Young, gifted and black
Pied piper

""Young, Gifted And Black" benefits from well-chosen cover versions riding Harry Johnson's rhythms, capturing the infectious optimism of the time with the duo's voices blending sweetly and soulfully. They revive duets like Brook Benton and Dinah Washington's "Rocking Good Way" and Joe & Ann's lilting "Gee Baby" as well as tackling less obvious material such as Bob Dylan's "It Ain't Me Babe". Numbers like these, and of course the title track, help make this one of the best-ever pop reggae albums. The "Pied Piper" segment is more of a mixed bag, though at least there's room for some of Bob Andy's own compositions such as "Save Me"".

"Pop reggae benchmarks from Trojan's king and queen ... Motown had Marvin and Tammi, Stax had Otis and Carla. Trojan, meanwhile, had Bob and Marcia, who together ushered in an era of pop reggae with producer Harry J Johnson. Bob Andy had started out in harmony vocal group The Paragons before signing with Studio One as a soloist and writer for, among others, Marcia Griffiths - he penned her classic "Feel Like Jumping". With Harry J, however, the pair mainly stuck to soul and pop covers, hitting big with 1970's "Young Gifted And Blackʺ's title track, their string-laden take on the Nina Simone song".