0:00:06 > 0:00:11People say I'm great. I don't think I'm great but they call me great.
0:00:28 > 0:00:31He is the foundation, he is the root.
0:00:31 > 0:00:36One of the artists from Jamaica's first waters.
0:00:36 > 0:00:39It's a combination of everything that makes you who you are.
0:00:39 > 0:00:42He's a great talent a good singer a good writer, good performer.
0:00:42 > 0:00:44Toots got that voice.
0:00:44 > 0:00:48It's totally his and there's no-one else can touch that.
0:00:48 > 0:00:49That is his blessing.
0:00:49 > 0:00:51He's an amazing character.
0:00:51 > 0:00:57He doesn't quite fit into the reggae mould. I mean, he's got a soul thing
0:00:57 > 0:01:02on him. Sometimes I used to think it was Otis Redding singing.
0:01:02 > 0:01:03# Time tough
0:01:03 > 0:01:08# Time tough Everything is out of sight
0:01:08 > 0:01:12# So hot, so hot, so hot
0:01:12 > 0:01:15- # Time tough - Time tough
0:01:15 > 0:01:19# Everything is going higher and higher... #
0:01:19 > 0:01:21He stands up
0:01:21 > 0:01:23with any one of the great, you know,
0:01:23 > 0:01:27with James Brown, Otis Redding, any one of the great American singers.
0:01:27 > 0:01:32I think the reason Toots resonates so much with the rest of the world,
0:01:32 > 0:01:34and especially in America,
0:01:34 > 0:01:37is he is just a badass soul singer.
0:01:37 > 0:01:42# Playing from east to west now I just played from north to south
0:01:42 > 0:01:44# I love black America
0:01:44 > 0:01:48# People keep on asking me for Funky Kinston
0:01:48 > 0:01:51# But I ain't got none... #
0:01:51 > 0:01:55People choose music, music choose some.
0:01:55 > 0:01:57And Toots is one of them music choose.
0:01:57 > 0:02:00There's a light, you know, a light.
0:02:00 > 0:02:05He's like a light and a joyfulness, and a happiness, positive.
0:02:05 > 0:02:10I didn't really stop moving the whole time, I couldn't stop smiling,
0:02:10 > 0:02:13you know, he gets through to you.
0:02:13 > 0:02:15He has an incredible
0:02:15 > 0:02:20energy that projects on stage and an incredible kind of excitement.
0:02:20 > 0:02:23I live to sing,
0:02:23 > 0:02:26because I have to sing.
0:02:26 > 0:02:29# And the reggae got soul Soul, soul, soul, soul
0:02:30 > 0:02:33# And the reggae got soul Soul, soul, soul, soul... #
0:02:44 > 0:02:48I found some words in a British encyclopaedia
0:02:48 > 0:02:51that sum him up that I'd like to share with you.
0:02:51 > 0:02:58"No artist ever painted a broader and truer canvas of daily life in Jamaica than Toots.
0:02:58 > 0:03:06"The full blooded celebrations of Sweet And Dandy, the screaming cry against injustice in 54-46,
0:03:06 > 0:03:10"the harsh strains of ghetto live in Pressure Drop,
0:03:10 > 0:03:14"the sheer exuberance of first love in It's You,
0:03:14 > 0:03:22"the happy companionship of Never You Change, the ever-present threat of violence described in Bam-Bam."
0:03:22 > 0:03:24That's Toots.
0:03:34 > 0:03:38# You got to believe every word I say
0:03:39 > 0:03:43# You got to believe everything I do
0:03:44 > 0:03:47# I said the music is what I've got to give
0:03:47 > 0:03:49# Got to find some way to make it
0:03:49 > 0:03:51# Music is what I've got
0:03:51 > 0:03:57# And want you to come on and Do that funky reggae with me... #
0:03:57 > 0:03:59He sang about his experience.
0:03:59 > 0:04:01He sang about his life.
0:04:01 > 0:04:05You know, everything that's happening in his life.
0:04:05 > 0:04:13And I think that's what made him to be a cut above the rest, you know. Like a Bob Marley.
0:04:13 > 0:04:17He was easily the biggest act in Jamaica,
0:04:17 > 0:04:21right through until, in a way, Bob started to
0:04:21 > 0:04:24catch the attention.
0:04:24 > 0:04:27But up until that point Toots was the biggest.
0:04:27 > 0:04:30And it's not that he dropped out then,
0:04:30 > 0:04:33it was just Bob came and widened it.
0:04:33 > 0:04:38But Toots was the biggest and Toots, here he is today.
0:04:38 > 0:04:42Right, you know, he's still huge. I don't know, there's nobody bigger than Toots today.
0:04:42 > 0:04:48Toots is one of the last living members of the Pantheon of the greats, the immortals,
0:04:48 > 0:04:52the people who were there before there was a there.
0:04:52 > 0:04:58Toots is great, my father is great, all of them great, to me.
0:04:58 > 0:05:01There is none that is higher than another one. More popular, yes.
0:05:01 > 0:05:06But to me, as a youth and as a person that grew up in the music
0:05:06 > 0:05:10and grew up with my father and with Toots, the people they are
0:05:10 > 0:05:17don't lend to that ideology of comparison. You know, that's not who they are.
0:05:17 > 0:05:22So I don't look at them like that, I look at them as who they are,
0:05:22 > 0:05:26and them as players on a football team each playing them role.
0:05:26 > 0:05:32After Jamaica got its independence from Britain,
0:05:32 > 0:05:35it was a sense of celebration,
0:05:35 > 0:05:38even though the masses did not really understood
0:05:38 > 0:05:44what is independence. So the music was very upbeat.
0:05:46 > 0:05:50And it was named ska.
0:05:50 > 0:05:55That is the first time that there was music which was really produced for
0:05:55 > 0:05:58the people, for the simple people in Jamaica.
0:05:58 > 0:06:01At the time, the radio didn't play our music.
0:06:01 > 0:06:05The more affluent people in Jamaica, they would be buying American music.
0:06:05 > 0:06:12In 1962, the biggest selling record in Jamaica, believe it or not, was The Student Prince, by Mario Lanza.
0:06:12 > 0:06:15So you go to a sound system operator
0:06:15 > 0:06:17to get your song recorded.
0:06:17 > 0:06:22The Jamaica sound system was... the speakers,
0:06:22 > 0:06:25the box that the sound comes out of,
0:06:25 > 0:06:30was like six foot tall and three foot wide
0:06:30 > 0:06:34with a lot of heavy speakers in it.
0:06:34 > 0:06:39The sound system is really a forerunner of the disco,
0:06:39 > 0:06:44in that you had a group of very enterprising men who saw
0:06:44 > 0:06:49the need to provide entertainment for the masses on weekends.
0:06:52 > 0:06:54Every Friday, Saturday night,
0:06:54 > 0:06:58you know, on all corners, all over Kingston and the country parts,
0:06:58 > 0:07:01there'd be these sound system dances and that's really how
0:07:01 > 0:07:04the whole music, Jamaican music, emerged, from that.
0:07:04 > 0:07:06It didn't really emerge as...
0:07:08 > 0:07:13in most countries, where music emerged, which was from bands playing in clubs.
0:07:13 > 0:07:15It was sound systems that were playing records.
0:07:40 > 0:07:42# Yeah, baby
0:07:46 > 0:07:47# Push it out, push it out now Push it out, push it out now
0:07:49 > 0:07:50# Push it out, push it out now
0:07:50 > 0:07:51# Push it out, push it out now
0:07:51 > 0:07:53# Push it out, push it out now Push it out, push it out now
0:07:53 > 0:07:55# Push it out, push it out now
0:07:55 > 0:07:58# You don't know You don't know, you don't know... #
0:08:05 > 0:08:07The Maytals, as a group, started in 1963.
