"What Happened to the Harmonies?" The Decline of Vocal Groups in Reggae

"Bring back the memories of the songs we used to know. Bring back the harmonies of sweet music like before..."  Matumbi

In recent years there has been a resurgence of classic or foundation elements of Jamaican music. Music incorporating early musical traditions such as Nyahbinghi drumming have become more popular with many young conscious artists. Artists like Jah 9, Protoje or Chronixx  will all have at least one or two tracks on each album backed by drummers. Dub music has also been embraced by many of the younger generation. Even popular artist Busy Signal released Reggae Dubb'n Again, a vinyl only dub version of his album Reggae Music Again. Despite this revival one element of Jamaican music that hasn't seen a popular comeback over the years is harmony vocal groups.

Harmony groups were a crucial part of the development of Reggae music and Jamaican music more generally. During the ska years vocal groups had big hits with tunes like Life Could Be A Dream by the Maytals and Simmer Down by the Wailers. The popularity of vocal groups gained prominence in the Rock Steady years with vocal groups such as the Heptones, Paragons and the Gaylads being the biggest acts of their day. As the music turned once again with Roots Reggae, vocal groups were at the front line.

The Heptones

There were dozens of harmony vocal groups, mostly harmony trios, during the early days of Reggae music. Songs from that time that are now considered anthems and classics were often the work of harmony groups like the Abyssinian's with Satta Massagana or the Mighty Diamonds with Pass the Kutchie. The importance of vocal groups in reggae goes beyond Jamaica. The vocal groups Matumbi and Steel Pulse were pioneers in the establishment of reggae music overseas in England. Vocal groups such as Black Uhuru continued into the 80's but the era of vocal groups had already peaked and started to decline.

Some of the writing on the wall could be seen as popular groups broke up or became focused around a single lead singer. The most famous case of this being the Wailers with Peter Tosh, Bunny Wailer and Bob Marley. First it became Bob Marley and the Wailers and than the group split, with Bob becoming the single lead singer. Despite the decline, one place that harmony vocals lived on was in the female harmony singers. Bob's music after the split with Bunny and Peter has very strong vocal support from the I-Three's (Rita Marley, Judy Mowatt and Marcia Griffiths) which helped shape Bob's music into the classic sound that people all over the world know and love. To this day female harmony vocalists don't get much respect or congratulations for their contribution to reggae but that's a reasoning for another day.

The I-Three's

Today harmony vocal groups barely exist. Even the members of Morgan Heritage probably the most successful modern vocal group are off doing solo projects. There are some notable exceptions, with a few groups still carrying on the torch. One of my favourites is the Rasites who delivered a modern classic with their album Urban Generation. They're still recording and released the single Drum and Baseline recently which we featured on our site. Another group I'm excited about is the No-Madd's a young group out of Jamaica who's musical influences vary too much for me to want to categorize. As promising as these groups are they still represent a drop in the current ocean of reggae music.

I'm personally passionate about the subject of harmony groups because they are what made me first start listening to Reggae music. First it was Israel Vibration who with their off key harmonies and deep roots sound captured my spirit. From there the mystical sounds of groups like the Abyssinian's and the Congos deepened my love for the music and its kept a hold on to me ever since. While I've embraced many of the new turns in reggae music like the singjay revolution and now the reggae revival or new roots I still hold on to the hope that one day those sweet harmonies will come back to Reggae.

For all those new to Reggae music or who would like to grow their understanding of reggae music I've included a ten album/cd list. Its not a ranking more like a musical study guide. Support your local record shop and pick them up there or you can find them on itunes. Here they are in no particular order:

1. Abyssinian's - Satta Massagana
2. Congos - Heart of the Congos
3. Meditations - Deeper Roots : Best of the Meditations
4. Black Slate - Amigo: Best of Black Slate
5. Earth & Stone - Kool Roots
6. Culture - One Stone
7. Mighty Diamonds - Deeper Roots
8. Matumbi - Empire Road
9. Black Uhuru - Ultimate Collection
10. Rasites - Urban Generation

balance and blessings,

Jahzilla