Toots And The Maytals — Funky Kingston | The Funky Soul of Jamaica

This week its Toots and the Maytals' Funky Kingston, and we're joined by John Roy — of Unsteady and the A100s, founder of Smoke and Mirrors Sound System, and the man behind Escape Hatch Records — making his second appearance on the show.

It's the Big Payback of Jamaican music: a band that had been working since before ska had a name, suddenly sounding huge. We sort out which Funky Kingston is actually Funky Kingston (the 1975 US version keeps three songs from the 1973 original and borrows six more from In The Dark), work through why Chris Blackwell left this one mostly alone after meddling so heavily with Catch A Fire, and find the overdubs he snuck in anyway. Along the way: Toots as a gospel kid from a Seventh-day Adventist household, the uncredited band that stayed with him for fifty years, the piano that steals the bass line on the title track, the best John Denver cover ever recorded, and a long detour into Chris Blackwell's family fortune, Ian Fleming, and whether he's Vader or Palpatine.

Also, you've probably been pronouncing his name wrong.

Next episode: The Heptones, Night Food.

CHAPTERS:

00:00:00 - Intro

00:24:33 - Talking Toots

00:49:44 - Production, Chris Blackwell, and Musicianship

01:42:11 - Standout Songs + Favorite/Best

02:13:14 - Final Thoughts and News