Pressure Drop chronicles reggae's most tumultuous and influential decade. Beginning in 1970 and unfolding across the world, reggae flourished against a backdrop of political upheaval, gang warfare, Black Nationalism, racial and class discrimination and grinding poverty.

The music that developed as rocksteady and early reggae gave birth to deejays, dub, rockers, lovers rock, early dancehall and 2 Tone was by turns brutal and revelatory.

Including an extensive analysis of the decade's major singles and albums, Pressure Drop includes eyewitness accounts and experiences of the decade from the likes of Burning Spear, Chris Blackwell, Gregory Isaacs, Bunny Wailer, Jimmy Cliff, Black Uhuru, U-Roy, Lee 'Scratch' Perry, Augustus Pablo, Toots and the Maytals, Desmond Dekker, Sly & Robbie, Dennis Bovell, Don Letts and members of the Specials, as well as first-hand anecdotes of Bob Marley and Peter Tosh.

Combining the energy and vibrancy of vernacular Jamaican art with the cultural insight that only original ephemera can bring, the flyers and posters collected in this book are testament to the creativity and spirit behind one of the most influential and enduring cultures in contemporary music.

Originating in Jamaica in the late 1970s, dancehall music is a club-friendly offshoot of reggae. The genre initially found particular resonance in the Jamaican diaspora and defined the soundsystem cultures that rose to prominence in New York and London in the 1980s and 1990s, which would influence the origins of hip hop. In much the same way that graffiti and paste-ups would for hip hop, the unique style of the artwork, coloring, and lettering of handmade flyers for dancehall nights became a visual language of the culture.

Drawing on unrivaled private collections from Jamaica, London, New York, and Tokyo, this book is a window onto the colorful and effervescent world of dancehall--at once celebrating the ingenuity and beauty of the DIY flyers themselves, and chronicling the evolution of DJs, records, and venues that made the genre into the musical and cultural phenomenon that continues to captivate audiences to this day.

Lee Jaffe is a cross-disciplinary visual artist, musician and poet whose photographs highlight the Wailers featuring Bob Marley, Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer during the last three years that they performed together. Jaffe and Marley first met in the New York hotel room of Traffic drummer and songwriter Jim Capaldi, starting a close creative partnership and friendship with the reggae legend. He lived with Marley at 56 Hope Road in Jamaica for three years, and was a participant in the international emergence of reggae music. He became a member of the band, performing on stage and in the studio with Marley, as well as working with Peter Tosh, producing his iconic debut album, Legalize It. He later produced records for seminal Jamaican acts including Joe Higgs, Wailing Souls, Barrington Levy, and Morgan Heritage.

Throughout their time together, Jaffe's portraits of these legendary performers are set against the backdrop of a politically and socioeconomically turbulent Jamaica. His detailed first-person accounts and stories are accompanied by his photographs, providing music fans with key moments that inspired some of Marley's most beloved lyrics and songs. This book embodies the energy of reggae culture.

Renowned reggae historian Roger Steffens's riveting oral history of Bob Marley's life draws on four decades of intimate interviews with band members, family, lovers, and confidants--many speaking publicly for the first time. Hailed by the New York Times Book Review as a crucial voice in the documentation of Marley's legacy, Steffens spent years traveling with the Wailers and taking iconic photographs. Through eyewitness accounts of vivid scenes--the future star auditioning for Coxson Dodd; the violent confrontation between the Wailers and producer Lee Perry; the attempted assassination (and conspiracy theories that followed); the artist's tragic death from cancer--So Much Things to Say tells Marley's story like never before. What emerges is a legendary figure who feels a bit more human (The New Yorker).

The first inside story of this Jamaican reggae style

Winner of the ARSC's Award for Best Research (History) in Folk, Ethnic, or World Music (2008)

When Jamaican recording engineers Osbourne King Tubby Ruddock, Errol Thompson, and Lee Scratch Perry began crafting dub music in the early 1970s, they were initiating a musical revolution that continues to have worldwide influence. Dub is a sub-genre of Jamaican reggae that flourished during reggae's golden age of the late 1960s through the early 1980s. Dub involves remixing existing recordings--electronically improvising sound effects and altering vocal tracks--to create its unique sound. Just as hip-hop turned phonograph turntables into musical instruments, dub turned the mixing and sound processing technologies of the recording studio into instruments of composition and real-time improvisation. In addition to chronicling dub's development and offering the first thorough analysis of the music itself, author Michael Veal examines dub's social significance in Jamaican culture. He further explores the dub revolution that has crossed musical and cultural boundaries for over thirty years, influencing a wide variety of musical genres around the globe.

