Jamaican Slang

Always had a bit of a hard time understanding the Jamaican slang, Patois as they call it, though terms like "yard", "bumba clot" , those i have come across. So i thought to go out and find some more meaning and as they would say "blouse and skirt" i found this patois dictionary. Interesting stuff. I gues now understanding flicks such as Dance Hall queen and Shootas will be much easier...

hers the link to the original http://www.niceup.com/patois.txt

Also check out the PHRASES or PROVERBS at the bottom, rich literally collections, i must say...enjoy

Read More

Soul Almighty the formative years

-->...excerpt From the Roger Steffens archives...
http://www.hermosarecords.com/marley/arcintro.html

LINER NOTES: Soul Almighty the formative years Vol. 1

Marley in the Sixties

by Roger Steffens

Here, after three decades, is a long-awaited look at some of the most intriguing and highly anticipated material of Bob Marley's entire career, compelling experiments that have been locked away in the vaults ever since the late 1960s. These are soul shots, almighty riddims based on the tumultuous sounds of the inner city from the time when America was in upheaval; sounds of Bob Marley with Aretha Franklin's band members, produced by Danny Sims, Arthur Jenkins, and their associates, for the label they co-owned with reggae/pop pioneer Johnny Nash. This is Bob Marley as you've never ever heard him before. In addition to powerful alternate r&b versions of 11 of Bob's most interesting late-'60s compositions, there are four tracks of which even the titles have never been revealed prior to this album.

"These are not demos." confirms co-producer Sims, from his current home in Beverly Hills. "These are complete songs exactly as Bob wanted them to sound." The story of how they came to be is a long and fascinating one; one in which Sims played a crucial part during the five years in which Marley was signed to his company as songwriter and performer. And it is a tale that could never be told till now.

"We always knew of the existence of these tapes." admits Sims, his voice still containing a hint of deep south drawl scraped and shaped by the grit of New York. "But we had so many other labels and albums and acts to keep track of. And with all the legal battles that went on during the past fourteen years, it would not have been right for us to release these things until everything had been settled. So this material couldn't have come out sooner than now. Now is the right time."

The pre-Psychedelic Sixties dawned as the nation was in the height of its cold war frenzy. In New York City, a young man who had been born in Mississippi arrived in town to open a supper club in the heart of the Great White Way at 47th St. and Broadway. It was called Saphire's, and the proud new owner was Danny Sims. His place was the first black club south of 110th St., and became a 24-hour-a-day hangout for the cream of show business celebrities from Broadway stars to swingers and singers.

"It was about that time that I began palling around with Johnny Nash, the Texas singer who was having such success on the Arthur Godfrey Show," recalls Sims. "In '63 Johnny asked me to promote a Caribbean concert tour, which is how I first saw Jamaica. The tour was a success, and it lead me to open a concert promotion company called Hemisphere Attractions. I brought into the Caribbean and Central and South America people like Sammy Davis, Jr., Paul Anka, Brook Benton, Ben E. King, Solomon Burke, Aretha Franklin, Little Anthony and the Imperials, Patty LaBelle, Otis Redding and lots more. In 1964, when Dinah Washington died, I absorbed her Queens Booking Agency, and ran one of the biggest African-American agencies of that time."

Nash and Sims decided to form a record label to be called JODA (after Johnny and Danny), and had an immediate success with a song called "Let's Move and Groove." "It was Johnny Nash's biggest hit in the black community ever," Sims recalls. "There was a very popular African-American disc jockey in Los Angeles at the time who called himself 'The Magnificent Montague.' He played Johnny's record all the time, and he would yell over the air while it was spinning, "Burn, baby, burn!" Montague's highly charged rap began making waves just as the L.A. riots of 1965 torched the city. "The feds said that our record was creating the riots," laughs Sims. "'Burn baby, burn!' became a slogan all over the black communities in America." Then, shuddering at the memory, Sims turns solemn. "I thought I was dead. So many of our people were being killed then.

Read More

An Evening With Joe Higgs

My Evening With Higgs

by Rich Demaio

Dedicated to the memory of Joe Higgs

Los Angeles, April 1995

I am now convinced that Joe Higgs knows everything. The other night, I had the undeniable privilege of spending a most memorable evening with Higgs at the home of my best friend and brother, Roger Steffens. Now, I have been to the Steffens' house a zillion times and learned early on that it is the place where "you never know who's gonna stop by." Everyone from Carlos Santana to the Beastie Boys to Nina Simone to the Melody Makers or any number of reggae luminaries can happen by either announced or unannounced, at any give time.

