And even though that statement above is not true, I would still like to dedicate these next 4 weeks to reggae music. Each week, we will go through 4 periods of reggae music beginning with the ska influence to what modern reggea has evolved to. Some sound is bad, beacuse it's ripped directly from vinyl record collections.
Ready? Press play.
...
Derrick Morgan - Forward March
Derrick Morgan established himself with hits for Prince Buster at the beginning of the 60's. Derrick's skills as a singer and composer caught the attention of restaurateur Leslie Kong, who was interested in entering the record business. Derrick teamed with Leslie and his brother launched the Beverley's label, named after the brothers' restaurant and ice cream shop. Morgan became Beverley's A&R man, signing artists like Desmond Dekker, Bob Marley and a young Jimmy Cliff. Derrick was also one of the label's early top artists. His 1962 hit, "Forward March" captured the island's new independence as the new rhythm - Ska - projected a uniquely Jamaican sound.
Millie Small - My Boy Lollipop
Teenaged Millicent Small was an established hitmaker in Jamaica when Chris Blackwell brought her to London to record a ska arrangement of Barbie Gray's R&B tune "My Boy Lollipop." With an orchestra directed by master Jamaican guitarist Ernest Ranglin, the bubbly ska-pop tune exploded worldwide, hitting the top at the English charts and No. 2 on Billboard's pop singles chart in America in 1964.
The Baha Brooks Band - Bank to Bank Pt. 1
As spirituals and work songs influence R&B in America, so do tradional styles inform popular Jamaican music. "Bank to Bank" is based on "River to the Bank," an old mento tune. The rhythm of mento, a folk music similar to calypso in the southern Caribbean, and ska blended effortlessly in the hands of one of the island's great trumpeters and his band.
Count Ossie - Count Ossie Special
Born in a St. Thomash parish in March 1926, Oswald Williams had an early fascination with drums. It would not be long before he was drawn to the sounds of Nyahbinghi drumming, emanating from the region's Rasta community. By the late '50s, Oswald was a master drummer in demand on local sessions, one of the most famous being the Folkes Brother's hit "Oh Carolina" (a tune revived by dancehall singer Shaggy in the early '90s). Count Ossie's drumming gave these R&B tunes a unique Jamaican feel. Recognizing the strength of these players, producer Harry A. Mudie cut a handful of sessions on the drummer's themselves, featuring the melody lines of trombonist Rico Rodriguez and saxman Big Bra Gaynair.
The Maytals - Broadway Jungle
The gospel-like intensity of Toots' lead gives the Maytays an exciting difference. Early scorchers like "Fever" and "Never Grow Old" helped keep Studio One on top, but the trio began recording for other producers from 1964. "Broadway Jungle," an electrifying blend of ska and gospel cut for Prince Buster, celebrated their departure from Studio One, but it's optimism was short lived. "Coxsone Downbeat treat me shabby, so I think Prince Buster would treat me Better," Toots recalls, "when I went to (Buster's) place, he treat me the same shabby way; he let me down by not paying me well."
Justin Hinds & The Dominoes - Carry Go Bring Come
Justin Hinds & The Dominoes were Duke Reid's answer to the Maytals fire. The very first recording session yielded "Carry Go Bring Come," reportedly cut in one take. Set to a bouncing ska beat, Justin Hinds and his partners blend in fight vocal harmony, a Jamaican colloquialism - "carry go bring come" means to spread rumors - with religious dillusions. A cover by late '70s ska band The Selecter introduced the song to a new audience.
Don Drummond - Eastern Standard Time
"Eastern Standard Time" is one of tombonist Don Drummond's most enduring compostitions, revived in 1996 for Beanie Man's "Blackboard." Though the original was recorded during the height of ska rivalry, Coxsone Dodd says it was one of the recordings he and Duke Reid swapped. "I had a lot of respect for Duke, cause the rivalry was more like a musical challenge; it kept me on the ball trying to produce betters tuff. In the early we exchanged songs like I give him 'Green Island' to release on his stuff, he gave me 'Eastern Standard Time' and some other songs."
Prince Buster - Hard Man Fe Dead
Former boxer Cecil Campbell worked for Clement "Coxsone" Dodd's Downbeat sound system before venturing out on his own. Adopting the name Prince Buster, Campbell's swagger and confidence infused every aspect of his work. He almost single-handedly ran his label, writing, producing and playing on much of the music he issues, and he was not above challenging other producers, especially in song - the Maytals' "Broadway Jungle" was a swipe at the group's former label and Buster's former employer Dodd. Buster was outspoken on his own recordings, and "Hard Man Fe Dead" - hard man to kill - shows his unerring bravura and resillence; "They pick him up, they lick him down / Him bounce right back / What a hard man fe deads." Buster would influence late '70s ska bands like The Specials and the English Beat, who covered Buster's tunes, while Madness named themselves after a Buster recording and their debut single, "The Prince," pays homage to the man.
