I’m going to go ahead and proclaim that the contributions that Leroy Sibbles made to Jamaican music are more important when he wasn’t leading the Heptones. Of course, that’s probably too harsh, but Party Time is probably the most overrated album that Lee Perry produced – and perhaps the most overrated in the reggae cannon.

That disc, though, did have a few really strong moments. And of course, the force felt from a quick listen to "I Shall Be Released," a Bob Dylan cover, instantly signals to whoever’s privy to that track that this band was of course talented. The rest of Party Time, though, is littered with throwaways. Even the politically inspired work on “Mr. President” could have been left off of the disc. And that’s why it’s confusing to repeatedly hear that this disc along with Junior Murvin’s Police and Thieves and Jah Lion’s Collie Weed constitute some sort of triumvirate. They don’t. Moreover, the disc from Murvin is the only offering that really had any sort of cultural impact at all – and that was partially thanks to the Clash.

Of course, one can’t base the entirety of a band’s career on a single offering. And while Party Time is easily the Heptones’ most well known disc, a compilation that I came across on Satta Massagana, while not distilling the group’s sound, places them somewhere in Mighty Diamonds territory. Each track is either extended or the follow up is a dub. And while that might not point to any sort of renaissance for the group, gone are the Lee Perry embellishments and stepper’s rhythms.

Deep in the Roots, collected from tracks recorded during the ‘70s and released in 2004, finds the Heptones working in a much different venue then on Party Time. Having been a group since the mid ‘60s, the Heptones’ career followed the trajectory of Jamaican music. And while both Deep in the Roots and Party Time are both comprised of tracks from roughly the same time, the approach to reggae differs.

A few stepper’s do unfortunately show up on the compilation – “Crystal Blue Persuasion” being one of them. But it isn’t so pervasive as to distract from the overall offering. The dubs, obviously, help out a bit and break up the monotony of countless vocal trio songs that are, sometimes, all too similar to discern. It’s for this reason, that to me, relegates the band – not Sibbles – to its second tier status. Well accept for “Fattie Fattie.” That’s a classic.

Of course, the Heptones far surpass most new roots acts, but the work that the bassist and overall conductor put in can’t be calculated. Working alongside Coxsonne Dodd at Studio One found Sibbles in enough groundbreaking moments as to not be forgotten. As part of a duo – Jackie Mittoo being the other half – that would ostensibly organize sessions, Sibbles was thrust into the limelight as Mittoo moved to Canada during the late ‘60s. And during this period, the bass style that is so associated with reggae was hashed out by the lead Heptone. It may have come about anyway, but we’ll give him this one.