Tag Archives: Bob Marley

Big Up, Jamaica!!! Happy 50th!!!

, , , , , , , , ,

Let’s face facts: Jamaica is probably the closest Christopher Columbus ever came to what was later called the United States of ‘Merka, the country he is alleged to have ‘discovered.’ And, when he landed in Jamaica in 1494, there were already people there. The Arawak and Taino peoples, who had originated in South America, had been on the island by as much as 2,500 – 5,000 years by then. By the time of Columbus’ arrival there were over 200 villages, but he claimed the island in the name of Spain anyway. The British, led by the same William Penn who founded the ‘Merkin province of Pennsylvania, forced the Spanish out in 1655, with slavery and sugar becoming the main exports, until the British abolished slavery in 1807. Then it was just sugar. Still needing a workforce, they imported Indian and Chinese workers as indentured servants. This is one of the reasons Jamaican population is such a multicultural mix and reflects its national motto: “Out of many, one people.” It’s also why so many Jamaican dishes use curry and other hot spices.

Skipping ahead a hundred and fifty years: On this date in 1962, after 4 years of being a province in the Federation of the West Indies, gained full independence and adopted its national anthem.

However, it’s not the music of the National Anthem that has spread Jamaica’s reputation around the world: It’s Reggae music. According to the WikiWackyWoo:

Many other internationally known artists were born in Jamaica including Millie Small, Lee “Scratch” Perry, Peter Tosh, Bunny Wailer, Big Youth, Jimmy Cliff, Dennis Brown, Desmond Dekker, Beres Hammond, Beenie Man, Shaggy, Grace Jones, Shabba Ranks, Super Cat, Buju Banton, Sean Paul, I Wayne, Bounty Killer and many others. Band artist groups that came from Jamaica include Black Uhuru, Third World Band, Inner Circle, Chalice Reggae Band, Culture, Fab Five and Morgan Heritage. The genre jungle emerged from London’s Jamaican diaspora. The birth of hip-hop in New York City, New York also owed much to the city’s Jamaican community.

Chris Blackwell
I had the pleasure of working for Island Records Canada when it was still an independent company run by Chris Blackwell. Blackwell is one of my heroes. He didn’t create Reggae, but he took it global starting with Millie Small. Blackwell discovered the 15-year old singer and produced her single “My Boy Lollipop,” which sold over 7 million records worldwide. Then he signed Bob Marley and many other Reggae artists; launching many careers (and not just Reggae artists) onto the international stage. I met Blackwell once, on the same day I met Bob Marley, yet they were not together, nor were they even in the same country. It’s a long, complicated story that I keep promising to write and, maybe, one day I will.


Usain Bolt, the fastest man on earth, is a fitting
symbol for How Jamaica Conquered The World

I was also honoured to be interviewed for my (very small) part in “How Jamaica Conquered the World,” a terrific series of podcasts which documents Jamaica’s outsized influence, when compared to the small footprint of the small island nation of just 4,244 square miles, smaller than Connecticut, the 48th largest state.

However, let’s face it: It’s the music and ganja for which Jamaica is known. Since I can’t push any ganja through my computer, I am reduced to just sharing a small sampling of the music. Here’s a Jamaican Jukebox so you can celebrate along with Jamaicans all around the world as they proudly wave the flag on their half-century anniversary.

***

***

How Jamaica Conquered The World ► The Day I Met Bob Marley

, , , , , ,

The latest episode of the excellent podcast-documentary How Jamaica Conquered The World is now online. Episode Eleven is the second part of the story of Bob Marley: Recollections and Legacy. It includes an edited version of my “Meeting Bob Marley” story. The story takes place backstage at Convocation Hall, Toronto.

Here’s the first part of the Bob Marley story:

Some of my recollections are also featured in Episode 3: The Story of Dub Music:

I highly recommend How Jamaica Conquered The World, and not just because I’m in it. It is a high quality documentary on Jamaica’s influence around the world in the past 50 years.

Mark Koldys-Johnny Dollar Comment of the Day

, , , , , , , ,

This one’s almost too easy, folks. If this isn’t the most supremely hypocritical thing Johnny Dollar-Mark Koldys has ever said, you’ll have to prove it to me.