0:08:07 > 0:08:12Unlike the Wailers, which had three lead singers capable of writing their own material
0:08:12 > 0:08:17and fronting their own bands, The Maytals didn't seem to have that.
0:08:17 > 0:08:19But they were exquisite together.
0:08:19 > 0:08:22At that time the, The Maytals, which was only three guys -
0:08:22 > 0:08:26Toots, Raleigh and Jerry - they were local heroes, you know?
0:08:29 > 0:08:33I've never heard anything quite like it because there was an energy
0:08:33 > 0:08:37and an excitement to the records which were just extraordinary.
0:08:37 > 0:08:42And they were raw-sounding, raw and exciting.
0:08:42 > 0:08:47- # You're treating me bad - Why you treating me so bad?
0:08:47 > 0:08:51- # You're treating me cruel - Why you treating me so cruel...? #
0:08:51 > 0:08:56Toots' voice is one of, you know, the great musical gifts of our time.
0:08:56 > 0:09:00You know, this is somebody who can't open his mouth
0:09:00 > 0:09:03without doing something interesting.
0:09:03 > 0:09:07Toots was the main man, with that talent, you know,
0:09:07 > 0:09:11doing all the lead singing and writing and you know.
0:09:11 > 0:09:17The other two brothers, they were doing harmonies for most of the songs that Toots were doing,
0:09:17 > 0:09:23but they were very important because it made their contribution in their own little way.
0:09:23 > 0:09:26You know, but Toots will always stand up on his own.
0:09:26 > 0:09:28The thing with Toots is that he's the kind of hero
0:09:28 > 0:09:30of the common man in Jamaica.
0:09:30 > 0:09:32His songs relate to the common man
0:09:32 > 0:09:35and they're simple but brilliant at the same time.
0:09:35 > 0:09:37Like when him and I would go into a restaurant,
0:09:37 > 0:09:39all the people come up and they just want to shake his hand.
0:09:39 > 0:09:41He's like their friend, their brother.
0:09:41 > 0:09:45I grew up in Clarendon, May Pen,
0:09:45 > 0:09:47in Treadlight district.
0:09:50 > 0:09:54And it's five miles from my home to school.
0:09:54 > 0:10:00Every morning, I walk five miles from my home to school.
0:10:03 > 0:10:09You go straight up the road, you get to the first hill, the first hill, and you make a little
0:10:09 > 0:10:17turn, you see a gas place on your left and that's the street, you can stop right there and ask for Toots.
0:10:17 > 0:10:24I grew up knowing that my father has 14 children but I'm the last one.
0:10:24 > 0:10:26Yeah.
0:10:26 > 0:10:33And when there's Christmas time I remember that he always kill two cows,
0:10:33 > 0:10:38two pigs, and give it to neighbours who don't have anything.
0:10:38 > 0:10:44So I grew up loving people, I go to school, I give everyone my lunch money to help other
0:10:44 > 0:10:48people and to kids that don't have any lunch money, I grew up that way.
0:10:48 > 0:10:54So I go doing good things in my government prep school,
0:10:54 > 0:10:58which is so accepted to me in my life.
0:10:58 > 0:11:05# Daddy, tell my mummy for me
0:11:06 > 0:11:14# Won't you tell her now, yeah Tell her that I'm right here
0:11:14 > 0:11:21# I'm longing to see my mummy And the rest of my family
0:11:21 > 0:11:26# I would love to tell my ma how much I love her
0:11:26 > 0:11:31# And I love her till the end of time
0:11:31 > 0:11:35# Once I was away Far, far from my home
0:11:35 > 0:11:38# I didn't know to go back home
0:11:38 > 0:11:41# And one night as I wake up
0:11:42 > 0:11:46# I could see clearly that day was nowhere in sight... #
0:11:49 > 0:11:51I was little, maybe eight, when Mum passed.
0:11:51 > 0:11:59I was about 14, 16, when my father passed.
0:12:06 > 0:12:14But the Lord gave me the power to overcome all those infirmities, that they were on me.
0:12:14 > 0:12:21And having my mum, my daddy in my mind, that if I honoured them,
0:12:21 > 0:12:24my life will be extended.
0:12:24 > 0:12:26I keep on doing that.
0:12:26 > 0:12:30Honour your mum and your father that your days will be long
0:12:30 > 0:12:33upon this land, that they will all god giveth thee.
0:12:35 > 0:12:42God is good. God is great. Let us thank Him for our food, Amen.
0:12:50 > 0:12:55When you go to class you sing about God,
0:12:55 > 0:12:59you recite the Bible before class started.
0:12:59 > 0:13:04It was such a respect to the teachers,
0:13:04 > 0:13:11pupils and everybody in my school, in that class.
0:13:11 > 0:13:17And I grew up listening to these words.
0:13:17 > 0:13:21The gospel is in Daddy, it is who he is.
0:13:21 > 0:13:26When he sings a note, it comes from his soul, his spirit.
0:13:26 > 0:13:27He doesn't just
0:13:27 > 0:13:30sing without meaning.
0:13:30 > 0:13:33He sings with meaning, and that is what the Gospel is all about.
0:13:33 > 0:13:36The Gospel is what
0:13:36 > 0:13:42is in the R&B, is in reggae, is in ska, is in everything, the Gospel.
0:13:42 > 0:13:44You have to make it feel that way.
0:13:44 > 0:13:47And that's how it gets positive.
0:13:47 > 0:13:49# Spiritual healing
0:13:49 > 0:13:54# So good It's good for your bad feeling... #
0:14:02 > 0:14:07It carry the spiritual side of African people, when they were brought here as slaves.
0:14:07 > 0:14:09So that our spirit, our music...
0:14:09 > 0:14:13We can't help it, actually, it's in the gene.
0:14:13 > 0:14:18It's in that gene that all of us who born in Jamaica or come from Jamaica, it's in us.
0:14:18 > 0:14:23The first time I sing is in church, and my parents took me to the church with them.
0:14:23 > 0:14:27It was a clapping church, you know, salvation church.
0:14:27 > 0:14:30And I...
0:14:30 > 0:14:36grew up loving church. We'd sing about good things at all times.
0:14:41 > 0:14:45# Open your heart, so wide
0:14:46 > 0:14:48# Let love come running in
0:14:49 > 0:14:51# Believe me
0:14:51 > 0:14:57# If you have that love in your life... #
0:14:57 > 0:15:00I think that whole tradition
0:15:00 > 0:15:02of the overlap of gospel and soul
0:15:02 > 0:15:05is absolutely the truth in Toots' music.
0:15:05 > 0:15:11When he starts to sing the place lights up so he's a revivalist, to revive you, hey.
0:15:11 > 0:15:12That was the thing.
0:15:12 > 0:15:14# Reggae got soul
0:15:15 > 0:15:17# Got so much soul... #
0:15:19 > 0:15:25You know? That's really a revival, so you could just use a tambourine and you just...
0:15:25 > 0:15:30So that part of the spiritual era, the revival thing,
0:15:30 > 0:15:34with whatever church it was, Toots really had that naturally.
0:15:34 > 0:15:36He's in the Church of Toots.
0:15:36 > 0:15:43I think the first song that I heard, which was so riveting, was in 1963,
0:15:43 > 0:15:46Six And Seven Books Of Moses.
0:15:46 > 0:15:52Which, really, it's a ska tune but it's more a revival tune.
0:15:52 > 0:15:56So you've got that kind of intensity that was typical of Toots.
