 Year: 1996 Style: Soul / Reggae Country: UK / Jamaica Source: CD Label: Mantra MNTCD1004 Tracklist 1 Golden Locks 5:38 2 Bewildered 4:29 3 Over the Rainbow 6:16 4 Must Be a Dream 5:41 5 Simple Life 5:09 6 Solid As a Rock 4:53 7 My Woman 4:06 8 Missing You 4:06 9 Can I Be Free From Crying 4:23 10 Lover's Leap 3:42 11 Just Can't Stand It 4:07 >>>> Quote What
a strange idea -- an unplugged reggae album. Stranger still is how well
it works. On Miracle, the wispy-voiced Bim Sherman records some of the
oldies that he seems capable of recycling endlessly ("Golden Locks,"
"Lovers Leap," "Can I Be Free from Crying") along with a few new songs,
but what makes this session so unique is the instrumentation: acoustic
guitars, strings, Indian percussion (courtesy of tabla virtuoso Talvin
Singh) and only the most subtle smatterings of synth and electric bass.
These versions of "Golden Locks" and "Bewildered" aren't even reggae,
strictly speaking, but they sure are pretty. The string section plays in
an explicitly Indian style, which, combined with the tabla, creates a
strange West-Indies-meets-East-Indies sort of ambience. Skip McDonald's
supremely tasteful guitar and multitracked backing vocals contribute
significantly to the success of this weird but lovely album. In the
Unintended Consequences Department: note how the spare acoustic setting
of "My Woman" exposes the howling sexism of Sherman's lyrics. (Note: the
entire program is presented in electric remixes on a companion disc
titled It Must Be a Dream, available separately on the same label.)
One of reggae's most enduring cult figures, Bim Sherman was also among
the most highly-regarded singers of his generation, with his sweet,
wistful and unmistakable voice acclaimed by scholars as one of the
purest ever to emerge from the Jamaican music scene. Born in 1956, he
first attracted notice with his 1974 debut single "One Hundred Years in
Babylon; " the Kingston studio circuit soon beckoned, but Sherman
instead went his own way, refusing to perform any material except the
songs which he himself wrote. As a result, he remained under-recorded
throughout his career, a predicament rare in the annals of reggae
history; by 1976 he was even forced to form his own labels, Scorpio and
Red Sea, selling his singles on the streets of Kingston. Self-released
efforts like "Golden Locks" and "My Whole World" earned Sherman a small
but devout following, and in 1978 the British label Tribesman Records
compiled his early work on the LP Love Forever (later remastered and
reissued as Love Forever: Jamaican Classics, Vol. 1). He relocated to
England in the 1980s, there joining the On-U Sound stable headed by
producer Adrian Sherwood; with Sherwood at the helm, in 1982 Sherman
recorded the acclaimed Across the Red Sea before forming another
self-owned label, Century, to release an LP of the same name. Albums
including Crazy World and Haunting Ground followed, but he did not break
through to international audiences until the release of his 1996 LP
Miracle, an acoustic reunion with Sherwood which also included
contributions from drum 'n' bass guru Talvin Singh. Among the most
renowned reggae releases of the year, it inspired 1997's It Must Be a
Dream, a collection of remixes. Rub-a-Dub followed in the spring of
2000. http://rateyourmusic.com/release/album/bim_sherman/miracle/ >>>> |