This book evaluates modern Black internationalism through the sonic insurgencies of Reggae and Dancehall.

Born as a sufferer in the 1970s, Dancehall is often framed by its lyrics of hyper masculinity. This has distorted its intertwined engagement with the politics of its older sibling Reggae-largely Rastafari's critique of the West as being of a Biblical Babylon. Both strains grappled with questions of a decolonizing and migrating Caribbean: hard times, concrete ecologies, and promised lands. But if Reggae's radical soundings of Black liberation repatriated East beyond Babylon's rivers, then to what extent did Dancehall imagine Zion amidst the contradictions of the gully sided West?

In the global 1990s Reggae and Dancehall sound systems curated sites of Black cultural insurgency across the world. Stretching beyond the bombastic business of moving crowds with music, they were amplifiers and receivers of Caribbean political epistemologies. In the dancehall, these cultural innovators remixed Western modernities and compressed timelines of Black radicalism, fashioning myriad sound-driven Zions to move against the traffic blocking of Babylon's street sweepers and lookout fetishes. Their frequencies of subaltern clap back thrived in night clubs, nyabinghis, and favelas where subversive musical practices were documented on dubplates and globally distributed on cassettes. An expansive grassroots audio archive of Black insurgency, sound system culture was a radically complex space of Ubuntu place making, sonic cartography, and Black internationalism.

The acclaimed, definitive and essential guide to 1980s Jamaican Dancehall--featuring hundreds of photographs with interviews and biographies

This widely admired book, back in print with a new introduction, captures a previously unseen era of musical culture, fashion and lifestyle. With unprecedented access to the incredibly vibrant music scene during this period, Beth Lesser's photographs are a unique way into a previously hidden part of Jamaican culture. Born in the 1950s out of the neighborhood sound systems of Kingston, Dancehall grew to its height in the 1980s before a massive influx of drugs and guns made the scene too dangerous for many.
Dancehall is a culture that encompasses music, fashion, drugs, guns, art, community, technology and more. Many of today's music and fashion styles can be traced back to Dancehall culture and continue to be influenced by it today.
Dancehall is an essential reference book for anyone interested in reggae, as well as a unique photographic and textual sourcebook of the musical, cultural and political life of Jamaica.
In the early 1980s, as Jamaica was in the throes of political and gang violence, Beth Lesser ventured where few other dared, documenting the producers, singers, DJs and sound systems who all made a living out of the slums of Kingston. This book is a thrilling record of the exciting, dangerous and vibrant world of Dancehall.

Copeland Forbes is one of the most consequential figures in the history of modern Jamaican music. Through his roles as personal and tour manager for some of the most iconic personalities in music, Forbes has been a witness to and a participant in some of the most intriguing dramas in the annals of modern popular music.

Forbes is a much sought after speaking at music symposia and seminars across the world where his name is often a prime attraction and his vast knowledge a source of enlightenment and entertainment.

Forbes has copped numerous awards for his outstanding contribution to the music industry including the Order of Distinction from the Government of Jamaica in 2017.

In Reggae My Life Is, Forbes provides riveting accounts of incidents and colorful portraits of personalities that have helped to shape our society and our culture. It is a matter of easy concession that Forbes has led an exciting life. He has seen so many places and has made so many things happen during the 60 years he was entrusted with handling the affairs of some of the most celebrated figures ever to grace our planet.

Among some of the fascinating figures making appearances in Forbes' retrospective Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, Dennis Brown, Jimmy Cliff, Bunny Wailer. Rita Marley, Frankie Crocker, Danny Sims, Marcia Griffiths, Gregory Issacs, Chris Blackwell, Mick Jagger, Mark Zuckerberg, Richard Branson, Don Taylor, Sly and Robbie, Grace Jones and Don King.

