The first recording studio opened in Jamaica in 1951 and recorded mento music, a mix of African and European styles. In the 1950s, amateur bands began playing Caribbean and New Orleans rhythm and blues music, which evolved into bluebeat and then ska styles. Reggae emerged in the 1960s with a syncopated beat and explicit ties to Rastafarian culture. Major artists like Bob Marley and Jimmy Cliff helped popularize reggae worldwide in the late 1960s and 1970s.
2. Background InformationThe first recording studio to open
in Jamaica was open in 1951, it
recorded ‘mento’ music, this was
a mix of African and European
music. In 1954 Ken Khouri started
Jamaica’s first record label called
‘Federal Records’. This then
inspired Reid and Dodd, who
began to record local artists for
the record label. Towards the end
of the 1950s, amateurs began to
form bands that played Caribbean
music and New Orleans'
rhythm'n'blues. This led to the
"bluebeat" groups, which basically
were Jamaica's version of the
New Orleans sound. They usually
included saxophone, trumpet,
trombone, piano, drums and
bass.
Soon the bass became the
dominant instrument, and the
sound evolved into the "ska". The
"ska" beat had actually been
invented by Roscoe Gordon, a
Memphis pianist, with No More
Doggin' (1951). Ska songs
boasted an upbeat tempo, a horn
section, Afro-American vocal
harmonies, jazzy riffs and
staccato guitar notes.
The word ‘reggae’ was created around
1960 in Jamaica to identify a ‘ragged’ style
of dance music, that still had its roots in
New Orleans rhythm'n'blues. However,
reggae soon acquired the lament-like style
of chanting and emphasized the
syncopated beat. It also made explicit the
relationship with the underworld of the
‘Rastafarians’, both in the lyrics and in the
appropriation of the African nyah-bingi
drumming style (a style that mimicks the
heartbeat with its pattern of ‘thump-thump,
pause, thump-thump’). Reggae music
basically inverted the role of bass and
guitar: the former was the lead, the latter
beat the typical hiccupping pattern.
An independent label, Island, distributed
Jamaican records in the UK throughout the
1960s, but reggae became popular in the
UK only when Prince Buster's Al
Capone (1967) started a brief ‘dance
craze’. Jamaican music was very much a
ghetto phenomenon, associated with
gang-style violence, but Jimmy
Cliff's Wonderful World Beautiful
People (1969) wed reggae with the ‘peace
and love’ philosophy of the hippies, an
association that would not die away. In the
USA, Neil Diamond's Red Red
Wine (1967) was the first reggae hit by a
pop musician. Afterwards, Johnny
Nash's Hold Me Tight (1968) propelled
reggae onto the charts. Do The
Reggay (1968) by Toots (Hibbert) And The
Maytals was the record that gave the
music its name. Fredrick Toots Hibbert's
vocal style was actually closer to gospel,
as proved by their other hits (54-46,
1967;Monkey Man, 1969; Pressure Drop,
1970).
3. Instruments used
Played with the drums, the bass guitar provides the
‘riddim’ (rhythm) of a reggae song. The bass in
reggae is usually played as a simple riff, but it's
often thick and pronounced. Prominent reggae
bass guitarists include Aston ‘Family Man’ Barrett,
who played for Bob Marley and the Wailers, and
Robbie Shakespeare, one half of the prolific
Jamaican production team Sly and Robbie.
Most reggae songs use a standard drum kit, but the
pieces are played in a specific way. The snare drum
is often tuned to a much higher pitch, which gives it
a sound that resembles timbales. Most drummers
utilise the cross-stick technique in which the rim and
head are hit simultaneously.
An electric or acoustic guitar in reggae tends
to stress chords over individual notes in a
pattern. The guitar is connected to a special
amplifier that is often dampened so the
sound is short and scratchy. The chord is
often played as a double chop. Like the other
instruments, there's a relaxed feel to the
sound of a guitar in reggae.
Horn sections play the introductions,
instrumental breaks, solos or counter
melodies. Uptempo songs will feature
a bright and boisterous horn section.
The typical reggae horn section will
have a saxophone, trombone and
trumpet.
5. Reggae Artists
Bob Marley
Nesta Robert "Bob" Marley (6 February 1945
– 11 May 1981) was a Jamaican singer-
songwriter and musician. He was the rhythm
guitarist and lead singer for the ska, rock
steady and reggae bands The Wailers (1963-
1974) and Bob Marly and the Wailers (1974–
1981). Marley remains the most widely known
and the best selling performer of reggae
music, having sold more than 75 million
albums worldwide. He is also credited with
helping spread both Jamaican music and
the Rastafari movement to a worldwide
audience.
Jimmy Cliff
Jimmy Cliff (born James Chambers, 1 April 1948)is
a Jamaican musician, singer and actor. He is the only currently living
musician to hold the Order of Merit, the highest honour that can be
granted by the Jamaican government for achievement in the arts and
sciences.
Cliff is best known among mainstream audiences for songs such as
‘Wonderful World, Beautiful People’, ‘The Harder They Come’, ‘Sitting in
Limbo’, ‘You Can Get It If You Really Want’ and ‘Many Rivers to Cross’,
which helped popularize reggae across the world; and his covers of Cat
Stevens' "Wild World" and Johnny Nash's "I Can See Clearly Now" from
the film Cool Runnings. Outside of the reggae world, he made a film
appearance in The Harder They Come. Cliff was one of five performers
inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2010.
6. Reggae Artists
Bob Marley
Nesta Robert "Bob" Marley (6 February 1945
– 11 May 1981) was a Jamaican singer-
songwriter and musician. He was the rhythm
guitarist and lead singer for the ska, rock
steady and reggae bands The Wailers (1963-
1974) and Bob Marly and the Wailers (1974–
1981). Marley remains the most widely known
and the best selling performer of reggae
music, having sold more than 75 million
albums worldwide. He is also credited with
helping spread both Jamaican music and
the Rastafari movement to a worldwide
audience.
Jimmy Cliff
Jimmy Cliff (born James Chambers, 1 April 1948)is
a Jamaican musician, singer and actor. He is the only currently living
musician to hold the Order of Merit, the highest honour that can be
granted by the Jamaican government for achievement in the arts and
sciences.
Cliff is best known among mainstream audiences for songs such as
‘Wonderful World, Beautiful People’, ‘The Harder They Come’, ‘Sitting in
Limbo’, ‘You Can Get It If You Really Want’ and ‘Many Rivers to Cross’,
which helped popularize reggae across the world; and his covers of Cat
Stevens' "Wild World" and Johnny Nash's "I Can See Clearly Now" from
the film Cool Runnings. Outside of the reggae world, he made a film
appearance in The Harder They Come. Cliff was one of five performers
inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2010.