Baker's Dozen

Artists discuss the 13 records that shaped their lives

11.

Jack Ruby – Hi-Fi (Crucial, 1981)

He is the man who assassinated Lee Harvey Oswald, who in turn assonated US president John Fitzgerald Kennedy. [In this instance, he’s actually the Jamaican producer linked to the Ocho Rios – Sound of Saint Anns and his work with Burning Spear around the start of their Island career, Justin Hinds of the Dominoes, as well as The Gaylads, Big Youth, King Tubby and Errol Thompson.] It was recorded by Clappers, there is a stunning 12 minute version of ‘Better Must Come’ that describes life in the inner city ghettos of yesteryear. It’s a song of hope, of freedom. The ideal place to hear this album is any tower block overlooking South London in the spring time before the soft rains.

Selected in other Baker’s Dozens: Lord Spikeheart, Tom Ravenscroft
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