VERY RARE-Orig HORACE SMART- RUFFER RUFF- UPSETTERS- M
$
75
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Description
Horace Smart - Ruffer Ruff
Label: Upsetters
Matrix Number: LP 2045 RRS [& B]
Vinyl Visual Grade: M
Pressing Quality: 7.5 very quiet with a few pops
Loudness of Vinyl: HOT-
PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOUR PANELS TO VIEW GRADING STANDARDS
SOUND SAMPLE TAKEN FROM ACTUAL RECORD AT FLAT RESPONSE
This is an original pressing of the 1976 release "Ruffer Ruff" by Horace Smart, produced by Lee Perry on his Upsetters label. Not a prolific artist, Smart recorded less than a half dozen songs. Recorded at Perry's Black Ark, the studio band is the Upsetters featuring, among others. Background vocals seem to be the Heptones. The B-side is the usual dub mix of the song. Backing musicians are the Upsetters: Boris Gardiner - BassMikey Boo Richards - Drums
Keith Sterling - Piano
Winston Wright - Organ
Willie Lindo - Lead Guitar
Fil Callendar - Rhythm Guitar
R. William - Phase Guitar In my humble opinion, this heartbreaking record is probably the ultimate sufferers tune, for the story it tells vividly illustrates the grim predicament of Jamaica's urban poor, a situation as tragically true today as it was 34 years ago when this song was recorded. You know, in America songs are written that romanticize the lives of outlaws, like "I Fought The Law" by the Bobby Fuller Four, but 95% of them are pure fiction. But sadly with Jamaican records, most of what you hear is taken directly from real life. Smart evokes perfectly the hopeless desperation, calamity and lack of choice with his harried, strident style. If you are serious in your appreciation of real roots music, then you'll really want to have this record in your collection, and that's not sales hype. I have transcibed the lyrics here below. *************** Chorus: Woy yoi, woy yoi.... ruffer ruff
Woy yoi, say it ruff, yeah yeh, say it tough aye aye...ruffer ruff
Woy yoi, say it ruff, yeah yeh, say it tough aye aye...ruffer ruff I've got a story to tell you
It is blue but it true, true, true
Me brother, I know you a-go screw [going to frown]
But there is nothing else I can do I was born in a hut down by the gully bank
Me mother was a sufferer; I don't know my father
My only family -- nine brothers of us
I was the eldest one; I was only eighteen I had to help my mother support my brothers
Sometimes no food and sometimes no clothes
Sometimes no school -- is the ruffer ruff I sell me little Star [70's newspaper] and me wash me little car
And me hustle with bottle [collect beer & soda bottle for the deposit]
But it never nuff [never amounted to much] Chorus One day me call to all my brothers
Say "Boy you know, it ruffer ruff...
We a-go look little hustling
We a-go get a big money We a-go rob John Tom
The other shop 'round the corner."
But we were so bad luck-ed
The police was a-watchin' Him never hesitate to kill Harry
Him never make fun to kill Barry
But me jump a couple fence and me take a couple corner
Me nearly dead with hiego [figuratively, ague fever = fear or overheating] When me brother hear, him wouldn't stop crying
When me mother hear, me say she feel like dying Chorus ***************
This record is from my personal collection; I'm not really a buy & sell-or-trade type of seller. Like much of my vinyl, I bought this record when it came out, played it a few times, recorded it to cassette and then put it back in its sleeve for the next 34 years! Visually, the vinyl shows very little sign of wear. It's been wet cleaned, then both sides archived to CD by me as part of the grading process. Guaranteed free of skips and loud scratches when I used a tonearm weighted at 1.5 grams. About my pricing: bidding on this extremely rare ruff riddim and collectors item starts at $75.00.
Payment Terms: Right now I ONLY accept PAYPAL methods of payment. If you wish to make a PayPal Instant Payment, make sure your bank account is correctly linked to your PayPal account, so your payment will be virtually IMMEDIATE.
To pay a seller using your checking account (INSTANT PAY OPTION), please follow these steps:
a) Log in to your PayPal account at the link below:
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b) Click on the "Send Money" tab
c) Enter the required information
d) Click "Continue"
e) Click the "Funding Options" link under the Source of Funds heading
f) Click the "Add Bank" link next to "Instant Transfer"
g) Enter the information on the following page. (You will need to know
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h) Click "Add Bank Account"
i) Next, select the radio button next to "Instant Transfer" and click
"Continue"
j) Review the information on the Payment Details page and click "Send
Money" to complete your transaction
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Shipping: High bidders may want to consider insuring their purchases, since even the best packed records do occasionally arrive broken, and you can only get all your money back if you fully insure your purchase.
