TVD Radar: Send I A Lion: A Nighthawk Reggae Joint, 2LP set
in stores 11/15

VIA PRESS RELEASE | Due November 15, first-ever Nighthawk retrospective was compiled and annotated by label founder Leroy Jodie Pierson, and contains rare photos from his collection.

A blues musician in his own right, Leroy Jodie Pierson started Nighthawk Records in 1974 with a series of classic blues compilations. By 1979 he had sold the label to Robert Schoenfeld and found himself in Kingston, Jamaica producing records for the label, now financed by Schoenfeld. Each had found his own calling: Pierson the more creative, and Schoenfeld drawn more to the business side. Nighthawk went on to release albums by the Gladiators, Ethiopian, Junior Byles, Justin Hinds, Winston Jarrett, Itals, Ronnie Davis, and others.

Now for the first time, Pierson has retrospectively curated what serves as a best-of sampler of his work for Nighthawk: Send I A Lion: A Nighthawk Reggae Joint, due from Omnivore Recordings on November 15, 2019. The collection offers favorites from the label’s acclaimed albums—as well as underplayed non-LP tracks—by the Mighty Diamonds, Morwells, Wailing Souls, and many of the aforementioned artists, including a previously unissued hotel-room audition recording of the Mighty Diamonds’ “4000 Years.”

Writes Pierson of the audition, “We had not contacted the Mighty Diamonds, they simply dropped by the hotel one night. Their lead singer, Tabby, brought a ragged box guitar with only four strings and began playing the chords of “4000 Years,” which they performed as an audition with Bunny Diamond providing rhythm played on the back of a phone book. We agreed to record the song with Roots Radics.”

Pierson also adds photos from his personal collection and new liner notes. The set provides a window onto Pierson’s productions in Kingston, as released on Nighthawk Records. Essential roots reggae listening!

TRACK LIST:
Culture – Calling Rastafari
Gladiators – Bongo Red
Justin Hinds And The Dominoes – Weeping Eyes
Ethiopian & Gladiators – I’m Ready
The Mighty Diamonds – 4000 Years
Junior Byles – Thanks And Praise
Gladiators – Bless Our Soul
Wailing Souls – Harbor Shark
Justin Hinds – Want More
Ethiopian & His All Stars – Train To Skaville
Morwells – Young Lover
Gladiators – Serious Thing
Winston Jarrett And The Righteous Flames – Babylon Broke Dung Me House
Ronnie Davis And Idren – Move On Oppressor
Culture – Dem A Payaka
Ethiopian & His All Stars – Straight On Rastafari
Gladiators – Streets Of Gold
Winston Jarrett And The Righteous Flames – Bad Boy
Justin Hinds And The Dominoes – Travel With Love
The Mighty Diamonds – 4000 Years (Audition)

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