This Is Reggae Music: The Golden Era (1960-1975), Disc

This Is Reggae Music: The Golden Era (1960-1975), Disc 1 is a compilation album released by Trojan Records in 1995. It features some of the most popular and influential reggae songs of the 1960s and 1970s.

The Early Days (1960-1965)

Reggae music began in the early 1960s in Jamaica. The first recordings were made in 1962 by Jamaican artists such asskatalites and Ernest Ranglin. These early recordings were heavily influenced by American R&B and Jamaican mento music. The skatalites’ “Guns of Navarone” and Ranglin’s “All Night Ska” are considered to be two of the earliest and most important reggae recordings.

The Birth of Reggae Music

The early 1960s saw the development of ska, a new style that incorporated elements of both jazz and traditional mento ( Jamaican folk music). Ska was the precursor to rocksteady, another distinctly Jamaican style that”

The Ska Craze

During the early 1960s, Ska was the dominant music genre in Jamaica and was quickly becoming popular in the UK too. The biggest star of the Ska scene was Prince Buster, who had a string of hits including “Al Capone” and “One Step Beyond”. In 1964, Buster released what would become one of the most influential Ska tracks of all time, “Madness”, which featured reggae legend Dwayne ‘Dopey’ Richards on vocals.

The popularity of Ska began to wane in the late 1960s as other genres like Rocksteady and Reggae started to take over. However, it made a brief resurgence in the UK during the 2-Tone movement of the late 1970s and early 1980s.

The Rise of Rocksteady

The year 1968 is considered the turning point for Jamaican music. That was when rocksteady, a slower, more sensual style of music than ska, began to dominate the Jamaican charts. Rocksteady was characterized by a strong backbeat and a focus on the bass and drums, with guitars played using simple chords and often with aural effects such as echo. The lyrics were often about love. The style was also suited to live performance, unlike ska, which was more oriented towards sound systems.

One of the first and most important rocksteady hits was “Do the Rock Steady” by Alton Ellis (1968). Other important early rocksteady performers included Hopeton Lewis, Ken Boothe, Delroy Wilson, The Techniques, The Paragons, The Jamaicans, and The Tennors.

The Golden Era (1966-1975)

This is Reggae Music: The Golden Era chronicles the years of 1966 to 1975, considered by many to be the golden era of Jamaican music. The book includes over 400 pages of rare photographs, interviews, and essays.

The Rise of Reggae Music

The ‘Golden Era’ of reggae music is considered to be from 1966-1975. This was a time when the music was maturing and Jamaica was beginning to export it to the world. The two main genres that emerged during this time were roots reggae and skinhead reggae.

Root Reggae
Roots reggae is a subgenre of reggae that developed in the late 1960s. It is characterized by its focus on Rastafari and its promotion of political and social consciousness. The lyrics often deal with themes of resistance, love, and liberation.

Some of the most popular roots reggae artists include Bob Marley, Burning Spear, and Culture.

Skinhead Reggae
Skinhead reggae is a subgenre of reggae that developed in the late 1960s among working-class white youths in London. It is characterized by its tough, streetwise sound and its commitment to racial harmony. The lyrics often deal with themes of racism, violence, and poverty.

Some of the most popular skinhead reggae artists include Desmond Dekker, Judge Dread, and Symarip (aka The Pyramids).

The Wailers Breakthrough

The Wailers enjoyed considerable success in the 1960s, first with appearances on talent shows, then with a string of hit singles. These included “Simmer Down” (which was their first number one single in Jamaica), “One Love/People Get Ready” (a double-sided hit which was also their first international hit), and “I Shot the Sheriff” (their first US hit). The Wailers’ success continued throughout the decade, culminating in their breakthrough album, Catch a Fire.

Recorded in 1972 and released in 1973, Catch a Fire was the Wailers’ first album for Island Records. It was also the first reggae album to be recorded using rock instrumentation and production techniques. The result was a sound that was both rootsy and polished, and caught the attention of the international music community. The album’s standout track, “Stir It Up,” became a worldwide hit, and helped to establish the Wailers as one of reggae’s leading acts.

The Reggae Revolution

In the late 1960s, a new style of music known as reggae began to emerge in Jamaica. Reggae is a style of music that is characterized by its heavy bass, drum and percussion rhythms, and its focus on singing rather than instruments. Reggae quickly became popular in Jamaica, and by the early 1970s it had spread to other parts of the world, including the United Kingdom and the United States.

Reggae’s popularity soon began to decline in the late 1970s and early 1980s, but it experienced a resurgence in the 1990s and 2000s. Today, reggae is enjoyed by people all over the world, and its influence can be heard in many other genres of music, including hip hop, dancehall, and even pop.

The Modern Era (1976-present)

Since the mid-1970s, reggae music has been evolving away from the ska and rocksteady styles that dominated the early years of the genre. While there are many different subgenres of reggae, the three most popular styles today are roots reggae, dancehall, and dub. In this section, we’ll take a look at the modern era of reggae music and how it has evolved over the past few decades.

The Dancehall Era

In the late 1970s, a new style of reggae music called dancehall emerged. This was a more electronic sound, with heavy use of drum machines, synthesizers and other studio effects. The lyrics were often based around parties and dancing, and the music was faster and more energetic than previous styles. This era saw the rise of many successful artists, including Yellowman, Shabba Ranks and Bounty Killer.

The Reggae Revival

The Reggae Revival is a movement within reggae music that began in the late 2010s. The Reggae Revival was spearheaded by a group of young Jamaican musicians who were influenced by the original roots reggae sound of the 1960s and 1970s. The Revivalists sought to bring back the authentic sound of reggae and to promote positive messages within the music. Some of the most notable artists associated with the Reggae Revival include Protoje, Chronixx, Kabaka Pyramid, and Jesse Royal.

The Rise of Reggae Music

In the 1970s, the international popularity of reggae music exploded. Reggae artists began to achieve mainstream success both in Jamaica and abroad. Bob Marley, in particular, became an international superstar.

Marley’s band, The Wailers, had already been making records for a few years when they released their 1974 album, Natty Dread. The album was a huge hit in Jamaica and helped to introduce reggae music to a wider audience. The Wailers’ next album, Rastaman Vibration, was even more successful, reaching number eight on the Billboard 200 chart in the United States.

Over the next few years, Bob Marley and The Wailers released a string of groundbreaking albums that would help to further popularize reggae music around the world. These albums included 1976’s Exodus and 1977’s Babylon by Bus. Marley’s final album, 1980’s Uprising, was released just weeks before his death from cancer at the age of 36.

In addition to Bob Marley, a number of other Jamaican artists found success in the 1970s and 1980s. These artists included Jimmy Cliff, whose 1972 film The Harder They Come helped to introduce reggae music to many new fans; Burning Spear, who won a Grammy Award for his 1998 album Calling Rastafari; and Sean Paul, who became one of the best-selling Jamaican artists of all time with his 2002 album Dutty Rock.