For many locals and traveling Jamaican musicians, Jerry Brown’s Malton, Ontario-based Summer Sound Studios – known as Canada’s answer to Lee Perry’s Black Ark – was a creative haven that tapped deep into the depths of universal reggae consciousness. Located just outside of Toronto, the label fired their first shot in 1974 with Johnnie Osborne’s “Sun Rise” backed with the heavenly bounce of “Love Makes The World Go Round” (co-produced by Brown’s one-time collaborator and Half Moon Records founder, Oswald Creary). Throughout most of the seventies, Canadian-produced reggae music was a commercial non-entity, bar a thriving underground scene of ex-pats who simply did what came naturally to them in small studios and private dances. The records mostly sat unnoticed amidst the steady flow of JA product in the gaggle of independent record shops in Toronto that catered to the West Indian population.
This sleeping giant will rest no more…
Over the years, a veritable who’s who of reggae music legends passed through Brown’s now defunct basement studio, wired by none other than Prince (now King) Jammy: Jackie Mittoo, Willi Williams, Noel Ellis, Johnnie Osbourne, Stranger Cole, Leroy Sibbles, and Carl Dawkins to name a few. One-by-one they recorded the otherworldly tracks that form the cornerstone of Light In The Attic’s Summer Records Anthology (1974-1988). Compiled and annotated by Jamaica-Toronto series producer Sipreano (aka Kevin Howes) along with art direction by Vincent Cook (2 Step/Sandinista, Tokyo), this project is a testament to the dedication and persistence of Jerry Brown and his masterful sonic vision.
Reggae… Roots… Dub… DVD…
The Summer Records Anthology (1974-1988) contains crucial catalogue tracks, unreleased masters, and never heard before alternate takes. Song highlights include Jerry Brown’s “Dreadlock Lady”, Johnnie Osbourne’s “Warrior” (Summer Records unreleased alternate version), and “Reach My Destiny” by Noel Ellis. Maintaining the high production standards of the rest of LITA’s Jamaica-Toronto series, we are proud to announce a multi-media Dual Disc component to this release featuring over 20-minutes of unseen archival film footage of Jerry Brown, Jackie Mittoo, Willi Williams, and his Summer Records family shot in Toronto and Malton during the late seventies-early eighties.
