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(STATIC CRACKLES)

# Once I reach into my record box

# Here comes another
Classic selection #

For years, it's been
branded as trouble music.

There's not been much of it
in the media.

But as our film shows,
reggae is already adapting itself

to its British way of life.

All it asks,
like the people who make it,

is the chance to be heard,
understood and enjoyed.

(STATIC) (NOTE WAVERS AND FADES)

# Dim the lights

# Let me thrill your soul... #

ANNOUNCER: In 1966,

five musicians got together
in Harlesden,

and straight away,
they were a big hit.

They played on 90% of the reggae
music made in this country.

(APPLAUSE) Brothers and sisters,
they're here with us tonight.

So put your hands together...

..and give one big
round of applause...

for...the dynamic Cimarons!

Onstage, we're not human...

..we are...invincible.

After all these years, I didn't think
that we would survive this long.

Without Cimarons, there'd be
no reggae music in the UK.

It's like what the Rolling Stones
has done for rock and roll.

# This time, we're having a nice time

# Mood is good, and we feel fine

# Your liveliness is catching
Like wildfire

# Fire, fire

# We're going on as if there is
A riot, riot, riot, riot

# Oh, make we rock, rock, rock, rock
Rock, rock

# To reggae rhapsody...

It doesn't matter where you go,
in the world,

if they play reggae music,
you'll hear the name Cimarons.

# ..rhapsody...

They were the first
to take reggae around the world.

# ..to reggae rhapsody...

The first time hearing reggae,
it's a mind-blowing thing.

If people were hearing it live,
in front of them,

for the first time, hopefully
that struck a chord with 'em.

I can imagine it must have done.

# One dread done tell ya

# You better lively up yourself

# Another dread say

# You better check
Your money-maker...

I was amazed when I got out there.
It is ram out.

What is this?
Wow. We love this! Yes!

This is an unprecedented feat
for a British reggae band.

Nobody has done that before or since.

# Let me take you higher, higher
Higher, higher, higher, higher

# Come rock, rock, rock
Rock, rock, rock

# To reggae rhapsody...

Music back then
is how we found ourselves.

They're crucial
at that moment in time.

It takes a spark. They were
the spark that started a big flame

that is still blazing till today.

# Come rock, rock, rock
Rock, rock, rock

# To reggae rhapsody...

I don't think they have received
the credit that they should.

There was definitely racism there.

We can't get a record deal
or a distribution deal.

# (VOCALISING)...

When I'm onstage, I don't feel it.
I don't feel no pain at all.

You're in a different world.
Nothing can trouble you up there.

People have given up everything
for this music.

I broke down, man. I cried.

I cried. I'm just hoping...

that the band will continue.

# They come rock, rock
Rock, rock, rock, rock

# To reggae rhapsody

# Come skank, skank, skank
Skank, skank, skank

# To reggae rhapsody

# They come rock, rock, rock
Rock, rock, rock

# To reggae rhapsody...

This is part of my heritage,
this is part of my culture.

They can't stop. They can't stop
until it's time for them to stop.

# Rock...
'And that's not yet.'

I mean, we're getting older,
but I'm sure the fun isn't done.

# Rock...

There's more to come.

# Rock #

(WAVES RUSHING, BIRDSONG)

(BELL RINGS)

# CIMARONS: Soul For Sale

So if we trace it back,
they form in the late 1960s.

And initially, they're all based
around this youth club in Harlesden.

And they came together
as a group of friends.

..this building here in Harlesden.

And this is where the Cimarons
started. We started right here.

After we mess around,
jamming on guitar,

we decided to meet here on Friday.

That rehearsal wasn't really
a rehearsal, it was just a...

feel out, get together.

Cos we didn't know many songs,
did we?

I was learning, he was learning.
So I was teaching him what I knew.

I learnt from Gichie.

Cos Gichie could play
the guitar before me.

And he couldn't teach me nothing
because he didn't know nothing.

And I learnt from...

from TV.
(CROWD SCREAMING)

The Kinks. The Kinks.

(CHEERS, LAUGHS)

And then we decided to say,
yes, go and buy an instrument.

So work, work, work,
and save up, save up, save up.

Maurice was here as well
and said he can play drum.

And then Carl Levy came in,
right here.

So everyone started right here,
you know?

I think it was the way that
they meshed together as players.

Almost immediately,
they started to make an impact.

On a Friday evening, when we were
rehearsing, it was like a party.

Everybody would leave
from downstairs, come upstairs.

Everybody dancing and drinking.
It was like a party every night.

# CIMARONS: Feel Nice

I'm Popsy, Starlight Records...

Harlesden. (CHUCKLES)

This is where, like I said,
this is where it all started.

Harlesden is a mecca, you know?

All the producers,
all the manufacturers,

if they started out somewhere else,

they always end up in Harlesden.
(CHUCKLES)

Caribbeans coming over went to where
there was a friend, a family member.

Harlesden, Brent.

The largest and most diverse,
I think,

borough in London, was that place.

Individuals like Delroy Washington,

one of the first musicians
to write with Bob Marley,

it's Harlesden, Brent, again.

And so, you know,
in terms of the Cimarons,

it's not an accident
that they're from that location.

That was the place to be.

# AL BARRY & CIMARONS: Morning Sun

I'm Richie, Richie Johnson,

originally at Trojan Records
in the early '70s.

If you wanted something
with that Caribbean flavour,

Harlesden has always been it.

I'm General Levy, and I buss in
the same club as the Cimarons did.

Growing up in
Northwest London, Harlesden,

in the '70s and '80s,

it could have been mistaken
for the Caribbean, or even Africa.

I mean, you could have been
in Coronation Market, Jamaica.

And you'd also be seeing the people,

hearing the conversations in
the street, be smelling the food.

Musically,
there were dances every week.

House dances, blues dances,
maybe two or three in the area.

On a Friday, Saturday night,
we'd just get dressed,

walk down the road,
and we listened.

And you can hear
a sound system pumping away.

Because those days,
sound system was really the thing.

