Friday, February 25, 2011

Let me hear you say, "Toots, Roots, n Boots!"

Before there was Michael Franti and Spearhead, there was Toots and the Maytals. If you like Franti & Spearhead, then you'll love Toots.

For those that don't know Toots Hibbert he comes from a long line of successful reggae ska performer from Jamaica. Much like others from his time, Peter Tosh and some guy named Bob Marley, Toots helped bring the ska reggae sound to the forefront and in my opinion he is regarded as one of it's pioneers.

The 2004 release of True Love allowed the Maytals to go back in time and re-record many of their classics with some famous stars of today.

I picked up this demo in my days at Wherehouse Music and have loved it ever since. Now I won't go through every track as in previous posts because this entire record is filled with groovy upbeat reggae tunes that keep you going tune after tune. Therefore this post will be short. I highly recommend that every music lover own this disc in some form or fashion. I myself will be converting this over to mp3 format because I no longer have the need to keep this in hard copy. However once I do so, my wife wants the CD for her car. That's ok in my book and it's not breaking any of the rules. Just check out this track list and the performers that accompany the Maytals and you'll be sure to get this one yourself:
#NameFeatured guest(s)Time
1"Still Is Still Moving to Me"Willie Nelson3:11
2"True Love Is Hard to Find"Bonnie Raitt4:27
3"Pressure Drop"Eric Clapton2:57
4"Time Tough"Ryan Adams3:23
5"Bam Bam"Shaggy & Rahzel3:46
6"54-46 Was My Number"Jeff Beck4:40
7"Monkey Man"No Doubt3:39
8"Sweet and Dandy"Trey Anastasio3:17
9"Funky Kingston"Bootsy Collins & The Roots4:06
10"Reggae Got Soul"Ken Boothe & Marcia Griffiths2:58
11"Never Grow Old"Terry Hall, The Skatalites & U-Roy3:27
12"Take a Trip"Bunny Wailer3:57
13"Love Gonna Walk Out On Me"Ben Harper3:33
14"Careless Ethiopians"Keith Richards3:20
15"Blame On Me"Rachel Yamagata3:57
16"Merry Blues"Manu Chao3:49
17"Reggae Got Soul"Gentleman2:54

So many great collaborations on this one. It's also a great chance for folks to get familiar with Willie Nelson singing reggae if you didn't know.
I leave you with video samples from the original versions of the hits listed above.








This is just a taste and in no way does justice to all of the great songs on this release.
Just buy it why don't you.

"Reggae got soul"- Toots Hibbert

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