The 500 - #380 - Funky Kingston - Toots and the Maytals

I was inspired by a podcast called The 500 hosted by Los Angeles-based comedian Josh Adam Meyers. His goal, and mine, is to explore Rolling Stone's 2012 edition of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. 

Album # 380

Album Title: Funky Kingston
Artist: Toots and the Maytals
Genre: Reggae
Recorded: Dynamic Sound Studio (Kingston), Island Studios (London)
Released: April, 1972
My age at release: 6
How familiar was I with it before this week: Not at all
Song I am putting on my Spotify: Time Tough 

This week I have a guest blogger -- Gary, whom I have known for about 20 years. When Frederick "Toots" Hibbert passed away last September, I saw a picture of Gary wearing a face mask appear on my Facebook feed. 

The numbers "54-46" adorned the mask which I recognized as a reference to the 1969 Toots & the Maytals' song 54-46 Was My Number. The lyrics describe Toots' time in prison following a marijuana conviction, and 54-46 refers to his prison number.  

Aware that the Funky Kingston record was coming up on the list, I asked Gary if he was interested in guest blogging. Delightfully, he quickly agreed. So, here's Gary!

"I think the reason Toots resonates so much with the rest of the world is he is just a bad-ass soul singer”

Singer, Songwriter Bonnie Raitt (Who has two records on The 500 List)

Frederick "Toots" Hibbert

A Brief History Of Reggae

After independence from the UK in 1962, Jamaican music production grew at a frenzied pace. For the first time music was freely recorded and widely broadcast by Jamaicans, for Jamaicans. Local labels wanted to present new acts and music to the people without delay and the sound-system culture was born. 

Massive speakers were attached to or transported by trucks providing street-corner dance parties across the island. There was robust competition among artists for the recognition that came with having the best sound-system.

Artists, recording studios and performance venues were integrated within communities. This created a bountiful music-scene in a country celebrating liberation from hundreds of years of colonial rule.

In the 1950s, there was the musical genre of ska, which blended Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz. Musicians in the 1960s slowed the beat and the sound became known as rocksteady, which morphed into reggae –a term coined by Hibbert when he used it in his 1968 hit, Do the Reggay. 

As the economy declined in the 60s and 70s, the subject matter of the songs naturally shifted from the celebration of love and life to socio-political observation, lament and critique.

Frederick "Toots" Hibbert

Hibbert grew up in the countryside in the town of May Pen and learned music in church. His parents were preachers so he learned to sing in the gospel choir. He was orphaned at age 13 and went to live with his brother in the Trenchtown neighbourhood of Kingston, where, according to Hibbert, he was poor but happy.

May Pen (circled in red) on the island of Jamaica

Kingston was also the home of future legends in the reggae world, Peter Tosh, Bunny Wailer and Bob Marley.  However, what set Hibbert apart from his contemporaries was the considerable influence of his favourite American singers, Ray Charles, Wilson Pickett, Elvis Presley, Otis Redding, James Brown and Mahalia Jackson. Consequently, he brought more soul to the microphone. He also delivered on-stage showmanship that was unrivalled by his Jamaican peers.

Hibbert (middle) flanked by the Matthia & Gordon
The original line-up for The Maytals

Toots And The Maytals

In 1962, Hibbert connected with singers Jerry Matthias and Raleigh Gordon to form The Maytals. The union lasted through the ska era, survived their leader’s jail term for marijuana possession, and resulted in some wonderful up-tempo reggae work for producer Leslie Kong.

The first instrumentalist members added to the group were Jackie Jackson on bass, Hux Brown on guitar, Rad Bryan on guitar and Paul Douglas on drums. In 1972, the group was renamed Toots and the Maytals. By this time, not only had they become the biggest act on the island, but also, thanks to signing with Chris Blackwell’s Island Records, they were also international stars.

The Maytals Classic Line-up

The music landscape at the time is accurately depicted in the 1972 cult-favourite film The Harder they Come wherein Toots and the Maytals appeared recording their 1968 hit, Sweet and Dandy. The Maytals' Pressure Drop, also appeared on the celebrated soundtrack.

Soundtrack to The Harder The Come (1972)

While the Wailers (including Bob Marley) and The Maytals both began their careers in 1963, The Maytals were easily the biggest act in Jamaica. However, in the mid-70s, Blackwell opted to promote Marley more, and The Wailers rose to prominence.

Funky Kingston

The first version of Funky Kingston was released in the UK in 1973. In 1975, a revised version of the album was released in the US. It is the one I am reviewing here. This new version kept only three tracks from the Jamaican album, substituting six taken from the follow-up record, In the Dark, including the 1969 single Pressure Drop.

So, what’s so great about this album? 

Even when the subject matter is sad, each song is uplifting and hopeful. The syncopated poly-rhythms set this music apart from all other sounds, creating much more of a groove than the hypnotic afro-beat of the time. The bass-lines are uncommonly melodic phrases that leave ample space for the vocals, guitars, keys and horns. Of course, Toots’ excellence as a singer/songwriter is, at times, overwhelming.


