Personnel: Desmond Dekker (vocals); Steve Roberts (guitar); Michael Rose (tenor saxophone); Eddy Thornton (trumpet); Aubery Mulrain (keyboards); Gordon Mulrain (bass guitar); Leroy Green (drums).
Recording information: Roll Over Studios, London, England (2004).
These 2004 re-recordings of many of Desmond Dekker's best-known songs is proof that, near the end of his life, the singer still had the qualities that had propelled him to stardom in the mid-1960s. His high tenor voice has the plaintive, pleading tone that made "Israelites," "007 (Shanty Town)," and "It Mek" international hits, while his small, tight band, complete with horn section, plays the songs' familiar arrangements almost to the letter, with enthusiasm, energy, and an indefinable swing.