Private Beach Party

Private Beach Party
Studio album by Gregory Isaacs
Released	1985
Genre	Reggae
Label	Greensleeves
Producer	Gussie Clarke
Gregory Isaacs chronology
Easy (1984) Private Beach Party (1985) All I Have Is Love Love Love (1986)

Private Beach Party is a 1985 album by the Jamaican reggae singer Gregory Isaacs. The album continued Isaacs' working relationship with producer Augustus "Gussie" Clarke, to whom he would return in 1988 for the hugely successful "Rumours" and Red Rose for Gregory.^[1] Clarke employed Carlton Hines to write several of the songs on the album, and the musicians featured include Sly Dunbar, Robbie Shakespeare, Lloyd Parks, and Willie Lindo.

The album features duets with Carlene Davis (on "Feeling Irie") and Dennis Brown (on "Let off Supm").^[2]

Originally released by Greensleeves Records in 1985, it was released in the US by Ras Records.

Reception

Allmusic's Jo-Ann Greene called the album a "masterpiece", stating "There's not a mis-step within the entire set, and every song is so high-caliber that's it's useless to try to pick favorites".^[1] Robert Christgau rated the album B+, commenting "there's a light touch to this music--Isaacs whispering and murmuring around diffident horn-section filigrees--that I'd call sexy".^[3] Trouser Press described Private Beach Party as "his best album in years — a fresh, diverse package".^[4] Steve Barrow & Peter Dalton selected the album as one of their recommendations in The Rough Guide to Reggae, calling the duet with Davis "outstanding".^[5]

Track listing

1. "Private Beach Party"
2. "Wish You Were Mine"
3. "Feeling Irie" - Gregory Isaacs & Carlene Davis
4. "Bits And Pieces"
5. "Let Off Supm" - Gregory Isaacs & Dennis Brown
6. "No Rushings"
7. "Better Plant Some Loving"
8. "Special To Me"
9. "Got To Be In Tune"
10. "Promise Is A Comfort"

Musicians

• Gregory Isaacs - vocals
• Lloyd Parks - bass guitar
• Robbie Shakespeare - bass guitar
• Sly Dunbar - drums
• Willie Stewart - drums
• Willie Lindo - guitar, arrangements
• Robert Lyn - piano, synthesizer
• Franklyn Waul - piano, synthesizer
• Lloyd Forest - backing vocals
• David Harvey - backing vocals
• Carlton Hines - backing vocals
• Dean Fraser - horns
• David Madden - horns
• Ronald "Nambo" Robinson - horns
• Rass Brass - horns
• Chico Chin - horns
• Carlene Davis - vocals
• Dennis Brown - vocals

References

1. Greene, Jo-Ann "Private Beach Party Review", Allmusic, retrieved 2011-04-29
2. Thompson, Dave (2002) Reggae & Caribbean Music, Backbeat Books, ISBN 0-87930-655-6, p. 130
3. Christgau, Robert "Gregory Isaacs", in Christgau's Record Guide: the '80s, 1990, Pantheon Books, ISBN 978-0-679-73015-6, reproduced at robertchristgau.com, retrieved 2011-04-29
4. "Grgeory Isaacs", Trouser Press, retrieved 2011-04-29
5. Barrow, Steve & Dalton, Peter (2004) The Rough Guide to Reggae, 3rd edn., Rough Guides, ISBN 1-84353-329-4, p. 287