Toots & The Maytals - Sweet And Dandy (Charly Records BLP005)

"All of the songs on the Sweet And Dandy LP were originals except for ‘We Shall Overcome’, and every hit mentioned above was included except for ‘Do The Reggay’. Also present was the gospel-powered R&B number ‘I Shall Be Free’, the lively dance tracks ‘Bla, Bla, Bla’ and ‘Alidina’, a slow ballad called ‘I Need Your Love’ and the rousing ‘Oh Yeah’, on which they call for a reconciliation. It’s been more than half a century since these tracks were first recorded, and this vinyl reissue has brought an undeniable freshness to them. Toots sounds more vibrant than ever as he bounces off Jerry and Raleigh’s trademark harmonies, whilst the separation in the actual mix allows us to hear all of the participants’ individual contributions with even greater clarity. 

A year after the original LP was released, Beverley’s licensed ‘54-46 Was My Number’ to Trojan in the UK, and Denny Cordell’s Shelter Records in the US. Trojan also issued an album called Monkey Man for the UK market in 1970, but the Maytals’ unrivalled run of success with Beverley’s came to a sudden halt when Leslie tragically died from a heart attack the following year, at the age of thirty-seven. Leaving aside their previous grievances, they returned to Byron Lee in 1972 and won that year’s Jamaica Song Festival with ‘Pomp & Pride’, but it was the Maytals’ appearance in Perry Henzell’s film The Harder They Come – singing ‘Sweet And Dandy’ in a Beverley’s session – and the inclusion of that song and also ‘Pressure Drop’ on the soundtrack album that brought them wider exposure outside of Jamaica and put them on the road to international stardom."