| Author | Message | ||
  DyvaNaye (westside314) 5-Doyen Username: westside314 Post Number: 181 Registered: 4-2004 Posted From: 64.12.116.138 |
The title of this thread is a favorite tune of mine by Bob Marley. Reggae is a subject I have not seen 'fully' discussed on this site, and to me it is a form of music that 'gets away with everything in expression,' meaning: disguisable biligerant venacular, lol..., storytelling, in some cases, anti-goverment, adding the strengths it possesses in encouraging family, hope, unity, uprising, revolutionary measures... If we could SDF, Id like evryone who knows anything about REGGAE to have input here answering the following questions/statements: The Origin of Reggae: Country music? or what? The eventual crossover of Reggae to dance hall Surviving artists from the days of SKA The Rastafari Connection to Reggae - still the purest form of reggae left? Is Bob Marley the King of Reggae? - or who would you say holds that title? When did this form of music arrive in America and what is the England connection? Is Reggae a form of Soul-Music? (Disclaimer: Im not saying I dont know some of the answers here, I like to hear what is on other peoples minds about this topic.) Lets talk, SDF. One Love ;-) DyvaNaye (Message edited by westside314 on April 24, 2004) | ||
Ritchie (ritchie) 4-Laureate Username: ritchie Post Number: 74 Registered: 4-2004 Posted From: 62.254.0.32 |
Well, this is a topic close to my heart anyway  OK, to address a couple of points, Country Music had very little influence in Jamaican music - although many Country songs have been covered over the years. That's only because Jamaican artists aren't as snobbish about the origins of songs as many white Rock artists are. (Bob Marley covered everything from Curtis Mayfield to the Archies' Sugar Sugar in his early years!) Very broadly speaking, Ska derived from a mixture of Jamaican Mento (a folk form similar to Calypso) and American Jump Blues/Big Band R&B. Ska evolved into the slower, cooler Rock Steady when it slowed the tempo and added US Soul influences - particularly drawing on the example of the Impressions' three-part harmony. Maverick producers like Clancy Eccles and Lee Perry added a busier, funky bassline to turn Rock Steady into Reggae in the late sixties. No matter what the style, all strands of "Reggae" share one common characteristic, the off-beat is accented rather than the first beat of the bar, as in most Western pop and rock. Reggae > Dancehall? Economy! Once digital rhythms became accepted, records became much cheaper to make. Whay pay musicians when a sampler and a cheap Casio keyboard can achieve the same? Bob Marley the King Of Reggae? Maybe... at least as much as Elvis is the King of Rock'n'Roll - the first artist to raise public consciousness of the music to a level of international popularity. Whether either was the most-talented artist in his particular field is purely down to personal taste. Both were the hailed as the innovators, though neither actually were. Both had racial advantages - Elvis was white, Bob was half-white. Putting it crudely, (and I hope no-one takes offence at this) Bob was acceptable to white audiences because he wasn't too "African" in appearance. This made him easier to market outside of the hardcore Reggae audience at a time when Reggae was considered as disposable Pop music in the UK, and was almost unknown in the US. King of Reggae? Maybe not really, but he certainly put the music on the world stage. Is Reggae a form of Soul Music? Most Jamaicans believe it is THEIR "Soul Music" - music from the heart, music from the soul. Surviving Ska artists - Desmond Dekker, the Skatalites (though, like the Funks, they have lost original members due to the passage of time), Ken Boothe, Doreen Shaffer (original Skatalites vocalist), Dandy Livingstone (a personal friend, as it happens!), Laurel Aitken, Derrick Morgan, Justin Hinds - thankfully there are quite a few. | ||
DyvaNaye (westside314) 5-Doyen Username: westside314 Post Number: 183 Registered: 4-2004 Posted From: 152.163.252.166 |
Sounds to me like there needs to be a documentary on the SKATALITES....well Ritchie, are you that willing soul? :-) I think the way reggae is going now SKA is a fading memory for some... | ||
Ritchie (ritchie) 4-Laureate Username: ritchie Post Number: 76 Registered: 4-2004 Posted From: 62.254.0.32 |
Well, if I had few thousand to spare... If it took so much time and dogged determination to get SITSOM made, a movie about the background to a bunch of records that everybody in the world knows, I wouldn't be over-optimistic about a similar project on the Skatalites being anything other than a nice but impossible idea... But till then:  | ||
DyvaNaye (westside314) 5-Doyen Username: westside314 Post Number: 187 Registered: 4-2004 Posted From: 152.163.252.166 |
oh, THAT IS GREAT! New wallpaper for me! sniff, sniff....the good old days...sigh... | ||
Ritchie (ritchie) 4-Laureate Username: ritchie Post Number: 77 Registered: 4-2004 Posted From: 62.254.0.32 |
Well, if you're looking for some Jamaican-flavoured wallpaper, try these... http://www.trojanrecords.net/p ics/wallpaper/jimmycliff.jpg http://www.trojanrecords.net/p ics/wallpaper/funkykingston.jp g http://www.trojanrecords.net/p ics/wallpaper/maytalsmonkeyman .jpg | ||
DyvaNaye (westside314) 5-Doyen Username: westside314 Post Number: 189 Registered: 4-2004 Posted From: 152.163.252.166 |
thank you Ritchie..! | ||
GOAT (goat) 3-Pundit Username: goat Post Number: 38 Registered: 4-2004 Posted From: 64.228.146.107 |
Ritchie you nailed it down pretty good. I am a big SKA fan myself. Old school, to the new SKA-core (some, not the bubble gum crap). Such a great beat and wonderful concerts. Seen many and hoping to see many more! | ||
Soul Sister (soul_sister) 4-Laureate Username: soul_sister Post Number: 104 Registered: 4-2004 Posted From: 68.73.160.101 |
Ritchie; Thanks for posting those colorful links to Reggae! Love Reggae Music and the whole Island vibe. S.S. | ||
Lady Mystique (ladymystique) 5-Doyen Username: ladymystique Post Number: 209 Registered: 4-2004 Posted From: 66.33.227.122 |
Go 'head Ritchie! Thanks for posting this info! |
