Trenchtown Comes to Bluff City: Toots Hibbert in Memphis!!!

Love and Happiness

I learned about Toots and the Maytals originally because of the Clash's stunning take on Pressure Drop, which can be found on "Black Market Clash", which contains a ton of great Clash material that never made an album. Pressure Drop was so amazing that I had to hear the original. The Clash knew what they were doing--not only were they performing a tremendous song, they had to know that they were also promoting some deserving artists. And Toots and the Maytals, they could and did make John Denver's Country Roads transcendent, changing West Virginia to West Jamaica.

And of course, it took about a minute for me to understand that Toots Hibbert is one of the great singers, and not just within the world of Reggae. So when I heard that he took a recording junket to Memphis with Sly & Robbie, I knew I had to get my hands on the record. Sometimes these collaborative sessions fall flat.
Music is quickly hashed together, egos clash. In the end, the finished product speaks for itself. And in the case of Toots In Memphis, things work out to great effect. It doesn't hurt having Jim Dickinson producing this little opus at Ardent Studios. We all know that the King called Memphis his home town, but when visiting Royalty comes from the Caribbean, it's time to roll out the red carpet and celebrate!

You have Toots performing with some serious Memphis session guys, with a Reggae rhythm session, covering a series of Soul classics. Though the first place to go is the classic Toots and the Maytals recordings, this is very very good stuff, extremely enjoyable. Everything works seamlessly. Of course Toots Hibbert is in fine voice here, because that's what he does, and that why he is so often compared to soul legends like Otis Redding. And the horns are a joy. If you can't appreciate the horn section here you should listen some more.

Here are the people behind the voice...
Sly Dunbar: Drums
Robbie Shakespeare: Bass
Mikey Chung: Guitar and Electric Piano
Teenie Hodges: Guitar
Eddie Hinton: Guitar
Larry McDonald: Percussion
Jim Dickinson: Hammond M100 and Roland D50
Andrew Love: Alto and Tenor Sax Solos
Joe Mulherin: Trumpet
Jim Spake: Saxophone
Gary Topper: Baritone Saxophone
William Brown: Background Vocals
Zabu: Background Vocals
Debra Hall: Background Vocals

Whew! Well sometimes it really does take a village...

The music is a bit of a hybrid, though overall it is more to the soul side than traditional reggae--with the beats it almost has a Neville Brothers edge to it. The bottom line is the sort of album that is guaranteed to put you in a happy mood. The album starts out with Otis Redding's I've Got Dreams To Remember, and then goes into a superb take on Knock On Wood (Eddie Floyd). One of my favorite cuts here.



He does a wonderful emotional take on James Carr's ballad Love Attack, another memorable vocal performance. Toots has an exuberant turn with The Spinner's It's A Shame. But my favorite moment is his high octane rendition of Redding's Hard To Handle. He sounds like he's really enjoying himself here, maybe almost as much as the listener. Another stellar cut here is Precious, Precious by Jackie Moore--I just loves the way he bends the notes like the master singer he is.



Of course I can't omit his Freedom Train, another great one of James Carr. An anthem for anyone who believes in human rights and justice. What more can I say? You've got to love this record.

Toots and the Maytals are still active today, and are on tour as I type, performing down in the Antipodes right now, and then its off to the US. If you can do it, make the effort and go see a legendary singer do his thing while you still can. If you love the punk rock, you should figure out quickly why so many British punk
bands loved Reggae.