Wolves and Leopards

Although Dennis Brown released over a hundred albums during his career, Wolf & Leopards, which appeared in 1977, might be the most significant for a couple of different reasons, even though it was essentially a collection of singles. It was the first LP from Brown to feature the singer as a full-fledged Rastaman, and the songs show a strong commitment to cultural themes. It also introduced to the world his signature song, "Here I Come" (aka "Love and Hate"), as well as the title tune, "Wolf & Leopards," which is rumored to have been mixed by Lee "Scratch" Perry at his Black Ark studio. Several of the tracks were produced by Niney, with the rest produced by Brown himself with help from singer Castro Brown, but even with its sort of little bit here, little bit there haphazard makeup, Wolf & Leopards functions as a fully integrated and coherent album sequence. It might not be Brown's best album, and it might not even contain his best singles, but Wolf & Leopards was a watermark release for the singer, signaling a shift to political and cultural matters, and his work as a mature, fully developed artist begins with this release.