How Could I Live Riddim – Various Labels

Produced in 1967 by E. J. Robinson, Edgar Whyte, Coxsone Dodd, Joe Gibbs, and Donville Davis across Top Rank, Parish, Tachyon, Studio One, and Joe Gibbs, How Could I Live pulls together a deep slice of Jamaican songwriting from the rocksteady era into later reinterpretations. The tracklist leans on a few key voices, with The Sharks’ original How Could I Live, Myrna Hague’s How Could I Live, and Dennis Brown’s How Could I Leave You sitting alongside Garnett Silk, John Holt, and Luciano cuts that keep the melody alive across generations. Rolando Alphonso’s Groovy Sax adds a strong instrumental touch, while the dub version rounds out the set with a looser, sound-system feel. It’s a familiar Studio One-era foundation song that has been reworked often, and this collection shows how durable the tune remained through roots, lovers rock, and modern reggae interpretations.