Reggae the Forgotten Music

By Les Nicholls

Reggae music has fans worldwide and millions of records have been sold. However, many reggae singers and musicians remain relatively unknown. Very few have achieved either the fame or financial rewards that their talent deserved. This book looks at the history of reggae and at many of the artists involved in creating this music.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Feb 1, 2021
• ISBN: 9781716161940

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Reggae the Forgotten Music

Copyright © 2020 LES NICHOLLS. All rights reserved.

Published by LES NICHOLLS

ISBN 978-1-716-16194-0

Preface

Jamaica is a relatively small Island in the Caribbean, yet its impact on world music should not be underestimated. It has introduced completely new forms of music and produced a very large number of excellent singers, musicians, song writers and record producers. Its many musical genres have included Calipso, Mento, Ska, Rocksteady, Reggae, Dub and Dancehall.

Reggae has become more popular mainly due to the phenomenal success and appeal of Bob Marley whose rise to international stardom in the 1980s introduced Jamaican music to a wider audience. Jamaican’s influence on music styles includes the practice of Toasting, that is, speaking over an instrumental track, which influenced the evolution of rap music.

While sometimes used in a broad sense to refer to most types of popular Jamaican dance music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that evolved from earlier genres such as Ska.

Bob Marley is said to have claimed that the word ‘reggae’ came from a Spanish term for the king's music. The liner notes of the album "To the King," a compilation of Christian gospel Reggae, suggest that the word reggae was derived from the Latin regi meaning to the king. But some say that Reggae comes from the term rege-rege which simply means rags or ragged clothes, implying that reggae music was a rag-tag of other musical styles, like such as Mento, Calypso, Ska, American jazz and rhythm & blues.

Reggae's direct origins can indeed be traced to Ska music popular in 1960s Jamaica. Ska was originally a generic title for Jamaican music recorded between 1961 and 1967 and it had emerged from Jamaican R&B, which was itself based largely on American R&B and doo-wop. But the upbeat consistent rhythm made it perfect for dance music and the term Ska may relate to the fast offbeat rhythm made by the guitarists on Ska records. However, the first mention of the word Reggae on a record was on the Toots and the Maytals 1968 single Do the Reggay. But although this may have been the first song to use the term reggae and introduce it to a global audience, the word itself had been used informally long before this.

The shift from Rock steady to Reggae was illustrated by the organ shuffle pioneered by Jamaican musicians like Jackie Mittoo and Winston Wright and featured in transitional singles Say What You're Saying by Clancy Eccles, released in 1967 and People Funny Boy in 1968 by Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry. The Pioneers 1968 track Long Shot Kick De Bucket (Bus' Me Bet) has been identified as one of the earliest recorded examples of the new rhythm that became known as Reggae.

In this book we will look at the history of Reggae, its evolution from Calypso, American Rhythm & blues and Jazz to ‘Ska’ and on through its many and varied incarnations, Rock steady, Blue beat and Lovers rock, as well as the Political, Cultural and Rastafarian influences.

We will look at the history of the most influential reggae artists, some who will be known to the reader, while others, although less well known, are none less talented and deserve to be listened to. This book is a celebration of a genre of music that has fans all over the world, yet it fails to be recognized by many in the music media, it gets minimal airplay and has even been completely ignored by some TV and Radio stations. It is considered by some music critics as novelty music not to be taken too seriously or as niche, or too simple to be taken seriously. And yet Reggae has some of the most talented singers and musicians, as good as, or even better than you will find in any other genre of music. 

Is there a racist element to this? Why is it that when white artists record reggae music or release a version of a reggae classic that they sell more records?  Why is it that the original Jamaican artists failed to achieve the level of fame that other less talented white singers and musicians attained? We will look at this subject again later, but the main purpose of this book is to honor and recognize the many talented producers, singers, musicians and DJs that came from the beautiful Island of Jamaica.