So one night last week, after an unauspicious audition at Universal Pictures, I made it over there in time for the arrival of Joe Higgs, who brought over a friend, Colin Johnson. Also from Trench Town, Colin is one of the original Schoolboys group going back some 30 or 35 years. He lived at #1 Second Street, only a few houses away from Bob Marley. Joe Higgs lived on the next block. They were all around when Bob first entered Coxson Dodd's studio, when "Judge Not" and "Simmer Down" were brand new, never realizing what talent was about to explode out of the ghetto. Colin played with "Pipe" Matthews of the Wailing Souls as a kid, and so among all the photos, records, posters and memorabilia that Roger has in his Archives, Colin found a few friends. Stories abounded. Little stories, personal stories that no one else could know except the neighbors from next door, or up the street.

Read More

Joe Higgs; respect is overdue

Joe Higgs

Respect Is Overdue
by Daniel & Seth Nelson (October 2000)

You may have never heard of the name Joe Higgs or his music, but you have most likely witnessed his influence on the music world, while never actually realizing it. When Joe Higgs passed away at the age of 59 in December of 1999, the world truly lost one of the most innovative and important musical figures of all time. How can this be so, since many people do not recognize his name? Joe Higgs helped to not only shape reggae and some of its biggest practitioners, but he also created his own music with such heart and feeling that was rich in both message and power. Joe Higgs has gone under appreciated and overlooked far too long and now more than ever should be his time to finally shine. His vast body of work and influence deserves recognition, and for these achievements and merits, he warrants the respect he has certainly earned.

A case can be made to demonstrate that many musicians, especially in the world of reggae, are deserving of recognition and consideration of their careers. However, in Higgs' case, respect is not only long overdue, but "The Father of Reggae" is worthy of these accolades, not only for his wealth of songs, or his messages, or even for his over 40 year career as an ambassador of consciousness in music. But Higgs' career is entitled to this acknowledgement because without him and his embodiment of all suffering people, Jamaican music, and all people in general, would be without one of its true apostles. 

Read More

Man City's £7m deal for McDonald Marigah crashes

By Chris Bevan BBC Sport

Manchester City's £7m deal to buy Parma midfielder McDonald Mariga has fallen through after the Kenyan international was not granted a work permit.

Mariga, who has 24 caps for Kenya, met the criteria for appearing in 75% of internationals in the last two years.

But his application was rejected as Kenya are ranked 98th in Fifa's world rankings, outside the top 70 nations.

City attended an appeal at Wembley on Monday morning but failed to overturn the decision about the 22-year-old.

They can request a further appeal in a future transfer window but will not be able to register Mariga as a player in the current window.

A delegation from Eastlands travelled to the appeal to argue their case in front of a panel made up of representatives from the Football Association, Premier League and the Professional Footballers' Association, as well as some 'independent football experts' - usually ex-players.

Mariga was hoping to become the first Kenyan to play in the Premier League.

He joined Parma on a permanent basis in the summer of 2008, after initially moving on loan from Swedish side Helsingborgs, and is under contract with the Serie A outfit until June 2012. ……..

What a diabolic shame!!!! The youngster is brilliant, described as a talented combative midfielder, but alas not if the Brits can have their way. Back home in Nairobi the UK foreign office and the UK DfID are raucous indicting the government of squandering education funds….well I agree something must be done to stem the graft, but please jonny boy, cant you bloody grant a Kenyan youth a chance to build himself.

Going by experience most youth like Marigah usually come back home and start a foundation of sorts which does magic for the young talented youths living in Nairobi’s rough side. This might be a point to ponder for the johnnies. They could have at least granted the lad a chance based on his special talents.

I don’t mean to be a wise man or anything but I believe FIFA stands for human development, remember the slogan FAIR PLAY, that’s what Marigah needed, some fair play. I,m sure the chap is all but broken. It will be interesting to see how it affects his performance. Being a fighter he might just fight his way up the list singlehandedly and become a prize possession for any serious division one teams midfield.

On the flip side it’s a shame that the dire state of our soccer has denied one of our best talents a place in one of the finest leagues in the world. A chance to prove his worth.

This should be a far reaching lesson for KFF, that’s if they are listening. Going by the talents in our possessions we ought to be amongst the top teams on the continent.

Lets just hope that recent developments which have seen various corporate rekindle support for local teams will help galvanize the morale an fever required for a Kenyan football revival.

All the best Mc Marigah, as they say “Lala Mbele” we are proud of you.

Posted by Protest.

about:blank

Read More