Reupload - The Magnificent Seven - Reggae Bagpipes/ Roll Out The Barrel

 

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Label: Decca

Year of Release: 1972

Pop and rock, of course, have continually evolved as they've adopted and mixed and meshed various apparently conflicting styles. If during the sixties British groups hadn't had one eye on music hall ditties and the other on rhythm and blues, so much interesting material might never have been written and released.

But a combination of reggae and the sound of the bagpipes? Really? Never has the Simpsons slogan "Nuts and Gum, together at last!" felt more applicable. It's not as if "Reggae Bagpipes" is a mess, which is to the credit of everyone involved. While it doesn't have a particularly authentic production or arrangement going on, it would be just about credible enough to pass were it not for those droning great pipes playing "Scotland the Brave" throughout. 

To cap things off, there's a reggae take of the London saloon-room standard "Roll Out The Barrel" on the flip, which sounds almost exactly as you'd expect it to.

While it would be easy to make the mistake of assuming this was the South African group of the same name, as numerous people online have done (including me in the past!) it was actually a project created by Trojan plugger Clive Crawley who scored regular pop success with reggae versions of familiar songs, including Greyhound's version of "Moon River" and "Young Gifted and Black" by Marcia Griffiths and Bob Andy. Obviously "Reggae Bagpipes" wasn't one of his biggest successes, but you've got to give the man credit for trying. 

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