Chapter 1: Island in the Sun

Jamaica has always had a tremendous amount of musical talent. For such a small Island, the amount of musicians, singers and producers is truly incredible. Jamaica’s neighbouring Island, Cuba is also filled with great music, but the two Islands could not be more different in their musical styles. Cuba has clung to its Spanish origins and both its music and dances reflect this, but Jamaica stands out as having developed several musical styles that are completely unique.

Jamaica was like many colonial Islands that had grown out of the Slave trade and its story is sadly filled with oppression and violence from that shameful part of human history. Early inhabitance, the Arawak Indians, whose time of arrival in the Caribbean is unclear and of whom little is known, were by no means a simple, primitive people. Their complex culture is shown by the many discoveries of elaborate pottery and art, organised villages, raised fields and evidence of regional trade networks which all prove that they were neither simple nor primitive. There is also evidence that they were highly skilled and intelligent cultivators, having modified the soil by adding charcoal in order to transform it into what is called black earth, which improved its agricultural productivity. Indeed, today Jamaica has one of the most fertile soils in the world.

After the Spanish conquest of Jamaica, led by Columbus in 1494, they began to enslave the Arawaks, who were so decimated from fighting with the invaders and from contracting foreign diseases that the entire native population was almost extinct by 1600. Most were killed, died out or intermarried, so that there are no pure Arawaks left in Jamaica, however there are some who claim to be able to trace their lineage back to their Arawak ancestors.

In 1655, the English invaded Jamaica and defeated the Spanish. Some African slaves who had been brought to the Island by the Spanish took advantage of the turmoil, escaped to the island's interior and came to be known as the Maroons. The English invaders used pirates, or privateers to carry out some of the most savage violence against the Spanish and others. One of these privateers was the infamous Welsh Captain Henry Morgan who settled on the Island, eventually becoming a plantation owner and later, Lieutenant Governor of Jamaica.

There were many periodic skirmishes between the British and the Maroons in the 1700s. But by the 19th century, sugar cane had become Jamaica's main source of income and the British brought hundreds of thousands of Africans to Jamaica to work as slaves on the plantations. Some of those enslaved mounted several uprisings until abolition of the slave trade came in 1808, although it was a few more decades before slavery itself was stopped. It should be noted however that this change in the law did not stop the mistreatment of former slaves, some of whom continued to work on plantations for pitiful wages. There was little if any other way for them to support their families and this was something that the plantation owners took advantage of in order to maintain or even increase the continued profitability of their estates.

Tensions escalated and Baptist preacher Paul Bogle led what became known as the Morant Bay rebellion in October 1865. The trouble began when a black man was put on trial and imprisoned for trespassing on an abandoned plantation. James Geoghegon, a black spectator, disrupted the trial and as the police tried to remove him from the courthouse, a fight broke out and two policemen were beaten with sticks and stones. Arrest warrants were issued for several men including Paul Bogle. Bogle then led a group of protesters to Morant Bay, but on arriving at the court house, they were met by a volunteer militia who opened fire on the group, killing seven black protesters.

The Governor John Eyre sent troops, under the command of Brigadier-General Alexander Nelson, to find the rebels and bring Paul Bogle back to Morant Bay for trial. The troops met with no resistance, but they still indiscriminately slaughtered men, women and children. 439 black Jamaicans were killed directly by soldiers and 354 more (including Paul Bogle) were arrested and later executed, some without a trial. Over 600 men and women were flogged, including some pregnant women and others were given long prison sentences. Also, thousands of homes belonging to black Jamaicans were set on fire and burned to the ground.

Between 1865 and 1930, land ownership in Jamaica changed substantially, as sugar declined in its importance and the rise of the banana trade changed both production and trade on the island. Kingston had been founded as a refuge for survivors of the 1692 earthquake that had destroyed much of Port Royal as well as further destruction by fire in 1703. Merchants began lobbying for the administrative capital to be transferred from Spanish Town to Kingston. But then in 1907 an earthquake destroyed much of Kingston resulting in the death of over eight hundred Jamaicans and the destruction of over ten thousand homes.