Within the continental US:
Shipping cost depends on the location of the winning bidder and there is a flat $4.00 handling fee.
SINGLES are shipped by USPS Priority Mail (insurance optional) or First Class Mail (cheaper but slower, no insurance).
ALBUMS are shipped by USPS Priority Mail (insurance optional) or Media Mail (cheaper but slower, no insurance).
International purchases:
Records are usually shipped by USPS International First Class Mail (no insurance available), or USPS Priority Mail International (partial insurance included), and there is a flat $5.00 handling charge. To choose a USPS International Mail option for shipments to your country, please use the Shipping Calculator provided by Ebay at the foot of this listing.
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Weights: One 45 in cardboard mailer = approx. 6 oz.
Each additional 45 = approx. 1.2 oz.
LP in cardboard mailer = approx. 1 lb. 3 oz.
Each additional LP = approx. 8 oz.
With due respect, Jamaican pressings are not generally known for their high quality, although over the last 35 years I have encountered the occasional superbly hot, clear and quiet pressing. New York, UK and Canadian pressings of reggae music are often better than Jamaican pressings, but not always. In my opinion, Jamaican pressings generally fall somewhere between 4 and 7 on the 1-to-10 rating scale (see below). Some manufacturers are consistently better or worse than others, but not always. Labels are often mangled, illegible, incorrect or applied off-center. One or both sides of a record are often pressed slightly or wildly off-center (see below).
It is essential to remember that the birth (and amazing development) of Jamaican popular music and its recording industry was a living miracle which flourished, and continues to do so against incredible odds. A history of colonial exploitation with its racist slavery, together with a lack of marketable resources in today's globalized world market --- all this has not been kind to the beautiful island of Jamaica and its resilient people. Life in Jamaica continues to be a contradiction: physically primitive conditions with massive poverty alongside culturally rich complexity, innovative genius and sophistication.
So working conditions in the pressing plants are often less than ideal: it can be hot, smoky, crowded and noisy, but at least it's a job. Access to good materials, equipment and maintenance is often difficult or unaffordable. When the economic oil crises of the 70's hit, fresh vinyl was scarce and expensive, so they started melting down old tunes and defective pressings, sometimes including the paper labels. I remember seeing these rusty oil barrels full of 45's out in back of the pressing plants. They'd leave them out in the yard, filling up with rainwater and mosquito eggs, to soak off the labels! It's too bad --- a great many musical treasures were destroyed in those barrels, but business was business, and I guess it still is.
MAY GOD BLESS.....
RECORD GRADING STANDARDS
In grading the sound quality of a vinyl record (assuming it's been cleaned and there's no significant warpage), there are three main issues:
1.) Vinyl Visual Grade made by judging the visible wear from usage.
2.) Pressing quality after manufacture, which is the amount of surface noise such as pops/clicks/hisses/buzzes due to imperfections in the grooves of the record like small pits or bubbles. This is partially determined by vinyl quality/purity, temperature control and cleanliness of the record stamping machine. Other problems include the record being pressed off-center ("drunk") resulting in a wobbly, pitch-wavering sound.
TIP for off-center pressings: With 45's, you can compensate during playback for a drunk pressing by removing the centering "dome" from the turntable spindle, slowly turning the record by hand while observing in which direction the grooves are off center, and then pushing the record slightly off-center in the opposite direction until the grooves themselves are centered. It's an acquired skill.
3.) Loudness of Vinyl (Mastering volume) and the resulting Signal-to-Noise Ratio: how loudly ("hotly") or softly ("sleepily") the record was mastered to the stamper from the master tape of the music. With a hot pressing, the loudness of the music overpowers and masks the fainter sound of the surface noise. With a sleepy pressing, the music is dimmer and down closer to the level of surface noise; the listener has to turn up the volume, making the surface noise more audible along with the music. Other mastering problems include exaggerated tone settings and distortion, especially in high frequencies ("S" sounds) and upper midrange frequencies ("squawking" in the vocals or other tinny instruments). Too much bass and the needle will hop right out of the groove!
