Origins of Reggae

Reggae most clearly evolved in the 1960’s, from Ska and Rocksteady but there were other lesser influences too such as calypso, mento (a rural folk form), jazz and R&B.

Ska was a Jamaican music genre that developed in the late 1950’s and became the dominant pop music form in the country in the 1960’s. With the stationing of US troops in Jamaica after the Second World War, Jamaicans had access to American pop music, notably upbeat R&B. Listen to the track My Boy Lollypop by Barbie Gay and notice the “guitar chop” accompaniment consisting of staccato (short, spiky) off beat chords called 'skank'.

Features of Ska

Bars made up of four triplets (3 notes played quicker than usual to take up the time given to two notes usually.

A guitar chop on the off beat

Horns (wind instruments like saxophones and trumpets) taking the lead and often following the off-beat skank

Piano emphasizing the bass line and, again, playing the skank.

Drums kept 4/4 time and the bass drum was accented on the third beat of each four-triplet phrase. The snare would play side stick and accent the third beat of each 4-triplet phrase.

This sounds more complicated than it actually is so let’s listen:

and ....

As the supply of American records dried up in the late 1950’s, Jamaican producers jumped in to fill the gap and the style quickly morphed into Reggae.

Bob Marley and The Wailers

Bob Marley founded his group, Bob Marley and the Wailers in 1963 with his childhood friend Neville Livingston (Bunny Wailer). They had some difficulty finding the right name for their group. The Teenagers gave way to The Wailing Rude Boys, which gave way to the Wailing Wailers. Finally as The Wailers, they recorded the Ska track Simmer Down in 1964 which became a Jamaica no. 1. On this track they were backed by the Ska supergroup The Skatelites. The arrival of Reggae in 1969 gave Marley the impetus he needed to find his own style. He ditched the horn sections of his earlier records and played solos on electric guitar. The big break came in 1974 with a live version of No Woman No Cry. 

In 1976 Marley survived an assassination attempt which was thought to be politically motivated. He relocated to London where he recorded the critically acclaimed album, Exodus. It stayed in the British charts for 56 successive weeks. Marley died in 1984 after a long battle with a rare form of skin cancer. He was given a state funeral in Jamaica. Bob Marley’s posthumously released greatest hits album. Legend, is the best selling reggae album of all time.

The Legacy of Reggae

In November 2018 "reggae music of Jamaica" was added to the UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity the decision recognised reggae's "contribution to international discourse on issues of injustice, resistance, love and humanity underscores the dynamics of the element as being at once cerebral, socio-political, sensual and spiritual."

Listen to Bob Marley’s more sophisticated style:

Later artists influenced by Reggae:

Madness One Step Beyond (1979)

UB40 - Food for Thought (1980)