Jamaica continued to experience much economic and political turmoil, the 1938 labour riots saw a rise of nationalism and a desire for self-determination. William Alexander Bustamante, a moneylender in the capital city of Kingston formed the Jamaica Trade Workers and Tradesmen Union (JTWTU) and captured the imagination of the black masses with his messianic personality. He emerged as a natural leader and the principal spokesperson for the urban working class; he then founded the ‘Bustamante Industrial Trade Union.’ His distant cousin Norman Manley, who had formed the People's National Party, competed for dominance in Jamaican politics and although more reserved than Bustamante, he was well liked and widely respected. He went on to become the driving force behind the colony's quest for independence.

Many Jamaicans adopted and liked British culture, but many resented British domination. Those who had moved to the ‘Mother land,’ after World War 2, expecting the streets paved with Gold, experienced much racism towards them. This negative experience was also repeated by many Jamaicans who went to England to find financial security, such as when opportunistic advertisements were placed in Jamaican newspapers offering cheap transport on a ship for anybody who wanted to come and work in the UK. Many former servicemen also took this opportunity to return to Britain with the hopes of finding better employment. The first ship Empire Windrush docked at Port Tilbury, near London, on 21st June 1948 and the 1,027 passengers began disembarking the next day.

Jamaica achieved its independence from Britain on 6 August 1962, although it retained its membership of the Commonwealth of Nations and adopted a Westminster style parliamentary system. Bustamante, at the age of 78, became independent Jamaica’s first prime minister; however, Jamaica continued to be a Commonwealth realm, with the British Monarch as Queen of Jamaica and head of state.

Bustamante's government also continued severe persecution of the Islands Rastafarians. One infamous example of this that was to become known as the Coral Gardens incident, a confrontation between Rastafarians and police at a gas station when Bustamante issued the police and military with an order to bring in all Rastas, dead or alive. It took 54 years before a government investigation and an eventual apology along with significant financial reparations to remaining the survivors of this awful incident in Jamaica’s modern history.

Jamaican independence had a big effect on its music. Although it was a British colony, American music dominated its music scene. Jazz, Country and Western, Rock and roll and Rhythm and Blues records were imported and played at clubs, dance venues and hotels. Ska was considered the music of the poor, played in the streets by sound systems that were owned by restaurant and bar owners, who used the music to attract those who would then buy their food and drink.

Very strong rum was often sold at these events and one such rum called Rude to your parents, could not be bought in stores. Prince Buster, one of the most influential singer-songwriters and producers of the time, was quoted to say that when water was added as a chaser, the brew was so potent that smoke would rise out of the glass.

At these street parties, the music would play through the night until the early hours, leading to the tag line dance ‘till you drop. But although Ska had already become the dance music of choice among poor Jamaicans, after Independence, it saw a huge surge in popularity; it crossed the class divide and Jamaican music was never the same again.

Chapter 2: Simmer Down

Jamaica has produced more than its fair share of talented musicians and singers. We will return to say more about the talent of those who sang and played this music, but first we have to mention some of the producers and DJs that ran Jamaica’s sound systems.

As mentioned earlier the sound systems filled the streets of many Jamaican towns, especially Kingston. The speakers that were used were large purpose built boxes, often taller than a man and a feature of these were the Bass speakers that made sure that the you could feel the music as much as hear it. These sound systems would blast out the latest popular tunes at high volume in order to make sure that the dancing never stopped.

The sound system promoter made his money by charging an entrance fee and selling food and alcohol; often thousands of people would turn up at these parties and rival sound systems would play on the same nights and compete for an audience by playing the latest and most popular tunes or riddims.

Coxsone Dodd and Duke Reid were two of the biggest names and their rivalry could get