Toots and the Maytals

Formation and early success

Frederick "Toots" Hibbert, the frontman of the group, was born in May Pen, Clarendon, Jamaica, in 1945, the youngest of seven children. He grew up singing gospel music in a church choir and moved to Kingston in the late 1950s.

The Maytals

Hibbert met Henry "Raleigh" Gordon and Nathaniel "Jerry" Mathias in Kingston in 1962 and formed "The Maytals" as a vocal trio, a group whose early recordings were incorrectly attributed to "The Flames" and "The Vikings" in the UK by Island Records. The first instrumentalist members added to the group included Jackie Jackson, Hux Brown, Rad Bryan and Paul Douglas. The group changed its name from "the Maytals" to "Toots and the Maytals", with "Toots" referring to frontman Toots Hibbert, and "The Maytals" referring to the group’s instrumentalists and background vocalists. In November 2016, Jackie Jackson described the formation of the group in a radio interview for Kool 97 FM Jamaica. Accompanied by Paul Douglas and Radcliffe "Dougie" Bryan in studio, Jackson explained,

“We’re all original members of Toots and the Maytals band. First it was Toots and the Maytals, three guys: Toots, Raleigh, and Jerry. …And then they were signed to Island Records, Chris Blackwell. And we were their recording band. One day we were summoned to Chris’ house. And he says, “Alright gentleman, I think it’s time. This Toots and the Maytals looks like it’s going to be a big thing”. By this time he had already signed Bob (Marley). So in his camp, Island Records, there was Toots and the Maytals / Bob Marley; we were talking about reggae is going international now. We kept on meeting and he (Blackwell) decided that the backing band that back all of the songs, the recording band, should be the Maytals band. So everything came under Toots and the Maytals. So we became Maytals also. And then we hit the road in 1975...we were the opening act for the Eagles, Linda Ronstadt, and Jackson Browne. We were the opening act for The Who for about two weeks.”

The 1960s

The Maytals first had chart success recording for producer Clement "Coxsone" Dodd at Studio One. With musical backing from Dodd's house band, the Skatalites, the Maytals' close-harmony gospel singing ensured success, overshadowing Dodd's other up-and-coming vocal group, the Wailers. After staying at Studio One for about two years, the group moved on to do sessions for Prince Buster before recording with Byron Lee in 1966. With Lee, the Maytals won the first-ever Jamaican Independence Festival Popular Song Competition with their original song "Bam Bam" (later covered in a Dancehall style by Sister Nancy, and also by Yellowman in 1982). The group's musical career was interrupted in late 1966 when Hibbert was jailed for 18 months for possession of marijuana. He stated that he was not arrested for ganja, but while bailing a friend. Hibbert reportedly wrote "54-46 That's My Number" about his time in jail.

Following Hibbert's release in 1967, the Maytals began working with the Chinese Jamaican producer Leslie Kong, a collaboration which yielded a string of hits throughout the late 1960s and early 1970s. These included "Do the Reggay", released in 1968, which was the first song to first use the word "reggae" and gave the developing genre its name.

Reggae is listed in the dictionary as:

reggae [reg-ey] (noun) - a style of Jamaican popular music blending blues, calypso, and rock-'n'-roll, characterized by a strong syncopated rhythm and lyrics of social protest. Origin of reggae: Jamaican English, respelling of reggay (introduced in the song “Do the Reggay” (1968) by Frederick “Toots” Hibbert)

The Maytals are responsible for some of the biggest hits in reggae history, including "Pressure Drop," "Sweet And Dandy" and "54-46 (That's My Number)," the winner of the 1969 Jamaican Independence Festival Popular Song Competition.

The 1970s

In 1970 "Monkey Man", became the group's first international hit. By 1971, they signed a recording contract with Chris Blackwell's Island Records, become the biggest act on the island, and had become international stars.

In 1972 the group won the Jamaican Independence Festival Popular Song Competition for a third time with "Pomps and Pride". The group was also featured twice in the soundtrack to The Harder They Come, the 1972 film starring Jimmy Cliff, named as one of Vanity Fairs Top 10 soundtracks of all time.

After Kong's death in 1971, the group continued to record with Kong's former sound engineer, Warrick Lyn. Their re-instated producer Byron Lee renamed them Toots & the Maytals. The group released three best-selling albums produced by Lyn and Blackwell of Island Records, and enjoyed international hits with Funky Kingston in 1973 and Reggae Got Soul in 1975. Music critic Lester Bangs described the album Funky Kingston in Stereo Review as “perfection, the most exciting and diversified set of reggae tunes by a single artist yet released.” Chris Blackwell had a strong commitment to Toots and the Maytals, saying “I’ve known Toots longer than anybody – much longer than Bob (Bob Marley). Toots is one of the purest human beings I’ve met in my life, pure almost to a fault.”

On 1 October 1975, Toots and the Maytals were broadcast live on KMET-FM as they performed at The Roxy Theatre in Los Angeles. This broadcast was re-mastered and released as an album entitled “Sailin’ On” via Klondike Records.

