If all you know of reggae is Bob Marley, UB40, and a handful of other giant hits, then this will be a welcome introduction to some great music that will hopefully set you off on a wonderful new musical adventure.
Words & curation by Jules Gray, artwork by Mick Clarke
That the whole world knows Jamaican music is in itself remarkable. Think about it. Are you at all familiar with the music from any other Caribbean island? Indeed, if you live in Britain or America, chances are that almost all of the music you know comes from either Britain or America. But you will also have heard reggae; music from an island roughly twenty times smaller than Britain, with a population to match. An island with a history of political tensions, social unrest, economic hardship, mass unemployment, and gang violence. An island in no position to sell itself to the world through political influence, or lifestyle aspirations (sunshine and beaches notwithstanding). Yet years before music aficionados were encouraged to broaden their horizons by checking out the contents of the newly designated World Music racks, reggae had already seduced us. British and American musicians had fallen in love with it and absorbed it into their DNA. Growing up in the 70s, as I did, your first exposure to reggae’s distinctive rhythms may well have come courtesy of Bob Marley, Desmond Dekker or Jimmy Cliff, but it could just as likely have come via Paul Simon, Eric Clapton, The Clash or The Police.
Reggae evolved from Jamaica’s earlier music styles; ska and rocksteady. The music had spread beyond the island’s shores courtesy of immigrant populations in Britain and America, helped along immeasurably by businessmen, with Island Records founder Chris Blackwell in particularly standing out like a giant, who saw the opportunity to not only make a little money distributing the music to the people who wanted it, but to introduce it to new listeners who didn’t even know what it was, but who would soon be coming back for more.
Ska, rocksteady, and reggae all made inroads into the British and American charts during the 60s and early 70s. To sceptics, these records were thought of as novelty hits, but a growing enthusiasm for Jamaican sounds amongst the white youth testified that it had indeed truly crossed over.
Reggae was a singles market. It was all about the hit song at the dancehall. Back in the early days, many of the artists that have since become household names hardly thought in terms of albums at all, and issued LPs rarely if ever. Apart from anything else, this was due to socioeconomic realities. The average Jamaican didn’t have the disposable income to be buying luxury items like record albums, and the same was largely true of Jamaican immigrants adjusting to living in British and American cities. Chris Blackwell saw an opportunity to change the game. If he could find a way to sell a Jamaican group to Western rock fans, the people who bought albums rather than singles, then reggae could really go international. That group would be The Wailers.
Bob Marley was the obvious focal point in The Wailers. He wrote and sang the lion’s share of the songs. He was also the one most agreeable to Blackwell’s career plan. The other two Wailers, Peter Tosh and Bunny Livingston, were more obstinate and less willing to compromise. When push came to shove, first Bunny, and then Peter, jumped ship. The Wailers brand was repurposed to refer to Marley’s backing musicians. To this day, records originally credited to “The Wailers” are often relabelled as Bob Marley songs, with Bob’s name listed as the sole artist on recordings that clearly feature Peter or Bunny singing lead. It would seem that there was only room for one global superstar.
And if there’s been a problem with most people’s knowledge and awareness of reggae ever since, it’s that. Reggae means Bob Marley, and Bob Marley is reggae. I’m not blaming Bob for this - he deserves every inch of his gigantic reputation. But there’s so much more to reggae music than Bob, and so many stellar artists and records that haven’t got the acclaim that they are due. Especially when we’re talking roots reggae.
It’s not that simple to define roots reggae, but in broad terms it’s the reggae music of the 1970s (and to a lesser degree beyond) which concerned itself with protesting social injustice, with shining a light on black history (and slavery in particular), and with all aspects of Rastafarian spirituality. Roots reggae and Rasta walk hand in hand. Selling rebel music to white rock and roll fans was easy enough, but Rastafarianism was potentially more problematic. Western youth music is largely secular. Even allowing for rock’s gospel roots, there was, and remains, enormous suspicion and even outright hostility whenever God got in on the act. If an artist is described as ‘Christian Rock’, you can almost see the mass exodus in your mind’s eye. Even major names like Elvis Presley and Bob Dylan were guaranteed a slump in sales when they made an overtly religious record.
