Early Reggae (1968-1978)

Toots and the Maytals, c. 1968

Reggae Characteristics

Rocksteady

• Smooth like Detroit or Chicago Soul

• Rigid pop forms

• Melody #1

Reggae

• Rougher, raw (James Brown)

• Less rigid, other forms

• Flexible, lots of sub-styles

• Rhythm/percussion

Reggae Characteristics

• Electric bass more pivotal

• Organ shuffle sound

• Mento phrasing

• Burru and Kumina rhythms

• Rastafari influence

• More obviously and self-consciously Jamaican

Lloyd Bradley quotes:

“Ska: Birth of Jamaican music;

Rocksteady: adolescent phase;

Reggae: Coming of Age”

• 1968-1974: “All later styles were prefigured and all the previous styles absorbed”

This is Reggae Music: The Story of Jamaica’s Music, 2000

Ex: Lee “Scratch” Perry “People Funny Boy” (1968)

• Early reggae sound

• Up front bass

• Guitar used rhythmically, less melodically

– Like Banjo in Mento

• Burru and Kumina style rhythms

• Anticipates Perry’s later experimentations

(more later…)

– Sample of baby crying

Ex: Larry Marshall – “Nanny Goat” (1968)

• Another contender for earliest reggae song

• Studio One

• Organ shuffle

– Jackie Mittoo

– Arched fingers, as opposed to straighter

– Very percussive

Ex: The Maytals – “Do The Reggay” (1968)

• Prod. Leslie Kong, Beverley’s Records

• First record to use the term “reggae”

– Note the spelling though

• Like Rocksteady, term used to describe a dance

Lots of Reggae Subgenres • Bouncy pop

• Roots

• Sophisticated strings

• Dub

• Lover’s Rock

• Latin Swing

• Harmony Vocals

• DJ/Toasts

• Instrumentals

Studio One

• House band: Sound Dimension

– Other names used (Soul Vendors)

• Jackie Mittoo, Leroy Sibbles, Roland Alphonso, Cedric Brooks, Ernest Ranglin

• JA Motown?

– Understatement

Ex: Jackie Mittoo and

Ernest Ranglin –

“Jericho Skank” (1968)

Ex: Horace Andy – “Skylarking” (1972)

• Laid back vibe

• Minimal chord changes

• Prominent bass

• Minimal horns

• Why Studio One: “You could smoke weed there”

• Only studio at the time that allowed this

• Connection to Rasta culture

• Lyrics: about unemployed youth who waste their time idling on the street

Cover Versions of American Songs

Ex: Dawn Penn – “No, No, No” (1967)

• Studio One classic

Ex: Willie Cobbs – “You Don’t Love Me” (1961)

• Memphis, local #1

Lee “Scratch” Perry

• Studio band: The Upsetters

• Work with The Wailers

• Black Ark Studio, 1973

Ex: The Upsetters – “Return of Django” (1969)

• Django: 1966 Spaghetti western

• UK hit: skinheads

Bunny Lee, producer

• Previously worked for Duke Reid, Leslie Kong

Ex: Max Romeo – “Wet Dream” (1969)

• Lee’s first crossover hit

• UK charts, BBC ban

• Interconnected rhythms: each instrument plays a short riff

Changes in Jamaican Culture

• Cultural self-awareness on a National level

• Late 60s: JA folklore, music and dance taught in schools

• Gov’t funding for arts

• Part of Gov’t-sponsored Afrocentricity

– Ulterior motives

– Power and control

Jamaican Festival Song Competition

• Held 1966-present

• Started by Edward Seaga

• Gov’t gives cash and prizes to winner– Part of gov’t funding of arts

• Promotes Jamaican culture

• Acclaim, prestige for winner

Ex: Eric Donaldson – “Cherry Oh Baby” (1971)

• Prod. Bunny Lee

Ex: Delroy Wilson – “Better Must Come” (1971)

• Prod. Bunny Lee (note Dub-like reverb)

• Helped Socialist PNP win election in 1972

– First new gov’t since Independence

• Title used as PNP slogan

• Touring PNP music shows

Ex: John Holt – “Stick By Me” (1972)

• Prod. Bunny Lee

• Percussive organ: John Crow rhythm

• Aston and Carton Barrett

• Roots style, stop and go rhythms

• Original by Shep and the Limelights

– US Doo-Wop/Soul record

Ex: Toots and the Maytals – “54-46 (That’s My Number)” (1968)

• Toots Hibbert missed rocksteady era

– In prison for marijuana possession

– 54-46 was his actual prison number

• Recognize the rhythm?

