Roots Reggae
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The spiritually and politically conscious heart of 1970s reggae: mid-tempo one-drop grooves (around 70-80 BPM) built on deep, melodic bass, the drummer's kick-on-the-three 'one drop,' skanking offbeat guitar and organ 'bubble.' Vocals are earnest and harmony-rich, delivering Rastafari faith, African identity, resistance to 'Babylon' and ghetto suffering. Arrangements are warm and organic, often with horns, percussion and Nyabinghi drum inflections, and the mood is meditative, righteous and militant. Signature techniques include the one-drop rhythm, heavy dub-ready bass lines and call-and-response backing harmonies.
History
Roots reggae crystallized in Kingston around 1972-73 as Rastafari consciousness swept Jamaican music and studios like Studio One, Randy's, Harry J and Lee 'Scratch' Perry's Black Ark produced socially charged records. Bob Marley & The Wailers brought the message to the world, while Burning Spear, Culture, The Abyssinians, The Mighty Diamonds and Israel Vibration defined its deep, chanting core; Island Records and independent Jamaican labels carried it internationally. Its golden age ran through the late 1970s before dancehall's rise, but roots reggae's one-drop template, dub offspring and spiritual-political stance shaped reggae permanently and fueled the later Reggae Revival.
Defining artists
Essential listening
- Marcus Garvey(1975) — Burning SpearSpotifyYouTube
- Two Sevens Clash(1977) — CultureSpotifyYouTube
- Satta Massagana(1976) — The AbyssiniansSpotifyYouTube
- Get Up, Stand Up(1973) — Bob Marley & The WailersSpotifyYouTube
- Legalize It(1976) — Peter ToshSpotifyYouTube
- Right Time(1976) — The Mighty DiamondsSpotifyYouTube
Sources
- Lloyd Bradley, Bass Culture: When Reggae Was King (Penguin, 2000)
- Steve Barrow & Peter Dalton, The Rough Guide to Reggae (Rough Guides, 2004)
- David Katz, Solid Foundation: An Oral History of Reggae (Bloomsbury, 2003)
- Kevin O'Brien Chang & Wayne Chen, Reggae Routes: The Story of Jamaican Music (Temple University Press, 1998)