Ain’t that rich? Proving that J$ is a fucking hypocrite is like shooting fish in a barrel.

When I wrote “Johnny Dollar Has Proven Himself To Be A Very Dangerous Person”  I made the point:

However, why is Johnny Dollar dangerous?  Under the guise of his rubric of “CABLE NEWS TRUTH” he published GrayHammy’s long character assassination on his website, which exposed my alternative lifestyle.  Reprehensible.  Disgusting.  Beyond the pale.  And, we must ask: Why was this done?  Simply because I write for NewsHounds.  If it’s something that could potentially hurt NewsHounds, then why not destroy Headly Westerfield personally by all means necessary?  I’m merely the collateral damage in the years long war J$ has dishonestly fought against NewsHounds.  There was no other reason to expose things about me that have no relevance to my writing for NewHounds and there is nothing in that article that has any relevance to NewsHounds.  Johnny Dollar has proven himself to be a very dangerous person.  

Not only was I collateral damage, but in the Johnny Dollar-Mark Koldys tradition, he will stop at NOTHING to defend Fox News, because he’s a Cable News Truther. What my sex life had to do with Cable News Truth is a question you’ll have to ask of him.

While you’re at it, please ask him why he is now contacting other people from my past to ask whether they know me or not. Seriously. This MoFo is psychotic. Next thing you know he’ll be asking Ted Nugent if he remembers this goofy kid on Gilchrist Avenue 45 years ago standing at the end of the driveway.

Neither Bob Marley nor George Harrison are alive. Therefore, Johnny Dollar-Mark Koldys will just have to take my word that I spent time with both. Or, in the case of Harrison, plenty of video footage exists. I can let J$ know how he can order up B-Roll. Marley? Plenty of people saw us together. Pictures? Probably. I can point him at people who were there. I just want to be helpful.

Oh, maybe this’ll help: John Sinclair still visits Detroit. Maybe Johnny Two Cents will want to interview him next. There’s a very public story on the innertubes about me and my friend John Sinclair and Dr. John.

Johnny Dollar? Mark Koldys? GreyHammy? Ashley Graham? Go fetch!!! You sick fucks!!!

R.I.P. ► Lloyd Brevett ► Skatalites Bassist

, , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Jamaica mourns one of her native sons in the passing of Lloyd Brevett, original bassist for The Skatalites, at the age of 80. Brevett was there at the beginning. It is not hyperbole to say that The Skatalites were one of the most influential bands ever, and not just in the narrow genre of Ska. Ask anybody who knows. No less an authority on Ska Music than the New York Times noted: 
Mr. Brevett, a trained jazz bassist, was an original member of the
Skatalites, which was formed in 1964 during the evolution of Jamaican
music from American-influenced rhythm and blues and jazz to the
homegrown syncopated style known as ska, the precursor of reggae, rock
steady and dub. The band members were also active as studio musicians
and backed up the Wailers and other groups.
The Skatalites broke up in the mid-1960s but regrouped in New York 20
years later. Two of their albums, “Hi-Bop Ska!” and “Greetings From
Skamania,” were nominated for Grammy Awards in the 1990s. 

Not just anyone rates a NYT’s obit. Or condolences from a former Jamaincan Prime Minister, who just happened to be Brevett’s tour manager way back when.  According to David McFadden of the Associated Press:
Former Prime Minister P.J. Patterson, who was
once a tour manager for The Skatalites, said that while the band’s great
horn section often drew most of the accolades, it was “Brevett who
quietly provided the mesmerizing backbone to the Skatalites’ sound.”

“To say that Brevett was a creator of both ska and dub is not to use hyperbole,” Patterson said in a statement.

[…]

Legendary Jamaican musicians say it’s difficult to overestimate the role the trained jazz bassist and the rest of the original Skatalites played in developing the Caribbean island’s unique music.

“He was there from the beginning,” Bunny Wailer told The Associated Press. “All my bass lines from all my recordings have been attributed to bass lines from Lloyd Brevett.”

Wailer, the reggae legend who was one of the original Wailers along with Bob Marley and Peter Tosh, praised Brevett as a devout member of the Rastafarian faith and an elder statesman of the island’s culture.

“Brother Brevett’s music is eternal,” Wailer said.

