The famous address 135 Orange Street has been cropping up on Jamaican record labels for well over half a century, and the number of records that can be traced back to the Rockers International record store – at the time of writing, there is still a premises at that location – is impossible to count. It’s testament to the formidable legacy of Augustus Pablo, the producer and multi-instrumentalist who ran the Rockers operation from the early 1970s all the way up to his death in 1999, continuing today in the hands of son Addis Pablo and daughter Isis Swaby. Pablo was one of the crucial innovators in dub and roots reggae as a whole, and like the Orange Street address, his personnel credit appears on a regular basis, sometimes when you least expect it.

The Wire 506 contains a user’s guide to Augustus Pablo’s extensive discography, spanning classic projects like the groundbreaking dub LP King Tubbys Meets Rockers Uptown, his instrumental contributions for producers including Lee Perry, Keith Hudson and Yabby You, and his close collaborations with artists such as Hugh Mundell. But Pablo pressed up so many 7"s, and passed through so many casual studio dates, that any survey of his discography will leave out some of his strangest sides. So this extra playlist collects a number of his cuts that remain obscure, overshadowed, eccentric, or simply unknown.

Norris Reid
“Black Force”
Rockers International 1979

Pablo’s most famous work remains his mid-1970s classic King Tubbys Meets Rockers Uptown, the landmark collaboration with the legendary Osbourne Ruddock that helped define and stake out a new market for dub music in Jamaica and beyond. Its heavyweight title track – a version to Jacob Miller’s “Baby Love You So” – was so heavy, with such an identifiable piano intro, that he seemed wary of returning to it, but he made a rare exception several years later for this track with Norris Reid, with the appropriately militant roots statement “Black Force”.

Sista Frica
“One In The Spirit”
Rockers International 1978

Pablo made fairly few collaborations with female vocalists, but this adaption of a Christian hymn is a statement in simplicity. “One In The Spirit” was the only song Sister Frica ever released, but was repressed several times, and a slow phase effect running throughout makes this serene, questing song sound like it is just drifting on the wind.

Augustus Pablo
“Kid Ralph”
Panther 1973

In the early part of his career, Pablo took on sideman gigs for a huge variety of producers. Sometimes, the logic of the market called for the odd gimmick to score a hit, such as a cover version or familiar riff. While Pablo was scathing about such commercial novelties later – “They want you to play nursery rhymes or some fuckery,” he later said in interview – his melodica playing on this version of The Beatles’ “Norwegian Wood” is so gentle that it barely matters.

Youth Dellinger
“Down Town Rock”
Rockers International 1973

The first of Pablo’s own productions started trickling out on the Rockers label, named after the sound system he ran with his brother Garth, around 1973. They struck lucky with the young deejay Dillinger, here going by Youth Dellinger. The instrumental used for the track is a version of the classic Studio One “Swing Easy” riddim – namechecked by Dellinger on the intro – which was a firm Pablo favourite that he returned to numerous times, most memorably for Hugh Mundell’s “Feeling Alright Girl”.

Augustus Pablo
“Sahara Rock”
Burke’s Records mid-1970s

Pablo had a limited number of big hits in Jamaica, but his growing reputation elsewhere bolstered his independence, and he made a few important journeys overseas. One trip to New York was memorialised in a famous set of Ted Bafaloukos photos on the excellent Born To Dub You set, perhaps taken around the same time this mysterious melodica instrumental, released on New York label Burke’s, was laid down.

Augustus Pablo & The Revolutionaries
“Spirit Of Umoja”
DEB 1978

By the late 1970s Pablo was maintaining his own label, projects and stable of vocalists, which makes the occasional times that he sat in for other producers all the more exciting. “Spirit Of Umoja” is another song on the irrepressible “Swing Easy” riddim, impossibly lush with comet tails of echo, plus producer Dennis Brown’s own peerless vocals wrapping up this long discomix number.

Earl Sixteen
“Changing World”
Rockers International 1979

Earl Sixteen was one of a number of roots vocalists that Pablo worked with closely, although as with several of them, the results sometimes took a while to emerge. “Changing World” was released in 1979 in the middle of a Pablo purple patch, but the two took until the mid-1990s to release an album together. It’s roots music in a deeply resonant, reflective mode.

Sister Jam
“A Man Like You”
Rockers International 1979

Pablo was an early adopter of studio technology, from drum machines to string synthesizers. This uptempo jam arranged and produced by Pablo features not only his own melodica and glockenspiel but some sort of squelchily-filtered electronic keyboard, all dancing around each other with amazing elegance.

Icho Candy
“Babylon”
Rockers International 1987

Pablo’s productions in the dancehall era were inconsistent, but when he hit the kind of minor key groove he favoured, he could create heavyweight steppers tracks that rivalled Jah Shaka. On “Babylon” Pablo worked with a traditional rhythm section, but the lean, urgent vocal from Icho Candy brings its own kind of pressure.

Asher & Trimble
“Humble Yourself”
Rockers International 1979

One of the rarer Rockers 45s, “Humble Yourself” is from an era when Pablo’s artistic and commercial star was at its zenith. Duo Asher & Trimble broke apart before they could follow up this lone single. Its atmosphere of muted devotion is complemented by Pablo’s contemplative and painterly production aesthetic.

The Slickers
“Give Us A Break”
From Breakthrough
Tad’s Records 1979

Breakthrough is one of the more mysterious records from the classic period of roots reggae. The Slickers had been riding high in the early 70s with “Johnny Too Bad”, their famous contribution to the soundtrack to The Harder They Come, but they failed to release a solid album to capitalise on their success, and their group name was even mistaken for releases actually by The Pioneers. Pablo is credited with keyboards and arrangements on Breakthrough, which emerged several years too late in 1979, but the presence of phase effects across the album suggest this might be the product of a little known session with Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry.

Augustus Pablo
“Kushites Dub”
Rockers International 1995

Pablo remained prolific into the 90s, despite dealing with chronic health problems. Given the right mood and material, he could still lay down a crucial rhythm track: “Kushites Dub” is a standard minor chord steppers theme, but the low end of the digital keyboard gives it real stealth.

Blacka T
“Ethiopian Calling”
Rockers International 1990

The flipside, “Ammagiddeon Dub”, was one of Pablo’s toughest tracks of the digital era, but this deejay side, voiced by Blacka T, is a one verse dancehall monster.

Richie Mac
“Jah Solid Rock I Stand”
Onlyroots 2024, rec late 1990s

At the time of his death, Pablo had been working on an album project with Richard McDonald, aka Richie Mac. Like many of Pablo’s vocalists, he had a storied past, as a former member of the longrunning vocal group The Chosen Few, but had not managed to put a steady run of releases together in the years that followed. “Jah Solid Rock I Stand” is a reflective, autumnal hued roots song that benefits from Mac’s warm baritone.