And when you get there,
it's good vibes, you know?

You can buy a drink, you can buy
food, and then you dance all night.

In the vinyl days, I mean,

records used to sell, you know?

In this area, in the Harlesden area,
there was about four record shops.

You'd hear from
Hawkeye record shops,

Starlight record shops,
Orbitone record shops,

and you'd be hearing Bob Marley,
Dennis Brown.

On the weekends, you couldn't
get in there - a roadblock. (LAUGHS)

Yeah, there's so much people there,

queuing up to get the records,
you know?

There'd be people outside, even.

Soul food, good music,
good marijuana.

(LAUGHS) In the air.

So it was good, man.
Good vibes all around.

(MUSIC STOPS, MELLOW SONG STARTS)

Most of the tracks
that Cimarons actually did,

my voice is on it.

Because they were like
the first UK band,

you know, group of black guys.

They were learning on the job...

and doing everything
that they wanted to do,

until finally,

they are recording,
they are touring.

Early on, they...

were invited to tour in West Africa.

They were the first British reggae
band to play in West Africa.

I went to Africa playing...

with this finger. Remember, Locks?

With this finger.
When I came back...

I came back
playing with all of these.

We went there with a set,
which is one-hour-plus, normal set.

When we finish,
we would go back into the hotel.

We started to rehearse more -
more tune, more tune, more tune.

And this finger become so tired,

so me have to use these, you know?

That's when it getting serious.

It become serious
when we came back from Africa.

In the aftermath of that, they
started to work with Lambert Briscoe.

He started the Hot Rod label,
so they became...

the Hot Rod All Stars -
that was kind of their alter ego.

And when they performed
at the Q Club in Paddington,

they attracted the interest of one
of the A&R people at Trojan Records.

# This is the Cimarons! #

GICHIE: Cimarons was the name
of a Western series on TV.

It was called Cimarron Strip.

And everybody said,
'Yeah, that sounds good.'

But then we found out
that the name 'Cimarons'

actually mean, wild and free.

I got to know them very early.

In 1971, I left school,

I started working at Trojan,
and I think that's where I met them.

They were the band, you know?

They were the start of it.
They were the...

first real live band
that we had contact with.

Apart from that,
it was always records, of course.

But this was a live band
really doing the business, you know?

# We are the Cimarons! #

Cimarons is the foundation of
reggae music in the United Kingdom.

In the Cimarons,
of course, there was...

Maurice Ellis that plays the drums.
Carl Levy was the organist.

There was Franklyn Dunn,
he was on the bass.

There was Gichie, of course.

Also, there was Carl Bert,
who was the lead singer.

He was very, very versatile.
He could sing anything.

He was a very good singer -
two-and-a-half years,

maybe three years,
he worked with us, and then he left.

ANNOUNCER: Let's give it up
for the Cimarons!

(APPLAUSE)

There was no superstar
in the Cimarons, yes?

They were all playing music
the way they love to play it.

And they had their own sound. They
were different from everybody else.

They just became...

hugely in demand as session players.

They played on countless sessions
that were recorded here in the UK,

for Trojan, and also
for the Pama group of labels.

They could go into rock.

They were known for covers of
soul music early in their career.

Many of the Jamaican musicians
were jazz,

soul, then reggae,
and people forget that.

These are accomplished musicians.

They've played on countless records.
Their name's not on it.

There's no mention of them as the
band. It's the name of the singer.

Once you're not the front person,

you're invisible -
you're the backing band.

So you're there,
but you're not there,

in terms of the press,
the media, how it's reported on.

This is a band that's...

you know, been hugely
under-recognised over the years.

They're part of the records
that popularised reggae.

They're crucial
at that moment in time.

When your hear a recording, even
if they are doing a backing track,

you could say, 'Cimarons that,'
cos you would know...

by how Maurice played the drum,

you know by how Gichie play.

Franklyn how he played -
you just knew.

Cimarons were just...

in a class by themself.

That's all it was.
They were just different.

# Skinheads, mash up London town
Skinheads, oo-ee

# Skinheads, mash up London town

# Skinheads, oo-ee... #

At that point in time,
we've got an audience which...

is embracing black music,
R&B, within the Mods...

ska, Jamaican ska.

And rocksteady, precursor to reggae,

amongst the first wave of skinheads.

We started just at the end
of the ska era, into rocksteady -

and we loved rocksteady -

and then rapidly, within a year and
a half, we just switched to reggae.

(SCRATCHES)

(LAUGHS) Switched to reggae so quick.

MAN: Cimarons was the band

that all the artists
from Jamaica went to.

It was like a go-to band,
whether it was live gigs or TV.

We could back any artist,
any artist that came to us,

Cimarons could back them
because you knew their song.

Any artists that come
to England to perform,

naturally, it's got to be
the Cimarons, you know?

They attracted the likes
of Jimmy Cliff...

..Ken Boothe.

There was Bob Marley.

The Pioneers.
The Maytals.

There were the Heptones,
Nicky Thomas,

you name it, they backed them,
you know - they backed everybody.

Almost every artist
come from Jamaica at that time -

you have to work with the Cimarons.

ANNOUNCER: Dennis Alcapone!

# You got to see the man called
Cassius Clay in action

# Tell you

# Huahua, chi-huahua

# Chi-huahua, chi-hu... Huh!

# Huahua, chi-huahua, tell you
Chi-huahua, chi-hu...

I am one of the Cimarons
who nobody don't know of.

I'm coming from Jamaica.

And I see these guys doing...
just working, just working, working.

You know what I mean? They do
all the concert, all the clubs them.

We were doing, like,
two shows a night -

every venue that we went to...

was packed out!

And it was mostly white people.

Mostly.

At the time, we were young people,
you know what I mean?

We carried the equipment
round the back,

and we'd take them up the stairs,
and you know,

Carl Levy, he'd have a big organ,
that, you know,

everybody have to put them on
to take it up the stairs. Yeah.

# The man called Cassius Clay
Is comin' back to retain his title...

First van we had,
Bedford van, there's no heater.

