Maytals

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Biography

Toots and the Maytals , originally called simply The Maytals , are a Jamaican musical ensemble|musical group and one of the best known ska and reggae vocal groups. According to Sandra Brennan at Allmusic , "The Maytals were key figures in reggae music. Formed in the early 1960s when ska was hot, the Maytals had a reputation for having strong, well-blended human voice|voices and a seldom-rivaled passion for their music. Frontman Toots Hibbert|Hibbert's soulful style led him to be compared to Otis Redding ".

Career

Toots Hibbert|Frederick "Toots" Hibbert , the frontman of the group, was born in May Pen , Clarendon Parish, Jamaica|Clarendon , Jamaica in 1945, the youngest of seven children. He grew up singing gospel music in a church choir, and moved to Kingston, Jamaica|Kingston in 1958 at the age of thirteen.

In Kingston, Hibbert met Henry "Raleigh" Gordon and Nathaniel "Jerry" Mathias, forming in 1961Thompson, Dave. Reggae and Caribbean Music. Page 178. Backbeat Books, 2002. a group whose early sound recording and reproduction|recordings were incorrectly attributed to 'The Flames' and 'The Vikings' in the United Kingdom|UK by Island Records . The Maytals first had record chart|chart success recording for record producer|producer Coxsone Dodd|Clement "Coxsone" Dodd at Studio One (record label)|Studio One . With musical backing from Dodd's house band , The Skatalites , the Maytals' close- harmony gospel singing ensured success, overshadowing Dodd's other up-and-coming vocal group, The Wailers (1963-1974 band)|The Wailers . After staying at Studio One for about two years, the group moved on to do sessions for Prince Buster before recording with Byron Lee in 1966. With Lee, the Maytals won the first-ever Jamaica Independence Festival#Popular Song Competition|Jamaican Independence Festival Popular Song Competition with their original song "Bam Bam" (later covered in a Dancehall style by Sister Nancy , and also by Yellowman in 1982 ). However, the group's musical career was interrupted in late 1966 when Hibbert was arrested and imprisoned for 18 months. He stated that he was not arrested for cannabis (drug)|ganja , but whilst bail ing a friend.Interview with David Katz, Solid Foundation, page 90. Bloomsbuy Press 2003. He also stated that he made up the number 54-46 when writing " 54-46 That's My Number " about his time in jail.Solid Foundation

Following Hibbert's release from jail towards the end of 1967, the Maytals began working with the Chinese Jamaican producer Leslie Kong , a collaboration which yielded a string of hit record|hits throughout the late 1960s and early 1970s. These included " Do the Reggay ", one of several songs released in 1968 to first use the word ' reggae ' (spelled 'reggay') in a Jamaican recording;Turner, Michael and Schoenfeld, Robert, Eds. "Roots Knotty Roots". Nighthawk Records " Pressure Drop (song)|Pressure Drop "; "54-46 That's My Number" the 1969 Jamaica festival's popular song winner; "Sweet and Dandy";JCDC and " Monkey Man (Toots & the Maytals song)|Monkey Man ", the group's first international hit in 1970. By 1971, they had not only become the biggest act on the island, they were also (thanks to signing a recording contract with Chris Blackwell 's Island Records ) international stars. In 1972 they won their third Jamaica festival popular song with "Pomps and Pride". The group was also featured twice in the The Harder They Come (soundtrack)|soundtrack to The Harder They Come , the 1972 film starring Jimmy Cliff , named as one of Vanity Fair (magazine)|Vanity Fair s Top 10 soundtracks of all time.

After Kong's death in 1971, the group continued to record with Kong's former audio engineering|sound engineer , Warrick Lyn. Their re-instated producer Byron Lee renamed them Toots & the Maytals. The group released three best-selling album s produced by Lyn and Blackwell of Island Records, and enjoyed international hits with Funky Kingston in 1973 and Reggae Got Soul in 1975. Following the release of Reggae Got Soul , Toots & the Maytals were invited to concert tour|tour as the opening act for The Who during their 1975-76 North America n concert tour|tour . The tour went poorly and Toots & the Maytals never went on to the success of Bob Marley or Peter Tosh in the United States|U.S.

Toots and the Maytals' compositions would be given a second airing in 1978-80 during the reggae punk and ska revival period in the United Kingdom|UK , when The Specials included "Monkey Man" on their 1979 debut album and The Clash cover version|covered "Pressure Drop". They were also included in the lyrics to Bob Marley & The Wailers song, " Punky Reggae Party " - "The Wailers will be there, The Damned (band)|The Damned , The Jam , The Clash, The Maytals will be there, Dr. Feelgood too" . In 1982, Toots & the Maytals' "Beautiful Woman", reached chart-topper|number one in List of number-one singles in 1982 (New Zealand)|New Zealand , but the group had already broken up.

They reformed in the early 1990s to continue touring and recording successfully.

In 2005, the group released True Love (Toots & the Maytals album)|True Love , an album consisting of re-recorded versions of their earlier hits, alongside Bonnie Raitt , Willie Nelson , Eric Clapton , Keith Richards , Trey Anastasio , No Doubt , Ben Harper , The Roots , and Shaggy (artist)|Shaggy . The album won the Grammy Award that year for Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album|best reggae album .

