Unit 208- Music style development- Reggae

By Tennessee Randall

A little bit about reggae and Jamaica

Reggae originated from confrontation and struggle and its based on freedom and never giving up. Politicians have been known to use reggae music within their political campaign because the music persuades its listeners to listen closely to the lyrics and to understand the powerful message of the song. The music of Jamaica began around 500 years ago, when Columbus colonized the land of the Arawak Indians.

Jamaican music can be divided into four areas that carry their own distinctive beat. These are known as Ska, Rocksteady, Reggae and Dancehall.

Where is Jamaica

The capital of Jamaica is

KINGSTON !

What is the link between Jamaica and Ethiopia?

Rastafarianism is African centered but developed in Jamaica in the 1930s. Rastafarian beliefs include that Haile Selassie I (The ruler of Ethiopia) is the living God. Also they believe that Jamaica is hell and Ethiopia is hell. Ethiopia is know as Zion whereas any other place on the world is regarded as Babylon. The picture below is the symbol of Rastafarianism. Red is symbolic for the blood of those killed for the cause of the black community, throughout Jamaican history. Green represents Jamaicas vegetation and hope for the eradication of suppression. Gold symbolizes the wealth of Ethiopia. Black signifies the colour of the Africans who initiated Rastafarianism.

What is the significance of red, yellow and green ?

This is the Ethiopian flag, red represents power, faith and blood. Yellow is symbolic for church, peace, natural wealth and love. Finally green stands for the fertility of the land and hope. The start in the middle represents the unity of the people, the five rays on the outside of the start stands for prosperity and the blue in the disk represents peace.

What came before reggae ?

Reggae developed from Ska and Rocksteady. Ska originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s. Ska is a combination of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and blues. Ska is usually a faster pace. One theory is that Prince Buster created Ska during the first recording session for his new record label. People such as Desmond Dekker, the Skatalites, Byron Lee and the Dragonaires made early Ska music very popular. Rocksteady came after Ska and originated in Jamaica around 1966 but it only lasted for around 2 years. Rocksteady uses some music elements such as R&B, jazz, ska, African and Latin American drumming along with other genres. The father of Rocksteady is said to be Alton Ellis for his song Girl Ive Got a Date but there are others such as Hopeton Lewis, Derrick Morgan and Roy Shirley

Ska

Rocksteady

Swing easy

Come together, mon

Tears will never stain Never let me go

Come on little girl

Funky Kingston

Its gonna take a miracle Love is forever

Important reggae artists

Bob Marley
Marley was born on February 6th, 1945. His real name was Robert Nesta Marley. When Marley wasnt much more than 13, he moved Jamaicas capital Trench town. He had the nickname Tuff Gong because of his great street-fighting skills. Bob Marley was an important Reggae recording artist because he songs were very influential which preached peace and unity through his music. His songs started a revolution in Jamaica and in some parts of Africa. Finally Marley promoted a positive image of Rastafarian and he fought against the stereotypical notions of the Rasta man as the Black Heart Man.

The Wailers
The Wailers
The Wailers began in 1969 when Bob Marley, Bunny Wailer and Peter Tosh recruited the Barrett brothers- bassist Aston and drummer Carly. They played on hits such as Lively Up Yourself Trenchtown Rock, Duppy Conqueror and many more. They Wailers signed to Island Rock Reggae in 1971.

The wailers were important because the original member were close friends with Bob Marley. Bob Marley didnt succeed making music on his own. However when he started making music with the Wailers, he then eared great success and became extremely popuar

Desmond Dekker
Desmond Dekker
Desmond Dekker was born on the 16th of July in 1941. He was a Jamaican ska, rocksteady and reggae singer and songwriter. Israelites was one of his earliest international reggae hits. One of Dekkers best known songs was 007 (Shanty Town). This established Dekker as a rude boy icon in Jamaica. The song became a favorite dance track for young working-class men and women of the United Kingdoms mod scene.

Desmond Dekker was an important reggae recording artist because he probably was the first reggae superstar to have hits outside Jamaica, in the US and UK. Also he created an opportunity for stars such as Bob Marley to make it as a Reggae recording artist.