The Skatalites - Confucius
A chilling creation of Don Drummond, "Confucius" was among the biggest hits the Skatalites cut for producer Justin Yap, the "Chiney-dread down Barbican" as drummer Lloyd Knibb affectionately remembers him. On New Year's Day 1965, Jamaica was rocked by the news that Don Drummond had murdered his common-law wife, the rumba dancer Marguerita Mahfood. He was sent to Bellevue psychiatric hospital, where he would remain until his death. the murder was one of the more tragic moments of Jamaica's musical history, and Drummond's detention had other repercussions; it contributed to the demise of the Skatalites, ultimately ending the end....of ska....
The Paragons - Tide is High
If the Techniques were Duke Reid's Impressions, the Paragons were his Temptations. Beautifully intricate vocal harmony over a gentle tradewind rhthym was their calling, and it caught the attention of New Yorker punk/new wave band Blondie, who offered their version of "Tide" in 1980. Lead singer John Holt would go onto greater heights as a solo singer in the '70s and '80s.
Hopeton Lewis - Take It Easy
One of the earliest dance-orientated hits most readily identified as rock stead is Hopeton Lewis' "Take It Easy," recorded at Federal with Lynn Tatt and the Jets. Lewis was said to have difficulty fitting these lyrics to ska. "From there, the ska rhtyhm change," says session keyboardist Gladdy Anderson, "I was so glad too, because the ska was beating me shoulder - whole heap of years playing that fast rhythym pain the shoulder, so when Hopeton Lewis come with 'Take It Easy' it kind of give the hand a rest, because it was like going back to a kind of rock rhythym."
The Jamaicans - Baba Boom
Duke Reid's Treasure Isle was the leader of rock steady, a position secured him by the Jamaicans' "Baba Boom." Smooth, funky and infectiously danceable, the tune was written for - and won - the 1967 national song festival.
Derrick Morgan - Tougher Than Tough
One of the finest rude boy anthems of the rock steady era, it reflected the course chosen by many of the youth who came from the countryside to the city. Unable to find legitimate work, they turned to crime to make their way, and the rude boy's tempers and audacity were infamous. Here the rhythm's relaxed chug sounds menacing, the perfect accompaniment to the tale of rude boys who elude the charges against them.
The Techniques - Queen Majesty
LIke fellow neighborhood harmony groups the Uniques and the Sensations, the Techniques were in a constant state of flux as members drifted. "Queen Majesty" was a cut at Treasure Isle when the group consisted of Pat Kelty, Winston Riley and Junior Menz; its soaring harmonies and sparse arrangement based on "The Impressions," "Minstrel and Queen" make it one of rock steady's finest. 'Curtis Mayfield was a major influence," says Pat Kelly, "we grew up in that era; Curtis Mayfield, The Temptations, Smokey Robinson, Jerry Butler. Junior Menz became leader of "Queen Majesty" because I left back for college."
The Pioneers - Long Shot
Joe Gibbs (née Joel Gibson) was part of the new crop of producers to begin working in the rock steady period. Hiring Lynn Taitt & The Jets as his houseband and ex-Studio One employee Lee Perry to head A&R, Gibbs issued a serious challenge to Duke Reid's dominance. the Pioneer's "Long Shot" - a tale of a Jamaican racehouse they would return to it in 1968 with "Long Shot Kick De Bucket" for Leslie Kong - shows Gibbs' approach to the sound; where Reid's sound was relaxed, Gibbs' productions have a bouncy effervescence, portending the transition to reggae....
Desmond Dekker & The Aces - Israelites
One of Derrick Morgan's signings to Beverley's in the early '60s, Desmond Dekker's sweet tenor didn't favor unitl the rock steady era. He issues a string of well-received, sweet soul inpsired singles concerning rude boy runnings. In 1968, he released the tune that would be his biggest international hit, "Israelites." Issues in Jamaica as "Poor Me Israelites," the song - the laments of a man struggling to make ends meet - became a No. 1 record in England and a Top Ten hit in the U.S.