In 2006, they recorded a reggae/ska version of Radiohead 's " Let Down (Radiohead song)|Let Down " for the tribute album , Radiodread , by the Easy Star All-Stars . The album was a song for song makeover of the England|English rock band 's album OK Computer into reggae, dub and ska. In August 2007 Toots & the Maytals released Light Your Light , which featured re-workings of older songs such as "Johnny Cool Man", as well as new material. The album was nominated in 2008 for a 50th Grammy Awards|Grammy in the best reggae album category.

Toots & the Maytals hold the current record of chart-topper|number one hits in Jamaica, with a total of thirty one.
In March 2009 it was announced that Toots & the Maytals would be performing alongside Amy Winehouse , for their shared record label, Island Records' 50th anniversary. Winehouse had covered the band's "Monkey Man", and the act were supposed to support her at the O2 Shepherds Bush Empire|Shepherds Bush Empire in London on 31 May 2009. However, Winehouse was forced to cancel, leaving the Maytals to play at the more intimate Bush Hall, round the corner from the Empire, to a sell-out crowd.

In the summer of 2009, Toots and the Maytals performed at the Mountain Jam festival at Hunter Mountain, New York.

On 8 July 2011, Toots and the Maytals played the Winnipeg Folk Festival to an outdoor dancing crowd of thousands.

In August 2011, Toots and the Maytals are due to appear at a small number of outdoor events, including Rhythm Festival

Discography

Studio albums

Never Grow Old -- 1963 Coxsone Dodd production (N.D. Records/Coxsone 1963 JA. LP JBL1113) (Heartbeat 1997 US. CD HB143)

Life could be a dream -- 1962-4 Coxsone Dodd production (Studio One 1992 JA.)

The Original Golden Oldies Vol.3 -- 1964 Prince Buster production (Prince Buster Record Shack 1974. LP PB11)

The Sensational Maytals -- 1964-5 Byron Lee & Ronnie Nasralla production (Dynamic 1965. DBL1003) a.k.a. Sensational Ska Explosion (Hol. Jamaican Gold 1993. JMC 200.112)

Do The Reggae -- 1966-70 Leslie Kong production (Attack 1988 U.K. ATLP103)

Sweet and Dandy -- 1968 Leslie Kong production ( Beverley's 1969 JA. LP005)

From The Roots -- 1970 Leslie Kong & Warrick Lyn production (Trojan 1973 UK. TRLS65) (Sanctuary/Trojan 2003 UK. CD TJCCD091)

Monkey Man -- 1970 Leslie Kong production (Beverley's/Trojan 1970 JA./UK. TBL107) (House Of 1997)

The Maytals Greatest Hits -- 1970 Leslie Kong production (Beverley's 1971 JA. BLP021)

Slatyam Stoot -- 1972 Warrick Lyn production (Dynamic Sounds 1972 US. DY3331)

Funky Kingston -- 1972-3 Warrick Lyn, Chris Blackwell & Dave Bloxham production (Dragon 1973 UK. DRLS5002) (Mango 1973 JA. MLPS9330) (Island/Trojan 1975 US.)

Roots Reggae -- 1974 Warrick Lyn production (Dynamic Sounds 1974 JA. DY3343)

In the Dark (Toots & the Maytals album)|In the Dark -- 1974 Warrick Lyn production (Dragon 1974 UK. DRLS5004) (Trojan UK. CDTRL 202)

Reggae Got Soul -- 1975-6 Warrick Lyn, Chris Blackwell & Joe Boyd production (Mango 1976. MLPS9374) (Island 1976 US. ILPS9374)

Toots Presents The Maytals -- 1977 Warrick Lyn production (Chin Randy's 1977. CRRLP004) (State Records 1978. ETAT16)

Pass the Pipe -- Karl Pitterson & Warrick Lyn production (Island 1979. ILPS9534) (Mango 1979)

Just Like That -- Chris Blackwell, Karl Pitterson & Dicky Jobson production (Island 1980. ILPS9590) (Mango 1980)

Knock Out! -- Chris Blackwell & Toots Hibbert production (Island 1981. ILPS9670) (Mango 1981. MLPS9670)

Reggae Greats (Toots & the Maytals album)|Reggae Greats (Island 1984. IMCD38) (Mango 1985. MLPS9781) (Island 2001. CD remastered)

Toots In Memphis (Mango 1988 US. 539818, CID9906, L38958)

Recoup (Alla Son 1997. ASM CD01)

Ska Father (Alla Son 1998)

World Is Turning (D& F Music 2003) (XIII Bis 2005)

True Love (Toots & the Maytals album)|True Love (V2 2004)

Light Your Light 2005 Toots Hibbert production (D& F Music 2007)

Stinga 1 (D& F Music 2009)

Flip and Twist (D& F Music 2010)

Pressure Drop - The Golden Tracks (Cleopatra 2011. B0052EV9FE) - New studio recordings by the group of several of their classic tracks, plus new re-mixes (in various styles, including dubstep ) of the new re-recordings.

