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Saturday, January 16, 2016

Harry J All Stars - "The Liquidator" (1969 Reggae classic)

Edited by Azizi Powell

This post showcases a sound file of the 1969 Reggae instrumental classic "The Liquidator" by Harry J All Stars. Selected comments from this sound file's discussion thread are also featured in this post. Many of those commenters refer to this song being associated with "Chelsea", a United Kingdom football (soccer) team.

The content of this post is presented for cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to Harry J All Stars for their musical legacy. Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post and thanks to the publisher of this sound file on YouTube.

The tune for "The Liquidator" was sampled for the Staple Singers 1972 Soul song "I'll Take You There". Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2016/01/staple-singers-ill-take-you-there.html for a pancocojams post on that song.

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EXCERPT ABOUT THIS SONG AND THE SOUL CLASSIC "I'LL TAKE YOU THERE"
From http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=2173
"Many elements of [the Soul song "I'll Take You There"], including the famous intro, were based on a Jamaican instrumental song called "The Liquidator" by the Harry J Allstars*, which was a #9 UK hit in 1969. Al Bell, who had made frequent trips to Jamaica, brought the record into the session and played it for the band, who used it as a template. They thought the record was a demo Bell made, and didn't find out until many years later that they lifted an existing song. David Hood, who played bass on this track, told us: "The Liquidator thing, we didn't know what that was. As I recall, he came in and brought what they call a dub. It was like an acetate or something, a disk that you put on the record player and play. And it had no lyrics on it. We just thought it was an instrumental track that somebody had done for a song. And it was only years later when I found out that that had been a record."...

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SHOWCASE EXAMPLE: The Harry J All Stars - "The Liquidator" (Official Audio)



Trojan Records Official, Published on May 9, 2014

Harry J All Stars' classic 1969 chart hit, "The Liquidator", featuring legendary organist Winston Wright on organ. Cut on the rhythm first used on Tony Scott's 'What Am I To Do', the recording remains a favourite at football grounds around the UK, notably Chelsea FC's Stamford Bridge.
-snip-
Selected comments from this sound file's discussion thread:
2015
Andy D
"This is such a cool song and certainly wasn't recorded with football in mind. Enjoy it as it is as a song that stands alone."

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chardelli
It's been a Chelsea song since the early 70s. Can't help myself laughing at the haters. Move on.

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Rob Q
"This song belongs to The Harry J All Stars themselves. No one else."

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Walt Jabsco
Reply
"+Rob Q Football ruined this tune!"

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Rob Q
Reply
"Yep!"

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Cherubsdaswhiskey
"Reply
"+Walt Jabsco Come on man why are you so closeminded. Music is music and if it exposes it because of football that is a good thing."

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876beauty
"If you're a Jamaican, you'll hear this on the radio every single Sunday evening" 

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Eric Cox
Reply
"+876beauty Why ? Are they the only ethnic group that can hear it."

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876beauty
Reply
"+Eric Cox Because a Jamaican radio station (RJR) play this every Sunday evening." 

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Shaun Kelly
"Its a original ska song it has nothing to do with football"

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skabuoy
"... This song belongs to Tony Scott, as Trojan Records Official has mentioned in the extra info right underneath the video. Harry J took the song, replaced the vocal track with an organ, and hit the big time with an instrumental cover-song. Props to the original artist!"
-snip-
Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2016/01/tony-scott-what-am-i-to-do-ska-classic.html for a pancocojams post on Tony Scott's song "What Am I To Do".

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