[Note: Third in a triptych of pieces about songs named Joe]
Technically, this near-instrumental is what’s known as “version” (as opposed to dub’s full-on, all-out adventurousness), though fortunately, this mix is enlivened by light dub treatments that follow the playful spoken word opening:
“Nosey Joe Version“
Niney All-Stars
“Nosey Joe Version” is from the mixing console and recording studio of Niney the Observer, a.k.a., Winston Holness (née George Boswell), who replaced Lee “Scratch” Perry at Joe Gibbs‘ studio in 1968 after Perry famously (and angrily) left to form his own musical enterprise. Niney, a protege of Perry, would eventually end up collaborating with “Scratch” on 2001’s Station Underground Report.
You can find both versions – “Wolf & Leopards” and “Nosey Joe” – mixed together as one selection on Roots With Quality, VP’s expansive retrospective of Niney productions issued 2009, although grumblings of discontent on Discogs speak to less-than-stellar mastering (“a real shame since there are some real good tunes and extended mixes here, which are not present on the [Trojan collection from 2005]”).
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Extra Credit
Check out the original vocal version via Dennis Brown‘s “Wolf & Leopards“
