Tag Archives: Penny Reel

Monday night serious listening

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Thanks to our good friend Marc B for letting us know today about this great show featuring the late great Penny Reel which starts with a couple of old doo-wop tunes with their reggae counterparts and then into some very choice tunes, a show well worth listening to!

There’s another show up on Weeds, posted not long after his passing which featured Penny with Paul Bradshaw here. Below is one of the tunes he played on it, The Lord’s Army by Hy Mann that we’d previously never heard of. The tune sounded like it may have been recorded at the same session as a personal favourite of ours Follow You by M (Martell?) Robinson. This music lark never fails to disappoint, opening a can of worms also comes to mind.

STOP PRESS And talking of opening cans of worms, as if by magic we have been directed to a Jamaican born singer called Martel Robinson who used to sing in working mens clubs in Coventry and Birmingham and release records under M Robinson. Same chap? We do hope so!

STOP PRESS JULY 2023: Also known as Ray Martell!

https://www.discogs.com/artist/2205400-Martel-Robinson

Respect to Mr Reel

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It was very sad to hear about the passing of the reggae writer Penny Reel this week. Today we listened to the excellent Worldwide FM show from last year with Paul Bradshaw that featured Penny playing some excellent tunes from his massive record collection, reciting some poetry and reading passages from his books.

There’s some fantastic music on the show including the one above by Hy Mann called The Lord’s Army. It’s a killer and sounds not unlike one of our all-time favourite tunes M Robinson‘s Follow You. Both are from the same producer Ossie Irving/King Ossie, from the same year and sound very similar to us (the guitar parts are almost identical and so’s the horn bit at 1.17), are they even from the same session? More mentions on both the tunes here. Listen to the Worldwide FM show for more musical inspiration. R.I.P. Mr Penny Reel.