Foul Play | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | 1981 | |||
Studio | Joe Gibbs Studio, Kingston, Jamaica | |||
Genre | Reggae | |||
Label | A&M | |||
Producer | Clive Hunt, Joe Gibbs | |||
Dennis Brown chronology | ||||
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Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
Allmusic | [1] |
Foul Play is a 1981 album by reggae singer Dennis Brown, the first of three albums to be released as part of his international record deal with A&M.[2] The album features two tracks which have been described as "two of the greatest roots cuts in major label history", in "The Existence of Jah" and "The World is Troubled".[2] The album was reissued on the Joe Gibbs label as a double-set with its follow-up, Love Has Found Its Way, and with both of the other A&M albums on the double-CD set The Complete A&M Years. The album mixed roots reggae tracks and sociopolitical themes with love songs such as "If I Had The World", "Your Man", and a new version of one of his early hits, "If I Follow My Heart". Klive Walker, in his book Dubwise: Reasoning from the Reggae Underground suggested that the lyric of "If I Had the World" ("You drive away the pains from me, sometimes you're like cocaine, baby") suggests that Brown was already using cocaine at the time that the album was recorded.[3]
Track listing
All tracks composed by Dennis Brown; except where indicated
- "On The Rocks" (Clive Hunt)
- "The Existence of Jah"
- "Come On Baby" (Clive Hunt)
- "The World is Troubled"
- "I Need Your Love"
- "Foul Play" (Joe Gibson)
- "Your Man"
- "If I Had the World"
- "If I Follow My Heart"
- "The Cheater"
Personnel
- Dennis Brown - vocals
- Willie Lindo - lead guitar
- Noel Bailey - rhythm guitar
- Lloyd Parks, Robbie Shakespeare - bass
- Clive Hunt, Franklyn "Bubbler" Waul, Robbie Lyn - keyboards
- Sly Dunbar, Devon Richardson - drums
- Dean Fraser, Ronald "Nambo" Robinson, David Madden - horns
- Ruddy Thomas, Uziah "Sticky" Thompson - percussion
- The Professionals - backing vocals
- Technical
- Errol Thompson - engineer, mixing
- Larry Maxwell - executive producer
- Aaron Rapoport - photography