I set myself up when I picked the name for this blog, mainly because I've also been listening to reggae and ska for decades AS WELL as blues,soul and rock and roll, which is why it was such a privilege to spend the last week in Montego Bay, Jamaica. Not only was the weather idyllic (although incredibly hot and HUMID!) but the sounds of the island were everywhere.
The first surprise was how much the nation has embraced Bob Marley. There are Marley hats, tee shirts, wristbands, keepsake boxes, athletic socks, underwear, rolling papers and of course, CDs. I found it ironic that the Jamaican government has decided to promote a Rasta artist who came to prominence singing songs like "Burning and looting tonight / Burning all pollution in sight" or "Get up/Stand up/ Stand up for your rights", the anthems of the "rude boys." In effect, it's as if reggae's best known rebel has been co-opted as the national brand. The next time you are mesmerized by the technicolor images of cobalt sea and milk white sand, with Marley warbling: "One love/ One heart" , listen to the original song lyrics, which have very little to do with harmony. Personally, I've always thought that Peter Tosh deserves more credit for his role in the Wailers as well as a solo artist. His commanding voice, outlaw persona, and obvious contempt for Jamaican society, plus his confrontational compositions - "Legalize It", "Get Up Stand Up", "Wanted Dread or Alive" - seem to make Tosh a little too controversial for marketing overseas.
I've always felt that reggae was partially the precursor to rap. Toots and the Maytals have taken credit for naming the music, Toots explaining that the term means "regular" , or , as he puts it, "coming from the people". The content of reggae songs , excluding the ubiquitous love ballads, is mostly about political oppression, social issues, and the Rastafarian philosophy, one of the primary outlets for Jamaican artists to comment on their lives to a worldwide audience. In addition to using the music to advocate social change, many reggae performers would experiment with vocal rhythms and nuances as well. Although the connection between the two is tenuous, it is further evidenced by the various rappers who have incorporated reggae beats and intonations into their music.
I am a personal fan of what is called "dub" music. Dubbing refers to taking a familiar melody, stripping away the words and inserting your own commentary ( also referred to as "skanking") as well as utilizing intense reverb, echo, feedback, and any other musical device that comes to mind after consuming copious amounts of ganja. I managed to pick up a copy of "Superdub on Overdrive", featuring the superior talents of Robbie Shakespeare and Sly Dunbar. Besides doing covers of "Peter Gunn", "Roxanne" and "If I Were A Rich Man", they seem to have produced most of the CD trapped in an echo chamber, experimenting with turning the melodies inside out and then drifting wherever the music takes them.
Of course you can still hear the strains of the traditional Caribbean ballads made famous by Harry Belafonte, the familiar refrains like: "Daylight come and me want to go home" or "Sad to say/I'm on my way/Won't be back for many a day", right up there with rum punch, jerked chicken and duty free shopping. The "music of the people" tells a different story, the "riddims" of a Third World nation struggling with devastating poverty, uncontrollable crime and defining the true Jamaican identity.
Personally, I still wanted to find anything by The Mighty Diamonds, Big Youth, Max Romeo and a few others, but the clerk at the El Paso in Montego Bay was clueless when I asked for specifics, gesturing instead at the wall of reggae CDs. In retrospect,this was a fortunate development. Now I'll absolutely positively have to go back.
