Reggae books

[Marcus]

Greetings!
I would like to buy some books about Reggae Music and would like information on what books to go for and what books or to avoid. Thanx.

[Bellyman]

Hi Marcus,
for a start I think the following are some 'must-haves' :

Steve Barrow & Peter Dalton
The Rough Guide to Reggae

Colin Larkin (Ed.)
The Virgin Encyclopedia of Reggae

Lloyd Bradley
Bass Culture

David Katz
Solid Foundation - an oral history of Reggae

David Katz
People Funny Boy - the genius of Lee Perry

Chris Salewicz
Rude Boy

Chris Salewicz & Adrian Boot
Reggae Explosion - the story of jamaican music

Greetings.

[Marcus]

Bellyman, thank you for the guidance and positive vibes!

[i+i]

Bellyman's first recommendation is also at the top of my list. Start with:

Steve Barrow & Peter Dalton
The Rough Guide to Reggae

The accompanying CD set, "Tougher than Tough: The Story of Jamaican music," is out of print, I think, but is the best compilation out there. Steve Barrow wrote the extensive liner notes, song-by-song.

[Trevor]

Steve Barrow & Peter Dalton's "The Rough Guide to 100 Essential Reggae Cd's" is a helpful pointer on what to go for. File under must have!

[cazevedo]

These have been mentioned, but I will reiterate as I've found them all very good. And in this order:

#1 on my list: Bass Culture - When Reggae Was King (Lloyd Bradley)
#2 Solid Foundation - An Oral History Of Reggae (David Katz)
#3 People Funny Boy - The Genius Of Lee Scratch Perry (David Katz)
#4 Reggae - The Rough Guide (Steve Barrow & Peter Dalton)

I would like to add the following videos as well:

"Roots Rock Reggae - Inside the Jamaican Music Scene" (1977)

"The Harder They Come" (1972)

"The Studio One Story" (2002)

"Countryman" (1982)

"Rockers" (1978)

[sean]

i need a fine, factual book on dennis brown..and one about augustus pablo too

[kalcidis]

Well, Penny Reels book on Dennis Brown is nothing less than fantastic! It's called »Deep Down With Dennis Brown«. Penny Reel is truly a great journalist/author - one of the most important in reggae journalism - and the book is informative and factual.

The book covers Dennis Browns career up to late 70's. It costs only £12 if you order it directly from Penny himself. You can contact him by mail (drakebros@hotmail.com).

When it comes to Augustus Pablo I know there's a book by Lol-Bell Brown (creator of the BSL magazine) including a complete(?) discography of Augustus Pablos music and a lengthy interview. I haven't found the book yet though so I can't really give any reviews of it. But it ought to be good.

[kalcidis]

Please check this list of reggae literature on reggapedia. And if you can contribute then do so please.

The link
http://reggaelicious.pbwiki.com/Reggae+Literature

[Jah Glu]

King Jammy's by Beth Lesser. Best book about dancehall ever