When
Toots Hibbert chose to make a career of music in 1961, he was one of the many
up-and-coming singers and musicians attempting to make a name for himself in
Kingston, Jamaica. Another young man named Bob Marley was pursuing a similar
musical career at this time, as were many of other seminal reggae and ska
artists such as Desmond Dekker, Bunny Livingston (Wailer), Peter Mackintosh (Tosh)
and Joe Higgs.
In 1962, Toots joined up with
fellow singers Raleigh Gordon and Nathaniel "Jerry" Matthias to form
the Maytals. Their first album, Hallelujah, was produced by the legendary
Clement "Sir Coxsone" Dodd and featured a mix of Jamaican rhythms and
gospel vocal influence that would mark much of the Maytals music. Despite the
popularity of this record throughout Jamaica, the Maytals left Sir Coxsone and
began working with another legendary DJ and produced, Prince Buster. The
Buster-produced Maytals singles were popular successes in Jamaica and England,
where this new type of "ska" music became a sensation in dancehalls.
In 1966, the Maytals began to
work with Byron Lee and his Dragonaires. At this time, Lee had already been
recording and performing with Jamaican musicians for a decade, and the Maytals--with
the Dragonaires providing musical accompaniment--won the first Jamaican Festical
Song Competition with the song "Bam Bam." The Maytals were poised for
stardom, but just as their fortune seemed set, Toots was arrested for smoking
and possession of marijuana and was sentenced and jailed.
The Maytals returned with a
vengeance in 1968, recording with famed producer Leslie Kong. The era of ska was
ending, giving way to the more violent world of the Rude Boys and the complex
sound of Reggae. Toots was far closer to soul and gospel influe nces than the
violent attitudes and sounds that many of the young musicians were choosing to
follow. Nevertheless, the Maytals first single in two years, "54-46 (That's
My Number)," combined the story of Toots' prison experiences with a
powerful downbeat to create one of the greatest rock steady/reggae singles of
all time.
As rock steady became reggae (and
the Maytals single "Do the Reggay" was the first published use of the
word), the Maytals consolidatesd their position as leaders in Jamaican music.
They recorded the hit "Monkey Man," and another song,"Sweet and
Dandy " won the 1969 Festival Song Competition and was featured, along with
their dance-floor classic "Pressure Drop," on the soundtrack to The
Harder They Come, one of the great reggae albums of all time.
Chris Blackwell signed Toots and
the Maytals to his label, Island, in early 1970s. The Maytals responded with
their finest album to date Funky Kingston. With Island's organization
backing them (as well as label mates Bob Marley and the Wailers ), international
audiences were able to hear Toots and the Maytals fuse reggae, soul and gospel
into a dynamic combination. Constant touring showed audiences what Jamaicans had
known for over a decade--that Toots and the Maytals were simply one of the great
live acts in the world.
The popularity of Toots and the
Maytals increased throughout the 70s with such popular releases as In the
Dark, Reggae Got Soul, Pass the Pipe, Just Like That, Knock Out and Toots
& the Maytals Live. In 1981, Toots disbanded the Maytals and began
recording with Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare. The combination of Toots and
Sly and Robbie produced international hits such as "Spiritual Healing"
and " Peace Perfect Peace" in mid-80s. Their best work, however, was
the popular and critically acclaimed Toots and Memphis, which featured
Toots covering Stax classics in his own inimitable way.
Toots reformed in the Maytals in
the early 90s and they continue to tour today, showing a new generation of fans
that Toots and the Maytals were--and are--masters of reggae and the live
performance. The combination of great reggae rhythms, heartfelt vocals, Memphis
soul and gospel influence remains as potent and powerful today as ever.
