Entering the Dragon

by Jo-Ann GreeneAfter shaking up the UK sound systems with a stream of hit productions, Keith Hudson inked a deal with the British Magnet label in 1974. One can only imagine the company's reaction when they were handed Entering the Dragon; truthfully, it's tough to imagine how modern audiences will respond to this set.The album title is a tribute to Bruce Lee, the title track a seething version of "Rockfort Rock" intensely delivered by the Soul Syndicate Band. The DJ, the otherwise unknown R Bagga, who sounds suspiciously like Hudson himself imitating Lee Perry, spatters his toast with kung-fu references and occasional expletives.That was shocking enough, but at least listeners could get their heads around it, what followed was so removed from the reality of the contemporary reggae scene, it beggars belief. The sparseness of the backings in a time of lushness, the double tracked vocals (beating Perry to the punch by several years), and Hudson, himself, who could barely carry tune, but packed his song's with emotion. This was reggae from another galaxy entirely.The songs are all relationship orientated, and idiosyncratic to put it mildly, but for all the weirdness, it's obvious that Hudson was exploring, in his own peculiar fashion, reggae's R&B roots, check out his cover of Maxine Brown's "Oh No Not My Baby" for proof. Most of the vocal tracks are twinned with their dub versions, and it's here that Hudson's genius shines, as he toys with the Soul Syndicate's swaggering riddims, throwing the instruments into relief, subtly shifting the mood, and invariably adding a touch of oddness to it all. The band themselves shine on the album's two instrumentals, with the swampy "War War", a version of Hudson's "Melody Maker" widely hinting at what was to come.The Trojan CD reissue, more than doubles the length of the original set with the addition of a whopping 17 bonus tracks, dating from 1971-1976, creating a patchwork overview of Hudson's work along the way. There's a quintet of DJ versions from unknowns, although Barnabus presumably is King Tubby's engineering protege. A pair of covers from similarly unheard of before and since singers, are offset by one from Alton Ellis, who's stunningly out of place amongst these amateurs. Hudson offers up several more vocal tracks, with instrumentals and dubs filling out the set.Without the hits, Dragon makes it easy to dismiss Hudson as an eccentric, self-indulgent loon, especially if this set is divorced from the rest of his catalog. Taken as a whole, though, one can follow his trajectory through R&B, soul, funk and the blues, twisting insistent reggae riddims to his will, while simultaneously churning out more commercial reggae that ate up the charts. A ferocious talent at work.