If I Had a Pair of Wings: Jamaican Doo Wop Vol 1-3 - If I Had a Pair of Wings: Jamaican Doo Wop Vol. 1-3 / Various

Death Is Not The End collects together all three volumes of their critically acclaimed If I Had a Pair of Wings LP compilation series for this special double CD edition, with extensive and illuminating notes by David Katz, author of People Funny Boy: The Genius of Lee 'Scratch' Perry and Solid Foundation: An Oral History of Reggae. Katz writes, "The music on this compilation is the result of the forward-thinking artists and producers that realized the worth of local Jamaican artistry during a time when the island's leading political figures had not yet managed to throw off the colonial yolk. These are sounds with a certain innocence and the optimistic promise of better to come, with the influence of American pop ballads and doo-wop looming large, yet already pointing to the innovations of the future. Listen keenly and take in the sounds of the Jamaican music industry at it's very beginnings, it's singers and players drawing from the popular styles of the island's larger neighbor and already changing those styles into something their own.