The windscreen wiper gone,
so one man have to...

tie a string on one side,
tie a string on the other side.

You're driving - dry that side,
dry that side, dry that side.

You know, you're working -

you're not sleeping properly,
you're not eating properly.

Time you go to bed at three,
four in the morning,

you've gotta get up, have breakfast,
go on the road again,

and it goes on for days and weeks.

It's like you're in a football team,
you know?

Them days.

# (VOCALISING) #

(APPLAUSE)
Thank you!

If there's a um...
artist from Jamaica...

want us to do their song,

we'll do exactly like
how them want it.

But when we are doing our stuff,
it's different.

It's still reggae...

but our style.

When I first hear them,
they had a sound,

and I think the sound, to me,

the Cimarons' sound is really
Gichie and Franklyn.

# We're harder than the rock

# We're harder than the rock
This time

# We're harder than the rock

# We're harder than the rock
This time

Franklyn Dunn, the bass player -
reliable, rock-solid anchor.

Franklyn, the bass player,
he was a character on the stage.

Frank is a mad man onstage -

do some things that you thought,
'Whoa, crazy!'

Franklyn would do
different things with his bass,
just something out of the ordinary.

The last time, Franklyn play
with a toothbrush on his bass.

And it...it sound wicked!
You know what I mean?

And then you had Locksley Gichie,

an expressive guitarist,
and someone who's quite a...

a thoughtful and meditative person.

Gichie would know what to play
and, you know,

how to make the music come across.

# We're harder than the rock

# Harder than the rock this time

# We're harder than the rock

# So hard

# We're harder than the rock
This time

# When I was a young head
My teacher used to say

# The cow jump over the moon

# Now I've grown up, I'm a man

# I'm sure I can overstand

# Mama Africa

# Liberation freedom

# Mama Africa

# Liberation freedom

# Lord

# We're harder than the rock

# So hard

# We're harder than the rock
This time

# We're harder than the rock

# So hard

# We're harder than the rock
This time

# Starvation

# Lord

# Sufferation

# Sufferation
Brutality

# Brutality, we know it

# Murder
Oh, we got too much of that

# Starvation

# We're harder than the rock, yeah
So hard

# We're harder than the rock
This time

# We're harder than the rock

# So hard

# We're harder than the rock
This time

# We're harder than the rock #

As you listen to music today,

I don't know if you listen
to the radio a lot,

or if you listen mostly
to records, but...

what are things that you see
that you think are good or bad?

I like the thing that happened in
Jamaica called reggae.Excuse me?

There's a music in Jamaica
called reggae,

which has been around for years
under the disguise of ska,

bluebeat, etc, etc, but it finally
formed itself into reggae.

I don't like the word 'reggae'.
I like 'Jamaica music'.

(MUSIC PLAYS ON TV)

Me have a brethren
called Chilli Dixon,

which is my best friend from,
you know,

when I just came to England -
we link up.

In those days,
we had lots of records,

and everybody's got
their little system and so on.

And he just start playing some
records, and he just start singing.

And I thought, 'Wow, you can sing.'

He told me about a band
called Cimarons.

# Surplus food

# On wasteland...

Cimarons at the time
was a very big, very popular band,

and they hear
that over in North London,

there was some guy
singing like a bird.

So I went to see them one night.

They were very good, very tight,
very professional.

They sound like Jamaican...
like a Jamaican band.

You know, the sound that them used
to have - used to love them sound.

That sound never change -

that rich, rich, rich,
rich Jamaican sound, you know?

# In scorching sun
Or the pouring rain...

I can remember posters saying,
'Just in from Jamaica.'

And we'd believe it.

It's only decades later,
I thought...that was a lie.

But at the time,
it was an inspiration.

The performance - just to see
a Jamaican band play was a big deal.

But when Winston come in, Winston
bring upon a rootsy level now.

# Say he who's lost his hoping

# No excuse for dreaming... #

Cimarons threw me
right in the deep end, really.

So we just have a few rehearsal,
and I was on tour.

Yeah, we went to Japan.

# CIMARONS: People Say

Japan.

We set the trend.
I'm proud about that.

You know,
everything moved fast at that time.

# The problems of today

# Is pretty darn confused

# Why's that...?

They ended up
touring Japan and Thailand.

They must be the first reggae band
ever to perform in Thailand.

Yeah, man, Japan really
surprised me, to be honest with you,

cos we did a show in Hibiya Park,
like, in the centre of Tokyo.

Big festival - Japanese band
were all punk, and rock and roll -

they were all rock and roll band.
(MIMICS ROCK GUITAR)

And we played...
I think it was the Friday night.

And when we played, the place ram!
And we said, 'Whoa!'

They have never heard reggae music
live in their lives. I mean...

'What is this?
Whoa! We love this! Yes!'

They went crazy, man.

# People say

# People say...

They said,
'Can you come back this Sunday?'

When we came back the Sunday, there
was three times the amount of crowd.

Outside!

Can't get into the venue.
That was serious.

# (VOCALISING)

# People say

# People say... #

When everything came together,
that sound -

that was authentic sound
that was there - was unbelievable.

Cimarons done things that,
you know, people weren't doing.

The style of reggae
that they were playing, you know,

people gravitated to it.

Cimarons was a fantastic live band.

You had to have the live band
to take it to the people.

And that's where Cimarons came in.

The energy that the Cimarons brought
on the stage was magnificent.

You know, and their show
was a show that...was entertaining.

(SPEAKS FRENCH)

They were different
from everybody else -

their outfits,
just the way they performed.

When I'm onstage,

you're not here, you're not there.
You're...

on cloud nine,
or whatever you want to call it.

You're invincible, like I said.
You're enjoying yourself.

And when you see the people
them enjoying themself too,

it give you more again to push on.

Brilliant.

They were one of the first...

to really take reggae
to certain countries in the world.

# We've got to keep on moving on up

# We've got to keep on
Moving on up... #

DIXON: I remember
when we went to Spain -

place was absolutely jam-packed.

