Misty In Roots - Salvation (1981)

Misty In Roots began life as a Southall-based British roots reggae band in the early 1970's, with their first album 'Live At The Counter Eurovision' appearing in 1979 and being a record full of Biblical Rastafarian songs. It was championed by BBC Radio 1 DJ John Peel, helping to bring roots reggae to a white audience, and is regarded as one of the best live reggae albums of all time. At this early stage, the band was a collective with five lead singers and various musicians, though by the time of the second album the band had slimmed down to just three members, and along with Steel Pulse and Aswad, Misty in Roots were one of the most popular English reggae bands of the late 70's. They started out as the backing band for the late Nicky Thomas, who was one of Jamaica's most famous artists, and who had UK chart success with his 'Living In The Love Of The Common People'. By 1978 the band began to develop their own orthodox roots reggae sound, and their powerful lyrics were inspired by spiraling economic decline, a growing awareness of their African culture, and a spiritual awakening, at a time where the political situation in the U.K. was at a breaking point. Unemployment was affecting both black and white youths, and through this depression a new musical alliance was born, with young white youths turning to playing punk music, whilst at the same time identifying strongly with British reggae acts such as Misty In Roots, Steel Pulse and Aswad. Following the critical success of the live album, the band released a string of limited edition singles on their own People Unite label, such as 'Oh Wicked Man', 'See Them Ah Come', and 'Rich Man', often featuring extended takes on the 12" versions. The band’s second album 'Wise And Foolish' was released in 1982 and took on a more mellow, soulful tone, and in their determination to remain independent the band spent the next nine months in Zimbabwe and Zambia, re-discovering their roots. This resulted in their next two albums, 1983's 'Earth' and 1985's 'Musi-O-Tunya', being directly inspired by their experiences in Africa. In 1989 they signed to Kaz Records, and released the 'Forward' album to some success, but despite continuing to tour to appreciative crowds, this was to be their last record. As mentioned earlier, many of the singles they released were limited edition, non-album tracks, but as they were always the equal of anything from their long-players they cannot be ignored, and so I've collected them here, sometimes in extended form, or segued with the dub version, to highlight just why Misty In Roots are considered one of the best UK reggae bands of all time. 

Track listing

01 Six One Penny (single 1978)
02 Oh Wicked Man (single 1978)
03 See Them Ah Come (single 1979)
04 How Long Jah (b-side of 'See Them Ah Come')
05 Rich Man (single 1979, plus dub)
06 Salvation (b-side of 'Rich Man')
07 Zapatta, Viva Zapatta (single 1980, plus b-side)
08 Wandering Wanderer (single 1981)
09 Cry Out For Peace (b-side of 'Wandering Wanderer')

As this post has proved to be quite popular, here's a little bonus