Heart of the Congos

Heart of the Congos
Studio album by The Congos
Released	1977
Recorded	1976–1977, Black Ark, Kingston, Jamaica
Genre	Roots reggae
Label	Black Ark
Producer	Lee Perry
The Congos chronology
Heart of the Congos (1977) Congo (1979)

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Heart of the Congos is a roots reggae album by The Congos, produced by Lee "Scratch" Perry at his Black Ark studio with a studio band including Boris Gardiner on bass and Ernest Ranglin on guitar. The album was released in 1977. It is noted as being one of Perry's masterpiece productions of the Black Ark era.

The first issue of the LP in Jamaica was a very limited release said to consist of only several hundred copies. This first release has never been officially re-issued on either LP or CD (although an 'unofficial' CD release, sourced from the original LP, was released in 2004 by CORN-FED Productions, based in Amsterdam). All editions subsequent to the first Jamaica release feature a 2nd, substantially different, mix by Lee Perry.

The album was listed in the 1999 book The Rough Guide: Reggae: 100 Essential CDs.^[1]

Pitchfork Media ranked the record at #46 on its "Top 100 Albums of the 1970s".^[2]

Track listing

All tracks written by Cedric Myton and Roydel Johnson, except tracks 1 and 2 written by Cedric Myton, Roydel Johnson and Lee Perry.

Side one

1. "Fisherman"
2. "Congoman"
3. "Open Up the Gate"
4. "Children Crying"
5. "La La Bam-Bam"

Side two

1. "Can't Come In"
2. "Sodom and Gomorrow"
3. "The Wrong Thing"
4. "Ark of the Covenant"
5. "Solid Foundation"

CD track listing

CD one

1. "Fisherman"
2. "Congoman"
3. "Open up the Gate"
4. "Children Crying"
5. "La La Bam-Bam"
6. "Can't Come In"
7. "Sodom and Gomorrow"
8. "The Wrong Thing"
9. "Ark of the Covenant"
10. "Solid Foundation"
11. "At the Feast"
12. "Nicodemus"

CD two

1. "Congoman" (12" mix)
2. "Congoman Chant"
3. "Bring the Mackaback"
4. "Noah Sugar Pan"
5. "Solid Foundation" (Disco Cork Mix)

Personnel

Produced by The Congos and Lee "Scratch" Perry. Recorded at the Black Ark 1976–77, Cardiff Crescent, Washington Gardens, Kingston, Jamaica.

• The Congos - Cedric Myton and Roy "Ashanti" Johnson
• Bass - Boris Gardiner, Geoffrey Chung (on "Fisherman")
• Drums - Lowell "Sly" Dunbar, Mikey "Boo" Richards, Paul (on "Fisherman")
• Rhythm guitar - Robert "Billy" Johnson
• Lead guitar - Ernest Ranglin
• Organ - Winston "Brubeck" Wright (bass on "Congoman")
• Piano - Keith Stewart
• Percussions - Noel "Skully" Simms, Uziah "Sticky" Thompson, Lee Perry
• Backing vocals - The Meditations, Watty "King" Burnett, Gregory Isaacs (on "La La Bam-Bam"), Earl Morgan and Barry Llewellyn (on "La La Bam-Bam"), Candy McKenzie (on "Children Crying")

References