– (Feel Like Jumping)

Ex: Desmond Dekker – “Israelites” (1969)

• Canadian and US hit: #1

• First Jamaican #1 in US

– (First in Canada was “My Boy Lollipop”)

Lyrics on next slide

Ex: Desmond Dekker – “Israelites” (1969)Get up in the morning, slaving for bread, sirSo that every mouth can be fedPoor me Israelites, ah

My wife and my kids, they packed up and leave meDarling, she said, I was yours to be seenPoor me Israelites

Shirt them a-tear up, trousers is goneI don't want to end up like Bonnie and ClydePoor me Israelites

After a storm there must be a calmThey catch me in the farmYou sound your alarmPoor me Israelites

Ex: Augustus Pablo – “Java” (1972)• Anticipates Dub sound – spacey

• “Eastern” sound”

• Melodica

Ex: “Java” live in Japan,

1986

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MiaekG1Q0UE

Ex: Ken Boothe –“Everything I Own” (1974)

• Part of the long history of covering US songs

• Original soft rock:

Ex: Bread – “Everything I Own” (1972)

• Cover was a huge hit in JA and UK

• Anticipates sub-genre “Lover’s Rock”

Treasure Isle (Duke Reid)

• Reid was dominant in Rocksteady era

• Less so in reggae era

• Resurgence with DJs and toasting in 1970s

• U-Roy – star DJ on record – more in DJ section…

Early DJ Singers

• DJ vs. Selector

• Toasting

• First DJ, live c. 1950: Count Machuki

– Sound System: Tom the Great Sebastian

– Minimal records made

• First DJ to record:

Ex: King Stitt – “Dance Beat” (1969)

• DJ with Coxsone as of 1957

U-Roy: “The Originator”

Ex: U-Roy – “Wake The Town” (1970)

• #1 in Jamaica

Ex: U-Roy – “Version Galore”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMFbPbvKf8w

Ex: Dennis Alcapone“Teach The Children” (1972)

Teacher, teacher, I beg you ring the bellTeach the children, teach ‘em how to spellR-A-T, RatM-A-T, MatC-A-T, CatLook at that, look at that, you got to learn thatTing-A-Ling, Ting-A-Ling, I hear the children sing I hear the children sing, Ting-A-Ling, Ting-A-LingSome sitting on the bench, some speaking french,Some talking sense

• Still used on literacy programs on Jamaican radio

Ex: Big Youth – “S.90 Skank” (1973)

• Honda motorcycle brought into studio for the sound

• Recording as of

1972

Ex: Prince Jazzbo – “Crabwalking” (1972)

• Compare to original “Skylarking”

• Snatches of original vocals (dub style)

– Esp. at 2:30

Reggae Goes InternationalThe Harder They Come (1972)

• Most popular film ever made in Jamaica

• Subtitles

• Soundtrack

• Jimmy Cliff

Film clip, opening:http://www.tcm.com/mediaroom/video/216745/Harder-They-Come-The-Movie-Clip-Opening.html

Reggae Goes International

• Chris Blackwell – Island Records

• Richard Branson – Virgin Records

Reggae with strings:

Ex: Bob and Marcia

– “Young, Gifted, and Black” (1970)

• Bob Andy, Marcia Griffiths

• Nina Simone originals, Civil Right anthem

Bob Marley & The Wailers

• First recorded in ska era (1963)• Lee “Scratch” Perry: Aug. 1970- April 1971• Tough and spiritual at same time• Peter Tosh• Bunny Wailer

Ex: Bob Marley & The Wailers – “Duppy Conqueror” (1970)

• 2nd track with Perry

Bob Marley & The Wailers

• First reggae band to reach a mass international audience

– Marketed as a rock band, mid 70s

• Island Records, 1972, as vocal trio

• First Island album: Catch A Fire (Dec. 1972)

• Covers on next slide…

Catch A Fire (1973)

Ex: Bob Marley & The Wailers – “Stir It Up” (1973)

• Unreleased Jamaican version

• Island Version (JA version with UK overdubs)

– Lead guitar

– Organ

– Tabla

Second Phase of The Wailers

• Bunny and Peter replaced by I-Threes

• Marcia Griffiths

• Judy Mowatt

• Rita Marley

Ex: Bob Marley & The Wailers

– “Three Little Birds” (1977)

Peter Tosh

• Legalize It (1976)

– Debut solo album

• Song writer

Ex: The Wailers – “Four Hundred Years” (1970)

Ex: Peter Tosh – “Legalize It” (1976)

Bunny Wailer

• Songwriter

Ex: The Wailers –

“Dreamland” (1970)

• Lee Perry

• Solo debut, 1976:

Blackheart Man