September 19, 2020

Toots Hibbert, 1942-2020

Toots Hibbert, lead singer of the Jamaican vocal group Toots & The Maytals, passed away on September 11 from complications of COVID-19.

Jamaica is a country of 3 million people living on an island roughly the size of Delaware.  The musicians who have made their little country so internationally prominent are Jamaica's version of the Founding Fathers.  And if there was a Mount Rushmore of reggae, the second person chiseled onto it would be Toots Hibbert, with only Bob Marley preceding him.

So Toots' death is a major event, and I wanted to commemorate it this week (Monday September 21, 3:00-5:00 PM on WRIR, for two weeks afterwards at wrir.org/listen, check your local listings for airing on other radio stations, and any old time at my podcast site) on Global A Go-Go.
 
I've gone to the vaults for a show I hosted on WRIR on May 16, 2013.  It was for the program Cause & Effect, which highlights the music of an individual artist or a genre or a time and place, putting it into context with the music of its influences, peers, those who were influenced, and so on.

On that day, I focused on Toots & The Maytals, who would be performing on Brown's Island here in Richmond two days later.  That turned out to be an ill-fated visit to say the least: someone in the audience hurled a liquor bottle at the stage and it hit Toots in the head.  The concert ended, Toots was rushed to MCV Hospital with a concussion, and he didn't perform in public for another three years.

So Richmond owes Toots big time.  The least we can do is give him a 2-hour tribute.  I hope you enjoy it.



Artist | Country | Song | Recording | Label | Year
 
Oliver Lake | USA | Separation | Matador Of 1st & 1st | Passin' Thru | 1997
Joe Strummer & The Mescaleros | England UK | Global A Go-Go | Global A Go-Go | Hellcat | 2001
 
James Carr | USA | Dark End Of The Street | Dark End Of The Street - single | Goldwax | 1967
Toots Hibbert | Jamaica | I've Got Dreams To Remember | Toots In Memphis | Mango | 1988
Percy Sledge | USA | True Love Travels On A Gravel Road | True Love Travels On A Gravel Road - single | Atlantic | 1969
 
Mahalia Saunders | Jamaica | Piece Of My Heart | Piece Of My Heart - single | Upsetter | 1971
Ann Peebles | USA | I'm Gonna Tear Your Playhouse Down | I'm Gonna Tear Your Playhouse Down - single | Hi | 1972
Robert Palmer | England UK-USA | Pressure Drop | Pressure Drop | Island | 1975
Wilson Pickett | USA | Ninety-Nine And A Half (Won't Do) | Ninety-Nine And A Half (Won't Do) - single | Atlantic | 1966
 
The Maytals | Jamaica | Never You Change | Never You Change - single | BMN | 1965
The Skatalites | Jamaica | Fidel Castro | Fidel Castro - single | Coxsone | 1964
Millie Small | Jamaica | My Boy Lollipop | My Boy Lollipop - single | Beverley's | 1965
The Specials | England UK | Monkey Man | The Specials | Two-Tone | 1979
 
Delroy Wilson | Jamaica | Dancing Mood | Dancing Mood - single | All Stars | 1966
Derrick Morgan & The Aces | Jamaica | Tougher Than Tough (Rudie In Court) | Tougher Than Tough (Rudie In Court) - single | Beverley's | 1967
The Untouchables | Jamaica | Tighten Up | Tighten Up - single | Trojan | 1968
Toots & The Maytals | Jamaica | Do The Reggay | Do The Reggay - single | Beverley's | 1968
The Jamaicans | Jamaica | Ba Ba Boom | Ba Ba Boom - single | Treasure Isle | 1967
 
Al Barry With The Cimarons | England UK-Jamaica | Morning Sun | Morning Sun - single | Doctor Bird | 1970
Bob Marley & The Wailers | Jamaica | Small Axe | Small Axe - single | Upsetter | 1970
Toots & The Maytals | Jamaica | Six And Seven Books | Reggae Got Soul | Island | 1976
 
The Heptones | Jamaica | Temptation, Botheration And Tribulation | Deep Roots Observer Style | VP | 1978
The In Crowd | Jamaica | Born In Ethiopia | Born In Ethiopia - single | Revue | 1977
Culture | Jamaica | Black Starliner Must Come | Two Sevens Clash | Joe Gibbs | 1977
Black Uhuru | Jamaica | Vampire | Sinsemilla | Mango | 1980
 
Toots & The Maytals | Jamaica | Sweet And Dandy | Sweet And Dandy - single | Beverley's | 1969
The Slickers | Jamaica | Johnny Too Bad | Johnny Too Bad - single | Dynamic Sounds | 1971
Jimmy Cliff | Jamaica | The Harder They Come | The Harder They Come original soundtrack | Island | 1972
Toots & The Maytals | Jamaica | Funky Kingston | Funky Kingston | Dragon | 1972
 
U-Roy | Jamaica | Pumps And Pride (feat Tarrus Riley) | Pray Fi De People | Discograph | 2012

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