And I went back, and I says,
'Ram - place ram out.'

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

'Same thing in Holland.'
(ANNOUNCER SPEAKS DUTCH)

Cimarons took reggae music
throughout the world.

KATZ: First reggae band
to play in West Africa,

then the first reggae band
to play in Thailand and Japan.

I'm thinking about Africa...

Japan, Ireland.

ALL: (SINGING) It's a long way
to Tipperary.

It's a long way to go.

MAN: Without your mother.
It's a long way to Tipperary.

To the sweetest girl I know...

MAN: One, two...

# CIAN FINN: Rosie Dubh

If you think about it,
it makes perfect sense

that the Cimarons would be the
first reggae band to play in Ireland,

because they have
that history of that.

# We don't want to fight no more

# We just want to live and love you

# We don't want to fight those wars

# We just want to sing songs to you

# Sweet Rosie Dubh

# Let me kiss and hug you

# You know I love you...

(MUFFLED SINGING) Rosie Dubh...
(BIRD CAWS)

# Rosie Dubh

# Know you're loved #

There's a hurt in the music,
and there's a soulful release.

And there's a...
there's a therapy in singing it.

With the Cimarons coming here
in the '70s...

you know, this soulful rebel music...

in the wilds of West Cork,
in Macroom, like, in Ireland...

..there was just nothing
people had ever seen before.

# We want freedom

# Oh, yeah...

Yeah, we were
the first reggae band...

yeah, we were the first reggae band
to go to Ireland.

The first time the Cimarons
came to Ireland was to play...

at a festival in Macroom.

They'd been playing at something
like T In The Park or one of those,

and then they were flown
in this little plane to Macroom.

Eight-seater plane.
Eight-seater to fly us in.

The pilot could hardly see
the plane - pure smoke!(LAUGHTER)

He was a policeman.
(LAUGHTER)

It was massive, man. It was big, man.
First festival in Cork.

Walking through the crowd
with a spliff in my hand.

Policeman come up
and ask me, 'What's that?'

I say, 'I don't know. Somebody just
give it to me in the crowd, man.'

And I just kept walking.

They were blown away
by the reception they'd got.

People went absolutely berserk
for it.

They loved it.

People first time hearing reggae...

..it really blew their mind.
It's like, 'What the fuck?

That was great.'
(LAUGHTER)

'Who are these guys?' You know?

# Just stoop over the horizon

# And see the sun

# Shining down on you...

REEDY: We have
some serious experience in Ireland.

# Ship ahoy, ship ahoy
Ship ahoy, ship ahoy...

I was doing a show
in Queen's University in Belfast.

IRA bombing up, bombing up.

When Winston came on stage, Winston
said, 'No, no, no, no, no, no.'

You see them take time
coming together.

Everybody start to mix them.

And before that, they was fighting
each other on the street.

Bombing up, fighting because
that one there Protestant,

that one there's Catholic
or whatever.

And the crowd went absolutely mad.

And I dived...I dived in the crowd.

Them start enjoying themself
when the music played.

Them forget about...

all that rubbish.

But then after the music's gone...

come tomorrow,
they gone back to normal.

So music can carry you in.

Music can carry you in.

The Irish really love reggae, man.

Reggae's popular all over Ireland,
but I think Cork is the spiritual...

home of reggae -
it's rebel music, isn't it?

Rebel music for the rebel county.

Cimarons have a song
called Ship Ahoy.

Ship Ahoy - the O'Jays record
that dealt with the...

transatlantic slave trade.

(SINGS) Ship ahoy, ship ahoy,
ship ahoy...

# Ship ahoy-oy-oy... #

When you play Ship Ahoy in Cork,
it mashed on the place.

The place gone mad!

Because of the tribulation
that we've been through...

Irish was slave also in Jamaica,
you know?

It's not just black people
are known as slave.

Irish was slave too.
So them feel it like us.

Who were they,
these first Irish settlers?

A great number
of the Irish immigrants

were either indentured servants
or prisoners.

Because real recognise real.
It's pain. It's pain, you know?

A lot of people who have been
through pain

can recognise other people
who have been through pain.

# Ship took us away

# From Africa

# They took us away from Africa...

Ireland and the Caribbean -

reggae, racism -
have always been bedfellows.

No blacks, no dogs, no Irish.

That's really...
To see that sign there, you know?

So we've been bagged, you know,

in the same category of 'human'
by the English.

England was sold as the motherland
to all its colonies -

oh, it's gonna be some warm place
that they get to.

STARR: I was just 20 years old
when I first come to England.

And, you know, the shock of it
is like, 'Wow,' you know?

How much chimney
I've seen when I come?

You know what I mean - smoke
coming out of the top of the house.

The closeness of the Irish
and Caribbean communities in general

in England
is quite a testament to how...

similar the two places are,
the two cultures are.

You must always remember, you know,

where we were living,
there was mostly Irish round there,

you know what I mean -
Queen's Park, Maida Vale.

You know what I mean?
Kilburn was Irish.

There was no separation
between these communities...

on a certain level, and so...

some of the biggest supporters of
reggae has been the Irish community.

I've always had a strong connection
with a lot of Jamaican artists.

And I do feel like
there's an element of that

that comes back to the similarity
between Ireland and Jamaica.

Yes, yes, yes, yes, Ireland.

Definitely, man.
There's Irish people in Jamaica,

There's a strong connection.

That's why the Guinness is so
popular as well, I think, you know?

The traditional music in Ireland...

compared to the traditional music
in Jamaica,

and the history of it, sonically
might be slightly different.

(UPBEAT IRISH MUSIC)

At the core of it, the message...

..is quite similar, and
the storytelling is quite similar.

A lot of the songs
are about oppression,

a lot of songs are about,
you know, upliftment, as well.

A lot of the songs make you
feel like, 'Don't worry,
things are gonna get better.'

There's a reggae community
in Ireland now, with the Cimarons...

bringing reggae to Ireland
for the first time...

you know, paved the way
for this incredible Caribbean music.

