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Marcia Griffiths
Sweet And Nice |
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| EUR 2xLP |
| Label: Be With Records |
| Release Year: 2026 |
| Style: Reggae & Dancehall & Dub |
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Tracks |
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1
Marcia Griffiths - Here I Am Baby (Come And Take Me)
2
Marcia Griffiths - Everything I Own
3
Marcia Griffiths - Green Grasshopper
4
Marcia Griffiths - Play Me
5
Marcia Griffiths - Children At Play
6
Marcia Griffiths - Sweet Bitter Love
7
Marcia Griffiths - Gypsy Man
8
Marcia Griffiths - There’s No Me Without You
9
Marcia Griffiths - The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face
10
Marcia Griffiths - I Just Don’t Want To Be Lonely
11
Marcia Griffiths - Mark My Word
12
Marcia Griffiths - The First Cut Is The Deepest
13
Marcia Griffiths - Melody Life
14
Marcia Griffiths - Working To The Top (My Ambition) (Part 1)
15
Marcia Griffiths - Don’t Let Me Down
16
Marcia Griffiths - Band Of Gold
17
Marcia Griffiths - Put A Little Love In Your Heart
18
Marcia Griffiths - I See You, My Love
19
Marcia Griffiths - It’s Too Late
20
Marcia Griffiths - Baby If You Don’t Love Me
21
Marcia Griffiths - Love Walked In
22
Marcia Griffiths - When Will I See You Again
23
Marcia Griffiths - Play Me (Part 2) |
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2026 repress, 140g vinyl, remastered, double LP with the original LP along with a second record of 14 rare tracks
Sweet And Nice is the vital debut album from Jamaica’s undisputed first lady of song Marica Griffiths. It’s reggae at its most soulful. Slinking through a tight ten tracks of R&B and pop-sourced material, it became an instant best seller. 45 years after its initial release the LP is available again on vinyl, now as a double LP, with an extra record collecting 14 rare tracks.
Sweet And Nice has appeared over the years with a revised running order and under different titles. But the original’s opening sequence of loping soul is legendary, even beyond reggae circles. These songs are now returned to how they were presented on that first Jamaican release, and under their intended album title. Be With doesn’t mess with magic.
Marcia’s version of “Here I Am (Come and Take Me)†has long been lusted after, played by genre-hopping selectors to snapping necks for decades now. It’s followed by the sophisticated, rollicking wah-wah funk of “Everything I Own†and the slice of smooth lovers soul par excellence that is “Green Grasshopper†and her ace, lilting Neil Diamond cover “Play Meâ€.
The thundering, humid funk of “Children At Play†“sounds uncannily like a precursor of Massive Attackâ€, as FACT Mag astutely noted when they put Sweet And Nice at number 16 in their list of the 100 best albums of the 1970s. Otherworldly, moody and essential.
Side two keeps the fire burning. “Sweet, Bitter Love†should leave you swooning, and is also one of the album’s alternate titles. Curtis Mayfield’s already-eternal “Gypsy Man†is up next, recast as proto-lovers rock.
“There’s No Me Without You†is elevated to canonical status by the majestic, forlorn horns of the Federal Soul Givers and Marcia’s heartbreaking delivery. And if this doesn’t get you then surely the next track will: arguably the definitive version of Ewan MacColl’s “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Faceâ€. Yes, seriously.
“I Just Don’t Want To Be Lonely†re-takes its rightful place at the end of the LP’s second side… but we couldn’t leave it at that. So we added an entire second record of rare material recorded around the same time as Sweet And Nice, much of it unavailable since it was originally released. Some of these songs have only ever been found on now unattainable 7" singles and no, rarity doesn’t always correspond with quality, but in this case we’re talking about some seriously jaw-dropping music.
Amongst 14 extra tracks you’ll find the exquisite late-60s singles “Melody Life†and “Mark My Word†which, along with the sumptuous reading of “Band Of Goldâ€, are now £100 records, if you can find them! Just sayin’. There‘s also a fantastic version of “The First Cut Is the Deepest†and an alternate take of “Play Me†with producer Lloyd Charmers adding his own vocals.
Everything’s been remastered of course, including the original LP, so Sweet And Nice now sounds even sweeter, and even nicer. |
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Price: CHF 35.00 |
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