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It was a time wherein Rastas could not freely walk
in the streets, as they would be persecuted by
police. Times of severe downpression, a Great
Tribulation. Tommy Mc Cook tells about it. Rasta's
took the Biblical warning to go to the hills and
it would take a long time before some of them
would finally break some of that tribulation.
The Power of Music, or: Ranking Sounds!
Tommy Mc Cook tells the story in word and
sound, showing how the beat went down in tempo
from Ska to Rock-Steady to Reggae. We also see the
full Skatalites band in the Studio as they play
the Music into the recorder.
But it was not just the bands who were
influential in shaping the music. The Sound
Systems were equally, even more important, as they
would play the recorded music directly for the
people.
Duke Reid was one of them, a former police
officer whose widow tells us all about what happened
back then. Nuff things: Duke Reid carried a gun,
protecting his music and equipment.
The art of Toasting came out of that particular
time in the 1960's as well. It was U Roy who first
recorded it, but Count Machuki is said to have
been the first to do it. He is featured in the
second hour of Deep Roots, explaining where his
style is coming from.
Next to the Count is Lord Comic. He does not
always agree with what is said, and he says so,
too. The tune in question is "My Boy
Lollipop", which was a great Hit in the UK in
1964. We see a recording from the time, in extreme
up-tempo.
As an answer to the question what the original
DJ thinks about Reggae DJing in the time that the
video was recorded, he says that the biggest
difference is that "they now have to find a
thing called lyrics". After that, we see a
young U Roy in session.
Back to Lord Comic and Count Machuki. They
boldly take the microphone and start to chant over
the music that was hot in the days the video was
shot. The styles of these original Ska DJ's become
apparent in an entertaining session full of
Comical scenery.
Not everything was comical in the days of the
early Sound Systems. The police had their hands
full, as well as the several posses that
accompanied the different Sound Systems. War and Rumors
of War? This is not so uncommon in Jamaica, where
sufferation is the order of the day as we see in
the video.
For the remainder of this 2nd hour, We see Jack
Ruby and his Sound, too. The music has become Rub
a Dub style, the technology is further, the DJ's
chant it up, the people dance: some things change,
some things don't.
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