The Ethiopians - Come On Now / Sh’Boom The Ethiopians

This is the first reissue ever of the ultra-rare and very much in demand single first issued in the U.K. on the Doctor Bird label.

Although it was released in 1968, the single captures The Ethiopians at their best as a Rocksteady vocal harmony group with two extremely popular and highly collectible Rocksteady tracks on 7” vinyl format, the A side “Come On Now” and “Sh’Boom” on the flip.

THE ETHIOPIANS

The Ethiopians were a Ska, Rocksteady, and Reggae vocal group, founded by Leonard Dillon with Stephen Taylor (apparently also known as "Tough Cock" Taylor!) and Aston Morris. Dillon was a stonemason from the small town of Boundbrook. There he was raised by his grandfather who was the church choirmaster and Dillon started singing in the church early. Like many others he moved to Kingston for work and there he met Peter Tosh who introduced him to The Wailers and to Studio One where Dillon, under the name Jack Sparrow, recorded three Ska songs with the Wailers as backup…

Soon after he met Steven Taylor and Aston Morris while working on a building site. They rehearsed at the Ethiopian Reorganization Centre and subsequently named themselves the Ethiopians. Morris left the group, and Dillon and Taylor continued as a duo.

They recorded about 10 singles in 1966 for Coxsone Dodd, before moving to WIRL, releasing the "Train to Skaville" in 1967 which briefly appeared in the U.K. chart. It was followed by more singles such as “The Whip" and culminated with the release of their first album “Engine 54” in 1968 on WIRL in Jamaica and on Doctor Bird in the U.K.

The album featured top tracks such as “Engine 54”, “Train To Skaville”, “Long Time Now”, “Train To Glory”, and the great “Come On Now” featured on the A side here. That same year they released "Everything Crash", their first major hit. The song criticised the dire situation in Jamaica whereas water and power were rationed which led to unrests. In one dramatic incident 31 people were shot by police.

Their greatest album “Reggae Power” was released in 1969 on Trojan. Virtually every song is a hit: Women Capture Man, Everything Crash, What A Fire, Robert F Kennedy, Free, Hong Kong Flu, Gun Man, Feel The Spirit etc, etc… It was quickly followed by the equally good album “Woman Captures Man” on Trojan in 1970, featuring 10 new songs and “Everything Crash” and ”Hong Kong Flu” from the previous album.

During the early 1970s, the Ethiopians recorded widely for many producers and record labels, including Duke Reid ("Pirate"), Derrick Harriott ("Good Ambition"), Rupie Edwards ("Hail Rasta Man"), Alvin Ranglin ("Love Bug"), Prince Buster ("You Are For Me"), Joe Gibbs ("Ring A Burn Finger"), Bob Andy ("The Word Is Love"), and Lee Perry ("Life Is A Funny Thing"), among others. It is said that Dillon also helped build Perry's Black Ark Studios in 1973-4. In September 1975, Taylor was killed by a van while he was crossing a road. Dillon stopped for a while, then continued solo as The Ethiopian. He died from cancer in 2011.

No doubt The Ethiopians were one of Jamaica's greatest harmony groups along with The Paragons and the Kingstonians. Their socially oriented lyrics, drenched with humour, were truly unique though and remain strangely valid… 50 years on their timeless singles are avidly looked after by their many fans.

A SIDE:

Title: "COME ON NOW"

Artist: THE ETHIOPIANS

Year: 1968

Genre: Rocksteady

Produced by Leonard Dillon

This is the very first reissue of this super rare and super catchy 1968 Rocksteady anthem. Leonard Dillon’s warm, pleading lead sits front and centre while two‑part harmony responses create a rich, interlocking vocal texture. The rhythm section is deliberately restrained — steady bass, light syncopated drums, light horns in the background— leaving space for the vocal harmonies to carry the track...

This extremely popular track was never repressed on a single until now.

B SIDE:

Title: "SH’BOOM"

Artist: THE ETHIOPIANS

Year: 1968

Genre: Rocksteady

Produced by Leonard Dillon

Released on the B side of the 1968 Doctor Bird original single, Sh’Boom aka She Boom aka Life Could Be A Dream is a cracking Rocksteady cover of the catchy "Sh-Boom" by The Chords, an early doo-wop song and one of the first rhythm and blues records by a black group to break into the U.S. top ten charts in 1954.