Gregory Isaacs Night Nurse CD

A classic release from one of Jamaica's greats, NIGHT NURSE shows the Cool Ruler at his best--performing melodic, chilled reggae such as the title track and "Hot Stepper." The title track was a hit for Simply Red when they covered it in 1997. Although at his most prolific in the mid '80s, when he was beset by financial problems, Isaacs managed to maintain the quality of his material as this album proves. The Roots Radics provide excellent backing for Isaacs' smooth vocals. Perhaps a bit too mellow for fans of more militant reggae such as that purveyed by the Revolutionaries, time has nevertheless proved this to be a classic reggae album--the epitome of the feel-good Jamaican sound.

Although his 1981 album, More Gregory, was picked up for international distribution, Gregory Isaacs' 1982 release, Night Nurse, was his first to be designed for an audience outside Jamaica. Accordingly, Island Records head Chris Blackwell upgraded the overall sound quality, making this Isaacs' most professional-sounding record yet, and he brought in synthesizer player Wally Badarou to overdub keyboard parts on the tracks, making them less spare and distinguishing the arrangements more. Isaacs and his backup band, the Roots Radics, had a tendency to set up a groove and play, with only minor differences from one track to the next, but Badarou brought a different flavor to each song. Isaacs responded to his greater opportunity with a strong collection of compositions, starting with the title song, which pleaded for erotic medication with as much urgency as Marvin Gaye's "Sexual Healing." For the most part, romantic concerns occupied him, but "Hot Stepper," in which he sang of being wanted by the authorities, unfortunately anticipated the incarceration that would derail his career shortly, and "Material Man" was a savage denunciation of the wealthy, even if it was rendered in Isaacs' characteristically even-toned voice over the medium-tempo track. Night Nurse had just enough variety to make it a cohesive album and not just a collection of singles, and with Island's promotional muscle it brought Isaacs deserved recognition, rising into the U.K. Top 40 and attracting accolades in the U.S. The 2002 reissue adds more than 22 minutes' worth of bonus material, all of it dub versions of Isaacs' songs, including an eight-minute instrumental extension of "Cool Down the Pace," a song in which the unhurried Isaacs asks his companion not to dance so fast. The result is to make one of the 1980s' best reggae albums that much better. ~ William Ruhlmann

All tracks have been digitally remastered.

This is part of Island Records "Reggae Classics" series.

Additional Tracks

Recorded at Tuff Gong Studios, Kingston, Jamaica. Includes liner notes by David Katz.

Reissue producer: Dana G. Smart.

Personnel: Dwight Pinkney, Eric "Bingy Bunny" Lamont (guitar); Wycliffe "Steely" Johnson (keyboards); Wally Badarou (synthesizer); Style Scott, Lincoln Style Scott (drums).

Audio Mixer: Godwin Logie.

Liner Note Author: David Katz.

Recording information: Tuff Gong Studios, Kingston, Jamaica.

Photographer: Jonnie Black.

Personnel: Gregory Isaacs (vocals); Eric "Bingy Bunny" Lamont, Dwight Pickney (guitar); "Steelie" Johnson (keyboards); Wally Badarou (synthesizer); Errol "Flabba Holt" Carter (bass); Lincoln "Style" Scott (drums).

Producers: Gregory Isaacs, "Flabba" Holt.

Q (9/02, p.126) - 4 stars out of 5 - "...Has a similar flavor to MORE GREGORY; the sweet, haunting sorrow of 'The Fugitive' is a high point..."
Mojo (Publisher) (8/02, p.78) - Included in Mojo's 50 Greatest Reggae Albums - "...Isaacs at his most seductive, oozing sensuality..."s