The Roots of Dub

The sound of dubs mixed by King Tubby (Osbourne Ruddock) in Jamaica in the early to mid-1970s have long been the stuff of legend in reggae. Those who take a deep dive into the origins of electronic dance music or hip-hop will inevitably confront this formidable legacy. Tubby is also a household name among recording engineers, regardless of genre, as his approach to his craft was genuinely groundbreaking, the idea that a vocal mix of a song was just the beginning of sonic possibilities, not the end goal.

Originally included on the dub compilation CD series Evolution Of Dub, Greensleeves Records in association with Gorgon Music has brought King Tubby Presents The Roots Of Dub and Dub From The Roots back to vinyl with fresh, newly mastered pressings.

“Nobody had ever heard remixing done to the extent that dub was deconstructing these vocals,” explains musicologist and Blood & Fire A&R man Steve Barrow. “That was Tubby’s genius. In a sense, King Tubby gave the world new ears to listen to music.”