Introduction

Songs & tracks

Every song the chapter names, in the order the text names them, each with the sentence that introduces it, set as printed.

• 001

  King of the Zulus

  Louis Armstrong

  But even though Jamaica has been making its musical presence felt in mainland American music at least since Louis Armstrong’s 1927 recording “King of the Zulus,” the structural innovations of its music—unlike those of Cuba’s—have yet to be widely acknowledged.

  song Open ↗ YouTube
• 002

  Who No Waan Come Cyaan Stay

  Wailing Souls

  Tony had a state-of-the art sound system, and the room was filled with the ethereal Jamaican “country” harmonies of Rudolph “Garth” Dennis, Winston “Pipe” Matthews, George “Buddy” Hayes, and Lloyd “Bread” McDonald as they sang “Who No Waan Come Cyaan Stay.” The song’s title translates from the Jamaican patwa as “Who Didn’t Want to Come Can’t Stay,” and the elegiac lyric, in which the singer promises to prepare a place for his brethren in a heavenly African Zion, is a typical Rastafari-inspired theme of African repatriation, given an obliquely poetic slant:

  song Open ↗ YouTube
• 003

  E.T.

  Willy D. Wallace

  In fact, Willy was studying audio engineering, and had recorded and mixed a song called “E.T.” which was inspired by Lee Perry’s Black Ark mixing style.

  song Open ↗ YouTube
• 004

  Kingdom Rise, Kingdom Fall

  Wailing Souls

  Songs such as the Wailing Souls’s “Kingdom Rise, Kingdom Fall” prophesied the end of Western civilization; …

  song Open ↗ YouTube
• 005

  Leave Rasta

  Horace Andy

  … Horace Andy’s “Leave Rasta” condemned political persecution and social marginalization of Rastas; …

  song Open ↗ YouTube
• 006

  Be Holy, My Brothers and Sisters

  Johnny Clarke

  … Johnny Clarke’s “Be Holy, My Brothers and Sisters” exhorted the faithful to live upstanding lives; …

  song Open ↗ YouTube
• 007

  Rasta No Born Yah

  Sang Hugh

  … Sang Hugh’s “Rasta No Born Yah” advised Jamaicans to seek their true home in the African motherland; …

  song Open ↗ YouTube
• 008

  Israel in Harmony

  Augustus Pablo

  … while Augustus Pablo’s instrumental “Israel in Harmony” used biblical imagery to appeal for an end to the political violence plaguing the island.

  song Open ↗ YouTube
• 009

  Legalize It

  Peter Tosh

  Rasta-influenced musicians were often outspoken advocates of ganja smoking, with songs full of exhortations to “smoke the herb”: Peter Tosh’s “Legalize It,” Bob Marley’s “Kaya” and “Easy Skanking,” Culture’s “International Herb,” Horace Andy’s “Better Collie,” Lee Perry’s “Free Up the Weed” and “Roast Fish, Cornbread and Collie Weed,” and Leroy Horsemouth Wallace’s “Herb Vendor” are a mere few of hundreds of such songs.

  song Open ↗ YouTube
• 010

  Kaya

  Bob Marley

  Rasta-influenced musicians were often outspoken advocates of ganja smoking, with songs full of exhortations to “smoke the herb”: Peter Tosh’s “Legalize It,” Bob Marley’s “Kaya” and “Easy Skanking,” Culture’s “International Herb,” Horace Andy’s “Better Collie,” Lee Perry’s “Free Up the Weed” and “Roast Fish, Cornbread and Collie Weed,” and Leroy Horsemouth Wallace’s “Herb Vendor” are a mere few of hundreds of such songs.

  song Open ↗ YouTube
• 011

  Easy Skanking

  Bob Marley

  Rasta-influenced musicians were often outspoken advocates of ganja smoking, with songs full of exhortations to “smoke the herb”: Peter Tosh’s “Legalize It,” Bob Marley’s “Kaya” and “Easy Skanking,” Culture’s “International Herb,” Horace Andy’s “Better Collie,” Lee Perry’s “Free Up the Weed” and “Roast Fish, Cornbread and Collie Weed,” and Leroy Horsemouth Wallace’s “Herb Vendor” are a mere few of hundreds of such songs.

