A roots-reggae star on a par with Dennis Brown or Gregory

Isaacs, Lincoln "Sugar" Minott numbers among the finest

vocalists and songwriters to graduate from Coxsone Dodd's

famed Studio One. Ghetto-ology (1979) was Sugar

Minott's first self-production for his newly formed Black

Roots label, and it remains a roots-reggae work of sublime

power, a window into the struggles and psychology of Jamaican

shantytowns.

Backed by guitarist Earl "Chinna" Smith's Soul Syndicate

Band, recorded and mixed by the dub godhead duo of King Tubby

and Prince Jammy, Ghetto-ology + Dub retains the warm,

intimate analog feel of reggae's classic late-'70s/early-'80s

period. Songs like "Ghetto-ology" (

HREF="http://media.addict.com/music/Minott,_Sugar/Ghetto-

ology.ram">RealAudio excerpt), a soulful midtempo

croon in which Sugar co-opts Sam Cooke's "Wonderful World" to

tell the people what he knows about ("life in the

ghetto/starvation, frustration"), and "Dreader Than Dread"

(

HREF="http://media.addict.com/music/Minott,_Sugar/Dreade_Than

_Dread.ram">RealAudio excerpt), a strong and

spiritually political rocker with background vocalists

playing the Greek chorus, are perfect examples of the

terrific yet mostly unheralded music that emerged from the

tiny island during the late '70s. Easy Star's reissue also

includes the long-unavailable Tubby/Jammy dub versions of the

entire album, making this package a must for anyone curious

about reggae's all-too-arcane landmarks.