Studio One Reggae
various artists
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At
this late date, there are dozens of reggae Christmas collections on the market. In
my opinion, only a few warrant serious attention, and Reggae
Christmas From Studio One (1992) runs a very close second to Rhino's Natty
And Nice as "best in show." Its sequel, Christmas
Greetings From Studio One (2002), is less impressive, but it yields plenty of rewards, as well. Studio One was producer Coxsone
Dodd's legendary Kingston hit factory, and, in the 60's, he ruled the Jamaican charts like no one before
or since. A quick glance at the artists on these discs - including Alton Ellis, the Heptones, Toots & The Maytals, and the original
Wailers featuring Bob Marley - only hints at the parade of talent that marched through Dodd's studio. These holiday songs - most heretofore insanely obscure - are typical of the thrilling roots reggae that routinely sprang from within those blessed
walls.
Reggae Christmas and Christmas Greetings were both part of an extensive reissue program of the Studio One archives by Rounder Records' Heartbeat label. The music unearthed in the process was almost always impressive, and more than half of the 25 cumulative tracks on Heartbeat's Christmas compilations are essential listening (see below). But, none of the Heartbeat reissues included much in the way of track annotation - very possibly because the archives themselves were poorly documented. Sadly, the liner notes of both Reggae Christmas and Christmas Greetings suffer from the same infuriating lack of detail as the rest of the series. And, anyone who has studied reggae music knows how difficult discographical information can be to track down - and reggae Christmas music is even harder. So, a lot of the records included are murky in origin, but the music remains resplendent - regardless of who wrote it, when, or why.
So, what about that music? Let's start with Reggae Christmas From Studio One, which collects 12 tracks from 1964 to 1980. The earliest track is the one with the highest marquee value: the Wailers' "Sound The Trumpet (Christmas Is Here)" with Bob Marley singing lead. It's a charming, semi-original song incorporating aspects of several well-known holiday songs, and it's most accurately described as ska - reggae's uptempo precursor. But, you can hear a hint of reggae's more relaxed, unhurried rhythms creeping in. At this point, the Wailers were a very young group, having recorded their first sides - including the classic "Simmer Down" - for Studio One in late 1963. At this point, the Wailers consisted of Marley, Peter Tosh, and Bunny Livingston - possibly joined by singers Junior Braithwaite, Beverley Kelso, and Cherry Smith, all of whom would fall away by the time the group started to record anthems like "Stir It Up," "Stepping Razor," and "Trenchtown Rock." Eventually, Tosh and Livingston would also leave, while Marley would lead a new band into the 1970's, becoming the biggest star reggae would ever know - but that's a different (and much longer) story.
Foundation Ska
Exactly who is accompanying the Wailers on "Sound The Trumpet" is, formally speaking, a mystery - and the group did, indeed, sometimes play their own instruments. But, the backing band on "Sound The Trumpet" - and many Studio One tracks, in fact - is most likely the label's legendary house band, the Skatalites. This also includes the Wailers' relatively traditional, doo wop-influenced "White Christmas." Recorded in 1965, the track sat in the can until 1971, when it appeared as the b-side of a Jamaican single. Much later, Heartbeat rescued it on the Wailers compilation Destiny: Rare Ska Sides From Studio One (1999) and then included it on Christmas Greetings From Studio One.
Under their own name, as a backing band, and as solo artists, the Skatalites - including saxophonists Tommy McCook and Rolando Alphonso, trombonist Don Drummond, and organist extraordinaire Jackie Mittoo - played on a huge number of ska and reggae records in the 1960's and 1970's. For starters, I recommend Foundation Ska, a 1997 Studio One compilation, or Trojan's similar 2022 compilation, Essential Artist Collection. The Skatalites reformed in 1983 and have carried on ever since - but, again, that's a different (and very long) story.
Anyway, other highlights on Reggae
Christmas From Studio One include four original songs from the genre's golden age, starting with the Heptones' "Christmas Time Is Here" (1968) and Alton Ellis' "Christmas Coming" (1971). Two tracks circa 1973 also sound fairly "classic," but they hint at the new directions the genre would take in the coming decade. Brent Dowe's "Christmas In Jamaica" uses the backing track from the Heptones' 1968 single "Party Time" - a "riddim" that would become very popular in the dancehalls as deejays began "toasting," a sort of patois rap that was rapidly becoming a Jamaican sensation. Speaking of which, Dillinger's "Hi Fashion Christmas" is a vocal number built on Leslie Milliner's "Fashion Christmas," an instrumental recorded in 1972 with the Brentford All-Stars. Subsequently, Dillinger would become one of the leading toasters on the island.
On the other hand, Dobby Dobson's straight-ahead cover of Irving Berlin's "White Christmas" - probably recorded in the late 1970's - is more typical of "lovers rock," the smooth, romantic counterpoint to the toasters and Rastafarians that came to dominate reggae. Typical of the latter are two songs that first appeared in 1980 on Christmas Stylee: Sir Coxsone's Family Album, Freddie McGregor's "Irie Christmas" and Johnny Osbourne's "Christmas Stylee." Together, they close out Reggae Christmas From Studio One in an irie stylee, indeed.
The Past Meets The Future
Christmas Greetings From Studio One is clearly a sequel to Reggae Christmas From Studio One, but it's a somewhat different animal, split fairly evenly between archival tracks and brand new recordings. The earliest track is the Maytals' fine "Christmas Feeling Ska," first released as a single in 1964 on Coxsone Dodd's Rolando & Powie label under the title "Christmas Season." Other highlights include a 1968 single, "Merry Christmas" by Al & The Vibrators (led by Linval Martin), and Horace Andy's languid 1972 skank, "Christmas Time."
