This first edition contained 10 of what Perry believed were the best of the songs recorded by The Congos and the mix was noticeably different from the version most of us know as the definitive second edition. Lee Perry saw something in the Congos and in the songs they had written and he truely wanted to get the best out of the group and push the message given by the songs lyrics.

Many reasons have been suggested including that Island records were more concerned in promoting Bob Marley and would shelve albums by other reggae artists, this claim is made by The Congos as well as Max Romeo and others who's follow up albums were poorly promoted by the label. The first version however was considered poor by all involved and so Scratch arranged for the two of them to return the next day with a different set of musicians. The song went "Row fisherman row...keep on rowing your boat" and an impressed Scratch told Roy to come by his studio to maybe record the song. Recorded between 1976 and 1977, Heart… is all about Perry’s own breadth of vision and ingenuity despite an impressive cast, including Ernie Ranglin, Sly Dunbar and Gregory Isaacs. Heart… is part of Perry’s string of roots classics, but good as War Inna Babylon and Super Ape were, this collection leaves them standing.

Credits

Roy went off to improve his guitar skills in the hope that maybe he could make it as a session musician rather than a singer. He briefly joined The Rightful Brothers band where he improved on his guitar playing and learned to become a skilled hand drummer. To some of those that attribute hipster appeal to this title and also claim there was no interest in this LP until the mid 90's, is very confused. Go-Beat reissued this in 1980, and a few other times, among others including the famous Blood and Fire issue.

Just a note about a confused comment about the Cow noise used, and referring that the Cow is out of place to the Ark topic . One should find out more before making such statements. The Cow is 'holy' in many cultures, including Christianity, and is symbolic in the Ark mythos. Watty had recorded a number of singles with Perry but none of them were selling in numbers until his cover of a Brook Benton tune adapted to become "Rainy Night In Portland" sold well.The time they spent together gave us this remarkable album, a piece of reggae history and one of the greatest albums of all time.