Soulful Reggae
Located in 2 routes
Reggae sung with the depth, grit and phrasing of American soul: powerhouse, melismatic lead vocals and gospel-rooted feeling riding a warm one-drop or rockers rhythm, with rich harmonies, horn punctuation and a groove that owes as much to Stax and Motown as to Kingston. The singing carries the record, full of testifying runs and heartfelt dynamics, whether on love songs or life songs. The mood is emotional and uplifting. It is the soul singer's reggae.
History
Soulful reggae runs from the R&B-steeped rocksteady of Toots and the Maytals and Alton Ellis, through Ken Boothe's and Dennis Brown's soul-schooled 1970s hits, to Beres Hammond, who became the modern standard-bearer of the style with a raspy, gospel-tinged voice on songs like "Tempted to Touch." The thread is a Jamaican singer channelling American soul's emotional intensity over a reggae rhythm, distinct from the lighter lovers-rock croon. It kept a soul aesthetic central to reggae across four decades and shaped the R&B-reggae crossovers that followed.
Defining artists
Essential listening
- Tempted to Touch(1990) — Beres HammondSpotifyYouTube
- 54-46 That's My Number(1968) — Toots and the MaytalsSpotifyYouTube
- Money in My Pocket(1979) — Dennis BrownSpotifyYouTube
- Everything I Own(1974) — Ken BootheSpotifyYouTube
- Night Nurse(1982) — Gregory IsaacsSpotifyYouTube
- Pressure Drop(1969) — Toots and the MaytalsSpotifyYouTube
Sources
- Lloyd Bradley, Bass Culture: When Reggae Was King (2000)
- David Katz, Solid Foundation: An Oral History of Reggae (2003)
- Steve Barrow & Peter Dalton, The Rough Guide to Reggae (2004)