The History of Reggae Music I

By Barry Wright

Reggae is the unique style of music that was created on the Island of Jamaica, West Indies and compared to other art-forms , is still in it's infancy. Despite this, it's rate of growth is nothing short of phenominal. Reggae is popular around the world due to the hard work and dedication of the pioneers of the music. Bob Marley is the most popular of these and has reached legendary status as a reggae music icon.

Reggae is a by-product of Rock Steady and. Ska which are faster in tempo (speed). In the 50's most musician's only access to the international music of the day was by listening to the radio. What resulted was the Carribean twist on the mainstream music being heard from America which is 90 miles away.

The Reggae music scene in Jamaica was booming. Night Clubs featured live bands and there were no shortages of enthusiastic audiences and music venues. I remember seeing Beres Hammond at the Bohemia night club on Red Hills Road, in the early seventies.

The most popular Reggae Bands

There is Byron Lee and the Dragonnaires, (who can be seen on the re-runs of the James Bond Film Dr. No), Fabulous 5, The Skatalites, Cedrick Brooks and The Light of Saba, Inner Circle who split up and reformed under the name Third World...and so many more. There are even more reggae singers.

People like the late Bob Marley, Jimmy Cliff, the late Dennis Brown, Ken Boothe, John Holt, Alton Ellis, Marcia Griffiths, Cynthia Schloss, Judy Mowatt, Rita Marley,Toots Hibbert (and the Maytals), Owen Grey, Beres Hammond, Sugar Minott and there are lots more.Many are still doing what they love best today. In those days there was only one way to get a break.

You had to go get an audition with one of the reggae producers. There was Bunny Lee, Lee Scratch Perry, Coxone,and Joe Gibbs. It was hard for a singer to get a break. This was accurately depicted in the film 'The Harder They Come', starring Jimmy Cliff. Poverty was and still is a reality and way of life for many and crime is a by-product of poverty.Add politics to the mix and we start to get an idea of the way of life in Jamaica. For many, music became an outlet and Reggae was to make a mark Internationally.

With Labels like Treasure Isle and Dynamics releasing a high number o fproduct, sales were healthy and soon the the UK caught on. 'My Boy Lollie-Pop'sung by Millie Small, and 'The Isrealites' by Desmond Dekker were the ground-breakers for Reggae in Europe and the UK and they climbed charts like Top Of the Pops.

Hits like 'I Can See Clearly Now' sung by Johhny Nash, 'Money In my Pocket' by Dennis Brown and 'Many Rivers To Cross' by Jimmy Cliff, followed suite. Trojan Records signed John Holt and Ken Boothe, and Island Records brokethrough with reggae artiste Bob Marley and many others.

Mainstream artistes like Stevie Wonder, Sting (The Police) and Blondie have all recorded music with a reggae twist...and with great success. It is also fair to say many reggae singers have recorded Pop, Rock, Soul and R&B covers.