Toots Hibbert
Encyclopedia
Frederick Nathaniel "Toots" Hibbert (born 8 December 1945) is a ska
and roots reggae
singer and leader of the reggae
band
Toots & the Maytals
.
, Parish of Clarendon, Jamaica
, the youngest of seven children, he grew up singing gospel music
in a church choir. He moved to Kingston
as a teenager
in the early 1960s, and met Raleigh Gordon and Jerry Matthias, and they formed The Maytals. The Maytals became one of the most popular vocal groups in Jamaica in the 1960s, recording with producers Coxsone Dodd
, Prince Buster
, Byron Lee
and Leslie Kong
. This success included winning Jamaica's National Popular Song Contest three times with songs Hibbert wrote: in 1966 with "Bam Bam
", 1969 with "Sweet and Dandy", and 1972 with "Pomps & Pride".
Hibbert was one of the first artists to use the word reggae, in 1968's "Do The Reggay", an early reggae song. He also appeared in the groundbreaking Jamaican film The Harder They Come
. Toots still tours the world today, and his band won the Grammy for best reggae album in 2004. In 2006, Toots & the Maytals covered Radiohead
's "Let Down" for the Easy Star All-Stars
album Radiodread
, a reggae version of the English rock band's OK Computer
.
Much of Hibbert's recorded output reflects his mainstream evangelical Christian upbringing. He has been known to also write about Rastafarian themes as well. He also can play every instrument in his band.
of MediaCPR and Steel Pulse
's Sidney Mills
, who produced Jamaican percussionist Larry McDonald's album "Dumquestra" released in 2009. Toots' track is called "What about the Children?", a house track with accompanying video shot on location in New York. Toots performed vocals with Iowa
reggae band Public Property
on their album "Work to Do" in 2009.
Hibbert was also a judge for the 10th annual Independent Music Awards
to support independent artists' careers.
Hibbert recently collaborated with the Jacksonville, Florida southern rock
/blues
group, JJ Grey & MOFRO. He is featured in their song, The Sweetest Thing, on their new album, Georgia Warhorse.
Ska
Ska |Jamaican]] ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s, and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. Ska combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues...
and roots reggae
Roots reggae
Roots reggae is a subgenre of reggae that deals with the everyday lives and aspirations of the artists concerned, including the spiritual side of Rastafari and with the honoring of God, called Jah by rastafarians. It also is identified with the life of the ghetto sufferer, and the rural poor...
singer and leader of the reggae
Reggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...
band
Band (music)
In music, a musical ensemble or band is a group of musicians that works together to perform music. The following articles concern types of musical bands:* All-female band* Big band* Boy band* Christian band* Church band* Concert band* Cover band...
Toots & the Maytals
Toots & the Maytals
Toots and the Maytals, originally called simply The Maytals, are a Jamaican musical group and one of the best known ska and reggae vocal groups. According to Sandra Brennan at Allmusic, "The Maytals were key figures in reggae music...
.
Biography
Born in May PenMay Pen
May Pen is the capital and largest town in the parish of Clarendon in the Middlesex County, Jamaica. It is located on the Rio Minho river , and is a major market centre for the Parish...
, Parish of Clarendon, Jamaica
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
, the youngest of seven children, he grew up singing gospel music
Gospel music
Gospel music is music that is written to express either personal, spiritual or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music....
in a church choir. He moved to Kingston
Kingston, Jamaica
Kingston is the capital and largest city of Jamaica, located on the southeastern coast of the island. It faces a natural harbour protected by the Palisadoes, a long sand spit which connects the town of Port Royal and the Norman Manley International Airport to the rest of the island...
as a teenager
Adolescence
Adolescence is a transitional stage of physical and mental human development generally occurring between puberty and legal adulthood , but largely characterized as beginning and ending with the teenage stage...
in the early 1960s, and met Raleigh Gordon and Jerry Matthias, and they formed The Maytals. The Maytals became one of the most popular vocal groups in Jamaica in the 1960s, recording with producers Coxsone Dodd
Coxsone Dodd
Clement Seymour "Sir Coxsone" Dodd, CD was a Jamaican record producer who was influential in the development of ska and reggae in the 1950s, 1960s and beyond...
, Prince Buster
Prince Buster
Cecil Bustamente Campbell, O.D. , better known as Prince Buster, and also known by his Muslim name Muhammed Yusef Ali, is a musician from Kingston, Jamaica. He is regarded as one of the most important figures in the history of ska and rocksteady music...
