Toots Hibbert, one of the primary architects of modern Jamaican music, has died, in Kingston, at the age of 77. His passing was confirmed by his social media channels early Saturday morning. The New York Times writes that there were earlier reports he had been hospitalized with Covid-like symptoms.
Hibbert, with his group the Maytals (slang for “good things”), were ubiquitous atop festival bills well into this decade. The legend goes that in 1968 he accidentally mangled the slang term “streggae” (for “loose woman”) as “reggae” and it stuck. As such his single “Do The Reggay,” was first to bring that word to the world.
Fred “Toots” Hibbert was the son of two Seventh-day Adventist preachers in May Pen, Jamaica. He was orphaned at the age of 11 and went to live with an older sibling in Trenchtown, the Kingston neighborhood where he, Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, Bunny Wailer, and others, all roughly the same age, essentially created the musical idiom known as reggae. Hibbert began recording with his group, The Maytals, in 1962.
His first substantial hit came in 1966 with “Bam Bam” (later reinterpreted in the 1990s by Sister Nancy, which was heavily sampled by many hip-hop artists). “Bam Bam” is indicative of a career to come, featuring a driving, irresistible beat with Hibbert’s soaring, soulful vocals up top.
At around this time Hibbert was arrested for marijuana possession. His time in jail inspired his anthem “54-46 That’s My Number.” It was one of the first reggae songs to gain popularity outside of Jamaica.
In 1972 Toots & The Maytals released their classic, Funky Kingston. As is sometimes the case with Jamaican albums, there are multiple versions in different markets, but the one that took off, and is now considered essential in any legitimate record collection, had the barn-burning title track, a cover of “Louie Louie,” a cover of John Denver’s “Country Road,” and also included an older single, and Hibbert’s most famous composition, “Pressure Drop.”
“Pressure Drop,” later covered by The Specials, The Clash, and Keith Richards, also made an appearance in Perry Henzell’s essential “midnight classic” film The Harder They Come starring Jimmy Cliff. Though the song seems upbeat (and insanely catchy) it is actually about a man planning (or at least hoping for) revenge. (In an island like Jamaica, a sudden barometric “pressure drop” means a deadly storm is coming.)