Stereoboard Tour of the Week – Toots and the Maytals - Tickets Onsale Now
Friday, 20 May 2011
Written by Rob Sleigh
"Everybody knows the UK is like a second home to me," said reggae legend Toots Hibbert of his forthcoming UK tour upon its announcement earlier this week. This probably helps to explain why the Jamaican singer chose these shores as the setting for his upcoming dates, when he will be celebrating no less than 50 years in music. That’s right, the great Toots has been making music for half a century. He was there, with the first incarnation of his group The Maytals, during the earliest days of ska – several years before anyone even knew what reggae was. In fact, it was they who were the first to officially use the term “reggae” in a recording, in the title of their 1968 track ‘Do the Reggay’. Toots has previously claimed to have come up with the term himself, although its actual origin has been widely debated.
After a storming set at last year’s Glastonbury Festival, Toots and his band will be returning to the UK this August and September for the 50th anniversary of The Maytals. The eleven-date tour, which will see the band performing all their classics such as ‘Pressure Drop’ and ‘54-46 (That’s My Number)’, includes one of the band’s biggest headlining shows to date at London’s Brixton O2 Academy on 9th September.
Although Toots and the Maytals have often been overshadowed by the likes of Bob Marley and The Wailers in the reggae history books, their music has actually had much more of an impact than many people are aware. Their distinctly upbeat ska and reggae songs have been covered by the likes of The Clash, Sublime and Robert Palmer. However, it is probably their track ‘Monkey Man’ for which they are most recognizable. In addition to the version of the song that appeared on The Specials’ 1979 debut – and is often mistaken as the original – ‘Monkey Man’ has since been redone by, among others, Amy Winehouse and Reel Big Fish.
The Maytals, as they were then known, started out as a vocal trio in Kingston, Jamaica in 1961. Frederick ‘Toots’ Hibbert - to give his real name – originally formed the group alongside singers Henry ‘Raleigh’ Gordon and Nathaniel ‘Jerry’ Mathias. Some of their earliest work featured backing music from fellow ska legends The Skatalites, who are probably best-known for their track ‘Guns of Navarone’. The Maytals’ career was interrupted in 1966, when Toots was arrested and jailed for possession of marijuana. It was during his time in prison that he came up with the idea for the song ‘54-46 (That’s My Number)’.
Toots and the Maytals continued to have a number of best-selling albums throughout the ‘70s, right up until their split in 1981. After a largely dormant period, Toots reformed the band with a new line-up in the early ‘90s and continues to tour to this day. In 2005, they won the Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album for ‘True Love’, an album of reworked Maytals tracks featuring artists such as No Doubt, Eric Clapton, Ryan Adams and Keith Richards.
Toots and the Maytals UK Tour Dates
29th August Cardiff The Great Hall
31st August Newcastle O2 Academy
1st September Glasgow O2 Academy
2nd September Leeds O2 Academy
4th September Wolverhampton The Civic
6th September Ipswich The Regent
7th September Liverpool O2 Academy
8th September Brighton Brighton Dome
9th September London O2 Academy Brixton
11th September Bristol O2 Academy
13th September Oxford O2 Academy
We don't run any advertising! Our editorial content is solely funded by lovely people like yourself using Stereoboard's listings when buying tickets for live events. To keep supporting us, next time you're looking for concert, festival, sport or theatre tickets, please search for "Stereoboard". It costs you nothing, you may find a better price than the usual outlets, and save yourself from waiting in an endless queue on Friday mornings as we list ALL available sellers!
Although Toots and the Maytals have often been overshadowed by the likes of Bob Marley and The Wailers in the reggae history books, their music has actually had much more of an impact than many people are aware. Their distinctly upbeat ska and reggae songs have been covered by the likes of The Clash, Sublime and Robert Palmer. However, it is probably their track ‘Monkey Man’ for which they are most recognizable. In addition to the version of the song that appeared on The Specials’ 1979 debut – and is often mistaken as the original – ‘Monkey Man’ has since been redone by, among others, Amy Winehouse and Reel Big Fish.
