Toots and the Maytals

This article is about the reggae artist. For the Jazz musician, see Toots Thielemans.

Toots and the Maytals

Toots and the Maytals, originally called simply The Maytals, are a Jamaican 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 voices and a seldom-rivaled passion for their music. Hibbert's soulful style led him to be compared to Otis Redding".

History

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

In Kingston, Hibbert met Henry "Raleigh" Gordon and Nathaniel "Jerry" McCarthy, forming in 1962 a group whose early recordings were incorrectly attributed to 'The Flames' and 'The Vikings' in the UK by Island Records. The Maytals first had chart success recording for producer Clement "Coxsone" Dodd at 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. 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 Jamaican Independence Festival Popular Song Competition with their original song "Bam Bam" (not to be confused with the Sister Nancy song of the same title). 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 ganja, but whilst bailing a friend. He also stated that he made up the number 54-46 when writing "54-46 That's My Number" about his time in jail.

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 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; "Pressure Drop"; "54-46 That's My Number" the 1969 Jamaica festival's popular song winner; "Sweet and Dandy"; and "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 soundtrack to The Harder They Come, the 1972 film starring Jimmy Cliff, named as one of Vanity Fair's Top 10 soundtracks of all time.

After Kong's death in 1971, the group continued to record with Kong's former sound engineer, Warrick Lyn. Their re-instated producer Byron Lee renamed them Toots & the Maytals. The group released three best-selling albums 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 tour as the opening act for The Who during their 1975-76 North American tour. The tour went poorly and Toots & the Maytals never went on to the success of Bob Marley or Peter Tosh in the 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 UK, when The Specials included "Monkey Man" on their 1979 debut album and The Clash 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, The Jam, The Clash, The Maytals will be there, Dr. Feelgood too". In 1982, Toots & the Maytals' "Beautiful Woman", reached number one in 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, an album consisting of re-recorded versions of their earlier hits, alongside Bonnie Raitt, Willie Nelson, Eric Clapton, Keith Richards, No Doubt, Ben Harper, The Roots, and Shaggy. The album won the Grammy Award that year for best reggae album.

In 2006, they recorded a reggae/ska version of Radiohead's "Let Down" for the tribute album, Radiodread, by the Easy Star All-Stars. The album was a song for song makeover of the 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 Grammy in the best reggae album category.

Toots & the Maytals hold the current record of 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 has covered the band's "Monkey Man", and the act were supposed to support her at the 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.

Album discography

• Never Grow Old (Coxsone 1963, JA. LP JBL 1113)(Heartbeat 1997, U.S. CD HB143)
• Life could be a dream (Coxsone 1963) (Studio One 1992 JA. LP)
• The Original Golden Oldies Vol.3 (recorded in 1964) (Prince Buster 1974, JA. U.K. U.S. LP PB11)
• The Sensational Maytals (Dynamic/BMN 1965, JA. LP DBL1003/BLP003)
• Do The Reggae (recorded 1966-70) (Attack 1988, U.K. LP AT103)
• Sweet and Dandy (Beverley's 1969)
• From The Roots (Trojan 1970, U.K. TRLS65)(Sanctuary/Trojan 2003, U.K. CD TJCCD091)
• Monkey Man (Beverley's 1970)
• From the Roots (Trojan 1970)
• Funky Kingston (Mango 1973)
• In the Dark (Trojan 1974)
• Live at Reggae (Sunsplash) (Mobile 1975)
• Reggae Got Soul (Mango 1976)
• Funky Kingston (Trojan 1976)
• Pass the Pipe (Mango 1979)
• Just Like That (Mango 1980)
• Live (Island (ILPS 9647) 1980)
• Knock Out! (Mango 1981)
• Island Reggae Greats (Island, also Mango 1985)
• Hour Live (Genes 1997) - recorded in 1982
• An Hour Live 'Straight from the Yard' (Dedicated to Robert Nesta Marley) (Sus 1990)
• Sensational Ska (Jamaican Gold 1995)
• Ska Father (Alla Son 1998)
• Live in London (Trojan 1999)
• Monkey Man (House Of 1997)
• Bla. Bla. Bla. (Lagoon 1993)
• Never Grow Old (Heartbeat 1997)
• Recoup (Alla Son 1997)
• True Love (V2 2004)
• Roots Reggae (The Early Jamaican Albums) (Trojan 2005) - six CD compilation
• World Is Turning (XIII Bis 2005)
• Light Your Light (D&F Music 2007)
• "Stinga 1" (D&F Music 2009)
• Flip and Twist (D&F Music 2010)

Contemporary usage

Covers

• The Clash, Jack Johnson, The Specials, Robert Palmer (on the album of the same name), and The Oppressed, have all covered "Pressure Drop". Izzy Stradlin also recorded a version of the song with his sometime band, the Ju Ju Hounds.
• The Specials, Reel Big Fish, Los Pericos, Big D and the Kids Table, Amy Winehouse, Melt Banana, No Doubt and Ore Ska Band have all covered "Monkey Man".
• The Australian musician Xavier Rudd covered "Famine".
• "54-46 That's My Number" was covered by Sublime, Ernest Ranglin and Fermín Muguruza, plus the chorus is often played live by The Trews, in an extended version of their own song, "Tired of Waiting".
• 311 covered "Reggae Got Soul" on the soundtrack to the animated film, Surf's Up.
• "Bam Bam" has been covered by several artists, including Chaka Demus.

Samples

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

Soundtrack appearances

• "Bam Bam" featured on the soundtrack to the film, Countryman
• "Reggae Got Soul" was featured on the soundtrack to Surf's Up.
• "Funky Kingston" and "Pressure Drop" were featured on the reggae radio station, K-JAH Radio West in the video game, Grand Theft Auto San Andreas, released in October 2004.
• "Funky Kingston" was also featured in the video game, Scarface: The World Is Yours.
• Shane Meadows 2007 film, This Is England, featured the songs "Louie Louie", "Pressure Drop" and "54-46 That's My Number".
• TLC's television series, Miami Ink, featured "Funky Kingston" as its theme music.
• "Funky Kingston" was also featured in the film, Notes on a Scandal.
• "Funky Kingston" was featured in 2004's Broken Lizard Production "Club Dread".
• "Celia" was featured on Weeds: Music from the Original Series, Volume 4.
• The song "Time Tough" was featured in the soundtrack of Tony Hawk's Project 8.

See also

• List of reggae musicians
• List of roots reggae artists
• List of ska musicians
• List of Caribbean music groups

External links

• Official Toots Hibbert website
• Toots Hibbert MySpace
• Comprehensive discography at X-Ray Music
• Maytals.net - fan site and lyrics
• Toots interview by Daiana Feuer, L.A. Record