1. Track listing
    Side one  Side two 

2. 1996 CD track listing
    CD one (Remix)  CD two 

3. 2017 40th Anniversary Edition CD track listing
    CD one (Remix)  CD two (Bonus Tracks)  CD three (Original mix) 

4. Personnel

5. References

Heart of the Congos is a roots reggae album by The Congos, produced by Lee "Scratch" Perry at his Black Ark studio with a studio band including Boris Gardiner on bass and Ernest Ranglin on guitar. The album was released in 1977. It is noted as being one of Perry's masterpiece productions of the Black Ark era.

The first issue of the LP in Jamaica was a very limited release said to consist of only several hundred copies. The original mix of the album was not officially re-issued on either LP or CD until 2017's 40th Anniversary Edition (although an 'unofficial' CD release, sourced from the original LP, was released in 2004 by CORN-FED Productions, based in Amsterdam). Until 2017, all editions subsequent to the first Jamaica release feature a 2nd, substantially different, mix by Lee Perry. The 40th Anniversary Edition includes both mixes of the album, as well as ten bonus tracks.

The album was listed in the 1999 book The Rough Guide: Reggae: 100 Essential CDs.^[1]

Track listing

All tracks written by Cedric Myton and Roydel Johnson, except tracks 1 and 2 written by Cedric Myton, Roydel Johnson and Lee Perry.

Side one

1. "Fisherman"
2. "Congoman"
3. "Open Up the Gate"
4. "Children Crying"
5. "La La Bam-Bam"

Side two

1. "Can't Come In"
2. "Sodom and Gomorrow"
3. "The Wrong Thing"
4. "Ark of the Covenant"
5. "Solid Foundation"

1996 CD track listing

CD one (Remix)

1. "Fisherman"
2. "Congoman"
3. "Open up the Gate"
4. "Children Crying"
5. "La La Bam-Bam"
6. "Can't Come In"
7. "Sodom and Gomorrow"
8. "The Wrong Thing"
9. "Ark of the Covenant"
10. "Solid Foundation"
11. "At the Feast"
12. "Nicodemus"

CD two

1. "Congoman" (12" mix)
2. "Congoman Chant"
3. "Bring the Mackaback"
4. "Noah Sugar Pan"
5. "Solid Foundation" (Disco Cork Mix)

2017 40th Anniversary Edition CD track listing

CD one (Remix)

1. "Fisherman"
2. "Congoman"
3. "Open up the Gate"
4. "Children Crying"
5. "La La Bam-Bam"
6. "Can't Come In"
7. "Sodom and Gomorrow"
8. "The Wrong Thing"
9. "Ark of the Covenant"
10. "Solid Foundation"

CD two (Bonus Tracks)

1. "Don't Blame It On I"
2. "At The Feast"
3. "Neckodeemus"
4. "Solid Foundation (Disco Cork Mix)"
5. "Foundation Dub"
6. "Congoman (12" Mix)"
7. "Congoman Chant"
8. "Bring The Mackaback"
9. "Fisherman Dub"
10. "Noah Sugar Pan"

CD three (Original mix)

1. "Fisherman"
2. "Congoman"
3. "Open up the Gate"
4. "Children Crying"
5. "La La Bam-Bam"
6. "Can't Come In"
7. "Sodom and Gomorrow"
8. "The Wrong Thing"
9. "Ark of the Covenant"
10. "Solid Foundation"

Personnel

Produced by The Congos and Lee "Scratch" Perry.

Recorded at the Black Ark 1976–77, Cardiff Crescent, Washington Gardens, Kingston, Jamaica.

• The Congos – Cedric Myton and Roy "Ashanti" Johnson
• Bass – Boris Gardiner, Geoffrey Chung (on "Fisherman")
• Drums – Lowell "Sly" Dunbar, Mikey "Boo" Richards, Paul (on "Fisherman")
• Rhythm guitar – Robert "Billy" Johnson
• Lead guitar – Ernest Ranglin
• Organ – Winston "Brubeck" Wright (bass on "Congoman")
• Piano – Keith Stewart
• Percussions – Noel "Skully" Simms, Uziah "Sticky" Thompson, Lee Perry
• Backing vocals – The Meditations, Watty "King" Burnett, Gregory Isaacs (on "La La Bam-Bam"), Earl Morgan and Barry Llewellyn (on "La La Bam-Bam"), Candy McKenzie (on "Children Crying")

References

• Valeriu Calancea
• Valeriu Catînsus
• Valeriu Chiveri
• Valeriu Cosarciuc
• Valeriu Gagiu
• Valeriu Ghiletchi
• Valeriu Ghilețchi
• Valeriu Graur
• Valeriu Guma
• Valeriu Lazar
• Valeriu Lazarov
• Valeriu Lazăr
• Valeriu Lupu
• Valeriu Matei
• Valeriu Mitul
• Valeri Umnov
• Valeriu Muravschi
• Valeriu Nemerenco
• Valeriu Niculescu
• Valeriu Onitiu
• Valeriu Perdivara
• Valeriu Rachita
• Valeri Urin
• Valeriu Răchită
• Valerius Adelphius Bassus