Version
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The foundational Jamaican practice of releasing multiple "versions" of a single riddim: the vocal cut on the A-side and, on the flip, an instrumental or stripped mix over which selectors and deejays could toast, sing or drop effects. Versions strip a song to its rhythm skeleton, foregrounding bass and drums and leaving room for reinterpretation, and they turned every hit riddim into reusable public property. The concept underlies dub, deejay toasting and the whole reggae remix economy. A riddim, once versioned, could live a hundred lives.
History
The version was born late in the rocksteady era around 1967–1968, when engineers and sound men, the origin story often credited to Duke Reid's studio and selector Ruddy Redwood, realised an instrumental cut of a hit drove the dance and gave deejays room to work; U-Roy's 1970 toasts over Treasure Isle versions turned the practice into a chart phenomenon. From there the version B-side became universal, spawning King Tubby's dub reworks and Augustus Pablo's instrumentals, and establishing the one-riddim, many-cuts model that still governs Jamaican music. Version culture is the conceptual bedrock beneath dub, toasting and modern remix and riddim practice.
Defining artists
Essential listening
Sources
- Lloyd Bradley, Bass Culture: When Reggae Was King (2000)
- Michael E. Veal, Dub: Soundscapes and Shattered Songs in Jamaican Reggae (2007)
- David Katz, Solid Foundation: An Oral History of Reggae (2003)