MPFree: John Holt (Amazon Mixtape)

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» Amazon is giving away more than 3,000 MP3s; Christopher Porter is culling through them for a series of mixtapes. Click here to see all the MPFree entries.

YOU KNOW THE MUSIC of John Holt even if you don't know his name. As the lead singer of the great Jamaican vocal group The Paragons, Holt was the voice behind such reggae hits as "On the Beach" and "My Best Girl," but it was Blondie's cover of his composition "The Tide Is High" that has put royalties into his pockets for years (or so one hopes).

But it was as a solo artist, singing covers and lovers' rock, that Holt became a superstar in England in the '70s. He returned to more rootsy material in the '80s, and to this day the ultra-prolific veteran vocalist navigates between sweet soul-reggae and deeper Rasta-steeped tracks — but people respond to the honey-voiced crooner no matter what he's singing.

Below are 13 free John Holt selections from Amazon; click on the song title, which will open up a new window and you can download the track gratis from the Internet megastore.

» "Hey Love" (from "Peacemaker")
» "Survival Time, Part 2" (from "Peacemaker")

» "Looking Back" (from "ReggaeCoolSexy, Vol. 4")
» "Release Me" (from "ReggaeCoolSexy, Vol. 4")
» "Stealing Stealing" (from "ReggaeCoolSexy, Vol. 4")
» "Wasted Days and Wasted Nights" (from "ReggaeCoolSexy, Vol. 4")
» "Here I Come" (from "ReggaeCoolSexy, Vol. 4")
» "I Love My Girl" (from "ReggaeCoolSexy, Vol. 4")
» "Wolf and Leopard" (from "ReggaeCoolSexy, Vol. 4")
» "Born to Lose" (from "ReggaeCoolSexy, Vol. 4")
» "In the Midnight Hour" (from "ReggaeCoolSexy, Vol. 4")
» "She Want It" (from "ReggaeCoolSexy, Vol. 4")
» "Homely Girl" (from "ReggaeCoolSexy, Vol. 4")