First, Second and Third Generation by King Tubby, Prince Jammy, and Scientist was originally released in 1981 on the KG Imperial, the record label of the late Kenneth Gordon founder and key figure of Fatman Hi Fi, a UK sound system established in 1974 in North London.
Kenneth Gordon was born in Jamaica in the parish of Sant Ann. He moved to England in 1962 and continued to be a sound system follower. After spending his youth in Jamaica listening to foundational sound systems like Coxsone (Studio One) and Duke Reid (Treasure Isle), in the UK he followed a local sound system called Sir Fanso, with which he began to associate. When Sir Fanso moved back to Jamaica, taking his sound system with him, Fatman decided to build his own sound system in 1974, initially named Wild Bells and later Imperial Downbeat. The sound system changed again its name due to popular demand: whenever a blues dance was held, everyone called the sound system Fatman, a nickname due to his impressive stature.That is how Fatman Hi Fi earned its name and reputation as the heavyweight sound system of the North London area, engaging in legendary clashes with other prime London sound systems like Jah Shaka and Sir Coxson.
This album is a piece of Fatman Hi Fi musical history and a sonic testimony to the bond between London and Kingston, where a generation of UK sound systems needed to maintain a high level of competition using fresh and original dubs from Jamaica. This record is essential for understanding the strong connection that Fatman Hi Fi established with the legendary King Tubby’s Studio, founded by the late Osbourne Ruddock.
Osbourne Ruddock, birth name of King Tubby, was one of the key figures in the musical development of the twentieth century. Born in Kingston, Jamaica, he contributed significantly to the birth of Dub thanks to his intuition in reworking the instrumental section of reggae productions.
King Tubby was part of that musical ferment initially as the owner of the sound system King Tubby’s Home Town Hi-Fi and as a builder and repairer of amplifiers for the main sound systems on the island. This deep knowledge of electronics was poured into his ability to process sound in a unique way when, in 1972, with the assistance of the producer Bunny Lee, he acquired a MCI console from Dynamic Studios to update his ownstudio. In a small room of his family home at 18 Drumilly Avenue, in the Waterhouse neighborhood, the evolution of Dub music began, and the name of King Tubby started to appear on the B-sides of 45 rpm singles. From that moment on, the sound engineer began to receive credit and authorship that were not present in the past.
Besides Bunny Lee, most reggae music producers knocked on the doors of his studio including Lee “Scratch” Perry, Harry Mudie, Vivian Jackson, Niney The Observer, Keith Hudson, and Roy Cousins, to get his particular sound treatment. This happened for two reasons: King Tubby’s mixes, sounded defined and powerful thanks to the masterful use of delay and reverb, as well as the studio’s trademark with an Altec 9069B passive high-pass filter integrated into the mixer and used creatively to manipulate frequencies. It was a sound perfectly suited for sound systems, which were very numerous all over the island and thestudio was also a sought-after destination for overseas sound system owners, particularly English ones, who experienced their golden era during the Seventies and Eighties.
Fatman Hi Fi established one of these enduring connections at King Tubby’s especially with engineer and producer Prince Jammy, later King Jammy born Lloyd James, and First, Second and Third Generation of Dub provides a snapshot of that time. As stated by David Katz in Dub Revolution, it was “an inspired dub conference concept album convened by Fatman that contrasted the approaches of King Tubby, Prince Jammy and Scientist.” The dub mixes presented here were produced between 1979 and 1980 and were exclusive to Fatman Hi Fi; no other sound system could play those dub versions of the rhythms. What makes this dub conference so precious is that we can listen to King Tubby himself on the mix. In fact, after 1976, his mixing skills appeared less frequently on recordings, as he let engineers like Philip Smart, Pat Kelly, Prince Jammy, and Scientist handle the work.
The album opens with “First Generation,” a dubwise version of Horace Andy’s “Zion Gate” mixed by King Tubby himself: pure drum and bass with wisely delayed cymbals flying over your head. “Second Generation” is the dubwise version of Don Carlos’s big hit “Late Night Blues.” The bass frequencies go down low on this adaptation of Black Uhuru’s “Shine Eye Gal” presented in a more sound system style perfect for DJ affairs, as it appeared on two KG IMPERIAL 12” singles: with the famous Badoo & Ranking Toyan piece “Rocking On The Five Thousand” (KG001, 1980) and with Fatman Hi Fi regulars Roy Rankin and Raymond Naptali on “Go Deh In A Late Night Blues” (KG004, 1981). “Third Generation,” with Scientist at the controls, is a powerful stepper cut of Mike Brooks’s “Money Is Not All” (FM004, 7”), which was also issued on the Fatman record label in the 90s. Scientist goes hard on the dub mix; with rolling bass and militant drums, he proves himself a champion in his dubwise territory.
The album flowin with dub versions of Roots specialist favourites: Mike Brooks “Living My Culture”, Cornel Campbell “Brothers Killing Brother”, Lacksley Castell “Millions Miles From Home” and an update version of Pat Kelly “Sunshine”
First, Second and Third Generation Of Dub leads every music listener into the territory of King Tubby’s Studio and takes them by the hand to explore the dub feeling felt during the sound system sessions of Fatman Hi Fi. Repressed for the first time in 45 years, it has surely never grown old and is one of the essential dub albums. With a faithful reproduction of the original sleeve in which appears King Tubby’s studio dubplate sleeve.
Quote:
David Katz “Dub Revolution” (2026, White Rabbit Books), page 207-208
Sources:
David Katz “Dub Revolution” (2026, White Rabbit Books)
Interview from New Musical Express by Penny Reel for the NME (New Musical Express), 21-2-1980
Thibault Ehrengardt “King Tubby The Dub Master (2020, Dread Editions-Jamaica Insula)
