About This Item
Andy Bassford, born in Connecticut, is the reggae legend you've never heard of. He was discovered by Horace Andy, which led to his recording debut on the classic album 'In The Light' in 1977. In 1980, Andy went to Jamaica and began playing on sessions with the Roots Radics. Soon after he joined Lloyd Parks and We The People, thus performing or recording with nearly every reggae artist of the era, most notably Dennis Brown. Upon his return to the US in late 1980's he joined Toots and the Maytals among many others and became the house guitarist for the seminal Studio One tag. In recent years, Andy has toured internationally with Jamaican pianist Monty Alexander and his Harlem-Kingston Express reggae-jazz fusion project, with whom he has also recorded two albums. In 2003, he was honored by the Jamaica Federation of Musicians for Outstanding Contributions to the Jamaican Music Industry, one of the only-non Jamaicans to receive this award. In 2019, he won his first Grammy as a composer and guitarist on Sting & Shaggy's '44/876', which took the honor of best Reggae album. Andy Bassford's first ever solo album 'The Harder They Strum' pays homage to the movie and album that lured Andy into the wonderful world of Jamaican music. It's a song by song remake of the world famous soundtrack, of the ten original vocal tracks six are turned into guitar instrumentals, and the rest come with vocal parts from New Kingston and Soul Sisters Six. Other notable guests on the album include Monty Alexander, Mikey Chung, Kevin Bachelor, and Larry McDonald. Limited edition orange vinyl repress limited to 200 copies. Tracklisting Side A 1. You Can Get It If You Really Want 2. Stop That Train (Draw Your Breaks) 3. Rivers Of Babylon 4. Many Rivers To Cross 5. Sweet And Dandy Side B 1. The Harder They Come 2. Johnny Too Bad 3. 007 (Shanty Town) 4. Pressure Drop 5. Sitting In Limbo
