Sangie Davis - Jingling Keys [7" Vinyl]

Horus Records

£16.38

Cat No: HRV125
Format: 7" Vinyl w/ Picture Sleeve + Insert
Release Date: 30 Jun 2023
Genre: Reggae / Dub

a1. Jingling Keys
b1. Version

We are very proud to present this previously unreleased Sangie Davis song and recording from 1979 recorded at Tuff Gong.

Here is an excerpt from the biography which will be included with the full release due out in May, giving some of the history of the song. Written by Glen Lockley:

....One day Bob Marley visited and heard Sangie rehearsing in the back. He was shocked to learn that the songs were Sangie’s own compositions, and wondered why he had not shared them with him before. He was invited to quit the cooking and juice-making and begin working with Bob at Tuff Gong. However, shortly afterwards there followed the assassination attempt on Bob’s life, an event witnessed first-hand by Sangie. Bob and The Wailers subsequently relocated to London for around 16 months. Meanwhile, back in Kingston, Sangie continued to record and perform, primarily with the Twelve Tribes Of Israel Band with artists such as Fred Locks, contributing to his album Black Star Liner, Dan Hutson & The Seers (Baptism) and George Beaufort (Reaching To Our Goal).

After returning to Jamaica to headline the One Love Peace Concert, in April 1978, Bob instantly sought out Sangie. Shortly afterwards the pair composed Wake Up And Live, inspired by the roadworks they have encountered on a car journey from Kingston to Nine Mile which was used as a metaphor for the trials of life. The track would, of course, appear on the 1979 album Survival.

Sangie states that their collaboration She Used To Call Me Dada, plus Babylon Feel This One and Jingling Keys, both written by him, were recorded as demos by The Twelve Tribes Of Israel Band. Bob added overdubbed vocals to the former pair but not the latter. Though none of these tracks were ever officially released, they have become well known within collector circles and, indeed, to the wider reggae fraternity.