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Toots And The Maytals music biography continued...

in the Jamaican countryside; he left home for Kingston in 1961 and formed a vocal trio there with Nathaniel Matthias and Raleigh Gordon. They had some fledgling success on Jamaican labels, but broke out of the crowd in 1966 when they won the Jamaican Song Festival prize with Hibbert's "Bam Bam." That same year Hibbert was jailed for possession of marijuana. After his release 12 months later, the Maytals recorded "54-46," commemorating his prison experience, for the Beverley's label. One of the Beverley's "B" sides during this time was a tune called "Do the Reggay," later thought to be the derivation of the term "reggae" music.



The group had several hit singles in the UK during the early 70s, and was first introduced into the United States with The 1972 release of The Harder They Come, a film which featured two of the Maytals songs-- "Sweet and Dandy" and "Pressure Drop"—on its soundtrack. Soon after the group signed with Island Records and came out with Funky Kingston, a collection of previously released songs that contained The Maytals' on unique interpretation of John Denver's "Country Roads." The group supported the album with their first tour in the United States, opening for The Who, which gave them even wider exposure. Toots went solo in 1982, although he continued to tour as Toots and the Maytals. Signed by V2, in 2004 the group released True Love, followed by Light Your Light in 2007. The latter received a Best Reggae Album Grammy nomination, confirming that Toots and The Maytals continue to have a special place in the genre.