0:15:56 > 0:16:02# You are Genesis and Exodus
0:16:02 > 0:16:06# Leviticus and Numbers
0:16:06 > 0:16:16# Deuteronomy and Joshua Judges and Ruth
0:16:16 > 0:16:24# For the sixth and seventh books They wrote them all... #
0:16:24 > 0:16:31They are love songs, unto God, and to the people, to the children.
0:16:31 > 0:16:36You know that kind of gospel that the you see in preaching,
0:16:36 > 0:16:38that rejoicefulness in
0:16:38 > 0:16:43what he's saying and that belief, and that want
0:16:43 > 0:16:48to let people hear it and trying to influence what they think.
0:16:48 > 0:16:53# She took my pants Took my shirt, took my pillows too
0:16:53 > 0:16:59# She took my shoes Took my socks, took my, oh
0:16:59 > 0:17:02# Everything that is necessary
0:17:02 > 0:17:10# She's gone with everything Yeah, Celia... #
0:17:10 > 0:17:13When Toots sings he seems to be
0:17:13 > 0:17:15reading from his daily journal.
0:17:15 > 0:17:21It's his diary, it's the story of the people he was raised among out in the country.
0:17:21 > 0:17:26# Oh, Celia, oh Celia, Celia, Celia... #
0:17:32 > 0:17:38Toots does write, you know, what you might consider to be postcards from
0:17:38 > 0:17:41Jamaica, letters from a life lived in a particular place.
0:17:58 > 0:18:00# I got a woman
0:18:00 > 0:18:02# In Trenchtown
0:18:02 > 0:18:04# That's good to me
0:18:04 > 0:18:07# Oh, yeah
0:18:07 > 0:18:09# I got a woman
0:18:09 > 0:18:12# Living in Trenchtown
0:18:12 > 0:18:16# That's good to me Whoa, yeah
0:18:16 > 0:18:19# She gives me money
0:18:19 > 0:18:21# When I'm in need
0:18:21 > 0:18:24# Yeah, she's the kind of
0:18:24 > 0:18:26# Friend I need
0:18:26 > 0:18:28# I got a woman
0:18:28 > 0:18:31# Living in Trenchtown
0:18:31 > 0:18:33# Who's good to me
0:18:33 > 0:18:36# Oh, yeah. #
0:18:36 > 0:18:40I am a country guy, I don't know much about Kingston.
0:18:40 > 0:18:43I know more about the country
0:18:43 > 0:18:47and more about the ghetto,
0:18:47 > 0:18:49but,
0:18:49 > 0:18:53in those days ghetto was happy,
0:18:53 > 0:18:56like Trenchtown.
0:18:56 > 0:18:59So, coming from country
0:18:59 > 0:19:03to live in Trenchtown, it wasn't like this.
0:19:03 > 0:19:10It's changed so much that it's really different.
0:19:10 > 0:19:18This used to be a theatre, it used to be Queen's Theatre, that all of us come and sing at this theatre
0:19:18 > 0:19:20to make our name.
0:19:20 > 0:19:24When I'd just come from country, we'd come to this theatre,
0:19:24 > 0:19:27and it's nice in there, very big.
0:19:29 > 0:19:34This is where, if you have a good summer, you can sing.
0:19:34 > 0:19:41If you get a clap here, people clap down here for you, you will be number one.
0:19:41 > 0:19:44But if you come here and you don't get no clap,
0:19:44 > 0:19:46go back home. Go back
0:19:46 > 0:19:51to your country. Nothing's going to happen for you.
0:19:51 > 0:19:56You got the market here, you get things very cheap here in Redemption Market.
0:19:56 > 0:19:59Oh, Lord,
0:19:59 > 0:20:02a fella family go there man and,
0:20:02 > 0:20:09he have five shillings and you come away with a lot of things, and have money leave in your pocket.
0:20:11 > 0:20:13With five shillings.
0:20:13 > 0:20:15# Yeah, listen
0:20:15 > 0:20:17# Almost heaven
0:20:17 > 0:20:19# West Jamaica
0:20:20 > 0:20:22# True ridge mountains
0:20:22 > 0:20:24# Shining down the river
0:20:26 > 0:20:27# All my friends there
0:20:27 > 0:20:30# Holding on those ridge... #
0:20:30 > 0:20:34Yeah, man. Rastafari.
0:20:36 > 0:20:38# Country roads
0:20:38 > 0:20:40# Take me home
0:20:40 > 0:20:43# To the place
0:20:43 > 0:20:46# I belong
0:20:46 > 0:20:49# West Jamaica
0:20:49 > 0:20:51# My momma
0:20:51 > 0:20:55# Take me home
0:20:55 > 0:20:56# Country roads. #
0:20:56 > 0:21:02I grew up listening to Ray Charles on the radio, Wilson Pickett, ah,
0:21:02 > 0:21:05James Brown,
0:21:05 > 0:21:09Mahalia Jackson, Elvis Presley, um...
0:21:10 > 0:21:13You name it, man, a lot of...
0:21:13 > 0:21:16Otis Redding, a lot of great people.
0:21:17 > 0:21:20# Why I'll say, if you have that loving
0:21:23 > 0:21:26# If you have that loving
0:21:28 > 0:21:32# If you have that loving
0:21:33 > 0:21:37# In your heart
0:21:40 > 0:21:44# You will feel so good
0:21:45 > 0:21:50# You will feel so happy
0:21:51 > 0:21:54# If you have that loving
0:21:55 > 0:21:59# In your heart... #
0:21:59 > 0:22:02Toots was more to me like an
0:22:02 > 0:22:09R&B soul singer. His voice, his approach, was more soulful.
0:22:09 > 0:22:12For me, Toots is a soul singer,
0:22:12 > 0:22:18and in a sense there wasn't a great deal of that going on in reggae.
0:22:18 > 0:22:22He took a quite different approach from the others.
0:22:22 > 0:22:27# You fight against the king You fight against the god
0:22:27 > 0:22:32# You fight against the scripture You fight against yourself
0:22:32 > 0:22:35# I say, you call for a change
0:22:35 > 0:22:37# You call for a change
0:22:37 > 0:22:39# Even right now
0:22:39 > 0:22:42# Come, my brother... #
0:22:42 > 0:22:44When I heard Toots,
0:22:44 > 0:22:46it's right away, it hit me
0:22:46 > 0:22:52right away in my mind, because this kind of music is what I love.
0:22:52 > 0:22:56Probably because Toots was from the country,
0:22:56 > 0:23:00so he was probably known as a country guy,
0:23:00 > 0:23:04and he does things and says things differently.
0:24:03 > 0:24:07The Maytals were the first winners
0:24:08 > 0:24:11of the Jamaica Festival Song Competition.
0:24:11 > 0:24:16The Jamaican Song Festivals really came in in 1966,
0:24:16 > 0:24:20and songs would be entered into a competition,
0:24:20 > 0:24:24and so, you know, Toots won with Bam-Bam in '66.
0:24:27 > 0:24:33Those days, some artists that was taking part in the festival
0:24:33 > 0:24:37bring bus loads of people to cheer for them.
0:24:37 > 0:24:40But I didn't have the money to pay no busload of people.
0:24:40 > 0:24:48But when I sing my song, the people that they bring to cheer them, they cheered me, end up cheering me!
0:24:51 > 0:25:01# Ba-ba, bam bam I-I-I
0:25:01 > 0:25:06# I want you to know That I am the man who
0:25:06 > 0:25:10# Fight for the right Not for the wrong
0:25:11 > 0:25:14# Going there, I'm going there
0:25:16 > 0:25:18# Helping the weak against the strong
0:25:20 > 0:25:28# Soon you will find out the man I'm supposed to be
0:25:28 > 0:25:34# I-I-I... #
0:25:41 > 0:25:47After Toots won the...the first Festival Song Contest,
0:25:47 > 0:25:50he entered again and won with Sweet And Dandy.
