"You Can Get It If You Really Want" [1970] by DESMOND DEKKER (September 2018 Doctor Bird 'Expanded Edition' CD Reissue - Andy Pearce Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"You Can Get It If You Really Want" album from 1970

"...Sing A Little Song..."

Tapping into the 50th Anniversary celebrations for Trojan Records UK - 2018 has seen Doctor Bird Records (part of Cherry Red UK) bombard us ravenous Reggae and Ska lovers with fantastic 'Expanded Edition' CD reissues of albums disappeared from our record shop racks four and five decades ago – many of which in truth weren't widely available in the first place.

Centred round the magical output of Trojan’s catalogue from the late 60ts on up to about 1975 (see list below) - these CD reissues are not haphazard cash-ins. Each is tastily done, reasonably priced, properly expanded booklets, often two albums on 1CD or one-album with a huge number of bonus tracks, rarities getting their digital debut and all of it mastered from best sources by one of the top Audio Engineers out there – Andy Pearce – a name more commonly known for his decades of work on a huge array of artists under the Universal umbrella.

For this release we get one of Trojan's true Kingston hit-makers – Desmond Adolphus Dacres - or DESMOND DEKKER to you and I. Here are the Pickney details...

UK released Friday, 28 September 2018 - "You Can Get It If You Really Want" by DESMOND DEKKER on Doctor Bird DBCD-015 (Barcode 5013929271531) is an 'Expanded Edition' CD Reissue that offers you his 12-track 1970 LP of the same name originally on Trojan Records TBL-148 and adds on a further 11-tracks from 1972 to 1975 – mostly single sides originally on the Creole label in the UK (67:45 minutes):

1. YOU CAN GET IT IF YOU REALLY WANT [Side 1]
2. I BELIEVE 
3. PERSEVERANCE 
4. GET UP LITTLE SUZIE 
5. PEACE ON THE LAND 
6. CINDY 
7. PICKNEY GAL [Side 2] 
8. YOU GOT SOUL 
9. COOMYAH 
10. THAT’S THE WAY LIFE GOES 
11. PEACE OF MIND 
12. POLKA DOT

BONUS TRACKS (2018 CD REISSUE):
13. BEWARE
14. EVERYBODY JOIN HANDS
15. SING A LITTLE SONG
16. BUSTED LAD
17. MY WORLD IS BLUE
18. MOTHER NATURE
19. MONEY AND FRIENDS
20. NO PLACE LIKE HOME
21. PICK UP THE PHONE
22. TRAVEL ON
23. SUGAR DUMPLING 

Tracks 1 to 12 are the "You Can Get It If You Really Want" UK LP from 1970 on Trojan Records TBL 148 

The 16-page booklet is a fantastic affair - new liner notes by fan and devotee of all things Jamaican - HARRY HICKS - whilst each page is festooned with ticket stubs, concert posters, a huge array of different picture sleeves for the big single, talk of "Israelites" - the first Reggae single to make it to No. 1 in the UK and break open the genre all over the world and much more. But best of all is one of my fave-rave Audio Engineers at the helm - ANDY PEARCE - who along with his engineer partner Matt Wortham has done Lee Perry, The Upsetters, Treasure Isle box set and wads of huge Rock names like Free, Rory Gallagher, Budgie, Wishbone Ash, ELP, Spooky Tooth, Mott The Hoople and so on..

Highlights for me include the hit singles I bought as a budding teen - "Peace In The Land", "Pickney Gal" and of course that stunning "You Can Get It..." Amidst the bonus stuff are goodies like "Sing A Little Song" (originally on Rhino), his cover of Jimmy Cliff's "My World Is Blue" originally on the 1975 UK LP "Israelites" on Cactus Records and a bopper in "Sugar Dumpling" - a non-album single cut tucked away on the flipside of April 1975's "Israelites" (Cactus CT 57). Very cool...

Desmond Dekker passed in 2006 and this rather brill little CD reissue does his memory and chart importance proud. Well done to all involved for treating his underestimated musical legacy with such affection...

2018 DOCTOR BIRD CD REISSUES covering the TROJAN RECORDS label

1. BOB & MARCIA - Young, Gifted And Black/Pied Pier (May 2018, Doctor Bird DBCD-014 - Barcode 5013929271432)

2. DAVE & ANSEL COLLINS – Double Barrel (June 2018, Doctor Bird DBCD-016 - Barcode 5013929271630)

3. DESMOND DECKER & THE ACES – Action!/Intensified (August 2018 2CD Set, Doctor Bird DBCD-025 – Barcode 5013929272538)

4. DESMOND DEKKER – You Can Get It If You Really Want (September 2018, Doctor Bird DBCD-015 - Barcode 5013929271531)

5. DESMOND DEKKER – Double Dekker (November 2013, Doctor Bird DBCD-018 – Barcode 5013929271838)

6. PHYLLIS DILLON – One Life To Live (September 2018, Doctor Bird DBCD-021 – Barcode 5013929272132)

7. ETHIOPIANS – Reggae Power/Woman Capture Man (January 2018, Doctor Bird DBCD-10 – Barcode 5013929271036)

8. HARRY J. ALL STARS - Liquidator (June 2008, Doctor Bird DBCD-012 - Barcode 5013929271234)

9. THE MAYTALS – Monkey Man/From The Roots (July 2018, Doctor Bird DBCD-017 – Barcode 5013929271739)

10. THE PIONEERS – Long Shot/Battle Of The Giants (September 2018, Doctor Bird DBCD-019 – Barcode 5013929271937)

11. THE UNIQUES - Absolutely The...Uniques (January 2018, Doctor Bird DBCD-011 - Barcode 5013929271135)

12. THE UPSETTERS – The Upsetter/Scratch The Upsetter Again (October 2018, Doctor Bird DBCD-022 – Barcode 5013929272231)

13. THE UPSETTERS – Return Of Django/Eastwood Rides Again (May 2018, Doctor Bird DBCD-013 - Barcode 5013929271333)

14. VARIOUS ARTISTS – Greater Jamaica Moonwalk Reggae/Reggay At Its Best (October 2018 2CD Set, Doctor Bird DBCDD-030 – Barcode 5013929273030)

15. VARIOUS ARTISTS – King Size Reggae (November 2018, Doctor Bird DBCD-026 – Barcode 5013929272637)

16. VARIOUS ARTISTS [Duke Reid and Treasure Isle Productions] – Soul Of Jamaica/Here Comes The Duke (August 2008 2CD Set, Doctor Bird DBCDD-024 – Barcode 5013929272439)