By Mel Cooke, Freelance Writer
Members of the Fab Five band. - FILE
WESTERN BUREAU:
THE ALBUM that was the focus of Friday night's event at the Jamaica Association of Vintage Artistes and Associates (JAVAA) headquarters on Haining Road, New Kingston, is a compact history lesson in itself.
However, certain lessons are best taught face to face and Frankie Campbell and Grub Cooper, foundation members of the Fab 5 Band, added their distinctive lecturers' touch for the benefit of the many persons at the launch of Fab Five Live The Ultimate Vintage Jamaican Party Mix 3.
It was a matter of the music coming back home, as it was actually recorded at the regular Friday evening 'JAVAA Jammin'.
SPANNING THE YEARS
With 33 tracks Fab Five Live The Ultimate Vintage Jamaican Party Mix 3 is anchored at either end of the timeline by Jackie Edwards' 1960 Tell Me Darling and the 1992 Bogle and Butterfly by Buju Banton and the duo of Jigsy King and Tony Curtis, respectively.
The songs, all number one hits, are not laid out in chronological sequence, though eras tend to be clustered.
So Freddy McGregor's 1986 Push Come To Shove and the Bloodfire Posse's 1984 Get Flat are done back to back.
Jacob Miller's Tenement Yard (1975), Police and Thief (1974) by Junior Mervin and Love Is Overdue by Gregory Isaacs (1974) run consecutively.
And Ernie Smith's Life Is Just For Living (1972), Duppy Gunman (1973) and the song he wrote for Pluto Shervington, Ram Goat Liver (1974) form a terrific trio.
Beres Hammond, Alton Ellis, Jackie Opel, Toots and the Maytals, Supercat, Chakademus and Pliers and Johnny Clarke are some of the other entertainers who Grub Cooper borrows voices from as he sings lead on Fab Five Live The Ultimate Vintage Jamaican Party Mix 3.
THIRTY YEARS AGO
"When we started we just wanted to be musicians for the fun. We didn't know we could earn money ... it was not until the last few years that we started to make money. We neva dead fi hungry still," Frankie Campbell said, in giving an overview of Fab 5.
"When Aquarius opened the studio we control today (Stage, in Half-Way Tree) with 24 track, we could not even go there. In 1974 they were charging $120 per hour. That was what we were earning every time we played - if we were lucky," he said.
That was 30 years, 30 albums, 16 number ones (including in Panama, Costa Rica, Barbados and of course Jamaica) and many tours and shows ago.
Desi Young, Jamaica Federation of Musicians (JFM) president, confirmed the popularity of the band, saying that "Wherever you go, Fab 5 is the staple of Jamaican music."
Main speaker Dr. Aggrey Irons used an extremely funny, humorous approach in emphasising the value of music, advising all to "live while you can, love while you can and thank people like Fab 5 for making the world a better place."
After a rendition of a segment from Fab Five Live The Ultimate Vintage Jamaican Party Mix 3, keyboard player Sydney Thorpe gave detailed thanks to all.
