Reggae, Ska and Rocksteady

The Caribbean island of Jamaica is thought to have been first populated in 600 CE by the Redware People, a group of unclear origin known for their red pottery. 200 years later, they were joined by the Taino people, who also settled in Cuba, Puerto Rico, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic. In 1494, Christopher Columbus came to Jamaica (then called Xaymaca) seeking gold. The Island was colonized. In 1962, following 468 years of colonial rule ( first by the Spanish, then by the British), Jamaica declared its independence, and nationalism gripped the country. The vast majority of Jamaicans by this time had African roots, being descendants of slaves brought to the island by the European colonists. The island was a melting pot of musical influences: Caribbean, Spanish, Moorish, African, English, and American.

Kingston, Jamaica’s capital city, is the birthplace of reggae music. The city saw an influx of rural residents after World War II, and soon, dance halls sprung up to accommodate them. These dance halls were referred to as “Sound Systems,” where locals went to enjoy early American rock and roll and R&B. In the 1950s, musicians began putting their own, distinctly Jamaican spin on those genres, creating ska music in the process.

Ska music blends Caribbean calypso rhythms and Jamaican mento (folk) music with R&B. Time signatures are generally in 4/4, with an emphasis on the second and fourth beat. Horn sections are common, and the music is upbeat and highly danceable. The first ska record, “Easy Snapping,” was released by Theophilus Beckford in 1959. Popular Jamaican ska bands include the Skatalites, Desmond Dekker, Toots and the Maytals, and Byron Lee and The Dragonaires.

In the 1960s, a slowed-down, soul-influenced version of ska known as rocksteady emerged. The bass became the loudest instrument in the mix, and guitars subbed in for horns. The lyrical themes were edgier and addressed the country’s social and political issues. Jamaican teenagers championed the new music and called themselves “rude boys,” inspired by other music subcultures like the U.K. Mods. Prince Buster’s 1967 album Judge Dread exemplifies the rocksteady sound.

Reggae music emerged in the late 1960s. It drew stylistically from ska and rocksteady, but had faster tempos and more musical complexity. The lyrics explored themes of love, poverty, social justice and human rights.

Toots and the Maytals made the switch from ska to reggae in 1968, and had one of the genre’s first hits with “54-46 (That’s My Number).” Ska artist Jimmy Cliff also embraced reggae, beginning with his 1970 album, Wonderful World, Wonderful People. Cliff portrayed a struggling reggae singer in the 1972 film The Harder They Come, which helped popularize the genre internationally.

Lee “Scratch” Perry, an innovative producer with an ear for the surreal, expanded reggae into dub; a subgenre where the vocals are removed from pre-existing tracks, which are remixed with an emphasis on drums and bass. His work with Bob Marley and the Wailers in 1969 captures a band that would become global superstars at the beginning of their career when they were very much a local act.

Another influential producer was King Tubby, whose experiments with delay and reverb in his homemade studio contributed to the birth of dub. Organist Bunny Lee’s choppy, syncopated playing on the 1969 song “Bangarang” became another reggae touchstone. In the mid-70s, the studio duo of drummer Sly Dunbar and bassist Robbie Shakespear performed together on thousands of reggae tracks. In the 1980s, they branched out to work with artists like The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan and Madonna.

Bob Marley is the artist most synonymous with reggae. The son of a white father and a teenage black mother, Marley was born on February 6, 1945 in St. Ann’s Parish, Jamaica. At 14, he moved to Kingston to pursue a career in music, studying under local singer and practicing Rastafarian Joe Higgs (Marley was a musical ambassador for the Rasta religion). In 1963, Marley joined up with singers Peter Tosh, Bunny Livingston, and three other singers to form The Wailers. With the Wailers, Marley wrote and recorded a number of regional hits, such as “Simmer Down,” in Coxsone Dodd’s Studio One recording studio. Many of these tracks would be rerecorded on future albums.

Despite their local success, the Wailers disbanded in 1966 and Marley moved to America, where he worked in a car factory in Delaware. Marley returned to Jamaica later that year and reformed the Wailers with Livingston and Tosh. They teamed up with producer Lee “Scratch” Perry and his house band, The Upsetters, to create a number of early classics. The Upsetters’ bassist and drummer were assimilated into the Wailers, and the band was signed to Island Records in 1972. The influential label was run by Chris Blackwell, a British-educated Jamaican whose roster included British folk-rockers like Traffic, Fairport Convention, and Nick Drake. Island’s first hit in the UK was a 1964 ska cover of “My Boy Lollipop” performed by teenage Jamaican artist Millie Small.

Under Blackwell’s guidance, Bob Marley and the Wailers became the Third World’s first musical superstars. Their first two Island albums, Burnin and Catch A Fire, were released in 1973. They were initially recorded in Kingston, but were overdubbed and remixed at Island’s London headquarters to appeal to American and UK rock music fans. Upon release, Catch A Fire peaked at No. 171 on Billboard’s 200 Chart, and the band embarked on an international tour. British rocker Eric Clapton had a top 10 hit with Bob Marley’s “I Shot The Sherrif” in 1974, further solidifying their popularity.

In 1976, Marley and his wife survived a politically-motivated assassination attempt at their home in Jamaica. In 1978, he held the One Love One Peace Concert in Kingston, uniting the leaders of the country’s rival political factions.

Marley died in 1981 from cancer at the age of 36. His birthday remains a national holiday in Jamaica, and his albums continue to sell in large numbers to this day. His greatest hits collection, Legend, has sold over 28 million albums worldwide.

Bob’s son Ziggy Marley carried the Marley torch in the 1980s, winning a Grammy for the 1988 album Conscious Party. In more recent times, Marley’s sons Damian, Stephen, Julian and Ky-Mani have created a memorable discography in keeping with their father’s legacy.

Musically, reggae and its subgenres would become influential in the work of a range of artists across multiple genres, helping to shape American pop, hip-hop, rock-n-roll, and R&B.