FREDDIE MCGREGOR

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Review written by Yann Bossuat on Monday, April 18th 2005 - 17 099 views Two years after Freddie Mc Gregor's last album, this compilation gathers some of his tracks from 1978 to 2005. An initiative that lets us (re)discover the vast repertoire of this veteran. Since his beginnings at Studio One in 1963 (at the age of seven), Freddie McGregor has come a long way. His career includes close to 40 albums, not to mention his production work (with Judy Mowatt, for example). "Push Come To Shove" gathers tracks ranging from 1978 to the recent cover of his own song What It's Worth, re-recorded in 2005. The twenty tracks on this compilation span two generations of riddims: those which, from the early days of digital, sound a little hollow (the great majority on the album) and the others, with a properly roots sound, closer to the sounds of the 1970s. Overall, one finds the Lovers Rock style that Freddie McGregor established in the 1980s, notably in England. The album opens with Across The Border, a song written on a plane to Jamaica in which the piano notes and the slightly retro drum sound blend very well with the singer's voice. In Reggae Feeling, the sax and Freddie's singing fuse wonderfully and make this one of the most lover-ish tracks on the album. Other tracks also deserve a listen: for example the cover of Bob Marley's Natty Dread, Out Of The Valley, with its bewitching horns and lyrics written in Ethiopia, Rastaman Camp with its very dub riddim, and Jah Can Count on I with its backing vocals recalling the best days of roots reggae. On the other hand, some cuts turn out to be rather painful. Such is the case with the featuring with Capleton, Make It Snappy, where the deejay's then too-high voice combines rather badly with Freddie's. Or Love Will Solve The Problem, a soul track somewhat out of step with the rest of the album. One can also regret the absence of certain tracks, such as Big Ship, an unmissable hit. "Push Come To Shove" is a good opportunity to rediscover Freddie McGregor songs that are hard to find today. Only those allergic to the sound of the 1980s should avoid this compilation. For the others, it is a good way to wait for the next album.

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