Yet the very best roots reggae artists combine these themes of protest, history and spirituality into a seamless whole, and even if the listener can’t always fully grasp the fine details, then the passion and sincerity of the singers is often enough to help us over the gulf.
The golden age of roots reggae began to fade as the new ‘dancehall style’ rose in prominence. Dancehall’s lyrical concerns were more likely to be centred around dancing, love, and sex. And the music itself moved away from organic analogue towards electronic and digital sounds.
The music on this playlist was made between 1971 and 1983. If all you know of reggae is Bob Marley, UB40, and a handful of other giant hits, then this will be a welcome introduction to some great music that will hopefully set you off on a wonderful new musical adventure. If you’re already a devoted reggae fan, then you’ll likely already be familiar with most of what follows, but you’ll still enjoy hearing so many roots classics back to back. Either way, you can’t lose.
TRACK-BY-TRACK
1. The Wailers - Trench Town Rock
Perhaps inevitably, we start with Bob. The Wailers had been making records since 1963. They’d had many local hits, had rebelled against the corruption of the Jamaican studio systems and gone independent, had more hits, made a series of exceptional recordings with the young Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry at the controls, and were by now, at the dawn of the 1970s, issuing a string of wonderful self-produced 45s. Trench Town Rock is a song that Bob would return to as a solo artist. This is an alternate longer mix of the original single. It’s a little rough around the edges, but the raw energy only adds to the excitement. Within a year, The Wailers had signed an international recording deal. Within two years, the original vocal group had gone their separate ways. Bob Marley went on to become one of the most recognised men on the whole planet.
2. Jimmy Cliff - The Harder They Come
It was almost Jimmy Cliff who became the first international reggae superstar. The Harder They Come was the title song from a movie, after all, and a movie in which Jimmy Cliff played the leading role. The various artists soundtrack sold like hot cakes, and remains a vital cornerstone of any reggae collection.
3. Junior Byles - Curly Locks
One of Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry’s most celebrated early productions. Junior Byles’ lovely, haunting voice tells the tale of a man whose girlfriend’s father has forbidden their romance because the man has become a Rasta. If you want to hear another great Junior Byles song from this period, I urge you to seek out the melancholic A Place Called Africa.
4. Peter Tosh - Mark of the Beast
I remember when namedropping Peter Tosh was seen as proof that you knew more about reggae than just Bob Marley, but seeing as they’d been bandmates in The Wailers for most of their lives, it really wasn’t that much of a boast. Peter was a more difficult character than Bob. He had a fierce distrust of all authority, and the white man in particular. He enjoyed a fair degree of success internationally, but in truth he was never going to match Bob as a singer, or as a writer, or as a charismatic personality. Mark of the Beast dates from the period between his leaving The Wailers, and making his first solo album. It’s a relatively unknown gem which captures Peter’s personality and beliefs very well.
5. Johnny Clarke - None Shall Escape the Judgement
The first of many 45s made with producer Bunny Lee. Maybe you don’t know his name, but they did in Jamaica - Johnny Clarke was named Artist of the Year in both 1975 and 1976.
6. Burning Spear - Marcus Garvey
7. Burning Spear – Tradition
When putting together these ‘various artists’ playlists, I’ve always made it an unspoken rule to represent each artist by only one song apiece. I’m breaking that rule twice today, and in this, the first instance, I’m utterly pulverising the rule by including two songs from the very same album. I simply couldn’t choose one over the other. They’re both such utterly vital examples of roots reggae at its best; short sermons in black history but dressed in the most delightfully catchy arrangements you could ever wish to hear. The horn and vocal melodies for Tradition have an almost childlike glee, and yet it’s a song about slavery. And Marcus Garvey is a name that you’ll come across time and time again in roots reggae. It’s around about now that you could perhaps Google the man and the legend. Burning Spear, meanwhile, undeniably set a high benchmark for what roots reggae could be.
