Although strongly influenced by traditional African and Caribbean music, as well as by American rhythm and blues, reggae owes its direct origins to the progressive development of ska and rocksteady in 1960s Jamaica.
Ska music first arose in the studios of Jamaica over the years 1959 and 1961, itself a development of the earlier mento genre. Ska is characterized by a walking bass line, accentuated guitar or piano rhythms on the offbeat, and sometimes jazz-like horn riffs. Aside from its massive popularity amidst the Jamaican rude boy fashion, it had gained a large following among Mods in Britain by 1964. According to Barrow, rude boys began deliberately playing their ska records at half speed, preferring to dance slower as part of their tough image.
By the mid-1960s, many musicians had begun playing the tempo of ska slower, while emphasizing the walking bass and offbeats. The slower sound was named rocksteady, after a single by Alton Ellis. This phase of Jamaican music lasted only until 1968, when musicians began to slow the tempo of the music again, and added yet more effects. This led to the creation of reggae.
The shift from rocksteady to reggae was illustrated by the organ shuffle pioneered by Bunny Lee, and featured in the transitional singles "Say What You're Saying" (1967) by Clancy Eccles, and "People Funny Boy" (1968) by Lee "Scratch" Perry. The Pioneers' 1967 track "Long Shot Bus' Me Bet" has been identified as the earliest recorded example of the new rhythm sound that became known as reggae. Early 1968 was when the first genuine reggae records came into being: "Nanny Goat" by Larry Marshall and "No More Heartaches" by The Beltones. American artist Johnny Nash's 1968 hit "Hold Me Tight" has been credited with first putting reggae in the American listener charts.. Reggae was starting to surface in rock music; an example of a rock song featuring reggae rhythm is 1968's "Ob-La-Di , Ob-La-Da." by The Beatles.
The Wailers, a band that was started by Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, and Bunny Wailer in 1963, are generally agreed to be the most easily recognised group worldwide that made the transition through all three stages — from ska hits like "Simmer Down", through slower rocksteady, to reggae.
Below is a compilation of just a few of our favorite reggae classics songs/artists with lyrics. All our favorites you will find on the playlist! Look, listen and you will learn..
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Waiting in Vain - Bob Marley & The...
The Israelites - Desmond Dekker
Baby I Love Your Way - Big ...
Source: Wikipedia
No Woman no Cry - Bob Marley
Money in My Pocket - Dennis Brown
The Harder They Come - Jimmy Cliff
Tomorrow People - Ziggy Marley
Wild World - Maxi Priest
"Me only have one ambition, y'know. I only have one thing I really like to see happen. I like to see mankind live together - black, white, Chinese, everyone - that's all."
- Bob Marley 1945-1981
One Love - Bob Marley
A Message to you, Rudy - The ..
Cherry oh Baby - Eric Donaldson
Sweat (a la la la la long) - Inner Circle
“Soon the earth will tilt on its axis and begin to dance to the reggae beat to the accompaniment of earthquake. And who can resist the dance of the earthquake, mon?”
- Peter Tosh
Try Jah Love - Third World
Pass the Dutchie - Musical Youth
Revolution - Dennis Brown
Montego Bay - Freddie Notes & The ...
“Mainly because I'd already been paid on it . . . and paid pretty good. I felt this ain't right. I could take the money and run and laugh about it. But I was also listening to these songs all the time. I knew that the music was good and as far as I know it had never been done before, mixing country and reggae. I immediately saw that it worked. I think a lot of people will do that now that they see a good country melody really works well with a reggae rhythm.”
- Willie Nelson (American country western singer)
Uptown Top Ranking - Althea and ...
Rain From the Skies - Delroy Wilson
Ok Fred - Errol Dunkley
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No Justice - Jimmy Cliff
I'm Still In Love - Alton Ellis
Reggae
Bad Boys - Inner Circle
Long version - 8:15 !
Everything I Own - Ken Boothe
Featured Artist/Band
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Peter Tosh - Don't Look Back
Bush Doctor is an album by Peter Tosh. It was released in 1978.
A British record retailer banned the album upon its release because of a scratch-n-sniff sticker on its cover, that apparently smelled of ganja.
Peter Tosh, born Winston Hubert McIntosh (19 October 1944 – 11 September 1987) was a reggae musician who was a core member of The Wailers who then went on to have a successful solo career as well as being a trailblazer for the Rastafari movement.
Tosh grew up in the Kingston, Jamaica slum of Trenchtown. Nicknamed Steppin' Razor, he began to sing and learn guitar at a young age inspired by the American stations. After an illustrious career with The Wailers and as a solo musician, he was murdered at his home during a robbery.
The single from the album, a cover of The Temptations song Don't Look Back, performed as a duet with Rolling Stones singer Mick Jagger, turned Tosh into one of the best known reggae artists. This was a far cry from his start, playing with Bunny and Bob on the streetcorners of Trenchtown, JA. Tosh, as the original guitarist for The Wailers', is considered as one of the originators of the choppy and syncopated reggae guitar style.
In the free One Love Peace Concert in 1978, Tosh lit a spliff and gave a lecture about legalizing cannabis, lambasting attending dignitaries Michael Manley and Edward Seaga for their failure to pass such legislation. Several months later he was stopped by police as he left Skateland dance hall in Kingston and was severely beaten while in police custody.
Death
In 1987, Tosh appeared to be on the way to a career revival. He was awarded a Grammy for Best Reggae Performance in 1987 for No Nuclear War. However, on 11 September 1987, just after Tosh had returned to his home in Jamaica, a three-man gang came to his house demanding money. Tosh replied that he did not have any with him but the gang did not believe him. They stayed at his residence for several hours in an attempt to extort money from Tosh. During this time, many of Tosh's friends came to his house to greet him following his return to Jamaica. As people began to arrive, the gunmen became more and more frustrated, especially the leader of the gang, Dennis 'Leppo' Lobban, a man whom Tosh had befriended and tried to help find work after a long jail sentence. Tosh said he had no money in the house, after which the gang's leader put a gun to Tosh's head and fired twice, mortally wounding him. The other gunmen began shooting, wounding several others and also killing disc jockey Jeff "Free I" Dixon. Leppo turned himself over to the authorities, and was tried and convicted in the shortest jury deliberation in Jamaican history: eleven minutes. He was sentenced to death, but his sentence was commuted in 1995 and he remains in prison. Neither of his two alleged accomplices were found, though rumours persist that both were gunned down in the streets.
Source: Wikipedia
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(You've Gotta Walk)Don't Look Back |
mfs-REGGAE CLASSICS Playlist
Reggae Classics Fans!
