Come Down Father -

Beres Hammond (Harmony House)

That Beres Hammond, along with Luciano, is surely the most consistent reggae vocalist of the last decade, should be recommendation enough to buy this record. If not, how about the fact that Come Down Father is on Burning Spear's great Christopher Columbus rhythm from back in the day? Moreover, in the emphatic chords of the introduction, there's more than a nod towards the opening sequence of another seventies classic, Lloyd Parkes' Officially, before the tune gets into the usual classy Harmony House groove.

Beres Hammond's characteristically thoughful lyric appeals to the creator to come down and put to rights a world where:
"I see greed and I see selfishness, every man for himself
Only you can talk to them father
They don't listen to no one else."

If all this were not enough, this record is worth getting for the version alone. Here the fine rhythm can be heard to full effect in a smooth, jazzy horns led instrumental rather than a full blown drum and bass dub workout.

Everything about this record is pure class.