DUB FROM THE ROOTS

2015 repress. King Tubby's Dub from the Roots album was originally released in 1974. Osbourne King Tubby Ruddock was born in Kingston, Jamaica on January 28, 1941 and grew up in the High Holborn Street area of downtown Kingston. He studied electronics at Kingston's National Technical College and also in two correspondence courses from the U.S.A. When he had qualified, Tubby began repairing radios and other electrical appliances in a shack in the back yard of his mother's home. His work in the early days included winding transformers and building amplifiers for Kingston's sound systems. Tubby built his first sound system in 1957 playing jazz and rhythm & blues at local weddings and birthday parties. His reputation as a man who knew and understood both electronics and music grew steadily, and as the '60s drew to a close, Tubby purchased his own basic two-track equipment. He installed this alongside his dub cutting machine, a homemade mixing console, and his impressive collection of jazz albums in the back bedroom of his home at 18 Dromilly Avenue which he christened his music room. Lovingly restored, these releases were the first to carry the name of King Tubby and the first to credit the great musicians that contributed so much to the rhythms that made these albums possible.