Keith Hudson’s ‘Torch of Freedom’ Gets the Full Story -

Keith Hudson’s ‘Torch of Freedom’ Gets the Full Story

Keith Hudson - Torch Of Freedom

VP Records dropped a proper treat for collectors late July, putting both cuts of Keith Hudson’s legendary Torch of Freedom together on one double LP for the very first time. You get the raw Jamaican original from his own Mamba imprint right alongside the UK remix he did for Atra later that year, and the rare dub-only single Crying thrown in for good measure.

For anyone studying mid-seventies roots, this album stands tall right next to Flesh of My Skin, Blood of My Blood and Pick A Dub. It shows the true, uncompromising sound of the UK Jamaican diaspora during a golden era. Born in Kingston on March 18, 1946, Hudson earned the moniker “Ghetto Dentist” due to his early work making dental plates before turning to music full time. He eventually passed in New York on November 14, 1984, leaving behind a legacy of dark, eccentric roots and dub that nobody else could duplicate.

The original June 1975 Mamba pressing gives you the pure Kingston mix. Recorded at Dynamic Sounds, this version focus heavy on the rhythm section, carried by Familyman Barrett and Robbie Shakespeare on bass, Chinna Smith on guitar, and Santa Davis on drums. It features the vocal cut Excitement, which session paperwork lists as I Lock The Key From My Heart, but it skips straight dub versions for most tracks. One massive highlight from those Kingston sessions was Turn the Heater On, a tune that later got a huge push when post-punk group New Order covered it for a John Peel session in 1982.

Later in 1975, Brent Clarke’s Atra label prepped the album for UK release, and Hudson headed into Chalk Farm and Morgan Studios with engineer Sid Bucknor. They reworked the sound completely to build a spacey, atmospheric mix for Virgin Records to market across Europe. Bucknor and Hudson layered in Ken Elliott’s synths, backing vocals from Candi McKenzie, and harmonica and extra percussion from William Brown, pushing the faders around until the mix came out denser, spacier, more atmospheric altogether. Excitement was dropped from the tracklist and dedicated dub cuts instead were added, like Look At Me (dub to Don’t Look At Me So) and Teardrops (matching Don’t Let The Teardrops Fool You). They also overhauled the sequence, pairing vocal tracks side by side with their corresponding dubs. Pure magic for the heads, trust me!