Reggae Music
by billymousser | on April 30, 2013
Reggae Music- History
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. 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 and sound that evolved out of the earlier genres of ska and rock steady (Wikipedia, 2013).
Reggae as a musical term first appeared in print with the 1968 rock steady hit “Do the Reggay” by The Maytals, but there are many different theories as to how the term originated. The music itself was faster than rock steady, but tighter and more complex than ska, with obvious debts to both styles, while going beyond them both.
Reggae music historian Steve Barrow credits Clancy Eccles with altering the Jamaican patois word streggae (loose woman) into reggae. However, Toots Hibbert said: There’s a word we use in Jamaica called ‘streggae’. If a girl is walking and the guys look at her and say ‘Man, she’s streggae’ it means she don’t dress well, she look raggedy. The girls would say that about the men too. This one morning I and my two friends were playing and I said, ‘OK man, let’s do the reggay.’ It was just something that came out of my mouth. So we just start singing ‘Do the reggay, do the reggay’ and created a beat. People tell me later that we had given the sound its name. Before that people had called it blue-beat and all kind of other things. Now it’s in the Guinness World of Records.
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 To the King, a compilation of Christian gospel reggae, suggest that the word reggae was derived from the Latin regi meaning “to the king”.
Although strongly influenced by traditional African, American jazz and old-time rhythm and blues, reggae owes its direct origins to the progressive development of ska and rock steady in 1960s Jamaica. An important factor in this development was the influence of Rastafari, with Rasta drummers like Count Ossie contributing to seminal recordings, bringing the influence of these rhythmic patterns into the music.
Ska arose in the studios of Jamaica in the late 1950s; it developed from the earlier mento genre. Jamaica gained its independence in 1962 and ska became the music of choice for Jamaican youth seeking music that was their own. It is also worth noting that ska gained some popularity among mods in Britain.
Reggae music was developed from mento, R&B, and Ska music in the 1960s. 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” (1967) by Clancy Eccles and “People Funny Boy” (1968) by Lee “Scratch” Perry. The Pioneers’ 1968 track “Long Shot (Bus’ Me Bet)” has been identified as the earliest recorded example of the new rhythm sound that became known as reggae.
The Wailers, a band started by Bob Marley, Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer in 1963, is perhaps the most recognized band that made the transition through all three stages of early Jamaican popular music: ska, rock steady and reggae. Other significant reggae pioneers include Prince Buster, Desmond Dekker, Ken Boothe and many more.
In the second half of the 1970s, the UK punk rock scene was starting to form, and reggae was a notable influence. The DJ Don Letts would play reggae and punk tracks at clubs such as The Roxy. Punk bands such as The Clash. The Ruts. The Members and The Slits played many reggae-influenced songs. Around the same time, reggae music took a new path in the UK; one that was created by the multiracial makeup of England’s inner cities and exemplified by groups like Steel Pulse, Aswad and UB40, as well as artists such as Smiley Culture and Carroll Thompson. The Jamaican ghetto themes in the lyrics were replaced with UK inner city themes, and Jamaican patois became intermingled with Cockney slang. In South London around this time, a new subgenre of Lovers Rock was being created. Unlike the Jamaican music of the same name which was mainly dominated by male artists such as Gregory Isaacs, the South London genre was led by female singers like Thompson and Janet Kay. The UK Lovers Rock had a softer and more commercial sound.
Other reggae artists who enjoyed international appeal in the early 1980s include Third World, Black Uhuru and Sugar Minott. The Grammy Awards introduced the Best Reggae Album category in 1985.
In the United States, bands like Rebelution, Slightly Stoopid, and SOJA are considered progressive reggae bands. For decades, Hawaiian reggae has had a big following on the Hawaiian Islands and the West coast of the United States.
The UK was a primary destination for Caribbean people looking to emigrate as early as the 1950s. Because of this Caribbean music in the United Kingdom, including reggae, has been popular since the late 1960s, and has evolved into several sub-genres and fusions. Most notable of these is lovers’ rock, but this fusion of Caribbean music into English culture was seminal in the formation of other musical forms like drum and bass and dub-step. The UK became the base from which many Jamaican artists toured Europe and due to the large number of Jamaican musicians emigrating there, the UK is the root of the larger European scene that exists today. Many of the world’s most famous reggae artists began their careers in UK Singer and Grammy Award winning reggae artist Maxi Priest began his career with seminal British sound system Saxon Studio International. Also British reggae is played by UB40 and Ali Campbell.
In Iceland reggae band Hjálmar is well established having released six CDs in Iceland. They were the first reggae band in Iceland, but few Icelandic artists had written songs in the reggae style before their showing up at the Icelandic music scene. The Icelandic reggae scene is expanding and growing at a fast rate.
The first homegrown Polish reggae bands started in the 1980s with groups like Izrael. In Sweden, Uppsala Reggae Festival attracts attendees from across Northern Europe, and features Swedish reggae bands such as Rootvälta and Svenska Akademien as well as many popular Jamaican artists.
Reggae music in Africa was much boosted by the visit of Bob Marley to Zimbabwe on Independence Day 18 April 1980. Nigerian reggae had developed in the 1970s with artists such as Majek Fashek proving popular. In South Africa, reggae music has played a unifying role amongst cultural groups in Cape Town. During the years of Apartheid, the music bonded people from all demographic groups. Lucky Dube recorded 25 albums, fusing reggae with Mbaqanga.
In Ethiopia, Dub Colossus and Invisible System emerged in 2008 sharing core members, and have received wide acclaim. In Mali, Askia Modibo fuses reggae with Malian music. In Malawi, Black Missionaries produced five albums. In Ivory Coast a country where reggae music is extremely popular, Tiken Jah Fakoly fuses reggae with traditional music. Alpha Blondy from Ivory Coast sings reggae with religious lyrics. In Sudan, beats, drums and bass guitar from reggae music has been adopted into their music as reggae is a very popular among the generations from young to old, some spiritual (religious) groups grow their dreadlocks and have some reggae beats in their chants.
New Zealand reggae was heavily inspired by Bob Marley’s 1979 concert in the country, and early reggae groups such as Herbs. The genre has seen many bands like Fat Freddy’s Drop and Katchafire emerging in more recent times, often involving fusion with electronica.
Reggae Music-Summary
Reggae has grown worldwide since its early influences and has become the primary foundation for many musical disciplines in many countries. From its roots to modern day beats, reggae music in all its forms will be around for a long time.
I would like to thank the contributors who made this knowledge-base available for me to learn a little more about the music I play. If you would like to know more about my blog or the blogging system I use, hit me up at: www.thisisbilly.com/did-you-know/
Thank you
Billy Mousser
www.rbmproductions.com
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