rootsy feel, he called on bassist Boris Gardener, another Coxsone graduate who was recording at the time with producer Lee 'Scratch' Perry.

While Ranglin Roots gathered dust on shelves of record stores, Ranglin continued to record for various producers including Sonia Pottinger and toured with singer Jimmy Cliff for four years.

During the past 15 years, there has been renewed interest in Ranglin's work. He has recorded with contemporary jazz acts like David Sanborn, made several albums with Jamaican jazz pianist Monty Alexander and recorded others for Blackwell's Palm Pictures label.

Through all this, reviving Ranglin Roots has always been close to his heart. Things are different the second time around, as he is in control of the project.

"I never had the sort of promotional input the first time. Whatever is being done business-wise, I know what's going on," he said.

- H.C.