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Gradings for visually detectable wear on vinyl records
MINT (M) The record itself is in brand new condition with no surface marks or deterioration in sound quality. The cover and any extra items such as the lyric sheet, booklet or poster are in perfect condition. Records advertised as Sealed or Unplayed should be Mint.
NEAR MINT (NM+/-) As above, but only played a few times. The cover and any extra items such as the lyric sheet, booklet or poster are in nearly perfect condition.
EXCELLENT (EX+/-) The record shows some signs of having been played, but there is very little lessening in sound quality. The cover and packaging might have slight wear and/or creasing.
VERY GOOD (VG+/-) The record has obviously been played many times, but displays no major deterioration in sound quality, despite noticeable surface marks and the occasional light scratch. Normal wear and tear on the cover or extra items, without any major defects, is acceptable.
GOOD (G+/-) The record has been played so much that the sound quality has noticeably deteriorated, perhaps with some distortion and mild scratches. The cover and contents suffer from folding, scuffing of edges, spine splits, discoloration, etc.
FAIR (F+/-) The record is still just playable but has not been cared for properly; it may even jump. The cover and contents will be torn, stained and/or defaced.
POOR (P+/-) The record will not play properly due to scratches, uncleanable dirt etc. The cover and contents will be badly damaged or partly missing.
BAD (+/-) The record is unplayable or might even be broken, and is only of use as a collection-filler.
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RATINGS FOR PRESSING QUALITY ON A SCALE OF 10 DOWN TO 1
10: No audible surface noise (nearly impossible to achieve). Example: Classical or audiophile music pressings on "virgin" high-quality vinyl and manufactured under "laboratory" conditions, often of European or Japanese origin. Most really good pressings will only rate a 9 anyway.
9: Very few barely audible clicks. No pops at all.
8: Frequent softly audible clicks and no pops.
7: More frequent audible clicks and occasional pops.
6: Frequent audible clicks and pops.
5: Frequent noticable clicks and pops.
4: Very frequent noticable clicks and loud pops.
3: Extremely frequent loud clicks and loud pops, possibly with occasional hisses/buzzes.
2. Constant loud clicks and loud pops, with frequent hisses/buzzes
1: Virtually unlistenable, might as well've been pressed on peanut-brittle!
Go buy the re-issue of the song on CD made directly from the master
tapes.
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STANDARDS FOR RATING MASTERING VOLUME
HOT (+/-)
AVERAGE (+/-)
SLEEPY (+/-)
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HOW I GRADE RECORDS FOR SALE:
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For records with a visual wear rating between VG and NM++ , additional ratings for pressing quality and signal-to-noise ratio are included. It's entirely possible for an M or barely played NM record to sound pretty bad because it was poorly pressed in the first place.
For records with a visual wear rating below VG , it is often too difficult to tell the difference between surface noises due to wear and those due to pressing quality, so only a single condition grading is offered.
About grading integrity : it is my strict policy to grade these records as carefully and truthfully as possible. It's a common complaint that many record sellers tend to overgrade their stock: more than once, I've purchased a few "VG+" or "EX" records on Ebay, and eagerly put one on the turntable only to find it's a nearly unlistenable mess. Yuck! This is why I have no return policy: my record description is intended to be honest and thorough enough in the first place, so you can decide if you want to buy it AS DESCRIBED and AS IS.
Payment Terms:
Currently, I only accept PAYPAL methods of payment. If you wish to make a PayPal Instant Payment, make sure your bank account is correctly linked to your PayPal account, so your payment will be virtually IMMEDIATE.
To pay a seller using your checking account (INSTANT PAY OPTION), please follow these steps:
a) Log in to your PayPal account at the link below:
https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_login-run
b) Click on the "Send Money" tab
c) Enter the required information
d) Click "Continue"
e) Click the "Funding Options" link under the Source of Funds heading
f) Click the "Add Bank" link next to "Instant Transfer"
g) Enter the information on the following page. (You will need to know
your bank account number and routing number. You can find these at
the bottom of one of your checks.)
h) Click "Add Bank Account"
i) Next, select the radio button next to "Instant Transfer" and click
"Continue"
j) Review the information on the Payment Details page and click "Send
Money" to complete your transaction
Miss Bibby say...
If you want to earn your meal, you've got to turn the wheel.
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