With
the death of reggae's Crown Prince, who will do that now?
Your Love Is My Love
Terry Linen
Dennis Brown was always a past master at taking a soul tune
or pop tune from foreign and turning it into something deeper
and a little bit darker. With
the death of reggae's Crown Prince, who will do that now?
Back in the 60s and 70s, JA music always excelled at taking a soul tune or pop tune from foreign, no matter how bland, and transforming it into something edgier and darker. But for quite a while JA music has been dominated either by dancehall or roots. What's happened to the lovers? For some time now it's been left to the UK. Well, here comes a classic slice of JA lovers rock from the under recorded Terry Linen to turn all that around.
The original version by Whitney Houston is a notable tune in its own right with lyrics which are beautiful and moving. But Terry Linen invests it with something really special. His voice is haunting and strong and he has that ability to take his time with a musical phrase and make it his own which is reminiscent of Dennis Brown at his very best. The production is pure class and it's no surprise to see Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare on the credits alongside Gitsy, Jazzwad and Dean Fraser.
A little speculative detective work at this point. I have heard it said that Terry Linen is just seventeen years old. So could he be that same Terry Lenning who recorded Sweet Cassandra back in 1993 on the obscure Million Records label, to my knowledge the only record label to come out of the rural parish of St Elizabeth over in the west of the island? On Sweet Cassandra he sings like a Garnett Silk soundalike over the Mr Bassie rhythm and a very nice record it is too, even if nobody ever bought it. So if he's seventeen now he must have been just eleven or twelve when he made that tune. Which is by no means impossible and indeed would put him firmly in the fine old JA tradition of juvenile sensations like Dennis Brown and Delroy Wilson. If he was that self same Terry Lenning seven years ago, then he's plainly come out from under the shadow of Garnett Silk and is now a fully fledged and mature artist in his own right.
Already a smash hit on 7" pre in Jamaica and the UK, Your
Love is My Love will without doubt will be topping the reggae
charts throughout the summer and beyond. But if ever a reggae
record deserved to go on and be a massive crossover hit in the
national charts, this is the one. Reggae music has never been
properly promoted to a mass audience outside of Jamaica and if
this great record can't bust it outside the reggae community,
then something is seriously the matter.
Danny Browne's All Purpose rhythm
Lauryn Hill- Lost Ones (yard remix)