After that, Christmas Greetings From Studio One leaps forward to Alton Ellis's ebullient "Praise Jah, It's Christmas," taken from the 1993 Studio One collection Christmas Vibes, then presents six newly recorded songs, several of which appeared the same year on a Jamaican compilation called Bling Bling Christmas. All of the new tracks reflect advances in technology - including abundant synthesizers - that, to my ears, were the downfall of a lot of black music, reggae included. The best of them, the Silvertones' title track, "Bling Bling Christmas," is one of four songs by the group across the two Heartbeat Studio One Christmas compilations. It's a very merry, very Jamaican song built on an old Upsetters riddim that - quite incredibly - cribs its melody from Monty Python's "Christmas In Heaven." Praise Jah - and Eric Idle!
Discographia
Both of the Heartbeat Studio One compilations were originally issued on compact disc, and both are long out-of-print. Happily, both have been reissued for download and streaming, though their availability is kind of wonky. For instance, I found Reggae Christmas From Studio One on Apple Music and Christmas Greetings From Studio One on Amazon, but not vice versa. But, I found both - and lots more Studio One archives - on Bandcamp.
1968
circa 1971
circa 1980
circa 1983
1992
1993
2002
Most of these songs originated as 7-inch Jamaican singles, the currency of reggae for its first two decades. But, Studio One released a few Christmas compilations over the years - some mentioned above, most now very obscure - which included many (though not all) of the songs found on Reggae Christmas and Christmas Greetings. Some of them suffer from what one wag called "the proud Coxsone tradition" of screwing up the song titles and credits. I've linked to their Discogs entries since you are unlikely to find them at traditional retailers.
- Christmas EP (Coxsone, 1968)
This UK 7-inch EP doesn't list any artists, and it doesn't have a title! Thankfully, reggae enthusiasts have filled in the details. The date, however, appears on the label, so at least that's for sure. The song "Jingle Bells" is credited to calypso artist Lord Power, but it might be the same track credited to harmonica player Roy Richards on Christmas Greetings. - Christmas In Jamaica (Studio One, circa 1971)
No one seems to know when this was released (probably in the early 1970's) or when it was reissued (probably in the early 1980's). According to Discogs, the reissue has additional instrumentation overdubbed.
- Christmas Stylee: Sir Coxsone's Family Album (Studio One, circa 1980)
Like most Jamaican releases, this 12-inch EP bears no copyright date, but online sources often date it as 1980. Suspiciously, the catalog number is SOX-1980, so that could be either a clue or a red herring. The backing band includes Jamaican legends Leroy Sibbles (bass), Ernest Ranglin (guitar), Jackie Mittoo (keyboards), and Roland Alphonso (saxophone). - Christmas Time (Studio One, 1992)
Jamaican vinyl LP with a fair number of tracks in common with Reggae Christmas From Studio One, released in America by Heartbeat the same year - and truly awful cover art. - Christmas Vibes (Studio One, 1993)
A mixture of new and old material, this is the one Jamaican album that's made the leap to the digital world. Originally released on vinyl in 1993, it was reissued on compact disc with extra tracks in 2003, and that configuration was reissued for download and streaming in 2015.
- Bling Bling Christmas (Studio One,
2002)
Jamaican vinyl LP with a track listing similar to Christmas Greetings From Studio One, released in America by Heartbeat the same year. It bears no copyright date, but a seal on the front cover commemorates "Studio One & Jamaica's Music 50th Anniversary 1952-2002"...
Finally, it's worth returning to what I said about the murky origins of these songs. The sound quality of many tracks on Reggae Christmas and Christmas Greetings is not great. They were recorded many years ago on a shoestring budget, and only Jah knows what happened to the master tapes in the meantime. And, as I said above, discographical information is often approximate - or nonexistent. I've done my best to discern the origins of these tracks - with little or no help from Heartbeat's liner notes. Regardless, the Christmas spirit shines through them all, and their Jamaican identity is undeniable. [top of page]
Albums
Essential Songs
- Bling Bling Christmas (Silvertones, 2002)
- Christmas Coming (Alton Ellis, circa 1971)
- Christmas Feeling Ska (Toots & The Maytals, 1964)
- Christmas In Jamaica (Brent Dowe, circa 1973)
- Christmas Stylee (Johnny Osbourne & The Family Group, 1980)
- Christmas Time (Horace Andy, 1972)
- Christmas Time Is Here (Heptones, 1968)
- Hi Fashion Christmas (Dillinger & The Brentford Harmonics, circa 1973)
- Irie Christmas (Freddie MacGregor, 1980)
- Jingle Bells (Tennessee Brown & The Silvertones, circa 1965)
- Merry Christmas (Al & The Vibrators, 1968)
- Praise Jah, It's Christmas (Alton Ellis, 1993)
- Sound The Trumpet (Christmas Is Here) (Wailers, 1964)
- White Christmas (Dobby Dobson, circa 1977)
- White Christmas (Wailers, 1965)
Further Listening
- Christmas Soul Special (various artists, 1982)
- Mambo Santa Mambo: Christmas From The Latin Lounge (various artists, 2000)
- Natty & Nice: A Reggae Christmas (various artists, 1998)