4. Bill Rogers, “West Indian Weed Woman” (78 record)
This recording is not a mento (Bill Rogers was from Guyana), but the song made it to Jamaica in the 1930s and quickly became very popular with mento artists – it’s been covered pretty regularly over the years. The Bill Rogers version was a “cleaned up” version of what most people sing – in his version, he doesn’t mention that the only weed she never have was the wicked ganga weed. It was later covered by the Meditations in the ’70s with the proper lyrics restored.