Reggae

[candy_drop]

When and where did reggae music originate from?

[andy hughes]

Reggaue originated in the 1950's, as Jamaica (it's country of origin) went through a period of rapid political and cultural upheaval. Newly independent, the country began embracing rhythm and blues influences from the U.S. which combined with indiginous jazz music and religious music distilled from Rastafarianism. It's hard to pin down exactly how this evolved into sak, blue beat, and eventually the reggae sound that we know today - it's too complex and extensive to really elaborate here. Hope this point you in the right direction.

[Pinotage]

Adding to what Andy says, I think reggae emerged in the late 60's. I remember my brother bringing home ska and bluebeat singles in the mid sixties before the term reggae was used and I feel reggae was a more commercialised melding of the themes of ska and bluebeat. If I could be bothered I've got some old singles and some Coxsone LPs in the loft to check dates on....

[andy hughes]

With the level of synchronicity that makes one glad to be an AB'er, the excellent Stuart Maconie interviewed Toots Hibbert on the Drive-Time show on Radio Two today, and in the course of their conversation, Toots confirmed that he coined the word 'reggae' as a corruption of the word 'streggae' and I missed the meaning, sorry, but that's where the actual word originates from. Sadly the show is not on the 'listen again' section, but if anyone else heard it, perhaps they can elaborate further,