Toots & the Maytals Essentials

Toots & the Maytals Essentials

Armed with one of the most powerful voices in Jamaican music, Frederick “Toots” Hibbert fronted one of the island's most important and influential bands. The Maytals were among the fiercest ska groups to ever cut a single, and they helped to invent reggae in the ‘60s by slowing the beat down to showcase their harmonies. They also wrote an astounding number of eventual Jamaican pop standards, including "Pressure Drop" and the seminal “54-46 That’s My Number”, a song that details Hibbert’s 1967 imprisonment for marijuana possession. His contributions to the genre were more than just stylistic—he actually coined the term reggae in 1968’s “Do the Reggay”. Hibbert passed away in September 2020.

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