A Year Full Of Sundays

Bobbie Houston : Make It With You
originally performed by Bread

Johnny Clarke : None Shall Escape

Matumbi : Law Of The Land
originally performed by The Temptations

King Sporty : A Year Full Of Sundays

all selections taken from the compilation "20 Tighten Ups" on Trojan (1974)

Sadly, I don't have enough time today to sit down and formulate some proper paragraphs about these sweet and soulful reggae songs I recently uncovered on this excellent Tighten Ups collection. I didn't have time all weekend, and I probably won't have time for the rest of the week. I suppose that's the point though. "Wouldn't you like to live a year full of Sundays?... Only Sundays." Naps, slow sunny strolls, plenty of time to read and write, to draw and paint, to make music...

Of all the funky cover versions and stanky skank rhythms on this compilation, somehow the King Sporty song, which reminded me immediately of "Put It On" by a young Bob Marley, hit home the hardest. Even without singing, Sporty's straightforward philosophizing gripped the dreamer in me, helping me rise temporarily above the stained snowbanks and brick walls around me.