John Holt - One Million Volts of Holt (2023)

Jamaican singer John Holt's greatest success has come with smooth, orchestrated covers of American love songs, and while that reputation may actually do him a disservice, tending to obscure his stellar roots recordings and fine songwriting, it's part and parcel of why he has had such a long career. Holt had released the Harry Mudie-produced Time Is the Master, which featured covers of assorted love ballads supported by lush string arrangements, in 1974, and the British Trojan Records label, recognizing that they had a sort of Jamaican MOR singer on their hands, brought Holt to London that same year and paired him with pop producer Tony Ashfield, who drenched another album of covers from Holt in rich string arrangements. The result, which essentially turned Holt into a Perry Como-like crooner, was better than it should have been, mostly because Holt was a fine and graceful singer, and he was still very much Jamaican. One of the tracks, a cover of Kris Kristofferson's “Help Me Make It Through the Night,” became a U.K. hit and set the table for two more albums of similar material from the Holt and Ashfield team. This set collects 20 tracks from those three releases, including “Help Me Make It through the Night,” and it represents the absolute commercial high point of Holt's career. It doesn’t tell this fine singer’s whole story, but it captures the part of it that came to define him. © Steve Leggett