8. The Abyssinians - African Race
The Abyssinians recorded their most famous song, Satta Massagana, in 1969. It wasn’t released as a single until two years later, and it only became the title track of their first LP in 1976. You can tell from this how much of a luxury getting to record an album still was. African Race is another standout song from that LP. The gentle acoustic intro is both surprising and delightful. The groups and producers had really started expanding the palette of possibilities.
9. Bunny Wailer - Blackheart Man
And here’s another example of how reggae sounds were expanding. Bunny’s first solo album was a revelation. In the Wailers’ hierarchy, he was the third man. Bob dominated, Peter managed a healthy number of vocal spotlights, but Bunny’s voice was rarely featured singing lead. Yet still waters run deep. Bunny is a fascinating character. He left The Wailers mainly due to his dislike of touring and being away from Jamaica. He turned his back on worldwide success, and most of the records he went on to make weren’t issued outside of Jamaica. Yet he cannily changed his last name from Livingston to Wailer, to remind everyone where’d he’d come from, and when he was ready to make a big artistic statement, he could still prove himself a world beater. Blackheart Man is beautiful. It’s so haunting and so textured and packs such an emotional punch. Bob was the star, and Peter was the great rebel, but it’s Bunny’s music that’s most likely to move me. I’d have included a second song from one of his later records, but there’s very little of his music available on modern music platforms. He’s obviously still not so sure how much he is willing to deal with Babylon.
10. The Gladiators - Looks is Deceiving
11. The Mighty Diamonds - I Need a Roof
After Island Records lead the way, Virgin Records was the next British record company to take an active interest in promoting reggae, and reggae albums in particular. The Gladiators’ Trenchtown Mix Up and The Mighty Diamonds’ Right Time are both rightly regarded as roots reggae essential purchases.
12. Culture - Two Sevens Clash
It’s going to be very difficult for me to avoid gushing at this point. Culture are my favourite reggae group, and Joseph Hill is my favourite reggae singer and songwriter. For me, nobody else comes close to Joseph’s talent for writing catchy hook-driven songs, and singing them with so much charisma, and so much infectious passion. Joseph would get so caught up in singing a song that he’d ad lib all these little asides, and no matter what the subject of his songs, it’s joy that you hear above all else. Two Sevens Clash was a single and the title song of their first LP. The liner notes for the album said: "One day Joseph Hill had a vision, while riding a bus, of 1977 as a year of judgment - when two sevens clash - when past injustices would be avenged. Lyrics and melodies came into his head as he rode and thus was born the song, which became a massive hit in reggae circles both in Jamaica and abroad. The prophecies noted by the lyrics so profoundly captured the imagination of the people that on July 7, 1977 - the day when sevens fully clashed (seventh day, seventh month, seventy-seventh year) a hush descended on Kingston; many people did not go outdoors, shops closed, an air of foreboding and expectation filled the city." Now that’s the power of song.
13. Dennis Brown - Wolf and Leopards
14. Junior Murvin - Police and Thieves
15. Max Romeo - War ina Babylon
16. The Heptones - Sufferers’ Time
17. The Congos - Solid Foundation
1977 was also a watershed year for Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry, who produced all five of these standout classics by some of the biggest names in reggae at his legendary Black Ark studio. Junior Murvin’s creamy, high voice recalls Curtis Mayfield, which reminds us that reggae was not as insular as you might think, and had often looked to American soul music for inspiration. The song was famously covered by The Clash a few months later, beginning a notable punk and reggae alliance which Bob Marley would later pay tribute to in his song Punky Reggae Party. And few reggae albums have been more celebrated by the cognoscenti than Heart of the Congos from which the radiant divine prayer Solid Foundation is taken.
18. Jacob Miller – Forward Ever Backward Never
Jacob Miller’s ascendency, both as a solo artist, and as the frontman for Inner Circle, was tragically cut short when he and one of his sons was killed in a car crash. Inner Circle would reform with a new lead singer and enjoy notable international commercial success.