# Ship took us away

# From Africa #

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

So the Cimarons would have been
in Ireland probably...

two years before Bob Marley played.

And he says,
'Yo, fellas, this is Bob Marley.'

We said, 'Bob Marley?'
He said, 'It's Bob Marley.'

I said, 'What are you talking about?'
He said, 'This is Bob.' Bob said...

We said, 'Yeah, we know his songs.'
Bob said, 'Which song do you know?'

We said, 'Duppy Conqueror.'

So we start playing Duppy Conqueror,
and Bob couldn't believe it.

Bob said, 'Why?!' and ended up
swearing, 'Bloodclaat!' (LAUGHS)

Bob wanted to do the live gigs -
it was his first time in England.

So we did Bob Marley's first gig
in England, at the Apollo Club.

A week after we did...

the Bouncing Ball in Peckham.

That went down crazy, man. Bob
really did work the show, you know?

And then a week after,
we did The Bamboo Club in Bristol.

We did two nights. They billed it
as Bob Marley and the Wailers.

Bob Marley and Cimarons,
it should have been.

You know? That's history.

It was at the carnival -
Notting Hill Carnival.

And Bob said to Gichie,

'I notice you guys licking over
a lot of other people's music,

but you no lick no Wailers?'

So we went and do Talking Blues,

and it went to number one
in Jamaica.

# CIMARONS: Talking Blues

I'd like to be able to claim that
we had the session from the Cimarons

before they'd actually
made a commercial record.

But that'd be manifestly untrue -
they've already had
a number-one record in Jamaica

with Talking Blues.

# Talking blues

# They say your feet
Is just too big for your...

KATZ: Now, Talking Blues
was a pretty obscure record,

but their recording
that they made up here

became a chart-topping success
in Jamaica.

# They say your feet
Is just too big for your shoes

# Yes...

This is an unprecedented feat -
for a British reggae band...

to go to Jamaica and have
a number-one hit on the charts

with a cover of
a Bob Marley and the Wailers record?

Nobody has done that,
really, before or since.

# ..on the rock for so long
So long...

REEDY: So he come and check us now
to play a game of football.

So he come up to me,
and he look, and he says...

..'So you're the youth
who sing my song.'

So me say, 'Yes, Bob.'
And he said, 'Sound alright.'

If Bob Marley tell you
that your thing sound alright,

sounds good, isn't it?

GICHIE: You couldn't do that,
you know?

Cimarons was my baby.
I couldn't give it up.

No regrets.

I just feel good to know that I knew
the great man and work with him.

To me, that's enough. I knew Bob.

And through that success,
they came down to Jamaica,

and they recorded
their magnum opus -

an album called On The Rock.

# (VOCALISING)

# We're all on the rock, Jah say

# We're all on the rock, Jah say

# We're all on the rock, Jah say

# We're all on the rock, Jah say

# On the rock

# On the rock

# Wake up, Jah-man-can

# Wake up, roots man

# Get yourself together
Together

# Try to know your brother

# And sister

# Critical has got other plans

# By undermining the weaker minds

# With false hopes

# Can't you see critical is using
Jah name in vain?

# Them use it in court as a joke

# Them use it in church as a curse

# Them use it in a

# (VOCALISING)

# We're all on the rock, Jah say

# We're all on the rock, Jah say

# We're all on the rock, Jah say

# We're all on the rock, Jah say

# On the rock

# On the rock

# Wake up, Jah-man-can...

They're a classic, original,
roots reggae band,

and when they did their own stuff,
I love it, absolutely love it.

My best Cimarons album
is On The Rock.

# Let us be free...

I think that album
was very interesting.

KATZ: You know, in Jamaica,
they played these significant gigs

around the island, and they made
a tremendous impact there.

And they were working
at Channel 1 and Randy's,

and also at Lee Scratch Perry's
Black Ark,

where they made some exceptional
music together with Scratch.

Wow, actually in Black Ark Studio,

with the great Lee Perry -
he's energetic.

He said to Frank,
'Oh, man. Play the bass, man.'

(IMITATES BASS)

He's very, you know...
He'll tell you what he wants.

# Wake up, Jah-man-can

# Wake up, roots man

# Wake up, Jah-man-can

# We're all on the rock, Jah say

# We're all on the rock, Jah say
On the rock

# We're all on the rock, Jah say

# We're all on the rock, Jah say
On the rock

# We're all on the rock, Jah say

# We're all on the rock, Jah say

# We're all on the rock, Jah say

# We're all on the rock #

# CIMARONS: Paul Bogle

# Call his name out loud

# Everybody, yeah

# Paul Bogle...

They did produce,
throughout their career,

some really hardcore roots reggae

that was very interesting
and very innovative -

I'm thinking of songs
like Paul Bogle,

which celebrated one of
the Jamaican national heroes.

(SINGS ALONG TO TRACK) Paul Bogle.

# Was the leader of our strife...

And then the 12-inch
has this wonderful toast,

this kind of hardcore
Jamaican toasting.

You know, when you hear
songs like those,

you just think,
'Wow, this is phenomenal.'

# England needs a leader...

# We need a leader

# Leader like Paul Bogle... #

(SONG FADES OUT)

The music we have done over the
years, we haven't had no great hits.

What we did was a lot of albums.

We did a live album -
we did Live At The Roundhouse.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

We got a deal with Polydor Records,
and...

when we brought the live album
to them, they loved it.

I believe it was the first reggae
band to be signed by a major.

Polydor in the '70s.

And then we ended up doing
an album called Maka.

# CIMARONS: Loosening Out

Maka was an experiment.

Frank always come up with some...
some mad professor ideas. (LAUGHS)

Because in those days, we used
to like one or two rock group,

like Cream and...

T-Rex and Fleetwood Mac.

So we decided to use
a bit of rock sound,

add a bit of rock sound
to the reggae,

and at the same time,
create a new sound.

So we decided to go to Pebble Beach.
Tony Platt was the engineer.