0:25:50 > 0:25:56And then he made us enter again and won with Pomps And Pride,
0:25:56 > 0:26:00and then after that he said, "Oh, Lord...let's give somebody else a chance."
0:26:00 > 0:26:05He just had a little...just had a little catchy word or catchy phrase
0:26:05 > 0:26:07that everybody liked.
0:26:07 > 0:26:10Like Sweet And Dandy.
0:26:10 > 0:26:14Sweet And Dandy, where it's this young man and it's his wedding day,
0:26:14 > 0:26:17and he's having the fear of getting married - that's what the song is all about -
0:26:17 > 0:26:21and then he says, you know, his uncle tells him to hold his head up and not act like
0:26:21 > 0:26:24it's not time for his wedding day, and then all the people,
0:26:24 > 0:26:27them dress up in a way to come eat wedding cake.
0:26:27 > 0:26:30You know, it's the whole story of the scene of a marriage.
0:26:30 > 0:26:36He's speaking to issues of love and issues of, you know, going out and expressing yourself.
0:26:36 > 0:26:40I mean, his songs are definitely reflections of his own life,
0:26:40 > 0:26:44and the fact that they're not political is kind of significant.
0:26:44 > 0:26:48He is not what you would call a political singer,
0:26:48 > 0:26:50although a lot of his music has political implications.
0:26:50 > 0:26:55Think of Sweet And Dandy, this kind of randy song about a wedding that hundreds of
0:26:55 > 0:27:00people are crashing, and there's only a little bit of cake and they all want a piece of cake,
0:27:00 > 0:27:05and they all want some cola wine, and the guy has no money, who's putting on
0:27:05 > 0:27:10the wedding, and the groom is, you know, crying in his bedroom.
0:27:10 > 0:27:14It's about the social situation of living in utter and complete
0:27:14 > 0:27:19destitute poverty, and he puts a smile on your face while you're singing about it.
0:27:19 > 0:27:22# One pound ten for the wedding cake
0:27:22 > 0:27:25# And plenty bottle of cola wine
0:27:25 > 0:27:27# All the people Them dress up in a white
0:27:27 > 0:27:30# For go eat out Johnson wedding cake
0:27:30 > 0:27:31# It's no wonder
0:27:31 > 0:27:34# He's a perfect partner
0:27:34 > 0:27:39# While they were dancing in that bar room last night, yeah
0:27:40 > 0:27:44# And they were sweet and dandy Sweet and dandy, sweet and dandy
0:27:44 > 0:27:49# Sweet and dandy, sweet and dandy Sweet and dandy, sweet and dandy
0:27:49 > 0:27:50# All right, dandy
0:27:50 > 0:27:52# Sweet and dandy
0:27:52 > 0:27:55# Sweet and dandy
0:27:55 > 0:27:58# Sweet and dandy... #
0:27:58 > 0:28:02When we started to sing, we don't get no money for our songs.
0:28:02 > 0:28:06None of these so-called producer don't give us any money,
0:28:06 > 0:28:11and they take our work and take it to abroad, and they sell it, and they don't give us no money.
0:28:11 > 0:28:15When we asked them for money, they gave us two shillings, maybe ten shillings.
0:28:15 > 0:28:17We didn't know nothing about royalty.
0:28:17 > 0:28:20I just came out of school, I was about 22, 23, 24.
0:28:23 > 0:28:26I had a wife, I have a little house.
0:28:26 > 0:28:31And I needed money, so I wasn't worrying about that, I just go play,
0:28:31 > 0:28:34get this little purse side, you know, because when I started,
0:28:34 > 0:28:40it's like about £2, that time we used to have pounds, which was about £2.10 a side.
0:28:40 > 0:28:42You weren't even thinking about money.
0:28:42 > 0:28:45You just want your voice to be heard,
0:28:45 > 0:28:49and you just want to express yourselves, because we weren't paid.
0:28:49 > 0:28:53We were just going and just sing, sing, sing, sing every day.
0:28:53 > 0:28:57At the end of the week, we might get maybe a pound or...
0:28:57 > 0:29:04in our daily lives, we would get one patty for lunch in the daytime, and we were so happy.
0:29:04 > 0:29:06And really, as artists, what did we want?
0:29:06 > 0:29:08Just to get your songs recorded.
0:29:08 > 0:29:10The focal thing that we were going on was not
0:29:10 > 0:29:13really the money was the motivation.
0:29:13 > 0:29:19What really was the motivation, to express your artistic quality,
0:29:19 > 0:29:23and the fact that the promoters didn't take care of us, well,
0:29:25 > 0:29:30I prefer to look at the both sides of the situation, not that they were all honest,
0:29:30 > 0:29:36but, you know, they had their difficulties too, but some of them could have done better.
0:29:36 > 0:29:38I was working with Leslie Kong.
0:29:38 > 0:29:41He died now, very good producer.
0:29:41 > 0:29:45And he told me, "Toots, I have a brother and he's very ugly,
0:29:45 > 0:29:49"and I want you to write a song about him."
0:29:49 > 0:29:52I said, "No, Leslie, because he's a big man,
0:29:52 > 0:29:54"I don't want him to hurt me."
0:29:54 > 0:29:56He said, "No, man, he won't hurt you,
0:29:56 > 0:29:59"just write a song about him for me."
0:29:59 > 0:30:03But when I approach him, I say, "Good evening, Mr Fats,"
0:30:03 > 0:30:05and he say, "Hey, Tootsie, how you doing?"
0:30:05 > 0:30:10I say, "Not bad, sir, your brother asked me write a song about you,
0:30:10 > 0:30:14"because he thinks that you are very ugly and everything like that,
0:30:14 > 0:30:16"and I afraid to write it about you."
0:30:16 > 0:30:18And he said, "Go write it, man, go write it."
0:30:18 > 0:30:20# I only heard of you
0:30:20 > 0:30:24# Talking about that big monkey man
0:30:24 > 0:30:27# It's no lie It's no lie... #
0:30:27 > 0:30:32So I write it like this guy is the biggest ugly guy
0:30:32 > 0:30:40and he have a girl that's really pretty and that girl fall in love with him.
0:30:40 > 0:30:44# I see no sign of you I only heard of you
0:30:44 > 0:30:47# Talking about that big monkey man
0:30:47 > 0:30:52# I see no sign of you I only heard of you
0:30:52 > 0:30:55# Me talking about that big monkey man... #
0:30:55 > 0:31:01All of Jamaican rhythms are based on the beat of the human heart.
0:31:01 > 0:31:04It is the tempo that changes,
0:31:04 > 0:31:07so you've got that initial Jamaican rhythm of ska
0:31:07 > 0:31:09that goes, "Ska-ska-ska-ska."
0:31:09 > 0:31:12A ska would be like something played...
0:31:17 > 0:31:21Ska was very up-tempo,
0:31:21 > 0:31:23and also it was all the...
0:31:23 > 0:31:27Pretty much all the musicians who played on ska were jazz musicians.
0:31:27 > 0:31:30When you go to the dance, you have to be showing your legs
0:31:30 > 0:31:33and show your skin and have a lot of energy to dance this music.
0:31:33 > 0:31:37And then ska changed into rock steady.
0:31:37 > 0:31:42For two years, it slows down and has this kind of on-off syncopation.
0:31:48 > 0:31:54Rock steady come, and they slow it down when they can easily hold a lady
0:31:54 > 0:31:58and...you know, do some easy dance, easy rock, easy...
