Dread Beat an' Blood by Linton Kwesi Johnson

Dread Beat an' Blood is an album by Poet and the Roots released in 1978 on the Front Line label. It was produced by Vivian Weathers and Linton Kwesi Johnson. The 'Poet' is dub poet Johnson and 'the Roots' are Dennis Bovell, Lloyd "Jah Bunny" Donaldson, Desmond Craig, Winston Curniffe, Everald Forrest, Floyd Lawson, John Varnom, Lila Weathers and Vivian Weathers. Most of the tracks are based on poems that first appeared in Johnson's 1975 book of poetry Dread Beat an' Blood. This album was the result of collaboration between Johnson, who had been active as a journalist and reggae critic as well as a poet, and musician and producer Bovell. The combination of Bovell's heavy dub rhythms and Johnson's monotone intonation of his poetry created a whole new genre of reggae: dub poetry. In subsequent re-releases of the album the artist is sometimes given as Linton Kwesi Johnson. The album was listed in the 1999 book The Rough Guide: Reggae: 100 Essential CDs.