Well, my first interest,
really, in reggae music

started because
I was working at Island Studios.

I was asked to work on
the Catch Fire album.

My introduction to the Cimarons...

the first day in the studio
was the first time that I met them.

When you work as a studio engineer,

you're kind of thrown in at the deep
end at the beginning of a session.

That's what we did for two weeks -
there was no distraction.

No distraction - just wake up
in the morning, have breakfast.

Bang - studio all day until about...

two o'clock in the morning.

These guys weren't necessarily
used to...

a sleepy little Sussex coastal town.

# High up...

I can remember, in the studio,

smoking a lot of the weed.

# High up, not below...

Well, we call Maka, 'weed'

It was weed.

I think we was experimenting...
the sound.

I think they were very much
receptive to other...

other ideas and other influences,
that's for sure.

GICHIE: And so the ideas we came up
with, we can hear it now.

You watch a lot of reggae band
playing live,

you can hear the rock sound.

Gichie's one of the first one
who bring this rock...

(MIMICS ROCK GUITAR)
..onstage. Mad.

They're all playing the...
(MIMICS ROCK GUITAR)

(LAUGHS) We started that.

# I will take you higher

# Way up there, way up there... #

I think anywhere a Jamaica group is,

it will always...
the environment and the condition...

of the particular country will
always come over in their music.

Cimarons is an English-based group.

Their music is very influenced by...

the roots of Jamaica,

and also a British rock sound.

Even though they're very rootsy,
but living in England,

I think that's rubbed off
on their music.

And then that inspires
a whole other generation

of successive waves
of other British reggae bands.

RILEY: We were very aware
of the Cimarons.

There were two bands
that we were very aware of,

back then,
as Jamaican bands in Britain -

one was the Cimarons,
the other was Matumbi.

And in every case, we thought
they were better than us,

because they sounded Jamaican.

That was the aspiration -
to sound Jamaican.

We were making fucking reggae.
Who else do you wanna sound like?

(ENERGETIC REGGAE)

Well, they have a phrase saying...

'A king is not being recognised
in his own country,' is it?

So them don't recognise us
in England.

MCCALLUM: Their time as a band,
when they were in their prime,

there was a passion
for anything that was Jamaican.

Things that were English,
and if you were based in England,

were not regarded as authentic.

At a point where your identity
is also being formed,

the location in which you live
is saying, 'You're not from here.

You're still not quite 100% British
or 100% Jamaican.'

COXSONE: The thing I find
with Jamaican musicians,

Jamaican musicians can play soul
as good as the Americans.

Jamaican musicians can play pop
as good as the Englishman.

But neither the Englishman
nor the American...

can play the reggae
as good as the Jamaican in Jamaica.

Authentic Jamaican artists,
that's what you looked for.

There was no such thing
as black British reggae.

You had Jamaican reggae,

and then you had...shit.
That was it.

Yeah, that's Jamaica. Jamaica...

Forget Cimarons - Jamaica is a...

trendsetter.

Cimarons were authentic.

They were just in a different place.
They grew up in Jamaica.

They understood that.
They understood the sound.

But they're now located in England.

Yeah, they set a precedent that...

here is a band based in Britain

that's playing reggae that can be
just as good as a Jamaican band.

It provided that bridge that
brought us closer to the music -

you know, that we can make reggae
here in England as well.

# ..Africa

# You're the mother of all creation #

I think, one of the things
that's very important is...

when you're being introduced
to reggae, not to expect anything.

Do you know? Go there
with a completely blank mind.

And then the things
will come out to you.

Music, back then...

is how we found ourselves.

It was like a newsreel for us,

the Caribbean news, you know?

That's how you kept up to date,
cos often, the mainstream radios...

didn't really give us
that information.

Reggae had low status in this
country. It wasn't recognised.

In fact, it was ridiculed on the BBC
on a regular basis.

It was the accent,
it was the subject matter,

it was the rhythm, it was people
who looked like my parents.

It was people who looked like me.

# So get ready up a Harlesden

# Yeah, get ready
Round a Willesden... #

In England, right, you come up...

against a class structure.

And there's also
a racial structure as well.

There came a time where...

racial tension was a bit tight -
in those days, very, very tight.

You know, most communities
who ended up coming over here

had to deal with, you know,

the backlash of prejudice,
and racism, and being the outsiders.

We come from Jamaica, not knowing...

what the word 'prejudice' means -
we don't know what prejudice mean.

I went to school in East London,

so I saw a bit of the Teddy Boys
and the National Front.

We grew up during a point
in British history

where I think, politically,
it was OK to be...

overtly, openly...

vocally racist.

# Racemongers are spitting out words
Abomination... #

Up until his diatribe,
he was a hero.

His performance
was born out of black music,

and he covered our hero's song -
I Shot The Sheriff.

And so anyone that helped promote
reggae...we were a fan of.

And all these people
wrote in to New Musical Express,

Sound On Sound, Melody Maker.

There was a huge groundswell
of letters

that came into these magazines,

which gave rise
to Rock Against Racism.

# Rock against racism
Adopting make a schism

# What about the children? #

To me, the Asians, the West Indians,

all these other immigrants
coming in...

is an added plus
to the English society.

And the sooner they realise this is
the better it is, better it will be.

Where have you been?I'm sorry I
couldn't make it this morning, bwana.

(LAUGHTER) But I had to go
to Heathrow, meet my cousin.

Oh, bloody marvellous, eh?
They're flying them in now.

(LAUGHTER)

What's the hurry?
Couldn't he get on a banana boat?

It also appealed to my white mates.

It was like, 'Yeah,
we're in the same boat, mate.'

Well, not really,
but I get where you're coming from.

# The oppression, the oppression... #

REEDY: In this country,
there was a lot of sufferation
going on at that time.

Reggae music, it mixed in with
the punk thing because it was like...

chanting, the same kind of thing.

Try to break down the same barrier,
you know?

REPORTER: Fighting and looting
went on well into the night.

Only a quarter of a mile away,
the bands were still playing.

