If you love Reggae, if you love music, then you’ll love this excellent 3-part documentary - Reggae: The Story of Jamaican Music. Originally shown on the BBC in 2002, parts of this documentary have been on YouTube over the years, but now some kind soul has uploaded the whole series for our delight. How wonderful. Enjoy.
In 1973 when I first heard The Wailers’ debut album “Catch A Fire” my world shifted on its axis and I started loving rock and roll again. Reggae resurrected something in me that had lay dormant since Jimi Hendrix and Jim Morrison died - a sense that music was mystical, transformative and sexy. The Wailers created powerful songs with infectious hooks delivered with passionate energy and the spirit of rebellion in under five minutes. I was inspired to start my own reggae band, The Ravers: five white guys playing reggae in country bars in Colorado.
Bob Marley and Peter Tosh changed the course of my life. Patti Smith, The Clash and The Ramones sealed the deal. The Ravers were now the only reggae playing punk band in the Rocky Mountains. Yeah, it was strange. In 1977 we relocated to New York City and never looked back. I had caught the fire.
In this soulful video, The Wailers rehearse “Stir It Up” during their “Catch A Fire” recording sessions in L.A. in 1973.
Bob Marley : vocal, guitar, percussion
Peter tosh : vocal, guitar, percussion
Joe Higgs: Harmony vocal and percussion
Carlton Barrett: drums
Aston “Family Man” Barrett : Bass
Earl"Wya” Lindo Keybords
“I’ll push the wood, then I blaze ya fire, then I’ll satisfy your heart’s desire.”
Presented here, for no other reason than I simply can’t get this song out of my head... Marvelous rocksteady classic from Marcia Griffiths, one of the standout cuts—indeed it is thee title track—on the essential Feel Like Jumping: Best of Studio One Women collection. “Studio One,” was considered the “Motown of Jamaica” and this cut shows why that’s an accurate description.
Griffiths, known as “the Queen of Reggae” was a member of the I-Threes, the female trio of backing vocalists who toured and recorded with Bob Marley and the Wailers. Her 1976 song “Electric Boogie” holds the record for the best-selling reggae song by a female vocalist and is the soundtrack to the popular late 80s line-dance craze, “The Electric Slide.”