Toots and his reggae/y origins
“If you are conscious of the ability of Jamaican music, especially if you have seen my show, to project things so people can think about them. That is the way people in Jamaica think also, we have a lot of conscious people in Jamaica that think highly about our music.”
One of the true Jamaican pioneers, dead or alive, Toots Hibbert has a long history in and around Jamaican music. He and his group, the Maytals, had the distinction of being one of the country’s leading international acts with songs such as “Bam Bam”, “Monkey Man” and of course the immortal “54-46 was my number”, which the group running charts around the world in the 60s and 70s. However, it was his contribution to the creation of the genre of reggae that has Toots name as one of the greats. You see, Toots was one of the first artistes to be recorded using the term reggae on his release “Do the Reggay”. A fact that most, have tried to subsequently contest however we caught up with the legend in one of his few days off of tour to try and get the final word about the term’s origins and his vison of the genre’s future.
How did you come up with the song ‘Do The Reggay’?
Well I can say the idea was in the air. But I like fi come up wid supp’im at all times me and Jerry (Nathaniel Mathias) and Raleigh (Henry Gordon) who I started the group with. The music was playing all over Jamaica; some people called it boogie beat some people called it blue beat. No one knew it could be called reggae until I slipped and seh let’s do the reggae. There was a slang in Jamaica called streggae it had to do with the way people dressed at the time. Coming from that line and I said let’s do the reggae because reggae was playing nobody didn’t know what to call it. So that was how the term reggae came about.
After that song when did you start doing that beat called reggae?
Yeah, that beat is jus a Jamaican riddim that take over di ‘hol world. So after I do ‘Let’s Do the Reggay’, people started to spell it R…E…G…G…A…Y.
They spelt it wrong …
They spelt it wrong, yeah… (Laughs)… Because the word was known to be spelt R…E…G…G…A…E. From then everybody in Jamaica started to do reggae music. Because people come from foreign and know what it is called after I did the song ‘Let’s Do the Reggay’ then people began to know that the whole music that we play from that time til this time is reggae and was the one who coined the word reggae.
Personally how do you feel Jamaica has progressed musically over the 50 years of independence?
I feel great about it because it is not jus reggae it is 50 years of Jamaica music. But reggae is what really inspire the world to look to Jamaica for good music. Whether you young or you old when people hear reggae they looking for good music. Not just nursery rhyme or false gimmicks, real reggae music is culture, where you coming from, what could happen and what happen to poor people. We sing about the facts of life and so forth, myself and great people like Bob Marley.
How do you think Jamaicans are keeping to the culture of the music over the same time period?
If you are conscious of the ability of Jamaican music, especially if you have seen my show, to project things so people can think about them. That is the way people in Jamaica think also, we have a lot of conscious people in Jamaica that think highly about our music.
As a reggae ambassador how do you think the culture has spread?
Good man. Gorgeous… all over the world and it will keep on spreading.
Do you see yourself still doing music in the next 5 years?
I will do it until I don’t want to do it anymore. Until I know the yutes learn it properly. If I am doing reggae music because I sing R& B, I sing country, I sing gospel, I sing all kinda music but reggae is what we start from. No, we start with ska with the Skatalites also we did calypso during that time which graduated to soca now. My career start 1964 and I will continue until the yutes learn the right way. Because alot of yutes coming up today they want to know the way to do REAL reggae music.
Any current acts in your eyes that are trying to do real reggae music?
There are alot. I hear C Sharp doing very good things, they are more to but I can’t call everybody name at the same time. You have quite alot of young acts trying to do the right thing. They have to just give their all to learn and to know and when they will understand it better. From you show respect to the music you will understand it and know how to go towards it. Whether it is Babylon word or not, in the bible it says in your getting get understanding. You get understanding it become a principle thing once it is a principle thing is a spiritually thing is coming from the heart.
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