# It was a riot, riot in the city

# Riot, riot in the town...

At the time, the Cimarons was doing

most of the universities and college
circuits - we are the headliners.

Most of the bands used
to support Cimarons, like UB40...

BOTH: Tom Robinson.

I remember doing a gig one night
with Sham69.

You know,
the guy came out and said...

So that relationship
between punk and reggae...

was not as distant as the press
often made it out to be.

The only difference
is maybe the music.

(ENERGETIC PUNK)

But we're the same. A band is a band,
you know? We all love each other.

We're in the same dressing room.
We don't see nobody different.

# And there's a riot
Riot in the city...

That audience
were already embedded -

wedded to reggae
as much as they were to punk.

It was the lyrics...

and that political resistance
to the state.

That was loud, that was
right in your face within reggae.

(CLAMOURING)

(SIREN WAILS)

WHITE: If they were a white band
or a rock band, you understand,

they'd have got a lot further
than where they are today.

You know, people would
still be hailing them out now,

you understand, and their journey
would have just been continuous.

Everybody after Bob Marley
had to have...

a kind of sexy kind of appeal
and that kind of stuff.

The original appeal was not about
that, it was a rebellious thing.

I think that bands
like The Cimarons who...

maintain the original fundamental
message of the reggae music,

may have been seen as too raw,
and then the majors got involved.

And then they wanted
to change the direction.

And I think that it got diluted.

# Mull of Kintyre...

There's not too many
reggae artists who can...

say they were asked to create an
album by Paul and Linda McCartney,

but the Cimarons can say that.

# Oh, Mull of Kintyre...

We was in Chalk Farm Studios,
and the Engineer said,

'Um... Guys.

Paul McCartney is on the phone.
He wants to talk to one of you guys.'

Paul McCartney?
This man is a crazy man!

Paul and Linda McCartney
are long-standing reggae fans.

Paul McCartney has spoken at length
about hearing reggae,

and the effect it had on him, and
travelling to Jamaica in the '70s.

Well, about nine...ten years ago,
we were in Jamaica,

a place which I liked very much.

Linda was really a nice person.
Linda was down to earth, man.

Linda loved reggae music to the max.

And listening to RJR,
which is a radio station there,

and all they played at the time
was reggae music,

and I just
fell madly in love with it.

# Mull of Kintyre...

So, in the early 1980s,

the Reggaebility album began as
a...a command performance, really -

Paul and Linda McCartney recruiting
the Cimarons to make this album.

# Oh, Mull of Kintyre... #

Even though we were singing
mostly roots songs before but...

you're gonna try things.
You never know.

You might get a crossover
and end up in the charts, you know?

# Big girls, they don't cry...

# Big girls, they don't cry...

# My girl...

GICHIE: I thought this would be
a big breakthrough for Cimarons.

It was supposed to be
their ticket to the big time,

but it was basically a flop.

We were really hoping Big Girls
Don't Cry would have hit the chart,

which it didn't.

They had a lot staked
on a breakthrough,

and it just must have been
a huge disappointment.

There was a kind of
loss of direction,

and things began to collapse.

(SONG FADES OUT)

# CIMARONS: Reality

After the Paul McCartney project,

we continued for about a year after,
I think,

but then things got really, really
slow - nothing was happening for us.

The punitive nature
of the music industry is such,

and especially in reggae, that it's
very, very hard to earn a living.

I remember when Maurice
said him was going to stop playing.

There was some discrepancy
about funds.

I said to him, 'Yeah, boy,
you can't stop right now.'

Him say, 'Yeah.' Me say,
'What you gonna do with your drums?'

Him say, 'No, no.' Him not gonna get
rid of them. Him gonna find a job.

Carl Levy, the keyboard player,
he went to off to America.

Winston got lucky
and broke out as a solo artist.

And I had to go and do a 9-5.
(LAUGHS)

I wasn't very happy about that.

I remember Franklyn Dunn,
in those years,

was driving a minicab
to make ends meet.

You know, a lot of musicians
went through that here in the UK.

A lot of reggae musicians
were forced...

they cannot rely
on just being musicians,

regardless of high-calibre
international touring

and success abroad.

Even though you're working,
and you're on the move, but...

you're not earning a lot of money.

You're still under pressure
in a way,

but you don't see it that way
when you're doing it.

But financially,
you're still under pressure.

So we're always breaking records,

always breaking records.

First one to do this, first one
to do that, first one to do that.

Always the first.

We was the last one to get that...
get that...

I need some of that now.

Need some retirement money now.

Only thing that was wrong
with the whole situation is that...

there was no representative
to represent us.

They didn't have
the professional management...

to ensure that their contracts...

would pay dividends.

No management - we manage ourself.

But I reckon that was a mistake.

I reckon that was a mistake.

We should have a manager,
but we didn't.

They're not getting royalties.
They've made all this music.
You might say, why don't we know...

more about the band?

And from day one, they weren't
as I said, getting the publicity.

They never had the press coverage.
They never made videos.

There's a lack of photography,
even, to support that they existed.

They just sort of...
disappeared out of view, really.

I think that was very disappointing.

Major record labels
were a little intimidated

by the idea
of trying to market that music.

You know, well,
'Where's our audience?

Who are we aiming this at?'

We love the music, so...

we went into it for the music,
not for the business.

We didn't have the knowledge
of the business side of things.

Once you believe in a certain thing,
you know,

it doesn't really matter too much
about how much money you're making.

Yes? That was the attitude we had.

We just wanted to do music.

Yes? That's all we wanted to do.

We never trust anybody.
We still don't trust anybody.

And there's a lot of promoter
in England...

who owe Cimarons money.

A lot of them - some of them
die now - owe Cimarons money.

I find it so distressing, really,

when you hear certain songs playing,

and you say,
'Yes, that's one of my songs.'

What have you got to show? Nothing.

Nothing. You got nothing to show.

