Toots & the Maytals, fronted by the roaring, gospel-inflected singing of Toots Hibbert, were just an island or two away from being an American deep soul singing trio, and these early to mid-'60s recordings show Hibbert beginning to emerge as a kind of Jamaican Otis Redding on sides like the signature "54-46 (That's My Number)," "Alidina," the pleasant and poppy "Hold On," the stomping "Monkey Man," and the truly soulful "Johnny Cool Man," among others. This set doesn't do much more than sketch in the numbers, though, but there's enough here to show what a driving and intense group the Maytals could be. ~ Steve Leggett
