Pure sonic joy

I used a prepaid iTunes gift card last night to score some essential reggae tracks, including a pair by Ken Boothe.
If he had been American, people might talk about Boothe as they converse about Marvin Gaye or Smokey Robinson.
With his emotional, gritty tone, Boothe would have easily swept aside most other R & B chart contenders.
As it happened, most Americans probably haven't experienced the beauty of a Ken Boothe song treatment.
Boothe specialized in reggae versions of American hits, and it was one of these covers that I would place in my top-10 of all-time greatest songs.
"Everything I Own" was penned by David Gates and his band Bread performed the first version of the song in 1972. Two years later, Boothe took his sublime version to the top of the UK charts.
A soft-rock to reggae transformation sounds logical enough. It still doesn't begin to express the pure sonic joy of Boothe's "Everything I Own." He sings it with all the feeling of the greatest gospel vocalists. And you can even (slow) dance to it!
"Everything I Own" hit the top spot on Oct. 26, 1974 and remained at the pinnacle of British singles' sales for three weeks. Then, in 1987, Boy George took a note-by-note remake of the song back to the top of the charts.
That's quite a testament to a truly wondrous tune.