From the Roots
was
Toots & the Maytals
' fourth album, released by
Trojan
following the group's signing to
Island Records
in 1973. The record was cobbled together from odds and ends of tracks recorded between 1969 and 1970 for
Leslie Kong
's
Beverley
's label, and while it doesn't contain any of the more famous
Kong
-produced cuts (
"Pressure Drop,"
"Sweet and Dandy"
), it still exhibits
the Maytals
' trademark Jamaican version of
gospel
fervor, led by lead singer
Toots Hibbert
's barn-burning vocal style. Arguably this album, along with its
-produced predecessor, 1970's
Monkey Man
, contains the best and most explosive tracks in
' discography, and compilations that reshuffle the two albums in different combinations are common in the record bins. ~ Steve Leggett