''Making History'' is an album by the Jamaica-born, British-based dub poet

Linton Kwesi Johnson Linton Kwesi Johnson Order of Distinction, OD (born 24 August 1952), also known as LKJ, is a Jamaica-born, British-based dub poetry, dub poet and activist. In 2002, he became the second living poet, and the only black one, to be published in th ...

. It was released in 1984 on

Island Records Island Records is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded in Jamaica by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall, and Leslie Kong in 1959, and was eventually sold to PolyGram in 1989. Island and A&M Records, another ...

. It was produced by

Dennis Bovell Dennis Bovell (born 22 May 1953) is a Barbados-born reggae guitarist, bass player and record producer, based in the United Kingdom. He was a member of a progressive rock group called Stonehenge, who later changed name and became the British r ...

Critical reception

Trouser Press ''Trouser Press'' was a rock and roll magazine started in New York in 1974 as a mimeographed fanzine by editor/publisher Ira Robbins, fellow fan of the Who, Dave Schulps, and Karen Rose under the name "Trans-Oceanic Trouser Press" (a reference ...

'' called the album "as vital as any ohnson and Bovellhad made together." ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' wrote: "Dennis Bovell ... has fashioned settings for the poems on ''Making History'' that draw their melodies directly from the inflections and intonation of the lines. Most selections sport catchy instrumental melodies that weave in and out of the poetry, making it sound much like song." ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...

'' ranked it number 16 among the "Albums of the Year" for 1984.

Track listing

All tracks written by Linton Kwesi Johnson #"Di Eagle an' di Bear" – 4:14 #"Wat About di Working Claas?" – 5:12 #"Di Great Insohreckshan" – 4:02 #"Making History" – 4:19 #"Reggae fi Radni" – 4:24 #"Reggae fi Dada" – 4:50 #"New Craas Massahkah" – 6:30

Personnel

*Linton Kwesi Johnson - voice ;The Dub Band *

– bass, mixing *Richie Stevens – drums *

John Kpiaye John Ogetti Kpiaye (born 1948) is a reggae session guitarist, session and live guitarist.Larkin, Colin (1998) "John Kpiaye" in ''The Virgin Encyclopedia of Reggae'', Virgin Books, , pp. 160-161 He was a member of The Cats (reggae band), The Cats w ...

– guitar *Paget King – keyboards *

Nick Straker Nick Straker (born Nicholas Bailey) is a London-born musician, who had hits in Europe and the US in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Career Straker joined his first band, called Stonehenge, in 1969. The band changed its name in 1971 to Matumbi, D ...

– synthesizer *Patrick Tenyue – trumpet *Henry "Buttons" Tenyue – trombone *Geoffrey Scantlebury – percussion *Tony Utah – other percussion *Everald Forrest – other percussion ;Technical *Dennis Bovell, Godwin Logie, Martin Rex, Stephen Street – engineers *Bruno Tilley – artwork *

Peter Ashworth Peter Ashworth (born 1953) is an English photographer. Ashworth initially specialized in music photography, between 1979 and 2000. In the 1980s, he worked with many UK and international music artists including The Smiths, Tina Turner, Depeche M ...

– photography

Charts

Album

References

{{Authority control Island Records albums 1983 albums Linton Kwesi Johnson albums