VIA PRESS RELEASE | On December 13, 2019, Omnivore Recordings will begin a reggae-classic reissue series on vinyl with two from the Nighthawk Records catalog: Justin Hinds & the Dominos’ Travel With Love and Gladiators’ Symbol of Reality.
Justin Hinds topped the charts in Jamaica with his 1964 single “Carry Go Bring Home” and eventually recorded a staggering 70 singles for the Treasure Island Records label. After a short stint with Mango Records in the ’70s, the ska and rocksteady pioneer returned to the studio to record material for Nighthawk Records. Travel With Love was originally released in 1984, and combined Hinds and the Dominos’ classic past with the evolving reggae sound. Omnivore’s newly remastered version of the album features original LP’s eight track tracks in a beautiful gatefold jacket.
Albert Griffiths founded the Gladiators in 1966 after some success on his own. The group scored their first hit, produced by legendary producer Coxsone Dodd, with “Hello Carol” in 1968. During the ’70s they made their way through releases on labels like Studio One, Upsetter, Virgin, and Groovemaster. In 1980 the Gladiators worked with producer—and pre-“Electric Avenue” hitmaker—Eddy Grant on an eponymous album that also featured members of the band Aswad lending a musical hand.
On 1982’s Symbol of Reality, their first for the Nighthawk Records label, the Gladiators revisited their own catalog of songs, re-recording “Dreadlocks The Time Is Now” (appearing here as “Streets of Gold”), “Watch Out,” and “Big Boo Boo Deh” (returning retitled as “Cheater”) while also paying homage to the Wailers with covers “Small Axe” and “Stand Alone,” both written by Bob Marley.
According to Griffiths: “Dread is me culture, know wha’ I mean? Me could not a sing reggae music and really be a man that trim. Ha fe be a dread. When I say dread, a Rastaman, know wha’ I mean? I ha fe dread because every song that I sing is dread. The way I sing it is dread. Yeah, the music itself dread . . . Just I way deh. One o’ the humble, one o’ de meek, one o’ de cool, but very vicious when I deal with music . . . A real reggae singer ha fe be forceful. A forceful reggae singer will always survive. Reggae music, man—it might look simple, but it naw so simple, you know. You ha fe ready and you ha fe ready with the punch. You ha fe ready to attack and very swift. You see a karate man punch a man, you know, and move again. Well it’s just same way reggae. You ha fe tense your body to sing reggae.”
This newly remastered version of the album features the original LP’s ten tracks in a beautiful gatefold jacket. The original liner notes are also included.
Like all of Omnivore’s Nighthawk reissues, the Hinds and Gladiators LP reissues were overseen by original Nighthawk Records producer Leroy Jodie Pierson and Grammy® Award-winning producer Cheryl Pawelski, and have been remastered from the original tapes by Grammy® Award-winning engineer, Michael Graves, with lacquers cut by Jeff Powell at Take Out Vinyl/Sam Phillips Recording Service in Memphis, Tenn.
Justin Hinds & the Dominos: Travel With Love Track Listing
SIDE ONE
1. Get Ready Rock Steady
2. Miss Wendell
3. Book Of History
4. Travel With Love
SIDE TWO
1. Weeping Eyes
2. In The Jungle
3. Sweet Loraine
4. The Rainbow
Gladiators: Symbol of Reality Track Listing
SIDE ONE
1. Symbol Of Reality
2. Small Axe
3. Bumping And Boring 4. Cheater
5. Watch Out
SIDE TWO
1. Mister Goose
2. Streets Of Gold
3. Righteous Man
4. Righteous Man Version
5. Stand Alone
6. Not Afraid To Fight
