early reggae (1968-1974) - carleton university · pdf file•dj/toasts •instrumentals....
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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)