The Skatalites worked with everybody in the Ska-Reggae-Dub genres. In a way similar to Easy Star All Stars many of The Skatalites biggest hits were Ska reworkings of familiar tunes, even if they seemed to be strange choices for a Ska band. However, listen to the playing and the arrangements. This is some excellent musicianship working against the back beat.
Here’s a little Skatalites Jukebox:…and you’ll be dancing when it’s all over:

Rock on, Lloyd Brevett!!! Rock On!!!

How Jamaica Conquered The World

, , , , , , , , , , ,

Recently, through a chance Twitter encounter, I was interviewed about my experiences working for Island Records Canada for a series of documentary podcasts called “How Jamaica Conquered The World.”  As a professional journalist for 4 decades, and having been interviewed myself, one often regrets opening up to a stranger.  Not in this case.  How Jamaica Conquered The World is a quality product and I am thrilled to be connected with it.  I am sure Roifield Brown will not mind me quoting from the site:


Just as the Roman Empire conquered the known world 2000 years ago, in
the 19th century the British, through trade and slaves, created the
largest empire that this planet has ever seen. Today, the United States
may be a super power in decline but its economic power produced a
colossal “soft” empire spanning the late 20th century. It put boots on
the ground in hot spots around the globe, McDonalds restaurants in every
city and the entire world has watched its movies.

However, the small island of Jamaica has forged a new type of empire,
an intangible realm of which there are no physical monuments. There is
no official political or economic sphere of Jamaican influence but when
it comes to popular culture its global reach is immense, far exceeding
the reasonable expectation for a nation of just over 2.7 million people.

For a nation that gained independence from the British only 50 years
ago, Jamaicans have left their mark on music, sport, style and language
around the globe and have become an international marker of ‘cool’.
Jamaican music has colonised the new and old world alike, its athletes
break world records with impunity and youngsters the world over are
incorporating Jamaican slang into their dialects. Despite this the
country has reaped no economic reward in return, unlike empires of old,
and Jamaica still remains an economic pygmy. Jamaican influence has
unconsciously spawned creative innovation around the globe and to this
day it remains a country to be studied, celebrated, and demystified.
Through the help of linguists, artists, musicians, and historians we
take a closer look as to how Jamaican culture conquered the world.

So far my contribution to How Jamaica Conquered the World is limited to Chapter 7: The story of Dub music.  Roifield tells me he had never heard of Easy Star All-Stars until I twigged him to them.  If you are only learning of Easy Star All-Stars, here’s something to dance to while I tell you a bit about ESA-S.

But before I do, let me tell you about my love for Pink Floyd’s original “Dark Side of the Moon”, which I heard on the original vinyl, off the earliest pressings, when the LP was new.  Since then I have listened to that record thousands of times, under just about every illegal drug known to man.  I was one of those people who, early on, heard that one could sync up Dark Side with The Wizard of Oz (@Aunty__Em!!!  @Aunty__Em!!! ) and it was a whole new experience.  Every note of that record is imprinted on every neuron I have left.  It’s one of the greatest LPs ever released.  Yet, Easy Star All-Star’s Dub Side of the Moon kicks its ass.  I’d rather listen to it than the Pink Floyd version that now sounds to these ears tepid and too nuanced. 

Easy Star do something very brave in my opinion: They take iconic record albums and Dub them up.Starting with the above, ESAS’ next release was called Radiodread a recreation of Radiohead’s OK Computer.  AMAZING!  Then…and then…and then…They took one of the most iconic record albums of the Rock and Roll era and turned it into Easy Star’s Lonely Hearts Dub Band.  It is absolutely incredible.  Easy Star is a collective of musicians who also do a lot more than their cover albums.For me their most recent hit was turning over Dub Side to be remixed by the likes of Mad Professor, Dubmatix, Groove Corporation, The Alchemist and Adrian Sherwood.  Dubber Side of the Moon is far more psychedelic and spacey than anything they’ve released so far. 

Roifield tells me I will also pop up in the Bob Marley episode.  I sure hope it’s my “meeting Bob Marley” story because it’s a good one.  If not, I’ll tell it here after the podcast is posted.  Hell, maybe I’ll tell it here even if it’s in the podcast. It’s a great story.

Thanks Roifield.  You are doing a great job.