Johnny Clarke – Rockers Time Now

Just buy it for They Never Love Poor Marcus alone. What. A. Massive. Hit. Don’t hesitate. This is it. This is the song. This is the version.

This pressing sounds pretty good to my ears. I've never heard or owned an original – and of course would probably prefer to have one – but this pressing is probably the next best thing. I don't know if this pressing was sourced from the original master tapes or not, but it is in true mono just like the original. Quality control-wise, my copy is perfectly flat with little to no surface noise. And no sibilance issues – praise jah for that. ;)

In general I've had good experiences with Universal Music Special Markets pressings, so if you're on the fence I'd say go for it!

There must a later second press of this LP like there is of The Gladiators Trenchtown Mix Up without the white label rim. I've just come across a copy and there's an export sticker on the back of the sleeve covering the cat number.

Perhaps Johnny Clarkes best album helped in no small part by a handful of classic roots covers from Burning Spear & The Abyssinians. Its certainly one his most conscious as he mainly focuses on strictly rasta themes, where his other albums often featured more love songs, some quite corny at that. With 'I Wish It Could Go On Forever' being the only dud on this album. The Aggrovators are on fine form throughout from which King Tubby has mixed some of his best dubs from these riddims. A testament to how this album can stand up to the age of time & ranks as one of his best. It would be handy should it next get reissued to include many of the great versions as part of an expanded showcase album.

44 years later it's still a great LP in my opinion. A "classic" roots album with a lot of songs written by Johnny Clarke himself, rasta's music yeah

This sounds great. As the title suggests this deals mainly with Rasta themes, and I would say this is essential Reggae. Yes most of the best songs are covers, but who better to cover them than Johnny Clarke? The production's great, the Aggrovators sound at their best, what's not to like.