0:31:58 > 0:32:01Wine and...yeah.
0:32:01 > 0:32:03Like Alton Ellis had one.
0:32:03 > 0:32:06# Better get ready
0:32:06 > 0:32:10# Come do rock steady Da-da. #
0:32:10 > 0:32:13Now comes the reggae,
0:32:13 > 0:32:19which is... very close to rock steady, you know.
0:32:19 > 0:32:21Reggae is close to rock steady.
0:32:21 > 0:32:24But now it's like the reggae come again and change the beat,
0:32:24 > 0:32:26so the beat keep on changing.
0:32:26 > 0:32:33The drum and the bass was locked together, and once you have the drum and the bass locked like a oneness,
0:32:33 > 0:32:37that's where you get that heartbeat sound, like a African thing.
0:32:37 > 0:32:40We had one last song to do,
0:32:40 > 0:32:44and Toots said to us, "I'm going to do a song called
0:32:44 > 0:32:46"Do The Reggay, let's Do The Reggay."
0:32:46 > 0:32:52And then he just sat there for couple of seconds, wrote the lyrics,
0:32:52 > 0:32:55and then the chorus was, "Do the reggay,"
0:32:55 > 0:32:57and before you know it,
0:32:57 > 0:33:04he was credited with being the first person to put reggae on record.
0:33:04 > 0:33:06Do The Reggay was the...
0:33:06 > 0:33:11song that make people know what our music called.
0:33:11 > 0:33:13In Jamaica today, Do The Reggay.
0:33:13 > 0:33:16# Oh, yeah
0:33:17 > 0:33:21# Oh, I've got a rich one Yeah
0:33:21 > 0:33:23- # Early this morning - Yeah
0:33:23 > 0:33:27- # And does she really want me? - Yeah
0:33:27 > 0:33:28- # And does she really love me? - Yeah
0:33:28 > 0:33:31- # Does she want to do the reggay? - Yeah
0:33:32 > 0:33:34- # Yeah, with me - Yeah
0:33:34 > 0:33:39# I say come dance with me Let's do this dance right no-ow
0:33:39 > 0:33:42- # Yeah - Is this the new dance?
0:33:43 > 0:33:46# That's going all over the world?
0:33:46 > 0:33:50# You can do me like this I start to do the reggay
0:33:50 > 0:33:52# You do the reggay, you do the reggay
0:33:52 > 0:33:54# You do the reggay, you do the reggay
0:33:54 > 0:33:56# Reggay, reggay, reggay
0:33:56 > 0:33:58# You do the reggay, Reggay, reggay, reggay
0:33:58 > 0:33:59# You do the reggay, yeah.
0:34:11 > 0:34:14# Reggae got soul
0:34:14 > 0:34:17# Got so much soul
0:34:17 > 0:34:20# Reggae got soul
0:34:20 > 0:34:21# Got so much soul
0:34:21 > 0:34:23# One time... #
0:34:23 > 0:34:27I got to the studio, and Toots was sitting there in a room...
0:34:27 > 0:34:31In a chair, and they were playing a track,
0:34:31 > 0:34:37and he wasn't moving an inch, and I figured he was just listening
0:34:37 > 0:34:41to a playback, you know, because I'm watching through the...
0:34:41 > 0:34:45the glass and, er...
0:34:45 > 0:34:48Then the track finished and they, "That's great."
0:34:48 > 0:34:54This was an up-tempo thing and he'd been singing.
0:34:54 > 0:34:58He was actually singing that and he was not moving a muscle.
0:34:58 > 0:35:02You know what a ball of energy he is.
0:35:02 > 0:35:06I realised that he was bringing it all in from the inside.
0:35:06 > 0:35:08He was bringing it all out that way.
0:35:08 > 0:35:12It was quite incredible to watch, I thought, is he sleeping?
0:35:12 > 0:35:14Is he concentrating on something?
0:35:14 > 0:35:17He was actually singing and you couldn't see a muscle move.
0:35:17 > 0:35:22I thought, "Well, baby, that is how he gets that sound."
0:35:22 > 0:35:25# ..Listen to the beat
0:35:25 > 0:35:28# Moving hands and feet Yeah!
0:35:28 > 0:35:32# Rocking by the line Yeah, yeah, yeah
0:35:32 > 0:35:34# Move in time... #
0:35:34 > 0:35:40This music now was more reflective of our inner feelings,
0:35:40 > 0:35:44of our cultural heritage.
0:35:45 > 0:35:48Not just Jamaican culture,
0:35:48 > 0:35:49but beyond Jamaica,
0:35:49 > 0:35:53how we came there, before we came there, what happened.
0:35:53 > 0:35:58Because since the leaders were... our inspiration...
0:35:58 > 0:36:04Our leaders were Marcus Garvey and his Majesty, Emperor Haile Selassie,
0:36:04 > 0:36:07then we started tracing their roots
0:36:07 > 0:36:11and what they were saying and this reflects in the music.
0:36:14 > 0:36:17# Mother can do it Father can do it
0:36:17 > 0:36:19# Moving kind of feels all right
0:36:19 > 0:36:21# It's reggae got soul
0:36:23 > 0:36:24# Got so much soul
0:36:26 > 0:36:27# Reggae got soul
0:36:27 > 0:36:30# Move, young man, move... #
0:36:32 > 0:36:34There was a sense in the early 70s a little bit
0:36:34 > 0:36:36for those of us who grew up in the 60s,
0:36:36 > 0:36:40"Oh, you know, God, the 60s are over.
0:36:40 > 0:36:43"Things are kind of slowing down a little bit.
0:36:43 > 0:36:46"We know who all the greats are now and they're all on stage.
0:36:46 > 0:36:49"Yeah, they're great, but we're used to them."
0:36:49 > 0:36:52Then suddenly it was just like, "Well, wait a second.
0:36:52 > 0:36:54"There's a whole other world of music here,"
0:36:54 > 0:36:57and that's what The Harder They Come accomplished.
0:36:57 > 0:37:00I mean, it just widened your eyes and, you know,
0:37:00 > 0:37:02blew the top of your head off.
0:37:02 > 0:37:03It was very, very exciting.
0:37:03 > 0:37:06The Harder They Come was kind of before Bob Marley.
0:37:06 > 0:37:09Before Bob Marley made it big in America with Catch A Fire.
0:37:09 > 0:37:14What really brought reggae to the world, was The Harder They Come.
0:37:14 > 0:37:17When Chris Blackwell put me into this film
0:37:17 > 0:37:21with Jimmy Cliff, singing long time before me,
0:37:21 > 0:37:25but they make the film like Jimmy just came from country
0:37:25 > 0:37:28and see me singing in the studio.
0:37:28 > 0:37:31That scene in the studio, with Toots singing Sweet And Dandy
0:37:31 > 0:37:32just touched everybody.
0:37:32 > 0:37:35That was the first time people had really seen reggae,
0:37:35 > 0:37:38had seen a reggae band live in a studio performing.
0:37:39 > 0:37:42# Etty in the room a-cry
0:37:42 > 0:37:44# Mama say she must wipe her eye
0:37:44 > 0:37:46# Papa say she no fi-foolish
0:37:46 > 0:37:49# Like she never been to school at all
0:37:49 > 0:37:55# It is no wonder it's a perfect pander
0:37:55 > 0:38:01# While they were dancing in the bar room last night
0:38:01 > 0:38:04# Johnson in the room afraid... #
0:38:04 > 0:38:06That really turned me onto reggae
0:38:06 > 0:38:10and it became a big fad in the Boston area because there's over 300 colleges.
