Toots The Maytals Tickets

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Toots the Maytals
Originally called The Maytals, the Jamaican musical group Toots and the Maytalsis one of the best known ska and reggae vocal groups. Toots the Maytals are characterized distinctly for their sound featuring a unique, original combination of gospel, ska, soul, reggae and rock.

With a total of 31 number one songs, the group holds the current record of number one hit songs in Jamaica. The leader of the group, Frederick Toots Hibbert, was born in May Pen, Clarendon, Jamaica in 1945. Fredrick grew up singing gospel music in a church choir. At the age of thirteen, he relocated to Kingston in 1958.

Toots the Maytals traces its history back in 60s when in Kingston, Hibbert met Henry Raleigh Gordon and Nathaniel Jerry McCarthy. In 1962, the two formed a group whose early recordings were incorrectly attributed to The Flames and The Vikings by Island records in the UK.

They first had chart success recording for producer Clement Coxsone Dodd at Studio One. With musical backing from Dodd's house band, the legendary 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 Wailers moved on to do sessions for Prince Buster. They later began recording with Byron Lee in 1965. The Maytals won the first-ever Jamaican Independence Festival Popular Song Competition with their original song Bam Bam. Around this time, the group has gathered a notable fan-base.

However, their musical career was interrupted in late 1966 when Hibbert was arrested and imprisoned. The band later stated that Hibbert was not arrested for ganja, but while bailing a friend. Following his release from jail towards the end of 1967, the Maytals began working with Chinese-Jamaican producer Leslie Kong.

Toots the Maytals and the Chinese-Jamaican producer collaboration issued a string of hits throughout the late sixties and early seventies. The singles Do the Reggay, released in 1968, was widely credited with coining the word reggae; Pressure Drop, 54-46 the 1969 Jamaica festival's popular song winner, Sweet & Dandy and Monkey Man, the group's first international hit in 1970.

The Maytals won their third Jamaica festival popular song with Pomp & Pride in 1972. The group was also featured in one of reggae's greatest breakthrough events, The Harder They Come. The soundtrack starring Jimmy Cliff, named as one of Vanity Fair's Top 10 Best Soundtracks of all time.

1970s saw Toots the Maytals releasing three best-selling albums produced by Lyn and Chris Blackwell of Island Records. They enjoyed international hits with Funky Kingston in 1973. After a span of 2 years, the Maytals came up with Reggae Got Soul. Following the release of Reggae Got Soul, Toots & The Maytals were invited to tour as the warm-up act for The Who during their North American Tour.

The bands compositions would be given a second airing in 1978-80 during the reggae-punk and ska revival period in the UK. The Specials included Monkey Man on their 1979 debut album and The Clash produced their version of Pressure Drop.

Toots the Maytals also featured in the Bob Marley and the Wailers song, Punky Reggae Party. Having toured throughout the world for many years, the Maytals disbanded in the early 1980s. They reformed in the early 90s and began touring and recording successfully while Sublime recorded cover versions of some Maytals songs in the 1990s as well.

In 2005, Toots the Maytals came up with their full-length album called True Love. The album consisted of re-recorded versions of their classics alongside popular and legendary musicians. Some of these artists were Bonnie Raitt, Willie Nelson, Eric Clapton, and Keith Richards, No Doubt, Ben Harper, The Roots, and Shaggy. True Love successfully managed to afford Grammy Award that year for best reggae album.

The following year, Toots the Maytals recorded a reggae/ska version of Radiohead's Let Down for the tribute album, Radiodread, by the Easy Star All-Stars.

Radiodread featured a complete song for song makeover of the English rock band's album OK Computer into reggae, dub and ska. Toots the Maytals released the album entitled Light Your Light on 27 August 2007.

The album featured re-workings of classics such as Johnny Cool Man as well as new material. Light Your Light was nominated for the Grammy in the category Best Reggae Album.