Following the release of Reggae Got Soul, Toots & the Maytals were invited to tour as the opening act for the Who during their 1975-76 North American tour.

Toots and the Maytals' compositions experienced a resurgence of popularity in 1978-80 during the reggae punk and ska revival period in the UK, when the Specials covered "Monkey Man" on their 1979 debut album and the Clash covered the group's hit "Pressure Drop". During this period Toots and the Maytals were also included in the lyrics to Bob Marley & the Wailers song, "Punky Reggae Party": "The Wailers will be there, the Damned, the Jam, the Clash, the Maytals will be there, Dr. Feelgood too".

Guinness Book of World Records

On 29 September 1980, the band recorded, pressed and distributed a new album (Toots Live) to the record shops all in the space of 24 hours in an attempt to make the Guinness Book of World Records. A live concert was recorded on reels of 2-inch, 24-track analog tape, then rushed by van to sound engineers. After a running order was determined, the record label was quickly designed and sent to the printers. The album masters, labels and the outer covers were then separately sped to the Gedmel factory near Leicester, and the finished product was assembled and delivered to Coventry, where the band was playing the next day, successfully meeting the 24-hour deadline. Due to record label oversight, the achievement was not successfully registered with the Guinness Book of World Records. Island Records' Rob Bell was quoted as saying, "Unfortunately, the record was not included in the Guinness book, because they required prior notification that the event was going to take place, and no one at Island had informed them of the project!" The record for "fastest album release" was not officially held in the Guinness Book of World Records until 28 years later when Vollgas Kompanie claimed the honor in 2008 for recording and releasing their album "Live" in 24 hours - matching the time interval in which Toots and the Maytals recorded, pressed and distributedToots Live in 1980.

The group split up after releasing the 1981 album Knockout. In 1982, Toots & the Maytals' "Beautiful Woman", reached number one in New Zealand.

Hibbert continued to record as a solo artist throughout the 1980s.

1990s

In the early 1990s a new lineup of the Maytals was formed and the group continued touring and recording successfully, with two appearances at Reggae Sunsplash in the mid-1990s.

2000s

In 2004, the group released True Love, an album of re-recorded versions of their earlier hits in collaboration with fellow musicians including Bonnie Raitt, Willie Nelson, Eric Clapton, Keith Richards, Trey Anastasio, No Doubt, Ben Harper, the Roots, and Shaggy. The True Love album won the Grammy Award that year for best reggae album.

In 2006, they recorded a reggae/ska version of Radiohead's "Let Down" for the tribute album, Radiodread. The album was a song for song makeover of the English rock band's album OK Computer into reggae, dub and ska. In August 2007 Toots & the Maytals released Light Your Light, which featured re-workings of older songs such as "Johnny Cool Man", as well as new material. The album was nominated in 2008 for a Grammy in the best reggae album category.

Toots & the Maytals hold the current record of number one hits in Jamaica, with a total of thirty-one.

In March 2009 it was announced that Toots & the Maytals would be performing alongside Amy Winehouse, for their shared record label Island Records' 50th anniversary. Winehouse had covered the band's "Monkey Man", and the act were supposed to perform with her at the Shepherds Bush Empire in London on 31 May 2009. However, Winehouse's performance was cancelled, and Toots & the Maytals instead played at the more intimate Bush Hall to a sell-out crowd.

2010s

In 2011, Director George Scott and Producer Nick De Grunwald released the documentary “Reggae Got Soul: The Story of Toots and the Maytals” which was featured on BBC. Described as “The untold story of one of the most influential artists ever to come out of Jamaica”, it features appearances by Marcia Griffiths, Jimmy Cliff, Bonnie Raitt, Eric Clapton, Keith Richards, Willie Nelson, Anthony DeCurtis, Ziggy Marley, Chris Blackwell, Paolo Nutini, Sly Dunbar, and Robbie Shakespeare.

The 2012 live album Unplugged on Strawberry Hill gained Hibbert his fifth Grammy nomination.

In May 2013, Hibbert was struck in the head with a 1.75-liter vodka bottle while performing onstage at a Richmond, Virginia, festival. His injuries resulted in a concussion and treatment required six staples in his head. After the injury, the singer canceled all subsequent performances, citing fear of his audience and no longer feeling safe performing.

In 2016 Toots and the Maytals announced a return to the stage with their first tour in 3 years, and on June 15 at The Observatory North Park in San Diego the group returned to the stage for the first time since 2013.

Toots and the Maytals have been cited as inspiration for other music artists when it comes to career longevity. Jamaican artist Sean Paul explains this by saying, “I’ve seen some great people in my industry, you know, people like Toots…Toots and the Maytals. Toots he’s a great reggae artist and he’s still doing it…He’s up there in years and he’s doing it. Those kind of artists inspire me. I know I’m just going to keep on doing music as long as I can.”

Awards, Recognition and Accolades

Studio albums

Selected live albums

Selected compilation albums

Other contributions