0:38:10 > 0:38:14It probably was happening elsewhere but that was my scene at the time.
0:38:14 > 0:38:16We couldn't get enough of Toots.
0:38:16 > 0:38:20That's the best kind of cinema there is. It's word of mouth,
0:38:20 > 0:38:23it's folk cinema, you know.
0:38:23 > 0:38:27I think if you wanted to know where reggae came from, or what it means,
0:38:27 > 0:38:30you watch that movie and it tells you everything you need to know.
0:38:30 > 0:38:32Pressure Drop, Sweet And Dandy,
0:38:32 > 0:38:36it was like finding another world, like Brigadoon, you know.
0:38:36 > 0:38:40It's just a funky whole new chapter for somebody who likes soul music and rhythm.
0:38:40 > 0:38:43Essentially, that was the birth of reggae here.
0:38:43 > 0:38:46# Johnson in the room afraid
0:38:46 > 0:38:49# Uncle say he must hold up his head
0:38:49 > 0:38:52# Aunty say he no fi-foolish
0:38:52 > 0:38:54# Like a no time fi his wedding day
0:38:54 > 0:39:01# It is no wonder It's a perfect partner
0:39:01 > 0:39:07# While they were dancing in that bar room last night... #
0:39:07 > 0:39:12This film was a milestone to express another area of the world
0:39:12 > 0:39:14that is not just common to Jamaica,
0:39:14 > 0:39:17but something common to the rest of the world.
0:39:17 > 0:39:19So it was a universal expression.
0:39:19 > 0:39:21I don't know who wrote
0:39:21 > 0:39:26that movie but Jimmy Cliff had that thing down pat right there.
0:39:26 > 0:39:30Everything in Harder They Come was real, real, real.
0:39:30 > 0:39:35I was working at Rolling Stone at the time in the offices every day.
0:39:35 > 0:39:38I just kind of holed up and was listening to all my reggae.
0:39:38 > 0:39:44And one day I was walking by somebody else's office and they were playing, like, pop music.
0:39:44 > 0:39:47It just sounded so empty.
0:39:47 > 0:39:53That person is not trying to help me achieve salvation.
0:39:53 > 0:39:57That person is not trying to help me transcend, you know.
0:39:57 > 0:40:02I mean, it sounds corny in a way, but I do believe that in a variety
0:40:02 > 0:40:07of ways reggae music's ambition is somehow not merely to entertain you
0:40:07 > 0:40:11but to change your life
0:40:11 > 0:40:16and make you aware of other worlds.
0:40:16 > 0:40:18# I said pressure drop
0:40:18 > 0:40:20# Oh, pressure drop
0:40:20 > 0:40:23# Pressure gonna drop on you
0:40:23 > 0:40:25# I said pressure drop
0:40:25 > 0:40:27# Oh, pressure drop
0:40:27 > 0:40:29# Pressure gonna drop on you. #
0:40:29 > 0:40:35Pressure Drop...is one of the reality songs.
0:40:35 > 0:40:39Like he's telling you that if you're evil,
0:40:39 > 0:40:41Jah's gonna drop the pressure on you.
0:40:41 > 0:40:43# Pressure gonna drop on you
0:40:43 > 0:40:46# I said pressure drop
0:40:46 > 0:40:50# You gonna feel how it's been doing wrong
0:40:50 > 0:40:54# I said when life gets tough What you gonna do, yeah
0:40:54 > 0:40:57# People tell you things are wrong
0:40:57 > 0:40:59# Mmm-mm-mmm
0:40:59 > 0:41:01# Mmm-mm-mmm
0:41:01 > 0:41:03# Mmm-mm-mmm yeah
0:41:03 > 0:41:05# Mmm-mm-mmm
0:41:05 > 0:41:08# Mmm-mm-mmm
0:41:08 > 0:41:10# Mmm-mm-mmm yeah
0:41:10 > 0:41:12# I say, now, pressure's gonna drop... #
0:41:12 > 0:41:14Chris Blackwell says,
0:41:14 > 0:41:18"Listen, guys, you have been recording with Toots from day one
0:41:18 > 0:41:23"and he's on the verge of breaking into the international market,
0:41:23 > 0:41:25"on the verge, just right here.
0:41:25 > 0:41:28"We need something to push him over the edge.
0:41:28 > 0:41:32"So what we're going to do, you guys who have been recording with him
0:41:32 > 0:41:34"for all these years and all these albums,
0:41:34 > 0:41:39"you are going to now join forces with Raleigh and Jerry
0:41:39 > 0:41:42"and you're all going to be one entity.
0:41:42 > 0:41:44"You're going to be called The Maytals
0:41:44 > 0:41:47"and it's going to be Toots And The Maytals."
0:41:47 > 0:41:53Toots was the writer, Toots was the star, Toots was the singer.
0:41:53 > 0:41:55You never saw anybody but Toots on stage
0:41:55 > 0:41:58because he's so charismatic still to this day.
0:41:58 > 0:42:03And the other two guys were like his pals.
0:42:03 > 0:42:06Blackwell made us The Maytals.
0:42:06 > 0:42:09The first tour we were in LA and we had a meeting,
0:42:09 > 0:42:12and he said this is the way he wanted it,
0:42:12 > 0:42:16you understand. It was Toots and everybody else was The Maytals.
0:42:16 > 0:42:20This is a big point, when people go and see Toots now
0:42:20 > 0:42:24and they hear his songs, it's the same band.
0:42:24 > 0:42:25That's what's incredible.
0:42:25 > 0:42:28So when you hear him, you're hearing the same vibes.
0:42:28 > 0:42:34The same band playing and they've been with Toots for 30 years.
0:42:34 > 0:42:381970 until now,
0:42:38 > 0:42:40we have been together.
0:42:40 > 0:42:42Ooh, that sounds...
0:42:42 > 0:42:45Jesus, that's almost 40 years.
0:42:45 > 0:42:48Ooh, some people doesn't even live to be 40.
0:42:59 > 0:43:01At that same time,
0:43:01 > 0:43:06Chris said, "Toots, I would like you to write a song about Kingston."
0:43:06 > 0:43:08There'd been this huge hit called Funky Nassau
0:43:08 > 0:43:11and I said, "You should do a song called Funky Kingston."
0:43:11 > 0:43:15And I say OK, and I call Jerry and Raleigh
0:43:15 > 0:43:19and we go in the corner and we burn.
0:43:19 > 0:43:21I burn a record, man,
0:43:21 > 0:43:23and we come on saying...
0:43:26 > 0:43:29- # Playing from east to west - East to west
0:43:29 > 0:43:31- # Work from north to south - North to south
0:43:31 > 0:43:35# All over the world People keep on wanting to see
0:43:35 > 0:43:37# Funky Kingston
0:43:37 > 0:43:42# Funky Kingston What I've got for you now
0:43:42 > 0:43:44# Funky Kingston
0:43:44 > 0:43:51- # Somebody take it away from me - Funky Kingston- Funky Kingston
0:43:51 > 0:43:53# Funky Kingston
0:43:53 > 0:43:57- # Funky Kingston, yeah - Funky Kingston
0:43:57 > 0:43:59# Hey, yeah. #
0:43:59 > 0:44:02It's organic.
0:44:02 > 0:44:07It's real. When you hear it, it sound real, you know, and it's true.
0:44:09 > 0:44:12So it exists in a time,
0:44:12 > 0:44:15because that will never be out of style.
0:44:15 > 0:44:20Being true, being organic, committed, that's never out.
0:44:20 > 0:44:22That exists in every time.
