Carl Dawkins is one of the many figures in Jamaican music who never really made a lot of money despite being a relatively important figure in Reggae.
One reason is he had a short career break enforced by the Jamaican penal system after being caught with cannabis. This, as you might imagine, is not an unusual habit amongst reggae musicians.
He also withdrew from music after the digital style and slackness of the 80s appeared.
“Satisfaction” is a short and sweet Rocksteady hit. It has a very catchy vocal hook, backed by a simple melody provided by the guitar skanks and a buoyant bassline.
As with much Jamaican music of this era (as I’ve moaned about on various songs!) the quality is all over the place, and it can be hard to find a nice sounding copy. Even the Spotify versions are a bit different, and seem to have been ripped from the vinyl.
Either way, the ones on Spotify are good enough, and I do find the crustiness quite charming to be honest. There’s a kind of warmness to it, which for a song like this, adds so much!
Major Lazer sampled the instrumental for their song “Jessica”, but it was fine as it was, to be frank…
The song was released in 1970 on JJ Records in Jamaica, and Trojan records in the U.K, becoming a bit of a hit.
Great tune!