An unlikely opener, Time Tough is a beautiful example of Toots’ status as a hero to the common man. It’s 100% pure headphone candy and easily my favourite. His rich and raspy voice is so genuine that one can’t help but feel how tough time is while rocking to a gloriously uplifting back-beat and bass line. What it may lack in horns, it easily makes up for with angelic female background harmonies. The creative lead guitar accents throughout the song deserve a separate listen with headphones -trust me. Now, don’t take off the headphones! Give the first half another listen and try to predict when the organ shots are coming – I think he sobers up in the second half reliably hitting on the two.

Toots, the son of two preachers, offers some hopeful advice in the last verse:

Can't blame the minister
And you can't blame the preacher
And you can't blame your brother
And you cannot blame your sister
Can't blame your friends
Cuz today is judgement day
And that's why everyone have to pray

The song Funky Kingston appears third. By now we’ve warmed up and understand that these guys are not screwing around. This one most readily supports the inescapable comparisons to Otis Redding. The sax is almost a vocal effect until unleashed at the end. Toots’ voice is almost used as a percussive instrument, but it’s not just his bruising vocal tone, but also the raw energy and unrelenting commitment that so often makes a song a hit. Janice Joplin would really like someone to "take a piece of her heart", Otis Redding genuinely thinks that "tenderness" is in order and yes, Toots can’t stress enough that Kingston is, in fact, "funky."

The song-writing dexterity is striking in Love is Gonna Let Me Down. The first two verses are in a 3-4 waltz with the chorus in the familiar 4-4 time. The sweet reggae beat seems to come in relief in each chorus and wrap its arms around Toots as he sings of love yet to be lost. I hear a nod to Elvis Presley’s I Can’t Help Falling in Love with You in the verse and the guitar solo with hints of Cat Stevens’ The First Cut is the Deepest. They then stealthily slide the last uplifting verse in at 4-4. Makes sense since she walked through the door after all--probably because of the solo. In fact, things got so much better that we get some badass Nashville guitar licks on the last verse and as they fade out. Or, maybe I’m not sober right now.

Perhaps my favourite aspect of the cover of Louie, Louie is the intro which could have come from the STAX vaults. The frosh-week anthem becomes both fiery sermon and dance-til-you-drop marathon. And, thanks to the timely disregard for clear enunciation, the words are even harder to discern than in the Kingsmen's version. 

Funky Kingston -Alternate Cover

If you don’t cherish a groove, skip this paragraph. I won’t mind. Pomp and Pride and Got To Be There are excellent examples of just how big and warm and silky a musical pocket can be. The melodic bass lines are as attention grabbing as the lyrics. I’ve heard that the syncopated bass and ska guitar/keys downbeat at the slower rocksteady pace can mimic the heartbeat subliminally hearkening us to the womb. When I hear this music, it sounds plausible.

Country Road is a delightful surprise the first time you hear it and every time after that. Toots first lets us know that he knows that Ray Charles just covered it but goes on to add a little sauce. Some wonder where this John Denver cover came from, but no Jamaican thinks twice about it. Hibbert, a country boy, certainly could have lived and written every word, but made a few subtle changes. Jackson respectfully adheres to the original finger-picked bass line. At the end, Toots takes us back to his ‘clap-hand’ church roots to underline how deeply spiritual the song is.

I remember my uncle Karl telling me, when I was about ten, that he was a big country music fan and that country was second only to reggae in popularity back home. It was years before I learned that he wasn’t joking. By 1975, there was a long tradition of artists ‘reggaefying’ popular songs. Some of my favorites are; Alton Ellis, John Holt, Marcia Griffiths and the Mighty Diamonds. Of course, one should also know when to say when - as in this example.

Pressure Drop is the last big shot on the album. By 1975 it had been five years since it was a hit in Jamaica and Blackwell added it as a "ringer" of sorts. That aside, it’s a banger for sure, and has been covered by The Specials, the Clash and Robert Palmer. Willie Nelson and Keith Richards have chosen to perform it with the Maytals. 

In an interview in 2016, Hibbert said that Pressure Drop was a song about karmic justice. "It's a song about revenge, but in the form of karma. If you do bad things to innocent people, then bad things will happen to you". As Toots' would say: “Pressure’s gonna drop on you.” 

Even if the pressure has dropped on you, you will always be welcomed at church. The country boy takes us back to his gospel roots with Sailin’ On. One can almost imagine another gospel great, Ray Charles, singing harmony with him. In the black church, this is typical of the sound made by a joyous congregation as the collection plate is passed around.

Rest in peace and thank you, Toots.

Not bad for a guy from an island that can easily fit into Georgian Bay.

Thanks to you Marc. This project brought back some precious memories; watching my parents dance, hanging with my dad as he worked on the car and playing their records and doing a little dance myself -- when nobody was home.