Clement "Coxsone" Dodd ran Studio One, one of the best and most influential Jamaican recording studios in the 1960s and 1970s. From its production booth he essentially presided over the transition from rock steady to reggae, and artists as famous as
Bob Marley,
Burning Spear, and
Dennis Brown recorded some of their earliest work under his supervision. This excellent collection of singles makes a solid case for Dodd's primacy among reggae producers of the period: "Melody Life" by
Marcia Griffiths and "Party Time" by
the Heptones remain two of the reggae's most loved standards; other highlights on this album include Larry Marshall's immortal "Throw Me Corn," "Row Fisherman Row" by
the Wailing Souls (presented here in an extended version), and
Dennis Brown's excellent version of "Impossible." Best of all may be
the Termites' slightly eerie take on the aching "My Last Love."