The Trojan Story

Fantastic value 3 CD set highliting how Jamaican music developed and helped launch Trojan Records on its 1970s success story.Two minor gripes: this isn't so much the history of Trojan Records but more a (potted) history of pre reggae music and it would have been nice to have added a 4th CD showcasing some of the major hits that Trojan enjoyed in the 1970s.However, these are minor points and in no way detract what's on offer here.The presentation is excellent with informative sleeves notes, a wide variety of musical styles and generally good sound reproduction.Much of Jamaica's pre reggae music is nothing like reggae as people today know it and these CDs largely contain such music.Of course the term "reggae" covers many styles such as ska, two step etc and the origins of those styles can be found amongst these CDs.They also contain out and out calypso and straight copies of American RnB hits of the time.All in all this is a great listen at a very reasonable price and I have no hesitation in recommending it to reggae fans or just those with an ear for good music!Just don't expect to hear anything like Bob Marley, Dennis Brown, Freddie McGregor etc 🙂

This triple album celebrates the 50th anniversary of The Trojan Story's original release in 1971. It was the first of its kind to attempt to trace the development of Jamaican popular music from its roots in shuffle/Rn'B through ska, rocksteady and reggae, to the dawn of the roots era. It is difficult to appreciate how difficult research must have been to compile this compilation, especially the sleeve notes, when little had been written about the history of the music, when label credits could be notoriously unreliable, and the dawn of the internet era was still decades away. Several tracks have been changed for this release, presumably owing to licensing issues, but they do not detract from the quality of the music and make it more attractive to those who have the original. The photos and sleeve notes are of a high quality and justify the price of the album.The tracks are weighted towards the early years of indigenous Jamaican music, which is to be expected as reggae itself was barely 3 years old in 1971. The tracks are a mixture of better known tunes and those that were not so well known at the time. However, it avoids the major Trojan hits that spanned the years 1968-71, but that is to be commended. Ironically, many of the releases were not released on a Trojan label, as the company was not founded until 1967. Many are from its original parent label, Island, with most of the others being from the giants of the UK Jamaican scene in the early and mid-Sixties, such as Doctor Bird, Pyramid, Blue Beat, Ska Beat, Giant and Caltone. Nothing from Trojan's main competitor, Pama, though.My only gripe is the sleeves for the records, which could have been designed more carefully, and there is a printed sheet that is attached to the back of the album case. I am not sure if removing it will cause it to lose value, but it is easy to unattach and place inside without leaving any marks.

Item was exactly as described, very quick dispatch and delivery..and also £20 cheaper than other retailers online...Will definitely use this seller again 5 stars from me

Great CD! This complements the other Trojan CDs that I have.

This book/3 album set is well priced and good quality just be aware if your looking for the well known big hitters then it may be best to go elsewhere.These volumes cover the birth of reggae,ska and rocksteady and as such may not be as accessible to listeners used to the commercial sound .Don’t get me wrong there are some gems on this collection but also a lot of almost calypso and soul type tunes that may surprise the casual listener..for everyone else who eats drinks and sleeps Trojan then this set is a great historical record of The wind rush generations influence on British youth culture in the late 60s-early 70s

A few familiar standard...but nonetheless brilliantly quirky. A bit like getting to the source of a genre - Ska/Bluebeat etc. A gentle "pre dawn" "soft" intro to wonderful era of Afro Caribbean music. Warm soulful music, alas now rather eclipsed by the angry mob!

Literature covers the history of the genre

A fantastic refresh of the original Trojan story set, a lot of time and effort has went into this set and i'd say its perfect, 3 albums of joy and delight for fans of this genre.