Brixton Cat

A comprehensive anthology of the Joe Mansano’s early productions.

After moving to London from his native Trinidad in 1963, Joe Mansano quickly made his mark as one of the UK’s leading West Indian music salesmen. Within five years, his reputation had grown to such an extent that he was head-hunted by Trojan Records to manage one of their key record shops. Joe’s Records shop in Brixton soon became the place to buy reggae music in the capital and with his finger firmly on the country’s musical pulse, allied to a keen ear for sound, his move into record production seemed a natural progression.

In the studio, Joe’s music-making skills equalled, if not surpassed his talents as a salesman and from late 1968 to 1970 his productions - issued on the Trojan’ Blue Cat, Duke and Joe subsidiaries - proved particularly popular among the country’s skinhead fans. Since then, his work has become highly regarded among aficionados of the UK boss reggae sound, with his releases from this time fetching significant sums on today’s collector’s market. This 3CD box set comprises the entirety of Joe’s productions from this golden age of reggae, including his seminal 1969 ‘Brixton Cat’ album, and features numerous skinhead classics along with tracks that have remained unissued for well over half a century!