Reggae is a relatively young type of music. It did not get it's start until the late 1960's or early 1970's. The first actual use of the word reggae or one of its many forms was in the song "Do the Reggay" by the Maytals. This song was released in 1968. Reggae has come out of Jamaica and today it is referred to as all Jamaican popular music. Prior to the start of reggae, there was ska which had a dance beat to it where as reggae was a soulful almost rock type of music. There are two different forms of reggae, reggae and roots reggae. Reggae was dominant from 1968-1975, and roots reggae was dominant from 1975-1980. The definition of roots reggae to most Jamaicans was that it dealt with the life of the ghetto sufferer, it had a reality to it.
Bob
Marley is the greatest Jamaican artist ever. Even though he is
not the father of reggae, he is the most well known reggae artist of all
time. He was accepted throughout the world, the reason he was so
widely accepted is because he changed his ways to be accepted, he worked
towards an international reggae. Bob Marley also helped promote Rastafarianism,
a worldly religion. Unfortunately, Bob Marley is no longer with us,
he died on May 11, 1981. He died of cancer in a Miami hospital.
Marley was awarded the Jamaican Order of Merit in April of 1981 for services
to his country's culture. Bob Marley expanded reggae's musical and
commercial parameters while remaining true to where he started.
Reggae has had great influence in the political affairs of Jamaica. Bob Marley even brought together Michael Manley and Edward Seaga, two rival political leaders. Reggae was even used by political leaders to sway the people to vote certain ways. The political people figured that the people in their country could relate to them better and trust them if they listened to the same type of music.
There have been many well known reggae artists. The Wailers, which included Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, and Bunny Wailer. Another famous artist is Desmond Dekker, he sang the song "Israelites", a song that reached the number nine spot in the US charts. This was the first Jamaican recorded song to reach the US music charts.
LINKS:
Bob Marley
http://niceup.com/marley.html
http://v-music.com/niceup/bmbio.html
Peter Tosh
http://home.webcom.se/reggae/petertosh/facts.html
Bunny Wailer
http://www.jadrecords.com/bio2.html
Reggae Archives
http://niceup.com/
FURTHER READINGS:
Title
Bob Marley / by Stephen Davis
Imprint
Rochester, Vt. : Schenkman Books, 1990
Title
Caribbean currents : Caribbean music from rumba to reggae /
Peter Manuel with Kenneth Bilby and Michael Largey
Imprint
Philadelphia : Temple University Press, 1995
Title
Race, class, and political symbols : Rastafari and reggae in
Jamaican politics / Anita M. Waters
Imprint
New Brunswick, U.S.A. : Transaction Books, c1985
Title
Reggae : the rough guide / written by Steve Barrow and Peter
Dalton ; edited by Jonathan Buckley ; photographs by Adrian
Boot ... [et al.]
Imprint
London : Rough Guides ; London ; New York : Distributed by the
Penguin Group, 1997