0:44:22 > 0:44:27# Beautiful woman Beautiful woman
0:44:27 > 0:44:32# Beautiful woman Beautiful woman
0:44:32 > 0:44:36# Will drive you crazy...
0:44:38 > 0:44:41# Look here! Here come Billy
0:44:41 > 0:44:43# And he's one of her
0:44:43 > 0:44:46# Ugly men...
0:44:46 > 0:44:48# He say, hello, friend
0:44:48 > 0:44:54# Then I went on to tell the story about this beautiful woman
0:44:54 > 0:44:57# That I see... #
0:44:57 > 0:45:00Toots represents a different Jamaica,
0:45:00 > 0:45:03as against the contemporary artists like Buju
0:45:03 > 0:45:06and Beenie Man or Bounty Killer.
0:45:06 > 0:45:10They're coming out of a different social context.
0:45:10 > 0:45:12They're like post-'80s,
0:45:12 > 0:45:17where the society has undergone different social changes.
0:45:17 > 0:45:21# Beautiful woman Beautiful woman
0:45:21 > 0:45:28# Beautiful woman Will drive you crazy... #
0:45:28 > 0:45:30Nowadays, reggae has kind of become very angry
0:45:30 > 0:45:34and all these guys call themself warlords and all that, you know.
0:45:34 > 0:45:37I actually asked Toots how has reggae changed?
0:45:37 > 0:45:39He said, "Big shoes."
0:45:39 > 0:45:41That was his answer. Big shoes.
0:45:41 > 0:45:45And what that really means is his mystical way of saying that it's all just bling now.
0:45:45 > 0:45:48It's all style and no substance, and those great songs
0:45:48 > 0:45:52and the great vibe that he basically dedicated his life to,
0:45:52 > 0:45:55now it's just become ruined by these dance hall lords calling
0:45:55 > 0:45:59themself warlords and just preaching violence.
0:45:59 > 0:46:04The messages are either misogynist or homophobic.
0:46:04 > 0:46:08Um, but it's... where the culture is now.
0:46:08 > 0:46:13Don't be prejudice, just be good and be humble
0:46:13 > 0:46:18and so that you can be strong, because
0:46:18 > 0:46:19if you don't do that...
0:46:21 > 0:46:24..it going to change the world to be a worse place.
0:46:24 > 0:46:29# You said that the day would never come
0:46:29 > 0:46:33# When you would walk out and leave me
0:46:33 > 0:46:40# That's because true love is hard to find I believe
0:46:40 > 0:46:44# True love is hard to find
0:46:44 > 0:46:46# Everyone should know that
0:46:46 > 0:46:49# True love is hard to find
0:46:49 > 0:46:52- # Hard to find - Hard to find
0:46:52 > 0:46:55# Hard to find... #
0:46:55 > 0:46:59He's speaking directly to somebody about how you say that your love is just for me.
0:46:59 > 0:47:05I just love how, um, vulnerable and how direct he is, you know.
0:47:05 > 0:47:06He's just...
0:47:06 > 0:47:08He doesn't analyse his lyrics.
0:47:08 > 0:47:12He just speaks the way he would directly from his heart.
0:47:12 > 0:47:16It's an interesting way that he puts things which is refreshing.
0:47:16 > 0:47:19It's completely different than what I've ever heard.
0:47:19 > 0:47:25I always sing something about that, but not in the politics way,
0:47:25 > 0:47:32in my own way which is a loving way and a way that I could get blessing
0:47:32 > 0:47:34instead of curse.
0:47:34 > 0:47:36# Saying I'm a fool to hurt myself
0:47:36 > 0:47:39# I was innocent what they done to me
0:47:39 > 0:47:42# They were wrong Yeah, yeah
0:47:42 > 0:47:43# They were wrong
0:47:43 > 0:47:46- # Give it to me One time - Uh!
0:47:46 > 0:47:49- # Give it to me Two time - Uh! Uh!
0:47:49 > 0:47:52- # Give it to me Three time - Uh! Uh! Uh!
0:47:52 > 0:47:55- # Give it to me every time - Uh! Uh! Uh! Uh!
0:47:55 > 0:47:59# 54-46 was my number
0:47:59 > 0:48:03# 54-46 was my number
0:48:03 > 0:48:09# One more time 54-46 was my number
0:48:09 > 0:48:10- # Everybody say yeah - Yeah
0:48:10 > 0:48:16- # Say yeah, yay - Yeah, yay
0:48:16 > 0:48:19- # Go yeah - Yeah
0:48:19 > 0:48:22- # Yeah, yay - Yeah, yay
0:48:22 > 0:48:23# Give it to me one time
0:48:23 > 0:48:26# Give it to me two time
0:48:26 > 0:48:29# Give it to me three time
0:48:29 > 0:48:34# Give it to me seven time... #
0:48:34 > 0:48:36You could do any of Toots's songs as a slow song,
0:48:36 > 0:48:38you could do them as a rock song.
0:48:38 > 0:48:43However you do it, just the melody, the verse, the chorus, the middle eight, are so strong,
0:48:43 > 0:48:46and that's why everybody was dying to be on the classic Grammy-winning
0:48:46 > 0:48:49album, which is True Love, Toots's album that won a Grammy.
0:49:00 > 0:49:04True Love is one of those albums that I think, in many ways,
0:49:04 > 0:49:05is summed up by its title.
0:49:05 > 0:49:09The idea that this incredible range of musicians
0:49:09 > 0:49:13all have felt the impact of Toots and would perform
0:49:13 > 0:49:19on one of his records conveys something important about what he has accomplished.
0:49:19 > 0:49:26# Soon you will find out the man I'm supposed to be
0:49:30 > 0:49:36# Ah-ahhh Ah-ahhh Ah-ahhh
0:49:49 > 0:49:52# Don't trouble no man
0:49:55 > 0:49:57# And if you should trouble this man... #
0:50:04 > 0:50:06When we asked them to do it,
0:50:06 > 0:50:10each one of them said yes, they will do it.
0:50:10 > 0:50:14Each one of them pick their own songs.
0:50:14 > 0:50:19And when I did it, they kept trying to get me to ad lib, you know.
0:50:19 > 0:50:22Ad lib vocal, ad libs. I couldn't do it. I couldn't.
0:50:22 > 0:50:26When I listen to it now, I can't hear my voice because I did my best
0:50:26 > 0:50:30to get in underneath Toots and just sing along with him rather than...
0:50:30 > 0:50:33They were going, "Can't you sing something around it?"
0:50:33 > 0:50:34I can't do that.
0:50:34 > 0:50:36How dare I, you know?
0:50:36 > 0:50:39Can't muck around with that stuff, it's too good.
0:50:39 > 0:50:42It's always an interesting choice of material.
0:50:42 > 0:50:45He's always been willing to move a little,
0:50:45 > 0:50:52this way and that. But at the same time, paradoxically, he's very traditional somehow.
0:50:52 > 0:50:56Somehow he manages to move between those two areas
0:50:56 > 0:51:02and still retain the integrity of what he does.
0:51:02 > 0:51:03It was the right album.
0:51:03 > 0:51:08I mean, here he was doing duets with a lot of really well-known fans of his who were also stars.
0:51:08 > 0:51:13So they called me up and asked, and I think I was on tour.
0:51:13 > 0:51:16We fit in some days off and went in the studio.
0:51:16 > 0:51:20I got to record with his band, who are some of the greatest musicians.
0:51:20 > 0:51:23That was one of the highlights of my life.
0:51:23 > 0:51:26# True love is hard to find
0:51:26 > 0:51:30- # Hard to find - Hard to find
0:51:30 > 0:51:33- # Hard to find - Hard to find
0:51:33 > 0:51:35- # I say true love - True love
0:51:35 > 0:51:37- # True love - True love
0:51:37 > 0:51:41# True love is hard to find... #
0:51:41 > 0:51:44Toots was in the peak of my young adulthood.