Toots & The Maytals - 54-46 Was My Number
The story has often been reported that 54-46 was based on Toot's imprisonment for herb, but the singer says it was not entirely the case. "I get arrested because people wish me bad, not for ganja. I was bailing a friend and they arrest me; I get arrsted for nothing because it was planned, that's why I sing about it." Is it true he served 18 months? "No, I didn't serve much time." Was the 54-46 his actual number in prison? "No, I just made it up."
The Ethiopians - Reggae Hit the Town
Leonard Dillon first put his husky baritone to use at Studio One in the ska years with the Wailers backing. "I'm a mason by trade, so Coxsone gave me some money where I buy some tools, and I started to work on my trade, the meantime rehearsing in the nights. I met up on three guys singing; Stephen Taylor, Aston Morisson and a guy by the name of Foresight. Something struck me about Stephen Taylor." By 1968, the group slimmed to the duo of Dillon and Taylor, occasionaly augmented by Melvin Reid; "Raggea Hit The Town" is one of their celebratory numbers, referring to the new dominant beat.
The Uniques - My Conversation
"I love Slim Smith like my own brother," says fellow Uniques member Jimmy Riley, "he and Winston Riley had a falling out over some money and the original Techniques broke up. We found Lloyd Charmers and then that was the Uniques." "My Conversation" was one of their biggest hits, arranged by Phil Pratt on a session organized by Bunny Lee with drummer Winston Grennan playing his memorable piano melody. "Bunny left me at the studio to do that song," says Pratt, "there was something I heard that can fit the song. So I hum that to Winston Grennan and he put it in."
The Melodians - Rivers of Babylon
The Melodians were one of the leading vocal groups to emerge in the rock steady period. "Rivers of Babylon," based on Psalm 137, marked their evolution from rock steady to reggae. Shedding the traditional pop music structure in favor of a steady flowing rhthym that reflects Nyahbinghi drumming, the song's tone - not to mention the subject matter - se the stage for the 1970s religious-rooted vocal harmony outfits like the Abyssinians.
Dave & Ansel Collins - Double Barrel
Dave Barker hit for Lee Perry emulating James Brown; Ansel Collins was a keyboardist with the RHT Invincibles. The wacky groove of "Double Barrel" brought them on British telvision's Top of the Pops. "'Double Barrel' was really arranged by me and Sly Dunbar," notes Ansel, "Winston Riley's idea was to put on Dave Barker." Dave remembers the session's spontaneity: "I went with Winston Riley and his brother, Buster Riley, to Joe Gibbs recording studio. Buster Riley was encouraging me to try and find a vibe. Him say, "Make it sound like something big, like them James Bond movie thing,' double 0-7. Once I start, the flow automatically comes."
Ken Boothe - Everything I Own
Ken Boothe's emotional delivery and Lloyd Charmers' spacious production gave this pop song a distinctly other feel and one that struck a chord internationally. As the great Boothe remembers, "I was in Canada and I heard 'Everything I Own,' Andy Williams. Lloydie never so into it, but every musician said, 'Make we hear it,' That was the talk of the town the day when we did it in Federal, everybody said, 'This song have to be number one in Jamaica.' So said, so done. When the song hit England, they sent me a telegram and I end up doing nine Top of the Pops."
Jimmy Cliff - The Harder They Come
The starring role and theme song from the film which has become synonymous with Jimmy Cliff, Cliff was already a hitmaker in Jamaica, England and America, but it was the title song fromt his urban tale of the country-boy-turned-rude-boy trying to make it in the record business that both secured Cliff's name in the pop culture lexicon and set the stage for the worldwide dominance of reggae, and specifically Bob Marley & The Wailers.
The Techniques All Stars - Stalag 17
The keyboard instrumental resulted from a failed take by a forgotten vocalist. It was unveiled at a momentous Kingston sound system even which was also marked the first time echo was unleashed at a dance. "Nobody know that Tubbs put a secret thing in the amp," recalls the King's engineer's Philip Smart, "When they put on the mike, U Roy say, "You're now entertained by the number one sound on the land-land-land-land-land-land-land,' a man fire a shot inside the dance, the way that it sweet them! 'Stalag' was the first tune that play that night, play for about a half an hour."
The Abyssinians - Satta Massagna
A veritable Rasta anthem, "Satta Massagna" was cut at Studio One in 1969. "Satta" spoke of a utopian resting place for the black faithful, and use Ahmaric salutations to the Almighty to draw home its theme. "In those days we used to be closely involved with the Ethiopian Orthodox Church," lead singer Bernard Collins explains. "My bretheren Donald was a foundation man of the Church, he used to get books from Ethiopia with Amharic language and interpretation back into English. The whole concept is from the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, coming up in caves, clmbing up on rocks, to go there and worship and pray."
