Mourning Mr. Hibbert

You've probably heard by now of the death of Toots Hibbert, lead vocalist of the seminal reggae band Toots & the Maytals. The Maytals weren't the most-famous or most-lauded reggae artists, but they were instrumental in getting reggae known beyond the confines of Jamaica.

As was the case in the early-to-mid-seventies, reggae spread first to England, or more specifically, London, owing to its large Jamaican population. The indelible material the Maytals were recording at the time was too good to stay bottled up within in a single community and soon the word was out: you needed to hear the Maytals. Now.

“Funky Kingston”, “Pomp and Pride”, “Time Tough”, “Pressure Drop” and amazing covers of the Kingmen's “Louie Louie” and John Denver's “County Roads” brought universal acclaim to Mr. Hibbert and his band. It wasn't long before a reconstructed version of Funky Kingston featuring that material was released on Island Records.

Reggae was white hot, driven by the first three Wailers' LPs, the soundtrack to The Harder They Come and, of course, Funky Kingston.

Those were glorious days.

One of the most tragic moments of my youth was missing the Who's 1975 appearances in Chicago. Not only because the first of their two dates actually featured an encore, but because they had handpicked Toots & the Maytals to open.

Predictably, the Maytals were not well-received. (I wonder how many rock fans of the day realized how narrow-minded their taste in music would have appeared to their heroes? It's a wonder more musicians didn't rail at their fan's suffocating expectations.)

At any rate, the Maytals continued to record, if not always with the stunning results found on Kingston. But their output through the nineteen-eighties was always worth hearing, and live they remained a unit capable of inducing joy and wonder.

I was fortunate to see the Maytals twice on their tour to support Knock Out!, and not even a Rolling Stones show three days later could dim the memory of that November, 1981 performance.

And another show the following April was just as good.

Despite the often political orientation of their material, Hibbert performed with warmth and radiated good vibes. He was authentic, passionate and obviously enjoyed his craft.

This openness was reflected in the fact that the Maytals never followed the strict Rastafarian orthodoxy of, say, a Bob Marley. The Maytals from day one embraced their gospel and rhythm and blues influences to the point where Mr. Hibbert recorded an album of R&B chestnuts in 1988. 

Amidst the embarrassment of reggaefied riches available in the mid-seventies, the Maytals were the first reggae band I embraced. And they remained my favorite. Even as the name 'Marley' became a brand-name for an entire genre of music, too often crowding out all else.

The Maytals' recordings always lifted me, and hearing Hibbert sing was like hearing from an old friend.

That voice is still now. And life just got a little more grim because of it.