0:51:44 > 0:51:46He was my soul guy, you know.
0:51:46 > 0:51:50On stage, he had charisma and command of the band
0:51:50 > 0:51:53and of the audience's dynamics.
0:51:53 > 0:51:57Tremendous physicality and sexuality, so I was like,
0:51:57 > 0:51:59you know, you are mighty.
0:51:59 > 0:52:03This is Toots and there's no mistaking it.
0:52:03 > 0:52:05He puts his own stamp on anything,
0:52:05 > 0:52:07which is difficult to do that many years after.
0:52:07 > 0:52:13I mean, we're talking, like me, a veteran here!
0:52:13 > 0:52:16He's a performer.
0:52:16 > 0:52:18He performs on stage.
0:52:18 > 0:52:25He sings, he dances, he plays a couple of instruments.
0:52:25 > 0:52:28He conducts, he...
0:52:28 > 0:52:30raps with his audience.
0:52:30 > 0:52:36He does so many things that after the first song,
0:52:36 > 0:52:40you say, "Jesus, what is going to happen in the second song?"
0:52:40 > 0:52:46After the second song, you don't even want to go to the rest room.
0:52:46 > 0:52:48You are afraid that you might miss something.
0:52:48 > 0:52:53MUSIC: "Monkey Man"
0:53:18 > 0:53:22You don't go to see Toots Hibbert so much as attending a show,
0:53:22 > 0:53:24as to having a party with him.
0:53:32 > 0:53:35He doesn't disappoint. There are many occasions
0:53:35 > 0:53:39where you hear a record of someone and then you go and see them
0:53:39 > 0:53:42ten years later and it's a little bit of a let-down.
0:53:42 > 0:53:44Toots is not.
0:53:44 > 0:53:48Toots gives his everything to the audience, you can just see that.
0:53:48 > 0:53:53He never, quote, phones it in. Never, never, never.
0:53:53 > 0:53:55When you see Toots on stage,
0:53:55 > 0:54:00it's like a volcano exploding with rhythm, you know.
0:54:00 > 0:54:03So Toots is just music to me.
0:54:03 > 0:54:08I happen to know that Toots' audience is quite a good mixture.
0:54:08 > 0:54:11Starts in kindergarten to the home for the age.
0:54:11 > 0:54:13THEY SING
0:54:20 > 0:54:25When you go to a Toots show, you see just hundreds and hundreds of teenagers going crazy.
0:54:25 > 0:54:29Their parents weren't even born when Toots started, you know.
0:54:38 > 0:54:42His energy was unbelievable and he had everybody on stage.
0:54:42 > 0:54:47He got all the audience up with him, dancing.
0:54:47 > 0:54:49I would never allow that in my show.
0:54:49 > 0:54:53I just thought this guy is something else!
0:54:53 > 0:54:55MUSIC: "Monkey Man"
0:55:06 > 0:55:08You want to come to the show.
0:55:08 > 0:55:11It's an honour just being there and seeing this man
0:55:11 > 0:55:13look like he's 16 years old still.
0:55:13 > 0:55:17I look older than him, I think.
0:55:17 > 0:55:21Well, Daddy is like...
0:55:21 > 0:55:23a child, you know.
0:55:23 > 0:55:26He appeals to them in that way.
0:55:26 > 0:55:30Whenever he's on stage, he gets everybody's cooperation.
0:55:30 > 0:55:34He includes you in the performance.
0:55:34 > 0:55:36- # Yeah - Yeah
0:55:36 > 0:55:38- # Yeah - Yeah
0:55:38 > 0:55:41- # Yeah - Yeah
0:55:41 > 0:55:43- # Wanna get higher - Yeah
0:55:43 > 0:55:45- # You wanna get higher? - Yeah
0:55:45 > 0:55:47- # You wanna get higher? - Yeah
0:55:47 > 0:55:50- # You wanna get higher? - Yeah
0:55:50 > 0:55:52- # Wanna get higher - Yeah
0:55:52 > 0:55:54- # Higher - Higher
0:55:54 > 0:55:56- # Higher - Higher... #
0:55:56 > 0:55:59The fact that Toots has resonance with young people,
0:55:59 > 0:56:04means he'll have resonance for the next 25 years of my life.
0:56:04 > 0:56:07I get to see people fall in love with him again and that's good news for me.
0:56:07 > 0:56:12As long as Toots is doing OK, we've got a music business I can stand.
0:56:18 > 0:56:20I can't switch it off.
0:56:20 > 0:56:23He just gets my ear, holds it.
0:56:23 > 0:56:27From the moment Toots take the mic, it's like you plug him in our electrics.
0:56:27 > 0:56:29That's the Energiser Bunny.
0:56:29 > 0:56:32Toots is the only man I know don't sing with the mic here.
0:56:32 > 0:56:36He sing with it down here and you hear him clear still, you know.
0:56:41 > 0:56:42# Oh, pressure drop
0:56:42 > 0:56:45# Oh, pressure drop
0:56:45 > 0:56:47# Oh, yeah Pressure gonna drop on you. #
0:56:47 > 0:56:48If you come every night,
0:56:48 > 0:56:53you will hear the same song but you will see a different performance.
0:56:53 > 0:56:58And that is what sets him apart from all the other guys.
0:57:02 > 0:57:07He goes on stage and he portrays what he's feeling
0:57:07 > 0:57:10that night into his voice.
0:57:10 > 0:57:14You have to have the goods to become a star of his magnitude.
0:57:14 > 0:57:15He's just a soulful performer.
0:57:15 > 0:57:18I admire him a lot.
0:57:20 > 0:57:24He's a great talent, a good singer, a good writer, a good performer.
0:57:24 > 0:57:29The music that he plays regenerates the audience.
0:57:31 > 0:57:32# I said pressure,
0:57:32 > 0:57:34# Pressure, pressure, pressure
0:57:34 > 0:57:37# Pressure gonna drop on you... #
0:57:37 > 0:57:42When I think about Toots, you know, I think about conviction.
0:57:42 > 0:57:48I think about the power that he brings to every single performance.
0:57:48 > 0:57:53The level of intensity is still the same and it's inspiring.
0:57:53 > 0:57:57There are certain things which you know will always just knock your head off.
0:57:57 > 0:57:59You get what you're expecting to get.
0:57:59 > 0:58:02He just stands head and shoulders and he's got that.
0:58:02 > 0:58:06# I said pressure drop Pressure drop
0:58:06 > 0:58:08# Pressure gonna drop on you
0:58:08 > 0:58:11I think he's still the best.
0:58:12 > 0:58:16I think he'll be the best until he decide to give it up.
0:58:16 > 0:58:19I don't see nobody doing it like what Toots is doing now.
0:58:20 > 0:58:22Truth.
0:58:22 > 0:58:24We don't want Toots to go anywhere.
0:58:24 > 0:58:27Want him stay right where he is and keep doing what he's doing.
0:58:27 > 0:58:30# Drop, drop, drop, drop, drop
0:58:30 > 0:58:33# Pressure gonna drop on you
0:58:33 > 0:58:37# Drop, drop, drop, drop, drop
0:58:37 > 0:58:39# Pressure gonna drop on you
0:58:40 > 0:58:42# Oh, yeah! #
0:58:43 > 0:58:47Oh, man, when you think of him, can you even stop smiling?
0:58:49 > 0:58:50You happy now?
0:58:58 > 0:59:01Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:59:01 > 0:59:04Email subtitling@bbc.co.uk