, Byron Lee
Byron Lee
Byron Lee OD, OJ was a musician, record producer, and entrepreneur, best known for his work as leader of Byron Lee and the Dragonaires.-Biography:Lee was born in Christiana in Manchester Parish to an Afro-Jamaican mother and a Chinese father Byron Lee OD, OJ (born Byron Aloysius St. Elmo Lee, 27...
and Leslie Kong
Leslie Kong
Leslie Kong was a Chinese Jamaican record producer.-Career:Leslie and his two older brothers Cecil and Lloyd ran a restaurant, ice cream parlour and record shop called Beverley's in Orange Street, Kingston...
. This success included winning Jamaica's National Popular Song Contest three times with songs Hibbert wrote: in 1966 with "Bam Bam
Bam Bam
Bam Bam may refer to:As a nickname or ring name:*Brandon Ríos , lightweight world champion boxer*John Michael Johnson , bantamweight boxer, briefly world champion...
", 1969 with "Sweet and Dandy", and 1972 with "Pomps & Pride".
Hibbert was one of the first artists to use the word reggae, in 1968's "Do The Reggay", an early reggae song. He also appeared in the groundbreaking Jamaican film The Harder They Come
The Harder They Come
The Harder They Come is a 1972 Jamaican crime film directed by Perry Henzell.The film stars reggae singer Jimmy Cliff, who plays Ivanhoe Martin, a character based on Rhyging, a real-life Jamaican criminal who achieved fame in the 1940s...
. Toots still tours the world today, and his band won the Grammy for best reggae album in 2004. In 2006, Toots & the Maytals covered Radiohead
Radiohead
Radiohead are an English rock band from Abingdon, Oxfordshire, formed in 1985. The band consists of Thom Yorke , Jonny Greenwood , Ed O'Brien , Colin Greenwood and Phil Selway .Radiohead released their debut single "Creep" in 1992...
's "Let Down" for the Easy Star All-Stars
Easy Star All-Stars
Originally formed as a studio band for the label's earliest recordings, Easy Star All-Stars is a reggae collective with a rotating roster of musicians and singers founded by the co-founders of New York City-based Easy Star Records in 1997...
album Radiodread
Radiodread
Radiodread is a 2006 album by the Easy Star All-Stars, a collaboration of reggae and ska artists. They have released one album previously, Dub Side of the Moon, a reggae take on Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon...
, a reggae version of the English rock band's OK Computer
OK Computer
OK Computer is the third studio album by the English alternative rock band Radiohead, released on 16 June 1997 on Parlophone in the UK and 1 July 1997 by Capitol Records in the US. It marks a deliberate attempt by the band to move away from the introspective guitar-oriented sound of their previous...
.
Much of Hibbert's recorded output reflects his mainstream evangelical Christian upbringing. He has been known to also write about Rastafarian themes as well. He also can play every instrument in his band.
Recent collaborations
Toots recently collaborated with executive producer Malik Al NasirMalik Al Nasir
Malik Al Nasir is a British author and poet, born in Liverpool, England in 1966 to a Welsh mother and a Guyanese father. He grew up partly with his family in Liverpool and after the paralysis of his father, he was taken into local authority care...
of MediaCPR and Steel Pulse
Steel Pulse
Steel Pulse is a roots reggae musical band. They originally formed at Handsworth Wood Boys School, in Birmingham, England, composed of David Hinds , Basil Gabbidon , and Ronald McQueen .-History:...
's Sidney Mills
Sidney Mills
Sidney Mills was born in the UK in 1959 and moved to Jamaica as a child. He was raised in the Saint Thomas Parish and became a musician from an early age he moved to Kingston the late sixties....
, who produced Jamaican percussionist Larry McDonald's album "Dumquestra" released in 2009. Toots' track is called "What about the Children?", a house track with accompanying video shot on location in New York. Toots performed vocals with Iowa
Iowa
Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...
reggae band Public Property
Public Property
Public Property is a play by the English playwright Sam Peter Jackson. It is about a news anchor called Geoffrey Hammond, who gets caught in a public sex scandal....
on their album "Work to Do" in 2009.
Hibbert was also a judge for the 10th annual Independent Music Awards
The Independent Music Awards
The Independent Music Awards is an international program that honors top-ranked independent artists and releases in more than 50 Album, Song, Music Video and Design categories....
to support independent artists' careers.
Hibbert recently collaborated with the Jacksonville, Florida southern rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
/blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
group, JJ Grey & MOFRO. He is featured in their song, The Sweetest Thing, on their new album, Georgia Warhorse.