Last month, we revealed that VP Records will salute the late great Dennis Brown with a double-disc tribute album, titled We Remember Dennis Brown. The Green was mentioned as a contributing artist, and today we’re celebrating their cover of Dennis Brown’s “Promised Land”.
[Related: VP Records to Release Dennis Brown Tribute Album]
VP Records is leaking one song from We Remember Dennis Brown every Friday as the full length tribute album features 30 different artists. Thus far, we have heard Romain Virgo‘s rendition of “Caress Me” and Raging Fyah‘s take on “Milk and Honey”. We Remember Dennis Brown will also feature tributes from Chronixx, Jah Cure, Gyptian, Freddie McGregor, Jesse Royale, Bushman, and many others.
In a statement to The Pier, The Green acknowledged that: “Dennis Brown is a legend and we are huge fans of his music. When we were asked to cover ‘Promised Land’ (which happens to be one of our favorite tunes) we were extremely stoked. We were on tour last fall when we hit Scanhope Sound in Denver with our friend Joel Scanlon. We are honored to be a part of this Dennis Brown tribute project.”
Each song on the compilation, including The Green’s rendition of “Promised Land” has been masterfully re-produced by the renowned Jamaican producer Clive Hunt.
More than 35 years after the original release of Dennis Brown & Aswad’s “Promised Land”, The Green has taken on the task of bringing their Hawaiian flare to the track. The cover didn’t come without challenges as The Green states: “We have adopted a music from the Jamaican people and we understand the respect that comes with playing Reggae music. Some challenges were faced when having to make decisions on the lyrics and background harmonies.”
The Green mentioned that Live In Montego Bay album is one of their Dennis Brown favorites to this day and while they were tasked with covering “Promised Land”, one of their favorites also include “Should I”.
“Roots and lovers rock reggae both have always been popular where we grew up and it was artists like Bob Marley, Dennis Brown, Black Uhuru, Gregory Isaacs and Yellowman that you’d hear blasting from car stereos and at beach park parties. Songs like “Hypocrites” and “Silhouettes” were actually covered by local bands and you’d hear those tunes on what was basically considered ‘popular radio’.”
You can purchase The Green’s cut of “Promised Land” on iTunes by clicking HERE!
This is the second studio track that The Green has released this year. On January 8th, 2016, The Green released their new single “Roots” as the rest of us anticipate a new album from the group, which would be their first since 2013’s Hawai’i 13. You can pick up “Roots” on iTunes by clicking HERE!
Related Links:
The Green Website
The Green Facebook
Article By: Mike Patti
Listen: Dennis Brown – “Promised Land”
Listen: The Green – “Roots”