  song Open ↗ YouTube
• 012

  International Herb

  Culture

  Rasta-influenced musicians were often outspoken advocates of ganja smoking, with songs full of exhortations to “smoke the herb”: Peter Tosh’s “Legalize It,” Bob Marley’s “Kaya” and “Easy Skanking,” Culture’s “International Herb,” Horace Andy’s “Better Collie,” Lee Perry’s “Free Up the Weed” and “Roast Fish, Cornbread and Collie Weed,” and Leroy Horsemouth Wallace’s “Herb Vendor” are a mere few of hundreds of such songs.

  song Open ↗ YouTube
• 013

  Better Collie

  Horace Andy

  Rasta-influenced musicians were often outspoken advocates of ganja smoking, with songs full of exhortations to “smoke the herb”: Peter Tosh’s “Legalize It,” Bob Marley’s “Kaya” and “Easy Skanking,” Culture’s “International Herb,” Horace Andy’s “Better Collie,” Lee Perry’s “Free Up the Weed” and “Roast Fish, Cornbread and Collie Weed,” and Leroy Horsemouth Wallace’s “Herb Vendor” are a mere few of hundreds of such songs.

  song Open ↗ YouTube
• 014

  Free Up the Weed

  Lee “Scratch” Perry

  Rasta-influenced musicians were often outspoken advocates of ganja smoking, with songs full of exhortations to “smoke the herb”: Peter Tosh’s “Legalize It,” Bob Marley’s “Kaya” and “Easy Skanking,” Culture’s “International Herb,” Horace Andy’s “Better Collie,” Lee Perry’s “Free Up the Weed” and “Roast Fish, Cornbread and Collie Weed,” and Leroy Horsemouth Wallace’s “Herb Vendor” are a mere few of hundreds of such songs.

  song Open ↗ YouTube
• 015

  Roast Fish, Cornbread and Collie Weed

  Lee “Scratch” Perry

  Rasta-influenced musicians were often outspoken advocates of ganja smoking, with songs full of exhortations to “smoke the herb”: Peter Tosh’s “Legalize It,” Bob Marley’s “Kaya” and “Easy Skanking,” Culture’s “International Herb,” Horace Andy’s “Better Collie,” Lee Perry’s “Free Up the Weed” and “Roast Fish, Cornbread and Collie Weed,” and Leroy Horsemouth Wallace’s “Herb Vendor” are a mere few of hundreds of such songs.

  song Open ↗ YouTube
• 016

  Herb Vendor

  Leroy “Horsemouth” Wallace

  Rasta-influenced musicians were often outspoken advocates of ganja smoking, with songs full of exhortations to “smoke the herb”: Peter Tosh’s “Legalize It,” Bob Marley’s “Kaya” and “Easy Skanking,” Culture’s “International Herb,” Horace Andy’s “Better Collie,” Lee Perry’s “Free Up the Weed” and “Roast Fish, Cornbread and Collie Weed,” and Leroy Horsemouth Wallace’s “Herb Vendor” are a mere few of hundreds of such songs.

  song Open ↗ YouTube

Albums, compilations & series

Albums, compilations and series, again in the order the chapter names them.

• 017

  Exodus

  Bob Marley and the Wailers

  With Time magazine voting Bob Marley and the Wailers’ Exodus as the “album of the 20th century” and with veteran producer Lee “Scratch” Perry receiving a Grammy award in 2003, Jamaica is beginning to be recognized for its influence on world popular music.

  album Open ↗ YouTube
• 018

  Wailing

  Wailing Souls

  My epiphanal moment took place one winter evening in New York in 1983 while hanging out with my friend Tony, who had just picked up the Wailing Souls’s 1982 LP Wailing, a “showcase” album containing songs followed by their dub versions.

  album Open ↗ YouTube
• 019

  Marcus Garvey

  Burning Spear

  … Burning Spear honored the memory of Marcus Garvey on their famous album of the same name; …

  album Open ↗ YouTube