Recommended Reggae Books, Videos, & Movies

You may buy any of these products online through Amazon.com by clicking any of the images or links

Tighten UP :  History of Reggae Music in the UK

Micheal de Koningh & Marc Griffiths

Sanctuary Publishing  Buy Now at Amazon

With the influx of young Jamaicans into post-war Britain, the sounds of West Indian culture found a new home in the UK music scene. Tighten Up! is the story of how this authentic Jamaican vibe found a new home, becoming a vital chapter in Britain’s cultural history. The authors look at the key players in the evolution of reggae music during this period: the artists, the fledgling reggae labels and the shops who put the music on the streets.

Complete with a free exclusive 12-track CD, a comprehensive Pama discography, extensive interviews and a detailed directory of UK reggae labels, Tighten Up! is a must-have for all fans of reggae music.  Buy Now at Amazon

Reggae: The Story of Jamaican Music
by Lloyd Bradley, Dennis Morris (Photographer)

Reggae Movement Review

Through sheer force of its personality, reggae music has conquered the world and rocked successive generations - all on its own terms. Jamaican music was, and remains truly an urban folk music. In its purest form it is entirely an oral experience: unlicensed, uncopyrighted, uncensored and even to this day untamed. It chronicles the highs and lows of the day-to-day existence of Jamaican sufferahs. Although reggae came from the streets of Kingston, it remained on the streets wherever it roamed, London, Birmingham or New York. Allied to this was the fierce competition between the many small recording studios and some bizarre marketing tactics. Comprehensive and generously illustrated this book offers a unique history of reggae.

Deep Down With Dennis Brown

Cool Runnings And The Crown Prince Of Reggae

A Short Story By Penny Reel

A Drake Bros Publication

The sudden death of Jamaican singer Dennis Brown on July 1, 1999 at the age of just 42 brought to an untimely end the career of reggae music’s most popular ever artist at grassroots level. Feted as a child star in the 1960s, Dennis Brown went on to fulfil his early promise with a career that spanned 30 years and resulted in a huge body of recorded work. Deep Down With Dennis Brown – Cool Runnings And The Crown Prince Of Reggae traces the busy years of his rise to prominence in the early 1970s, when the singer developed his unique style and also made the majority of his best and most famous recordings, and is set against the backdrop of the London underground reggae scene during these interesting and turbulent times

Available for sale from:

Helter Skelter, 4 Denmark Street, London WC2 811;

 New Beacon Books, 76 Stroud Green Road, Finsbury Park, London N4 3EN;

or online @ www.reggaereggaereggae.com

Rasta Heart

A new book by Robert Roskind

Since his passing in 1981, Bob Marley's music, like tribal drumming, has been sending out a message of love and freedom for all humanity. Twenty years later, Julia and Robert Roskind traveled to Jamaica to learn more about Rastafari, the people and philosophy that inspired his music. Their life-changing odyssey through the towns, villages and mountains of this beautiful island, revealed not only the Rasta way of life but an ancient mystery as well. Rasta Heart is truly a journey into One Love.

You can order the book or read it free on-line or at www.rastaheart.com. The site also includes pictures and quotes from many of the Rastas featured in the book.

  Stepping Razor Red X:Peter Tosh Story

After viewing this documentary, you will find it hard to understand why you, nor the reggae masses for that matter, has not given Peter Tosh his proper credit.

Peter Tosh was militant, stand-offish, and he did things HIS way.  He was True, and he was Peter Tosh.  

After breaking with Bob Marley and venturing off into his solo career, Peter failed to receive the credit he deserved for his masterful music, filled with powerful lyrics of freedom and justice.

Unfortunately, Peter was murdered in 1987, and this documentary also spends a lot of time chronicles the events of that day, suspecting that the Special Forces were behind his death.

Filled with amazing live scenes from some of his concerts, to reiterate my first point, after viewing this documentary, you will find it hard to understand why Peter Tosh isn't more well known.  You will walk away with deepfound respect and wonder at what was, and what could have been if things had come out different.

L. Leiber, Reggae Movement

Catch a Fire : The Life of Bob Marley

by Timothy White

Bob Marley was the undisputed sovereign of reggae music and the revolutionary soul-prophet whose music had--and continues to have--a massive impact on people of all races throughout the world. Catch a Fire chronicles his life and career as well as the experiences that shaped Marley's spiritual and political beliefs. Revised and expanded edition features inside information on the intrigues of the reggae music business, dramatic rise and fall of Bob's musical offspring, legal struggles of his estate and sweeping social history of Jamaica and Rastafarianism. 584 pages.

The Virgin Encyclopedia of Reggae

by Colin Larkin