Keith Hudson’s Edgy Classic ‘Flesh Of My Skin, Blood Of My Blood’ Coming To Streaming For The First Time

On October 22, 2021, VP Music Group will reissue Reggae singer and producer Keith Hudson’s obscure and edgy masterpiece, Flesh Of My Skin, Blood Of My Blood on vinyl and CD, and for the first time, on digital streaming platforms.

Flesh Of My Skin, Blood Of My Blood, Hudson’s fourth album, was released in 1974 to critical reception in London, paving the way for his future success and setting a foundation for his creative legacy, which was cut tragically short when he died from cancer in 1984 at the age of 38. Hudson’s original records are to this day some of the most sought after by reggae vinyl collectors.

VP’s remaster of the original Mamba pressing of Flesh Of My Skin, Blood Of My Blood includes three tracks not on that original, plus extensive liner notes from Hudson biographer Vincent Ellis, combining to make this the definitive release of an obscure Reggae classic.

“The recent passing of the massively influential and well-known producer Lee “Scratch” Perry is the perfect time to reflect on his most comparable peer, Keith Hudson, who died before his time but with a wildly creative legacy during reggae’s golden era. Both men, Scratch and Hudson, aspired to be singers but ultimately excelled as album and song producers, not afraid to defy convention in search of artistic epiphanies,” VP Records noted in a release.

In Jamaica, Hudson was known briefly for his standout hit record with Big Youth, “Ace Niney Skank” and his debut production with singer Ken Boothe, “Old Fashioned Way.” From there, Hudson’s output maximized the use of remix and versions that were the hallmark of early dancehall and soundsystem culture. Multiple iterations of songs appeared across releases, including radical dub deconstructions.

Hudson’s most enduring catalog albums are the once-obscure Pick A Dub, revived by the Blood & Fire label and reissued by VP in 2016 and his signature vocal album Rasta Communication, which Greensleeves issued in Europe in 1979. Hudson would continue his sonic experimentation into the 80s with psychedelic use synthesizer on tracks such as “Nuh Skin Up.”

An overview of Hudson’s catalog can be found on his Greensleeves Records Icons Spotify playlist.