Smith & Co

Although little is known about Eric Donaldson as a performer he has made a major impression on the reggae world through some of the songs he has written and recorded. The title track of this album, "Cherry oh baby", was successfully covered by UB 40 giving them an international hit in 1984. The track was also previously covered by the Rolling Stones on their "Black and Blue" album in 1976. UB 40 were also inspired to record "The Way you do the Things you do" by Eric Donaldson's reggae arrangement and included on this CD of the original Temptations song.

As probably the best known reggae band after Bob Marley & The Wailers, UB40 have never made any secret of the the fact that not only were they inspired by reggae, but they also had many hits by covering tracks originally recorded by Jamaican reggae artists. It was the reggae recording of "Red, Red Wine" by Tony Tribe (although an original Neil Diamond hit in the 60's) that led to UB40 covering it themselves. Other major hits were scored with versions of "Cherry Oh Baby", "Many Rivers to Cross", "Kingston Town", "Impossible Love" and "Here I am", of which all the original reggae recordings are featured on this album. In fact all the songs included on this CD are the original reggae recordings of songs later recorded by UB40, mostly on their "Labour of Love " projects.