Legendary UK Selector and Filmmaker Don Letts, presents The Double Disc Collection: ‘Dread Meets Greensleeves : A Westside Revolution’

MIRAMAR – Greensleeves Records is proud to release four decades of crucial reggae material that captures not only the serious reggae bloodlines of the iconic label but also traces how the music evolved outside Jamaica, particularly in England.

Dread Meets Greensleeves: A Westside Revolution is a seminal two-disc set covering dub, rockers, 80s and 90s dancehall as well as up to the time selections from Greensleeves’ biggest stars through the years – Eek A Mouse, Barrington Levy, Frankie Paul, King Tubby, Wayne Wonder, Shaggy and many more. Compiled by London’s renowned selector, film director and tastemaker, Don Letts, the album also incorporates the personal experiences of the UK’s original reggae ambassador.

The Dread Meets Greensleeves musical journey begins about the same time Letts put the legendary London nightclub, The Roxy, on the map by mixing reggae music with popular local selections.

Indeed, it is Letts who is credited with introducing reggae to the London punk scene, a combination that was to have a profound influence on The Clash (who placed Letts on the cover of their album Super Black Market Clash) and the Sex Pistols (whose lead singer, Johnny Rotten, named Greensleeves’ very first release, the Dr. Alimantado track “Born For A Purpose”, as one of his favorite songs of all time).

Letts weaves the revolutionary vibe of this dynamic period into the album on the very first track of Disc One, the roots anthem “War” from the Wailing Souls. The musical revolution continues with Augustus Pablos’s “King Tubby’s Meets Rockers Uptown”, Michigan & Smiley’s “Diseases” and Toyan’s masterpiece “How The West Was Won”. The distinctive styles of the vocalist Eek A Mouse and the instrumentalists Ras Michael & the Sons of Negus, had a significant impact as well, both of whom are featured on Dread Meets Greensleeves. “Where Is Jah”, from The Reggae Regulars, a homegrown English reggae act, shows the proof is in the pudding.

Disc Two appropriately takes off with Wayne Smith’s “Under Mi Sleng Teng”, the song that launched dancehall’s digital revolution. Dread Meets Greensleeves strikes a balance with just the right amount of singers and deejays from every era–with early dancehall classics like Gregory Isaac’s “Rumours”, Frankie Paul’s “Pass The TuSheng Peng” and Krystal & Shabba Ranks’ “Twice My Age”, 90s hits like Mr. Vegas’s “Heads High”, Shaggy’s #1 UK hit “Oh Carolina” and Sizzla’s “Love Is Divine” and new millennium tunes led by Wayne Wonder with “No Letting Go” on the Diwali riddim and “Rub A Dub Wi Want”, the recent chart topper from Shaggy on the VIP riddim.

On Dread Meets Greensleeves: A Westside Revolution, Don Letts leaves nothing to chance with a choice collection of the biggest hits in its extensive catalogue.

Be a part of the revolution!