''Satta Massagana'' is a roots reggae album released by The Abyssinians officially in 1976. It is widely considered The Abyssinians' crowning achievement and a classic roots reggae album. The title track "Satta Massagana" was a huge hit and has been covered numerous times by both The Abyssinians and other artists since. It has even been adopted by some

Rastafari Rastafari, sometimes called Rastafarianism, is a religion that developed in Jamaica during the 1930s. It is classified as both a new religious movement and a social movement by scholars of religion. There is no central authority in control o ...

an groups as a hymn used during services. The song, which translates from the

Amharic Amharic ( or ; (Amharic: ), ', ) is an Ethiopian Semitic language, which is a subgrouping within the Semitic branch of the Afroasiatic languages. It is spoken as a first language by the Amharas, and also serves as a lingua franca for all oth ...

language "አመሰገነ" as "He Gave Praise", was originally recorded for Studio One in 1969, but the label's owner, Clement "Coxsone" Dodd declined to release it.Barrow, Steve & Dalton, Peter (1999) "Reggae: 100 essential CDs", Rough Guides,

Release history

The Abyssinians debut album has had a very complex release history. The first unofficial editions, very limited in quantity, were released by

Clive Hunt Clive Hunt (born 31 May 1952) is a Jamaican reggae multi-instrumentist, arranger, composer and producer. Biography Hunt was born in Linstead, St. Catherine, Jamaica. He learned the trumpet while at Stony Hill Approved school, and joined the ...

in 1975. The first official release occurred in Jamaica in 1976 on Pentrate Label, issued by Clive Hunt and Geoffrey Chung, and shortly after in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

on Jam Sounds. The following years, 1977 and 1978, saw the album released by three labels under the title ''Forward On To Zion''. The album was released in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

on the UK Klik Chart Sounds and Different labels, as well as on Bernard Collins' own Clinch label. Similarly, Clive Hunt's US-based Azul label released the album under the title ''Satta''. A note on track-listings: the Klik & Different releases reverted to the original track listing of the limited pre-release editions which placed the title track as the final track, furthermore, the Azul edition renamed some tracks and did not include "African Race".''Roots Archives'
''Satta Massagana album''
October 10, 2008. The album would see numerous re-releases over the next decade, including in 1988 by Clinch and in 1989 by the Blue Moon label. In 1993 the album was released on

compact disc The compact disc (CD) is a digital optical disc data storage format that was co-developed by Philips and Sony to store and play digital audio recordings. In August 1982, the first compact disc was manufactured. It was then released in O ...

for the first time by Heartbeat Records. This edition included four previously unreleased bonus tracks. And once again in 2007 as a deluxe edition which included four additional bonus tracks. The title track off the album 'Satta Massagana' was covered by Ethiopian dub outfit Dub Colossus in 2011 and released on

Real World Records Real World Records is a British record label specializing in world music. It was founded in 1989 by English musician Peter Gabriel and original members of WOMAD. A majority of the works released on Real World Records feature music recorded ...

. The title phrase is name-checked by

Joe Strummer John Graham Mellor (21 August 1952 – 22 December 2002), known professionally as Joe Strummer, was a British singer, musician and songwriter. He was the co-founder, lyricist, rhythm guitarist and co-lead vocalist of punk rock band the Clash, f ...

near the outset of the 1979 song 'Jimmy Jazz' by

The Clash The Clash were an English rock band formed in London in 1976 who were key players in the original wave of British punk rock. Billed as "The Only Band That Matters", they also contributed to the and new wave movements that emerged in the w ...

("Satta Massagana for Jimmy Dread"...).

Track listing

Original release

Side one

#"Declaration of Rights" (B. Collins) – 3:28 #"Good Lord" (D. Manning, M. Planno) – 3:25 #"Forward On To Zion" (B. Collins) – 3:46 #"Know Jah Today" (B. Collins) – 2:56 #"Abendigo" (L. Manning) – 3:33

Side two

#"Y Mas Gan" (L. Manning) – 3:49 #"Black Man's Strain" (B. Collins) – 2:45 #"Satta A Masagana" (B. Collins, D. Manning, L. Manning) – 3:29 #"I And I" (L. Manning) – 3:34 #"African Race" (D. Manning) – 2:53

1993 Heartbeat re-issue

#"Declaration of Rights" (B. Collins) – 3:28 #"The Good Lord" (D. Manning, M. Planno) – 3:25 #"Forward Unto Zion" (B. Collins) – 3:46 #"Know Jah Today" (B. Collins) – 2:56 #"Abendigo" (L. Manning) – 3:33 #"Y Mas Gan" (L. Manning) – 3:49 #"Black Man's Strain" (B. Collins) – 2:45 #"Satta Massagana" (B. Collins, D. Manning, L. Manning) – 3:29 #"I And I" (L. Manning) – 3:34 #"African Race" (D. Manning) – 2:53 #"Leggo Beast" (B. Collins) – 3:10 #"Peculiar Number" (D. Manning) – 4:00 #"Reason Time" (L. Manning) – 2:55 #"There Is No End" (L. Manning) – 3:22

2007 Heartbeat deluxe edition bonus tracks

"Jerusalem" (D. Manning) – 2:17 #

"Leggo Beast Dub" (B. Collins) – 2:58 #

"Abendigo (Extended Mix)" (L. Manning) – 5:57 #

"Poor Jason Whyte (Extended Mix)" (D. Manning) – 4:18

Personnel

*Bernard Collins, Donald Manning, Lynford Manning - vocals *Mikey "Boo" Richards,

Leroy "Horsemouth" Wallace Leroy "Horsemouth" Wallace (born 22 August 1950) is a Jamaican drummer who worked for several years at Studio One, and has worked with numerous reggae artists including The Gladiators, Inner Circle,Hebdige, Dick (1987) ''Cut 'n' Mix: Culture, ...

Sly Dunbar Lowell Fillmore "Sly" Dunbar (born 10 May 1952, Kingston, Jamaica) is a drummer, best known as one half of the prolific Jamaican rhythm section and reggae production duo Sly and Robbie. Biography Dunbar began playing at 15 in a band called ...

- drums *Val Douglas, Robbie Shakespeare - bass * Mikey Chung,

Earl "Chinna" Smith Earl "Chinna" Smith (born 6 August 1955), a.k.a. Earl Flute and Melchezidek the High Priest,Johnson, Richard (2013)The Melchizedek way, '' Jamaica Observer'', 6 October 2013. Retrieved 12 October 2013 is a Jamaican guitarist active since the lat ...

- guitar * Geoffrey Chung,

Tyrone Downie Tyrone Downie (20 May 1956 – 5 November 2022) was a Jamaican keyboardist and pianist best known for his involvement as a member of Bob Marley and The Wailers.Foster, Chuck (1999) ''Roots Rock Reggae'', Billboard Books, , p. 66, 116 He studi ...

- keyboards *Clive Hunt, Jerome Francique, Llewellyn Chang - French horn *Clive Hunt - flute ;Technical *Bruce Davidson - engineer *The Abyssinians & Clive Hunt - producer

References

{{Authority control 1976 debut albums The Abyssinians albums