Lee Scratch Perry

Perry was born on the 20th of March, 1936. His music career began in the 1950s and his first major single sold 60,000 copies in Jamaica alone, people funny boy was the name of the song. In the 1970s Perry began to produce music, he built the studio in his back yard and named it The Black Ark. He worked with people such as Bob Marley & The Wailers, Junior Byles, Junior Murvin, Max Romeo and many others
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_TIDBp_-0o

What is Rasta or Rastafarianism?

Rastafarianism is an Africa-centered religion which developed in Jamaica in the 1930s, following the coronation of Haile Selassie I as King of Ethiopia in 1930. There are around one million world wide followers of Rastafarianism as a faith. According to the 2001 census, there are 5,000 Rastafarians living in England and Wales. Followers of Rastafari are known by a variety of names such as: Rastafarians, Rastas, Sufferers, Locksmen, Dreads or Dreadlocks. Rastafarianism spread globally following the success of Bob Marley and his music in the 1970s, Marley was also a Rasta. One Rastafarianism religious practices includes the ritual inhalation of marijuana, they do this to increase their spiritual awareness. However there is a separate code of religious practice for women in Rastafarianism. Women must follow relatively strict rules such as they cannot be leaders and they arent allowed to wear makeup, wear promiscuous clothing or use any chemicals in their hair.

Dreadlocks
Dread locks can be traced back to the Indian sages. When slavery was abolished in the United States, it was illegal to enslave African Americans. However they began to enslave the native people of India instead. Some Indians managed to escape to the Caribbean islands, and in places such as Jamaica. Dreadlocks were religious to the native Indian so when dreadlocks started appearing in Jamaica, the Rastafarians started to take note of the hair and started styling their own hair in the style of dreadlocks. The Rastas worshipped the dreadlocks, considering the hair to be holy and powerful. Furthermore dreadlocks get their name from Jamaican tradition which says that those with natty locks in their hair were to be dreaded, or feared. Even today dreadlocks remain prevalent. Bob Marley was said to being dreadlocks into the pop culture website

Cultural influences

Madness
Madness are an English ska band from London which formed in 1976. Madness achieved most of their success in the early to mid 1980s. Madness idol was Prince Buster who was a Jamaican reggae, ska and rock steady recording artist. They also wrote a song called the prince which was dedicated to Prince Buster. Prince Buster highly influenced Madness so much that the band even got their name from one of his songs. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_s rIE-YAb8

Influential recordings
Desmond Dekker and the aces- Israelites
This song was released in 1969 and was the first reggae song to become an international hit. Israelites managed to reach #1 in the UK charts and it got into the top 10 for the USA charts. The song carries many known elements of ska but it features the slowed- down tempo that characterised the new genre of reggae. The lyrics of the song were simple but expressed the hardship of poverty and Dekker captivated worldwide audiences with his incredible falsetto. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83Y2hv-3UCM

Peter Tosh- Legalise it

Within this song Tosh is making a political statement about religious freedom with using marijuana. This was toshs first album after leaving the Wailers. One of the practices as a Rastafarian is the ritual inhalation of marijuana. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CIB_-8IoTOA

Smile Jamaica- Bob Marley

This song was written in hopes of bringing people together because thugs joined the socialists peoples national party and the Jamaican labour party as they both battled for control over Kingstons streets. Also he planned a free concert to bring peace to people. However on December 3rd, 1976 (two days before the concert) a group of assassins snuck into where Marley was staying and shot him, his wife Rita and his manager Don Taylor. Miraculously nobody was killed and Marley continued with the show as planned, defiantly displaying his bandaged bullet wounds on stage. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0kn57HKIi-g

Hopeton Lewis- Take it easy

This song was one of the earliest rock steady recording which was released in 1966. He recorded the song with a guitarist called Lynn Tait. This song was influential because the pace of it was slow which was done so that Lewis could fit all of his lyrics into the song. However this song highlighted the start of rock steady.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7aoHksUZd8

Bob Marley- Small axe

This song features a significant metaphor: If you are a big tree, we are the small axe, ready to cut you down, to cut you down! The song refers to many biblical references. The big tree represents Coxsone Dodd and Duke Reid who virtually held all the power in the Jamaican music industry which musicians would have to work together to cut down.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ia6Tvpj6dPw