Keith Hudson - Pick A Dub (17 North Parade/VP Records)

The album, which was first released on Hudson's own Mamba label back in 1974, was already reissued a first time by Blood and Fire in 1994, but 17 North Parade now presents this Deluxe Edition featuring in addition to the original 12 dubs, 8 vocal cuts over the same riddims (even including two never before released tracks: 'Be Still', the vocal counterpart to 'Don't Move', and the soulful closing track 'Still Water', a cover version of the eponymous hit by soul legends The Four Tops and the vocal counterpart to 'Depth Charge'). Among the riddims on 'Pick A Dub' two Abysinnians classics, Satta (here spelled 'Satia') and Declaration Of Rights ('Black Right') and also a version of S 90 Skank (opener and title track 'Pick A Dub' and 'Fat Baby', the version by Augustus Pablo). That being said, our attention was especially drawn to 'Michael Talbot Affair', a dub version of the melody to The Animals' 'House Of The Rising Sun', and, as 'Addis Ababa (Place In Africa)', on this deluxe edition also featured in a vocal version by Delroy Wilson. 'Pick A Dub' was already a classic in its own right, but thanks to 17 North Parade/VP Records is now given even more luster!