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Reggae and Dub: Mandatory listening....

#21
D.A.R.K. said:
i'll add an opinion...
this "one drop" ain't really what it's about.
reggae was heavily influenced by soul and r&b from the '50's.
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In the early era, true. But back then it wasn't known as reggae. It was R&B as you stated-which then transformed into ska-then rock steady-reggae

listen up and i bet you won't hear as much "one-drop" as solid, authoritative basslines that start on the 1.
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Most reggae bass lines start on the one anyway. Don't forget the term one-drop refers to the bass drum.
Here's a reggae related sidebar:
More Jamaican artists are jumping on the "reggae rock" (what I call it)bandwagon. Some stuff sounds pretty good. Check here:
Link Removed
 
#22
Hey, you reggae experts out there, there is a song I'm trying to find from the 70's I believe, and all I know about it is it has a chord progression like F-C-G-Am, and the lyrics go, "I (F) try and I try and I (C)try and I try and I (G) try and I try and I (Am)try." Did a couple Google searches and got a million different results, none of which were the song or the artist. If anyone knows what it is, please let me know.
 
#23
JimmyM said:
Hey, you reggae experts out there, there is a song I'm trying to find from the 70's I believe, and all I know about it is it has a chord progression like F-C-G-Am, and the lyrics go, "I (F) try and I try and I (C)try and I try and I (G) try and I try and I (Am)try." Did a couple Google searches and got a million different results, none of which were the song or the artist. If anyone knows what it is, please let me know.
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Not exactly positive on the chord progression but it sounds like the track you want is Pick Myself Up by Peter Tosh.
 
#25
Sounbwoy said:
In the early era, true. But back then it wasn't known as reggae. It was R&B as you stated-which then transformed into ska-then rock steady-reggae
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Sorry but Ska preceded everything (where reggae/rocksteady is concerned anyway).

Early reggae evolved when the fast tempos of traditional Ska were slowed down. A short time after, rock steady began to evolve when ska and early reggae musicians began incorporating elements of American Soul and R&B into their music (think 'Harder They Come' soundtrack). First came Ska (early 60s), then Reggae (mid/late 60s), then Rocksteady (late 60s/early 70s). 'One Drop' Reggae emerged from there (mid/late 70s).
 
#27
Dennis Brown is a must.

Some more great Roots artists include.

Misty In Roots
Twinkle Brothers
The Congos
Barrington Levy
Culture
Justin Hinds
Desmmond Decker
Rupie Edwards
Alton Ellis
Derrick Morgan
Max Romeo
Linval Thompson
 
#28
Larry99 said:
Sorry but Ska preceded everything (where reggae/rocksteady is concerned anyway).

Early reggae evolved when the fast tempos of traditional Ska were slowed down. A short time after, rock steady began to evolve when ska and early reggae musicians began incorporating elements of American Soul and R&B into their music (think 'Harder They Come' soundtrack). First came Ska (early 60s), then Reggae (mid/late 60s), then Rocksteady (late 60s/early 70s). 'One Drop' Reggae emerged from there (mid/late 70s).
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This is one of those timelines that will always reflect differing opinions and various examples can be quoted for it. Bottom line is all the contributions are worthy choices.
 
#30
4lPh4n0m3g4 said:
From what I understood, ska developed into rock-steady, and rock-steady into reggae.

IMO, if any style is to be credited with being the "grand daddy" of reggae, it would be Mento. (1800's-1950's)
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I THINK he's distinguishing between reggae "on the one" and "one-drop" reggae. If so, yes, then there was some time difference, but I don't think it was enuff to be significant. Besides, even some Ska was one-drop. It just wasn't known as that.

+1 on Mento.
 
#31
good shout for these mentioned in the thread.... particularly

Trojan Dub box set
King Tubby Meets the Rockers Uptown
The studio 1 releases - they're generally excellent

I'd also add...

Skatalites - Legendary Skatalites in Dub
Niney the Observer - Sledgehammer dub (in the streets of jamaica)
Various - Dread meets Punk rockers uptown - top notch don letts compilation
If Dejay Was Your Trade. The Dreads At King Tubby's 1974-1977
King Tubby Meets Roots Radics - Dangerous Dub
Lee Perry & Prince Jammy - Dub The Old Fashioned Way
Prince Far I - Cry Tuff Dub Encounter Chapter 3
Linton Kwesi Johnson - Bass Culture (includes the awesome street 66 and Inglan is a bitch)

street 66 should be in everyone's library!
 
#35
Larry99 said:
Sorry but Ska preceded everything (where reggae/rocksteady is concerned anyway).

