Sylford Walker - Good Encouragement (Sunvibes Music)

Like its predecessor, this album is once again an infectious mix of reinterpretations of some of Walker’s greatest hits and several new tracks.

In the first category, we’d like to highlight three tracks, starting with ‘Burn Babylon’, originally released in 1975 on the Belmonts Records label by Joe Gibbs. Additionally, the track list of ‘Good Encouragement’ also features new versions of ‘Lambsbread’, the title track of Walker’s 1988 album, and ‘Jah Golden Pen’, performed as a duet with Rachaad Amarjii, who, like Walker, hails from Yallahs in Saint Thomas. The original ‘Golden Pen’ can be found on Sylford’s ‘Nutin’ Na Gwan’ album (Crazy Joe Records, 2006).

Songs like ‘Generation Of Viper’ and ‘Jah Never Fails I’ have also appeared on previous Sunvibes Music releases. The former was featured on ‘Riddim Of Legends’, a one-riddim compilation released last year, while the latter appeared on the ‘I Mean It Riddim’ compilation from 2020 (although Sylford originally recorded it in 2017).

As far as the new tracks go, we have to mention the excellent title track ‘Good Encouragement’, and closing track ‘Reggae Fanatic’, an ode to our favourite music genre, is definitely worth checking out as well.

Finally, with Oba Simba, another musical talent from Saint Thomas who found a home at Sunvibes Music, Sylford recorded ‘Brain Food’, a delightful steppers tune, and much like ‘Lambsbread’, an ode to the green herb.

Purchasing the double vinyl version of this album will not only get you the 10 vocal cuts, but also an equal number of dub versions, all meticulously mixed by Roberto Sanchez. Highly enjoyable roots release!