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| caro |
(sorry if the subject has been discussed before)
I've checked the Keith Richards site for the first time in a while, and saw this in the "Ask Keith" section :
"I did a couple of sessions with Toots earlier this year.He's making an album. And I had a great - we had a great session together...All I know is that it's in the works and it sounds great."
I don't know much about Toots and the Maytals, but I like their stuff and tried to find some info about the album. Turns out it's supposed to be released now (january) and Mick worked on it as well. Does anyone have some more info about this? Has the release date been postponed?
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From the Jamaica Observer:
International stars collaborate with Toots, the Maytals, and Friends
BASIL WALTERS, Observer staff reporter - Friday, September 19, 2003
"THE next chapter in the eventful life of one of Reggae's most famous crooners, Toots Hibbert, is about to unfold", wrote a leading entertainment writer in September of 1990.
In that article 13 years ago, the dynamic showman, songwriter, arranger, producer bemoaned the fact that he had not been enjoying the sort of stardom and rewards he so richly deserved. He then promised to organise his business in such a way to correct that situation.
Now, more than a decade later, the tremendously talented Hibbert seems poised to realise his dream of the mega-star status which has eluded him in over 40 years.
The vehicle on which he is hoping to etch that dream of superstardom, is the current album he is now working on titled Toots, the Maytals, and Friends.
In what has been described as his most promising project to date, Toots will join forces with a number of famous international recording stars who will perform a selection of his timeless hits with him. The American-based V2 Records is the company behind the set scheduled to be released in January of 2004.
The artistes expected to be involved in the production of the album are Mick Jagger and the RollingStones with whom he recently toured Europe; No Doubt, Willie Nelson, rock star Brian O'Neil as well as Reggae maestros Bunny Wailer and Ken Boothe.
"It's one of the biggest things to have happened in my career" confessed Toots Hibbert who started in music in 1962.
"I'm looking forward to great things because all the singers are great artistes. So many important people I can't even remember all of them. Imagine, they're all singing my songs, about 12 or more," Toots told Splash.
"I will perform on the album also....they sing a part, I sing a part...alternate verses. I will play some instruments as well, the bass, the guitar and maybe even the keyboards," the veteran entertainer said.
Also to be featured on the CD are Toots' daughters Leba and Jennive as well as Marcia Griffiths doing harmony. Toots will share the honours on his post-incarceration anthem, 5446 with Mick Jagger, Reggae Got Soul with Ken Boothe and Take A Trip with Bunny Wailer. Other songs on the album include the vintage Never Grow Old. The newer songs include Careless Ethiopians and Blame on Me. The set which will be marketed worldwide is being recorded in Jamaica, California, and Miami, depending on where the artistes are and their availability.
"It's a good thing because as you know, most of my songs are well known already and people love them, and it's a good way of doing it because, after everything, I can have a feature in them again," said the singer who is credited for branding the Jamaican sound as Reggae.
The album which will feature the Maytals Band inclusive of his long standing bass player, Jackie Jackson, keyboardist, Ansil Colins and Carl Harvey, is being produced by Toots with his co-producer being Richard Philman from Los Angeles. Philman produced the mega hit, Whiter Shade of Pale and also worked with the rock group, Grateful Dead.
"I think the songs that I did are in good hands. Because of this project, I haven't launched my new album, The World Is Turning, I've to hold it back," Toots told Splash.
Frederick Toots Hibbert has long been a cornerstone of Jamaica's popular music ever since he, Nathaniel "Jerry" Matthias and Henry "Raleigh" Gordon (both deceased) came together and formed the original Maytals in the very early part of the 1960s. His monumental contribution has spanned every genre of Jamaican music -- Ska, Rocksteady, Reggae and Dancehall.
Toots and the Maytals were runaway winners of the Festival Contest (now Popular Song Contest) on three occasions, copping the title for the first time in 1966 with What A Bam Bam, the rhythm of which gave dancehall one of its biggest hits Murder She Wrote by Chaka Demus and Pliers. His two other wins in the competition were with Sweet And Dandy and Pomps And Pride.
The foot-stomping gospel style singer, who sold platinum in Australia with his Funky Kingston album, was last week honoured by the Caribbean Hall of Fame.
"It's a good feeling that people recognise the good that I've done for the music, for the island and for the people... by singing good lyrics in my songs and proper arrangements. My songs are not just everyday music. It's like an educational tool. That's why when I go abroad; people want me to sing these songs. And I have to sing these songs. So it's about all of these things why I got the award last week," said the singer with 31 number one hit records in Jamaica.
[Edited by caro] |
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