Toots & the Maytals

Formation and Studio One

Frederick Nathaniel "Toots" Hibbert was born on 8 December 1942 in May Pen, Clarendon, and moved to Kingston as a teenager. In 1962 he formed a vocal trio with Henry "Raleigh" Gordon and Nathaniel "Jerry" Mathias (also credited as McCarthy). Their first producer was Clement "Coxsone" Dodd, and for about two years they recorded at Studio One with the Skatalites as the house band. The debut single "Hallelujah" (1963) carried the gospel call and response Toots learned in church over a fast ska beat. Dodd licensed the sides to British labels, sometimes under other names: "Six and Seven Books of Moses" came out in the UK on Island (WI-075) in 1963 credited to "The Vikings", and "Hallelujah" appeared on Blue Beat. Their Studio One LP was released as Never Grow Old.

Prince Buster, Byron Lee and BMN

The group left Dodd for Prince Buster, cutting "Dog War" (1964) with Prince Buster's All Stars. They then moved to Byron Lee and his manager Ronnie Nasralla, who issued their records on the BMN label. With Lee and the Dragonaires they made the LP The Sensational Maytals (1965) and singles including "Never You Change" (1965, issued in the UK on Island as WI-200), "It's You" and "Daddy", both co-produced by Nasralla and Lee. In 1966 "Bam Bam" won the first Jamaican Independence Festival Popular Song Competition.

Prison and 54-46

In late 1966 Hibbert was arrested for possession of marijuana and sentenced to 18 months. After his release he recorded "54-46 That's My Number" (1968), built on the prison number he was given. It was the first of a run of records for producer Leslie Kong at his Beverley's label, with Trojan and its Pyramid imprint handling UK releases.

Leslie Kong and the naming of reggae

"Do the Reggay" (1968, Beverley's in Jamaica, Pyramid in the UK) was the first popular song to use the word reggae, and it attached the name of a passing dance to the new, faster rhythm then replacing rocksteady. Hibbert later said the word came from slang for someone scruffy. Kong sessions through 1971 produced "Just Tell Me", "Scare Him" and "Struggle" (all 1968), "Sweet and Dandy", which won the 1969 Festival Song Competition, "Monkey Man" (1969, UK No. 47 in 1970), "Pressure Drop" (recorded 1969, released 1970, with the Beverley's All Stars instrumental "Smoke Screen" on the B-side) and "Bla Bla Bla" (1970). Kong died in August 1971.

Obscure 1960s singles

Studio One (Coxsone Dodd), 1962–63: "Hallelujah" (1963, b/w "Helping Ages"; UK Blue Beat BB 176); "Six and Seven Books of Moses" (1963; UK Island WI-075 as the Vikings); "Fever" (b/w "Cheer Up"). Prince Buster: "Dog War" (1964, with Prince Buster's All Stars, b/w "Little Flea"). Byron Lee / Ronnie Nasralla, BMN: "Never You Change" b/w "What's On Your Mind?" (1965); "It's You"; "Daddy"; "Bam Bam" b/w "So Mad in Love" (1966, Festival winner). Leslie Kong, Beverley's: "54-46 That's My Number" (1968); "Do the Reggay" (1968); "Just Tell Me" b/w "Reborn" (1968); "Scare Him" b/w "You Are a Traitor" (1968); "Struggle" (1968); "Sweet and Dandy" b/w "Oh Yea" (1969); "Monkey Man" b/w "Day and Night" (1969); "Pressure Drop" (1969/70); "Bla Bla Bla" (1970).

Island, later career and hip hop links

In 1971 the group signed to Chris Blackwell's Island Records, and "Pressure Drop" and "Sweet and Dandy" appeared on the soundtrack of The Harder They Come (1972), which carried reggae abroad. "Pomps and Pride" gave them a third Festival win in 1972. "Pressure Drop" was later covered by the Clash, the Specials and Robert Palmer, and "Monkey Man" by the Specials and Amy Winehouse. The chorus melody of Sister Nancy's 1982 "Bam Bam" follows the Maytals' 1966 original, and Sister Nancy's record was sampled on Pete Rock & CL Smooth's "The Basement" (1992), Kanye West's "Famous" (2016) and Jay-Z's "Bam" (2017). True Love won the Grammy for Best Reggae Album in 2005 and Got to Be Tough won the same award in 2021. Hibbert died in Kingston on 11 September 2020, aged 77.