19. Israel Vibration - Prophet Has Arise
The members of Israel Vibration all met as children at a polio rehabilitation centre. Later they lived on the streets, surviving on money they earned busking. They got the chance to record thanks to a Rastafarian charity grant. Members of The Inner Circle provided their instrumental backing for the recording of The Same Song LP, from which this track is taken. Many years later, Sinéad O'Connor would record a superb cover version of Prophet Has Arise in tribute.
20. Gregory Isaacs - Uncle Joe
Gregory was one of the many reggae stars hotly tipped to become “the next Bob Marley”, following the latter’s death in 1981 (we’ve already heard from Dennis Brown, who was another contender for the throne), but nobody has yet managed to scale those lofty heights. Love songs were Isaacs’ stock in trade (Night Nurse being the most famous example), but he could also turn his attention to matters of social consciousness, as here on Uncle Joe.
21. Culture - Tell Me Where You Get It
As great as Two Sevens Clash is, Culture arguably equalled it the following year with Harder Than The Rest. Songs don’t come much catchier than Tell Me Where You Get It. Sing, Joseph, sing!
22. The In Crowd - His Majesty is Coming
23. The Twinkle Brothers - Praise Jah
Two more examples of roots reggae being the vehicle for sincere Rastafarian prayer. Both of these groups started life as showbands working in Jamaican hotels.
24. Black Uhuru - Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner?
The first Black Uhuru LP was a “showcase”, meaning that it gathered together the longer song-plus-instrumental-version DJ cuts of their singles. The LP was indeed initially entitled Showcase, before later reappearing as Black Uhuru, and then Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner. This song had already been a solo success for singer Michael Rose. Backing was provided by a group formed around the nucleus of the almost ubiquitous Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare, who played on so many landmark reggae records that counting them can make your head spin.
25. The Wailing Souls - Fire House Rock
It’s notable that a group who would sometimes feel compelled to perform under various other names so as not to be confused with The Wailers, recorded a song that was somewhat modelled after Trench Town Rock. Trenchtown and Waterhouse were both districts of Kingston (the latter nicknamed Firehouse because of its reputation for gang violence). All that aside, this is a first class roots reggae tune. Sly and Robbie once again produce and provide the musical muscle.
26. The Itals – Brutal
The Itals had already enjoyed big hits in Jamaica with In A Dis Ya Time and an earlier version of Brutal back in 1976, five years before they got the chance to record a full album for the American Nighthawk label in 1981. Keith Richards was a fan, and I can remember him singling The Itals out for a praise in an interview.
27. John Holt - Police in Helicopter
John Holt was already a music veteran by the time he recorded this song, first as a member of ska/rocksteady group The Paragons, and then throughout the 70s as a singer of polished reggae interpretations of American middle-of-the-road hits (Help Me Make it Through the Night being his biggest seller). So nobody was expecting Holt to release such a hard-hitting slice of roots reggae as Police in Helicopter; a condemnation of the Jamaican government's crackdown on marijuana plantations.
28. Natural Ites & The Realistics - Picture on the Wall
Our final selection comes not from Jamaica, but from Nottingham, England. Picture on the Wall was the Natural Ites’ very first single, issued in 1983. Jamaica may have been moving to the rhythms of the new dancehall style, but here was a latter-day roots classic recorded by the sons of West Indian immigrants, living in a country that had taken reggae music to their hearts.
There’s one last thing I wanted to say before signing off. And it’s this: writing about reggae music is much harder work than listening to reggae music. For one thing, I’m aware that I’m talking about the artistic expression of another culture, and so I feel duty-bound to be extra careful not to misrepresent. If anyone with greater insight than I wants to get in touch about anything in this piece, then I’m only too happy to be educated.
Enjoy the music and stay safe. Jules Gray, 2020
Jules Gray is a singer/songwriter and an amateur music historian.