The story of “Java” is well-known. Clive Chin had originally recorded a vocal by Dennis Wright on the rhythm, but was unhappy with the result. He then asked his friend Augustus Pablo to play on it, and the resulting record was a massive success that launched Pablo’s career. The record includes supporting vocals from The Chosen Few, but it is Pablo’s eerie power melodica lines combined with the relentless and innovative rhythm that make it the classic it is. The other side of the record, “Java Version”, features a totally different take by Pablo.
The success of “Java” encouraged Clive Chin to issue further cuts of the rhythm, including a splendid horns version from Tommy McCook, “Jaro”, coupled with an Augustus Pablo clavinet cut, “Maro”, and a Dennis Alcapone toast, “Mava”, coupled with Pablo and Bongo Herman’s “Java Passion”. Clive followed these up with an album that is usually called “Java Java Dub”, which was originally credited as “Java Java Java Java”.
The original ten-track album includes a further dub to the “Java Version” take, “Java Java Dub”. In 1988 a ten-track issue of “Java Java Dub” was released in the U.S.A. with a blank cover. Rather than being a reissue, this is in effect a different album, as all of the tracks have been remixed and several features added contributions from deejay Delroy “Crutches” Jones. This set includes a straight dub cut, “Java Java”. Shortly after this, a twelve~track edition of the album appeared in the U.K. with a slightly different mix from its predecessor and with two extra tracks, Pablo’s “Java” and Dennis Alcapone’s “Mava”. Clive Chin also issued one other cut to the rhythm, I Roy’s “Hospital Trolley”.
There were two early recuts of the rhythm. Prince Buster produced Senior Pablo’s melodica cuts, “Java” and “Science”, and Studio One issued a strong saxophone version by Cedric “Im” Brooks & The Invaders, “Ethiopia”. Pablo used the rhythm for two Black Ark-produced cuts, “Ethiopia” and “Lama Lava”, and he later remade a version of “Java”. There have been many other cuts to the rhythm, but special mention should be made of Roman Stewart and The Heptones’ “Rain A Fall” and Sugar Minott’s beautiful “People Of The World”.
(Source: Ray Hurford & Jean Scrivener’s “Rhythm Wise Two & Three”)