Forbes, with his prodigious recall, is able to situate some of the more seminal moments in the history of Jamaican music with clarity and humor. His knowledge of venues, dates and personalities is encyclopedic. Yet Forbes' intention is not to provide fodder for the gossip mill. His aim is, instead, to clarify and contextualize in order to provide important lessons for those who seek to learn from art and life.

Finely reported, vividly written, and politically astute, Vivien Goldman travels with Bob Marley on the intimate journey that led him to become the voice of the Exodus. --Mariane Pearl, author of A Mighty Heart: The Brave Life and Death of My Husband, Danny Pearl

Reggae superstar Bob Marley is one of our most important and influential artists, and his 1977 album Exodus is the most lasting testament to his social conscience. Recorded in London after an assassination attempt on his life sent Marley into exile from Jamaica, it remains a masterpiece of spiritual exploration.

Vivien Goldman was the first journalist to introduce mass white audiences to the Rasta sounds of Bob Marley. Throughout the late 1970s, Goldman was a fly on the wall as she watched reggae grow and evolve, and charted the careers of many of its superstars, especially Bob Marley. So close was Vivien to Bob and the Wailers that she was a guest at his Kingston home just days before gunmen came in a rush to kill The Skip. Now, in The Book of Exodus, Goldman chronicles the making of this album, from its conception in Jamaica to the raucous but intense all-night studio sessions in London.

But The Book of Exodus is so much more than a making-of-a-record story. This remarkable book takes us through the history of Jamaican music, Marley's own personal journey from the Trench Town ghetto to his status as global superstar, as well as Marley's deep spiritual practice of Rastafari and the roots of this religion. Goldman also traces the biblical themes of the Exodus story, and its practical relevance to us today, through various other art forms, leading up to and culminating with Exodus.

Never before has there been such an intimate, first-hand portrait of Marley's spirituality, his political involvement, and his life in exile in London, leading up to his triumphant return to the stage in Jamaica at the Peace Concert of 1978.

Bob Marley's music defined a movement and forever changed a nation. Known worldwide for their message of peace and unity, Marley's songs--from One Love to Redemption Song to Three Little Birds--have touched millions of lives. This collection is the best of Bob Marley presented in three parts: The Man, giving an in-depth look into the life of Bob Marley; The Music, comprising his most memorable lyrics as well as links to many of his songs in iTunes; and The Revolution, containing his meditations on social equality and the Rastafari movement. Enriched with iconic photographs, Listen to Bob Marley provides insight into a reggae legend, the inspirational man behind the music.

Behind Jamaica's global musical reverberation lies the unlikely story of a boarding school run by Roman Catholic nuns, with a brass band that helped shape the sound of some the world's most beloved musical forms. Under a strict disciplinarian regime, 'wayward boys, ' many of whom were orphaned or from deeply troubled backgrounds and hailing from some of the toughest streets in the world, went on to lay the foundations of Jamaican jazz, ska, rocksteady, reggae, dancehall and dub.
Alpha Boys School: Cradle Of Jamaican Music takes a look at the lives of over forty of these influential musicians who against a backdrop of extreme poverty, gun culture, street gangs and an urban civil war, attained virtuoso musicianship to create their own sonic revolution. Told in a narrative style with a wealth of interviews, exclusive photos and archival material this book is a long overdue look at the lives and impact of the Alpha Boys.

The book also tells the story of Sister Mary Ignatius, the remarkable nun who ran the music department at Alpha Boys School for 64 years, inspiring generations of young men to make music their occupation. Famed for operating her own bass-heavy sound system where she would spin her collection of the hippest jazz, r'n'b and ska 45s, Sister Ignatius was adored by her boys and remained friends with them throughout their lives, wherever they were in the world. She is true Godmother of Ska and Reggae.
Featuring a foreword by world renowned reggae DJ and broadcaster David Rodigan and stunning cover art by French oil painter Jean-Christophe Molineris.

Set amongst the reggae scene of late 70s Jamaica, the film Rockers achieved instant cult status among music and cinema fans. Rockers' director, Ted Bafaloukos has received many accolades for his work on the film, but the fact that he was also a fine writer and undercover photographer is often overlooked. Bafaloukos penned this vivid autobiography in 2005 and passed in 2016.

