Time Tough…and Getting Tougher
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It feels like a contagion is spreading, and, of all things, it's happening during the winter holiday season - ostensibly a time of peace and goodwill. There are fears that the current rioting in Greece may inspire comparable violence in other European countries, as unemployment, financial hardship, and governmental failures compel disaffected members of the younger generation to lash out. Time will tell.
In America, the hope engendered by the election of Barack Obama as the next president of the U.S. may be undermined by the deteriorating economy, overseas unrest, and general malaise. I hope not.
Anyway, with all of this chewing away at me, I decided to turn my attention to more pleasant matters. Yesterday, I busied myself by procuring some reggae music for my 16-year-old niece who, a few months back, revealed her growing interest in Bob Marley & the Wailers - to my surprise.
Had she gone Rasta on me? Would she be growing dreadlocks and smokin' spliffs behind the high school gym? Nah. (At least, I don't think so.) As far as I could tell, she was just transitioning from the Jamaican ska music she investigated earlier this year after hearing a bunch of it in the '80s British coming-of-age film "This Is England." At that time, I gave her a Two-Tone collection featuring the Specials, Madness and other U.K. ska revivalists from the late '70s and early '80s. The affection for Marley convinced me that she would appreciate the soundtrack from the movie "The Harder They Come," which turned pop-reggae singer Jimmy Cliff into an international star.
While going through my music library to seek out other possible goodies for the kid, I keyed on Toots & the Maytals, who contributed two crucial numbers - "Pressure Drop" and "Sweet & Dandy" - to "The Harder They Come." The Maytals have always been my favorite reggae act, largely due to lead singer Toots Hibbert's soulful voice and his effortless ability to make it yearn, cajole, and roar like a Jamaican Otis Redding. (Note to you pop-culture vultures: Toots' surname is indeed the source of the avuncular Dr. Hibbert's name on "The Simpsons.")
Toots & the Maytals in 1973
I took the opportunity to revisit a few gems, including the Maytals' classic "Funky Kingston," their warm revision of John Denver's "(Take Me Home) Country Roads," and the rollicking "Monkey Man" (recently and deftly covered by, believe it or not, Amy Winehouse). And I was immediately struck by the relevance and topicality of the 1973 track "Time Tough," which is firmly in reggae's tradition of social commentary.
Yes, times are still tough, and Toots is still singing to us about it. I have to believe that we'll find some answers and survive our current quandary. In the meantime, it couldn't hurt to give a listen to "Time Tough" on the MOG Player. Toots doesn't offer any answers, but sometimes it feels good to commiserate with someone. And the track is a beauty.
Comments (23)
mmm. quiets me head so good.
thank you very much:)
Pure optimism Mike. We gotta believe in tomorrow, don't we now? Wonderful track, wonderful words to accompany. thanks man.
I think things are going to get better. Thanks for the track.
Toots does sing, don't he? Happy to provide the tune. Basically, all I an' I am lookin' for is peace in a Babylon, peeps. Let it begin with us.
Hope is a beautiful deadly double-edged sword. What a great track. New to me & a wonderful addition.
dmdm: Hope is not an answer. It's comfort and fuel for the future.
Q of N: Looks like one of your clips didn't fit the embedding bill, but the punk reprobates can rejoice that the Clash's appropriation of the Maytals' "Pressure Drop" did. Always in good taste.
I may have been in a trance, but I think I saw on the tube Ryan Adams and his lead guitar doing a set in Nassau with Toots. Could this be? It was pretty good, too.
Don't know, Bob. but it sounds like it's worth looking into.
Mr. the Knife, I enjoy it very much.
And it's probably going to get way tougher, I'm afraid. It's premature to know to what extent.
That's from 1976, with Steve Winwood on piano. Mike, your essay totally agreed with me about our favorite reggae group. Great post.
Callisto: Good to hear!
Spike: Excellent taste, mon! And a sweet sound-stream to boot.
this punk reprobate is equally enjoying Toots and the Clash cover.
Your niece is a lucky young lady to have such an excellent uncle for some incredible mix CDs.
dharmachris: Glad ya dig! I'm more than happy to bring the niece the best tunes, but it helps that she's already a cultivated, discriminating listener - even at 16.
Why don't you get her a DVD of 'Rockers' so she can see as well as hear.
gotta love a sixteener who is that interested in exploring music. and This Is England - she's got taste.
lovely tune. the paradoxical merry-sounding singing of social commentary in reggae is, i suppose, both timely and handy. i commiserate with, dare i say, a group hug. (;
I'm with Poe - there is nothing like a toe tapper to keep you iistening and drive some truth _home. Great track Mike, thanks. Van
Jonh: Terrific idea, as long as it doesn't scare her straight. ;-)
poe: She does indeed have taste. Oddly enough, she had already gone through her Clash phase when she discovered ska. Kind of a reversal, but still, coolness. The moral of the jaunty reggae vibe? When things suck, you might as well dance - and hug.
van: That chorus is one of the best, isn't it? And so damned catchy. It almost makes poverty sound like fun...
Thanks Mike. I'm not much of a reggae fan, I can only take it in short bits since it gets too repetitive to me after a song or two. Liking this song though. I really like Ziggy Marley's music when he first started out since his tunes were really an innovative reggae incorporating new/fresh sounds to an old genre.
Cheers, Mikey. Very uplifting post.
I always wondered how much movies affect our taste in music. I think that I got a solid answer here. And one I like, at that!
Reggae on :)
August: I'm not an obsessive reggae fan myself, although I have my favorites, as in most genres. And greatness is greatness - as in the case of Toots.
Anna: I know you are highly aware of the E.U. unrest - and it has more of a direct impact on you than on stateside MOGgers. Don't despair. As the old song goes, we shall overcome. And when the soundtrack rocks hard and steady and the movie slams, magic will happen. We've got the proof.
"Toots’ surname is indeed the source of the avuncular Dr. Hibbert’s name on "The Simpsons"" Well, that's my conversational nugget sorted for the pub tonight. Cheers, Mike.
Flux: Cowabunga! Happy to be of service. Have a pint for me!