Mark Rothbaum flew to Jamaica to meet with Island Records president and founder Chris Blackwell. Don had been speaking with both Blackwell and Nelson about the prospect of creating a reggae-infused
country album and both men were intrigued. Blackwell was the ideal collaborator. Not only was he the person who introduced rock audiences to the world of reggae but likewise introduced them to Bob Marley. As a versatile, well-connected
music aficionado, he could realize this marriage of
country and reggae the way few others could. In fact, the two genres are compatible in many ways, and not as distant stylistically as one might initially imagine. Toots Hibbert proved it with his triumphant version of
Country Roads and the renown reggae group the Melodians were the first to turn the gospel/bluegrass
classic Rivers of Babylon, (also previously covered by Willie) into a full-on reggae
classic. Perhaps it s not a coincidence that reggae is sometimes referred to as Jamaica s
country music, being that both forms have drawn similar lyrical content from everyday matters and share a foundation in spiritual and gospel
music. Countryman is Willie s impassioned tribute to the upstroke sound of Jamaica, an irie voyage to the land of dub and dreadlocks. Willie takes a handful of his own
classics and filters them through a reggae prism, peppering them with his nylon acoustic guitar, pedal steel, dobro, harmonica and the familiar comforts of
country, while bringing drums and bass to the forefront, yard style. So, after a journey lasting over a decade, Willie s Jamaican vision at last sees the bright light of day. While it s just one in a long line of hyphenated hybrid projects the versatile genius has created over the years, this Countryman feels, by the sound of it, genuinely comfortable amid the island breezes of Jamaica.
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