French reissue of the first studio recordings by Keith Poppin from 1968. Backed by Sound Dimension feat. Jackie Mittoo and Leroy Sibbles and produced by Coxsone Dodd. Pressed in random colours.
Keith Poppin was born in May 1949 in Westmoreland in Jamaica as Keith Smith and moved to Kingston at the age of 17. Like more Jamaican singers, his singing career began in the church choir. Poppin started his first band called THE ROBINS and recorded several songs for producer COXSONE DODD. Two of them appeared at the ‘Rock Steady Coxsone Style’ album on Studio One imprint Coxsone Records. Keith Poppin is responsible for the lead vocals and songwriting of both songs, who where miscredited to WINSTON & THE ROBINS. The backing band on both tracks was Studio One house band Sound Dimension.
After The Robins called it a day each went his own way. Keith Poppin continued with THE ROCKING HORSE group which from 1971 to 1974 recorded for producers like Keith and Clive Chin, Lee Perry and others. Meanwhile Keith Poppin also began to build a name for himself as a solo artist. In 1975 Poppin teamed up with producer Phill Pratt and recorded his first solo album called ‘Envious’. The title song was a reworked version of The Robins track ‘Bad Mind Grudgeful’ from 1968: “You're bad mind, you're grudgeful, they say you're envious”.
After ‘Envious’ Keith Poppin recorded two more full lengths before he took a break from recording. In 1987 Keith Poppin reappeared on the Jamaican music scene with the song ‘In My Hometown‘ which took him to the finals of the annual Jamaican Song Festival. In 1993 Keith Poppin moved to the USA where still lives today. Even though he stopped being a singer by profession he continued recording. Since moving to the USA he recorded three more studio albums, in 2002, 2011 and 2020. In an interview for Reggae Vibes Keith Poppin stated: “Well, you know what? I’m a singer (…) and that feeling is always there!”. Over 55 years after its initial release the songs ‘Bad Mind Grudgeful’ and ‘Wailing Time’ are finally available again on vinyl.
Tracklist
A. Bad Mind Grudgeful
B. Wailing Time