Beyond Bafaloukos' fascinating story of the making-of Rockers, it tells the tale of a Greek immigrant from a family of sailors and his move to New York, eventually rubbing shoulders with the likes of The Velvet Underground, Robert Frank, Jessica Lange and Philippe Man on Wire Petit. But there's a twist to this 1970s' New York story: Bafaloukos fell in love with reggae when it was still just an underground facet of Jamaican culture in the City. His experiences in New York eventually led him to shoot Rockers, praised for the portrait it paints of Kingston's late 70s music scene along with its unique style, mentality and fashion.

The director's intense experiences in Jamaica and New York between '75 - '78 provide the substance of the scorching stories within, including; gunshots at his first ever reggae concert in Brooklyn, the director's bizarre arrest for suspicion of being a CIA operative, paranoia at the Bob Marley compound, musicians-turned actors' rude boy antics, and naturally, sympathetic, highly descriptive recollections of the music that first drew Bafaloukos into Jamaica's music and culture.

An invaluable collection of photographs taken during the conception, writing and production of the film captures the zeitgeist and breathes life into the book. Production stills and photos taken during the era by Bafaloukos form the visual, cinematic backbone of the tome, faithfully rendering the amazing people, styles, and locations in living, breathing color. Taken all together, the text and images within Rockers will uncover new facets of this all-important era in Reggae music for even the most seasoned reggae aficionados. Beyond reggae circles, this new anthology offers an unparalleled snapshot of a highly fantasized and sought after je-ne sais-quoi: the all-time Jamaican cool.

For more than six decades, reggae legend Glen DaCosta has worked as a musician, songwriter and producer. As a session player, his distinctive sax sound backed many international reggae stars at Joe Gibbs' Studio and Lee Scratch Perry's Blackheart Studio. Twenty-two years in the writing, his revealing memoir gives an insider's view of the Jamaican popular music industry, and recounts his fascinating childhood and years on the road with Bob Marley and the Wailers and Zap Pow.

Learn Authentic Rhythm & Lead Parts for Reggae, Ska, Rocksteady, Dub and More

It's no understatement to say that reggae music forever changed the world. A compelling mix of soul, jazz, R&B and Jamaican mento, it's the ultimate feel good music with its hypnotic, laidback grooves.

The Reggae & Ska Guitar Book is a one-of-a-kind guide to the guitar styles at the heart of reggae.

In fact, it's is a chronological guide to the development of reggae through the decades and shows how to play its many sub-genres with authentic, stylistically accurate guitar parts.

Your journey includes scheduled stops at:

• Ska, the early years - how American R&B combined with elements of calypso and mento
• Rocksteady - the bridge between the original ska and later reggae eras
• Reggae - the emergence of seminal groups including Bob Marley & The Wailers
• Dub - how versions or doubles creatively expanded the sound of reggae
• Ska revival - an offshoot of the punk/mod eras, explore the sounds of The Specials, Madness, The Selecter and more
• The Third Wave - how ska burst upon the US from a California-based revival, with bands like Reel Big Fish, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones and Sublime
• Lovers Rock - reggae surfaces again, this time combining the sweet melodic soul of Motown with laidback Jamaican grooves
• Going Full Circle - how reggae influenced world music and artists such as Paul Simon, Eric Clapton and The Police
• Dancehall and Beyond - fusing island musical sensibilities with hip-hop, dancehall adopted a new type of reggae drum groove that has influenced countless contemporary pop records ever since

Learn the Essential Techniques of Reggae Guitar

With each sub-genre of reggae and ska came refinements and changes to the role of the guitar. There is so much more to it than hitting chord stabs on the up-beats! You'll learn...

• The skank groove that forms the backbone of the ska sound
• Stylistically accurate major and minor chord voicings
• How to introduce double-stops, triplet ideas and sliding articulations
• Single-note pentatonic riffs and fills
• How to play the chicken scratch technique pioneered by Hux Brown
• Using delay pedal effects to expand your sonic arsenal
• Adding jazz, rock 'n' roll licks, and even modal scales to spice up single-note accompaniments in the style of the greats
• The rhythms and approach of the ska-punk movement of the Third Wave