Early reggae evolved when the fast tempos of traditional Ska were slowed down. A short time after, rock steady began to evolve when ska and early reggae musicians began incorporating elements of American Soul and R&B into their music (think 'Harder They Come' soundtrack). First came Ska (early 60s), then Reggae (mid/late 60s), then Rocksteady (late 60s/early 70s). 'One Drop' Reggae emerged from there (mid/late 70s).
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Absolutely wrong. There has been enough research done in this field to demonstrate a clear timeline. The Rocksteady era lasted two years ('66-'68) before giving way to reggae. Of course, there wasn't an overnight shift from Rocksteady to Reggae (indeed, there are fewer differences between Reggae and Rocksteady than there are between Ska and Rocksteady), but there was a shift in the music which caused it to assume a different character (for a start, early reggae tended to be faster in tempo and less "smooth" sounding than Rocksteady - think of the difference between Soul and Funk, for example). A good clue in terms of chronology is song and album titles using the words "Rocksteady" and "Reggae" (or "Reggay" as the case may be). The "one drop" is one of the defining characteristics of both Ska and Rocksteady, as well as early reggae. It wasn't until the "rockers" style of drumming in the early-to-mid 70s that non "one drop" patterns were introduced. The trend in the early 80s was a refined "boof 'n' baff" or rockers style that placed a bass drum hit on the one and the three (well, depending on how you count your bars in reggae). Anyway, Larry99 seems to be getting his history from the back of an expired milk carton or something...
 
#36
The album UB40's Jukebox is pretty hip. It's the original versions of the sogs covered by UB 40. Given UB40 it's a little poppy but still - it will introduce you to a bunch of stuff worth more reserching.

I got to Dennis Brown and Ken Boothe off that one...

Burning Spear - Living Dub is cool. The Jah Wobbel and Bill Laswell - A Dub Transmission is too.

eMusic has a lot of old reggae/ska stuff to mine...
 
#37
bass12 said:
Absolutely wrong. There has been enough research done in this field to demonstrate a clear timeline. The Roscksteady era lasted two years ('66-'68) before giving way to reggae. Of course, there wasn't an overnight shift from Rocksteady to Reggae (indeed, there are fewer differences between Reggae and Rocksteady than there are between Ska and Rocksteady), but there was a shift in the music which caused it to assume a different character (for a start, early reggae tended to be faster in tempo and less "smooth" sounding than Rocksteady - think of the difference between Soul and Funk, for example). A good clue in terms of chronology is song and album titles using the words "Rocksteady" and "Reggae" (or "Reggay" as the case may be). The "one drop" is one of the defining characteristics of both Ska and Rocksteady, as well as early reggae. It wasn't until the "rockers" style of drumming in the early-to-mid 70s that non "one drop" patterns were introduced. The trend in the early 80s was a refined "boof 'n' baff" or rockers style that placed a bass drum hit on the one and the three (well, depending on how you count your bars in reggae). Anyway, Larry99 seems to be getting his history from the back of an expired milk carton or something...
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Well he might've changed his mind after 2 years haha.

There's so much good reggae/rockstead/dub/ska hiding around it's unbelievable. I've got around 8000 songs and still finding more. Most of my music from the 70s honestly. 80s would be next then probably 60s then 90s and then 00s haha.
 
#39
bass12 said:
Absolutely wrong. There has been enough research done in this field to demonstrate a clear timeline. The Roscksteady era lasted two years ('66-'68) before giving way to reggae. Of course, there wasn't an overnight shift from Rocksteady to Reggae (indeed, there are fewer differences between Reggae and Rocksteady than there are between Ska and Rocksteady), but there was a shift in the music which caused it to assume a different character (for a start, early reggae tended to be faster in tempo and less "smooth" sounding than Rocksteady - think of the difference between Soul and Funk, for example). A good clue in terms of chronology is song and album titles using the words "Rocksteady" and "Reggae" (or "Reggay" as the case may be). The "one drop" is one of the defining characteristics of both Ska and Rocksteady, as well as early reggae. It wasn't until the "rockers" style of drumming in the early-to-mid 70s that non "one drop" patterns were introduced. The trend in the early 80s was a refined "boof 'n' baff" or rockers style that placed a bass drum hit on the one and the three (well, depending on how you count your bars in reggae). Anyway, Larry99 seems to be getting his history from the back of an expired milk carton or something...
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Absolutely right.

Originally the JA Sound Systems played American 40's and 50's dance band and early R+B recordings almost exclusively, calling it all R+B. it was only with the advent of the recording industry that visionaries like Coxsone found musicians from the Jazz world who could create a unique sound using new and adapted beats and rythmic accents, creating Ska.

BTW early reggae was mostly uptempo, a rection against the ubiquitous and mostly slower Rocksteady style that ruled in the mid '60s. Reggae slowed down somewhat again in the '70s, but of course these are massive generalizations and there is tons of overlap, cross fertilization, and many exceptions and anamolies.

The influence of American music, like soul and jazz, was ongoing through reggae's evolution. From singing styles, horn arrangements, choppy guitars, bass styles, ad infinitum, reggae owes a lot to Jamaican musicians' love for and knowledge of mostly black American music styles, but of course skewed and adapted to their unique sensibilities and new musical forms.


Jimmy, those lyrics are indeed to Peter Tosh's song 'Pick Myself Up', but the chorus' chords are AG x 2, AD x 3. Beautiful song, isn't it? Robbie Shakespeare played bass on the original version (and here tearing it up on a Hofner!):

 

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