Pressure Drop, Monkey Man, Time Tough, 54-46 Was My Number, etc.

So the other night Uzee and I went out to hear Toots and the Maytals, one of the best reggae bands of all time. Toots in fact was the guy who coined the term "reggay" in his song "Do the Reggay" from, I think, 1962 or thereabouts. As it happened, that was the first song he sang in concert, along with a pile of great songs, including many from Funky Kingston, which gets Dave's rating at The Greatest Reggae Album of All Time and If You Thought It Would be Something by Marley, You Just Haven't Been Paying Attention. He played "Time Tough," "Pomps and Pride," "Take Me Home Country Road" (yes the John Denver Song), "Pressure Drop," and "Love Is Gonna Bring Me Down"--that's half the album right there. Other highlights included "Monkey Man," "Reggae Got Soul," and a blistering hot "Hallelujah" to end the show. Plus some long groove thing called, I think, "Roots Rock Reggae," though I don't know if that's the name of the song or just all the words he could remember at the moment, as he repeated them over and over for about ten minutes. Plus a couple new songs from the album last year but you know, none of us went for that.

To get an idea of what you missed (unless you were there and didn't bother saying hi), here's a 90-second clip of "Monkey Man" taken by one other than myself. I like to call it "Dave's Earthquake-Cam." Pop a Dramamine and enjoy.

The sound quality maybe isn't so hot. What can I say, I used this tiny little digital thing. And in case you're wondering, I am definitely NOT the guy who jumps up on stage and, um, "dances" along with Toots. I've got nerve, but not that kind of nerve.