Roots Archives Forum

i was listening to Earl 16's "Dread a the general", and noticed how the drum pattern emphasised the same beats as the later dancehall/bashment drum pattern that emerged in the late 1980s.
Now i was wondering are there more examples of classic roots/ 70s/ early 80s(pre-digital reggae basically), where the drums resemble the bashment type of drum patterns of later times?
Thanks for any contribution

Didn't know this track. Heard it on youtube. You're right, the snare is on one and two and a half (?), like the bassdrum in modern dancehall (with a snare on four).

Other examples? Hmm... does Barrington Levy's "Here I come" count?

This is all influenced by New Orleans "second line" synchopation stuff.

It's revival in JA music started with the way sound system operators dropped out the music under the DJ.

When Jah Screw recorded the Radics for "Here I Come", he asked the band to play the drop-outs just as it would have been mixed the sound operator in a dance.

That's interesting. Yes, "Here I Come" is also the only other example i could think of.

Wow, I had no idea about the New Orleans influence. Never heard of that, checked google/youtube. Sounds great.

So the selectors basically copied that Style of Drumming by using the fader of their mixer as an instrument so to say.

And Jah Screw achieved the same sound by having Style Scott hit the snare when the selector would "fade in" the beat. Nice!

Maybe Alton's "Mad Mad" was one of the first you could do the stop start/fade in fade out sort of thing with?

Return of Jesco wrote:Maybe Alton's "Mad Mad" was one of the first you could do the stop start/fade in fade out sort of thing with?

It may just be!

If you are really into the history of JA music, you have to look into the the 15 year period after WW2, there is so much cross-pollination it's fascinating. You had artists like Professor Longhair adding Carribean rhumba motifs to his piano pieces, while in JA you had sound systems playing New Orleans artists like Fats Domino and Shirley & Lee non-stop.

One of the funniest musical moments I have ever seen was in the late-80s in Kingston at a Fats Domino show. Fats started singing Blueberry Hill, and Yellowman walked on stage totally unannounced to duet with him. Fats didn't look angry, he just looked like he didn't no how to react!! The crowd went absolutely crazy, it was one of those "only in Jamaica" moments.

All those syncopated rhythm patterns come from La Clave still.
From Africa to Spain (Flamenco) and to Cuba / Caribean, Brazil, New Orleans, Colombia, etc....Is centuries old.
Different variations of the Clave.

I guess "Answer" would also qualify as one of those riddims very suitable to the "stop/start"fade -thing?

Jr Delgado - The Raiders aka No Warrior