Live albums

Live (recorded 29 September 1980) ( Island Records|Island 1980, ILPS9647)

Live at Reggae Sunsplash (recorded 4 August 1982) (Sunsplash Records 1983, VSLP8901, RS8901) (Mobile Fidelity 19? ? , MFCD753)

An Hour Live "Straight from the Yard" Dedicated to Robert Nesta Marley (recorded 4 August 1982) (Sus 1990, SUS8924) (Genes 1997, GNS8924)

Live in London (recorded 8 June 1998) (Trojan 1999, CDTRD420)

Compilation albums

Roots Reggae (The Classic Jamaican Albums ) (Trojan 2005) - six Compact disc|CD album boxset: Sensational Maytals, Sweet And Dandy, Monkey Man, Greatest Hits, Slatyam Stoot, Roots Reggae.

The Best Of Toots And The Maytals (1979)

Reggae Greats (Toots & the Maytals album)|Reggae Greats (1985)

Do the Reggae 1966-70 (1988)

Bla. Bla. Bla. (1993)

Time Tough: The Anthology (1996)

Recoup (1997)

The Very Best of Toots & The Maytals (2000)

54-46 Was My Number: Anthology 1964-2000 (2002)

Other Contributions

'' Goin' Home: A Tribute to Fats Domino '' ( Vanguard Records|Vanguard , 2007), performing Domino's "Let The Four Winds Blow"

Contemporary usage

Covers

The Clash , The Specials , Gov't Mule , Izzy Stradlin & the Ju Ju Hounds , Jack Johnson (musician)|Jack Johnson , Josh Heinrichs , Robert Palmer (singer)|Robert Palmer (on the album of the same name), and The Oppressed , have all covered "Pressure Drop".

The Specials, Peste & Sida, The Aggrolites, Reel Big Fish , Los Pericos , Big D and the Kids Table , Amy Winehouse, Melt Banana, No Doubt, Adam Ant (on the scrapped Save The Gorilla EP) and Ore Ska Band have all covered "Monkey Man".

The Australia n musician Xavier Rudd covered "Famine".

"54-46 That's My Number" was covered by Sublime (band)|Sublime , Ernest Ranglin and Fermín Muguruza , plus the refrain|chorus is often played live by The Trews , in an extended version of their own song, "Tired of Waiting".

311 (band)|311 covered "Reggae Got Soul" on the soundtrack to the animation|animated film , '' Surf's Up (film)|Surf's Up .

"Bam Bam" has been covered by several artists, including Chaka Demus .

"Chaty chaty" was covered by the Basque band Kortatu in their song "Sarri Sarri"

Samples

The Manchester based band Sonic Boom Six sampling (music)|sampled "Funky Kingston", for their song "Monkey See, Monkey Do", on the 2005 Champion Edition of their album, Sounds to Consume .

Soundtrack appearances

The songs " Pressure Drop (song)|Pressure Drop " and "Sweet and Dandy" were featured in the seminal Reggae soundtrack to the Jamaican film The Harder They Come , (1972).

"Bam Bam" was featured in the soundtrack to the film Countryman (film)|Countryman .

"Reggae Got Soul" was featured in the soundtrack to the film '' Surf's Up (film)|Surf's Up .

"Funky Kingston" and "Pressure Drop" were featured on the reggae radio station , Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas soundtrack#K-Jah Radio West|K-Jah Radio West in the video game , Grand Theft Auto San Andreas (2004). "Funky Kingston" was also featured in the video game, Scarface: The World Is Yours ; in the film, Notes on a Scandal (film)|Notes on a Scandal ; and in 2004's Broken Lizard production, Club Dread (which also had "Broadway Jungle"). In addition TLC (TV channel)|TLC 's television program|television series , Miami Ink , used the song as its theme music .

Shane Meadows ' 2006 film, This Is England , featured the songs Louie Louie , "Pressure Drop" and "54-46 Was My Number".

"Celia" was featured on Weeds (TV series)#Weeds: Music from the Original Series, Volume 4|Weeds: Music from the Original Series, Volume 4 .

"Time Tough" was featured in the soundtrack of '' Tony Hawk's Project 8 .

"54-46 Was My Number" was featured in the soundtrack to the film Repo Men (2009) and the game Grand Theft Auto: Episodes From Liberty City on the reggae radio station Grand Theft Auto IV soundtrack#RamJam_FM|RamJam FM (2009).

"It Must Be True Love" was heard in Skins (TV Series) Series 5, Episode 3 (Mini) (2011).

Copyright Citations

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1. Dennis Brown 2. The Maytals 3. Melt-Banana 4. Rahzel 5. Toots and the Maytals 6. The Skatalites 7. Steve Winwood 8. Rachael Yamagata 9. Ryan Adams & The Cardinals 10. Slightly Stoopid 11. Easy Star All Stars 12. Paul Rodgers 13. Austin City Limits Festival 14. Bottom Line 15. Clapton, Eric 16. Harper, Ben 17. Reggae Sunsplash 18. The Casual Fiasco 19. Toots Thielemans 20. Go Jimmy Go 21. Desmond Dekker

Undetermined Music Artists