Skipping around from producer to producer has one of two results. Either, a singer or band winds up creating a catalog without a singular bent, or the variety of settings results in a broad spate of songs that can easily be taken in by any number of different fan groups. The latter is obviously what folks desire, but there are a number of reasons for jumping ship, as it were.

After wining a talent contest during the early seventies, Johnny Clarke struck a relationship with Clancy Eccles. And while the producer – who should righty be well regarded for his singing as well – didn’t seem to promote Clarke in a manner the singer felt was befitting. It was still an early career association that couldn’t have looked bad a few releases on even if those singles weren’t that successful.

Working with Rupie Edwards and subsequently Bunny “Striker” Lee, Clarke eventually found his voice as well as a group sympathetic to the sounds he sought to impart. Lee and the Aggrovators, a group of top tier session players from JA, were able to welcome Clarke into fold. It became the most successful portion of the singer’s career and resulted in more than a couple of songs which worked their way into general consciousness.

Either way, by 1977 there was a burgeoning market place for roots related fair of all kinds. Focusing on lover’s rock might have made Clarke seem more like a pop star than a reggae singer, but everyone works with that sort of lyrical stuff at some point. That being said, there are unquestionably some tracks that aren’t worth making it through from beginning to end.

Don’t Stay Out Late isn’t a disc that’s going to be included in the pantheon of unsurpassable reggae recordings. But there’s nary a misstep to be found. Even with that, though, the disc doesn’t sport too many highlights. It’s just an even-keeled effort.

Including a reworked version of Prince Jammy’s “Blood Dunza” doesn’t move to hurt the album at all. And in fact, in Clarke’s re-appropriation of the song, he lands on one of the better tracks on the disc. The melody isn’t drastically changed from the original, but the pacing does seem a bit quicker. It’s still all languid reggae stuffs with Clarke’s vocal floating atop of the basic rhythm.

What’s odd about this track and the rest of not just the album, but Clarke’s entire catalog is that with the focus of instrumental soloing greatly removed, the singer doesn’t do too much in the way of wowing fans with his vocal abilities. Again, it’s all evenly performed, but that leaves out any sort of emotional element that one might expect from songs dealing with love and current political problems. It’d be ridiculous to expect every singer to approximate Peter Tosh’s strongly worded tirades or Max Romeo’s political stances. But Clarke needs to give listeners something other than staid tracks.

The disc is worth snagging if you stumble upon it somewhere – mostly for “Blood Dunza” – but devotion to Clarke and his catalog seems impossible.