(BIRDSONG)

(BAND PLAYING INSIDE)

# Harder than the rock
So hard

# Harder than the rock

# So hard
Harder than the rock this time

# Harder than the rock

# Harder than the rock this time

# So hard
Harder than the rock

# So hard

# Harder than the rock, rock, rock
Rock, rock, rock, rock, rock... #

We were planning to start again
in March this year.

And we started rehearsing.
We had a couple of gigs lined up.

And then COVID took over
and just stopped everything.

It's all about relaunching the band,

making the people know we're here,
and we're ready.

(LAUGHS) Here to go.

That same authenticity is still
there, you know, so they can't stop.

That's why they keep going now,

when they're far beyond
a standard age of retirement -

they're not just
going through the motions.

They're doing it
because they have to do it.

They can't stop until it's time for
them to stop. And that's not yet.

Winston Reedy, he's been doing
his own thing as a solo artist.

He couldn't really find his space
and time to fit in with us.

So we bought in a new singer
by the name of Michael. Michael Arkk.

# Yeah

# Paul Bogle

# (VOCALISING)

# Was the leader of our strife

# (VOCALISING) #

# He travelled a long, long way
Across the valley...

ARKK: My name is Michael Wright.

AKA Michael Arkk

(SINGS ALONG WITH SONG PLAYING)

# Paul Bogle, oh, lord... #

When I first came to London,
I've never seen anything like it.

At school, we heard of...

(SINGS) London Bridge
is burning down, burning down.

I didn't know I would
have seen it for real.

I couldn't bear it at first.

I didn't like it at all.

In Jamaica,
I know everybody in my community.

(LAUGHS) But here, nobody gives a...

gives a biscuit about you.

But as time goes by, you know...

you know, you adjust...

and accept that this is the reality
of this city living.

My friend Charles,
he called me one day and said,

'There's this band
that needs a singer.'

(VOCALISING)

He brought me over to Harlesden

to meet up with Cimarons.

I've never heard of Cimarons before.

Never heard of Cimarons before.
And...

from the time I met them,

it's as if I knew them.

I felt as if I went to school
with these guys.

And when I saw them, the spirits
between us was so cordial that,

you know, I think they say,
'Yeah, man.

Brother, ya...
Brother, you're alright.'

They were wild and free.
I'm wild and free.

So we gelled.

('PAUL BOGLE' BY CIMARONS PLAYS)

# Was the leader of...

# The leader of our strife, yeah...

I can't remember
them interviewing me or...

asking me to sing anything.

We just started. Right there
and then, we just started.

And, you know, it's been like that.

# Cimarons are saying...

Kind of give me
a bit of a funny feeling,

though, but...yeah.

Because I like Michael - he's got
the character that suits the band.

It's not a competition thing, but...

having to follow
in Winston's steps...

it's not easy. It's not easy.

Very different from me
in a certain way.

I'm aggressive. I'm like, you know...

I'm like early Tyson - I just knock
you out in the first round, man.

Me no partial.

But he's more cool.

It's not an easy shoes to fill.
Not an easy shoes to fill.

But I'm trying my best.

Yeah, I hope Mikey um...

..likes what he's doing.

I hope... How am I gonna say this?

I hope we grow on him.

We have to grow on each other.

# Oh, yeah, oh, yeah #

# CIMARONS: Rock Reggae Rhapsody

# Rock, rock, rock, rock, rock, rock

# In reggae rhapsody

# Rock, rock, rock
Rock, rock, rock... #

Over the years, I've had to...

subsidise my musical...desire.

(KNOCKS ON DOOR)

(VOCALISES)

So I had to find work. So um...

I became...

..a cleaner.

(HUMS)

(SINGS QUIETLY)

I say I do cleaning, but I've
never seen myself as a cleaner.

(VOCALISES)

And hoping that Cimarons now...
we will grow to the stage where...

we don't...I don't have
to have the side hustle.

That hasn't happened yet,
but I can see it happening.

# Rock, rock, rock, rock, rock, rock

# In reggae rhapsody... #

(PLAYS BLUES-STYLE PIECE)

(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
MAN 1: Yeah, yeah. Yeah.

MAN 2: This is where
the magic really happens.

We are lucky to have
the legendary Cimarons...

back for one... (LAUGHS)

..back by public...
no, by my demand or their demand.

Recording new tracks
for their forthcoming LP.

# Words of wisdom, wisdom

# Spoken in parables...

This is a Neumann U47.

Ella Fitzgerald.

Oh, right, this is the one they used?
Yeah.

And this is my little studio.

Well, I say it's mine.

It was built by a couple
of elderly Jamaican fellows.

So it was built
as a reggae studio, originally.

# Spoken in parables... #

Which is why it actually suits
these guys down to the ground.

You know, look at these speakers -
they're built into pods like that...

to get as much sort of...
of that dub-y sort of bass sound.

Not very well labelled.No.
It's all over the fucking shop.

All over the place, yeah, yeah.
Typical Frank.

We took them off Frank's hard drive,

and he probably labels things how
he thinks they should be. (LAUGHS)

Well, it would help if he was here.
(LAUGHS)

Because he probably knows
where he's...

hidden them all, but...

So we rang him,
and he was in a garden in Jamaica.

Chop down Babylon.

And I was jealous. Very jealous.

# Green is the colour of the grass

# That grows so wild...

Yeah, yeah,
I think it's different, yeah...

a mixture of rocksteady -
you can hear the rocksteady

and the reggae mixed together.

It's where we started from - roots.
You know, more roots-y.

I can hear you now.

(VOCALISES)

To be working with these guys is...

is something I never,
ever dreamed of.

This is a little bit
short of a miracle.

Yeah, well, it's just, you know...?

It's a good feeling, though,
isn't it?Yes.

What is yours is yours -
the rest, it don't matter.

At the end of the day, yeah,
the path leads here, you know?

# Gold is the colour of the sun

# That shines so free

# For you and for me

# And for all living things...

(PLAYS LAID-BACK DRUM BEAT)

(SONG CONTINUES PLAYING)

# Gold is the colour of the sun... #

That's how life is, you know...

..one day you're here,
and the next day you're nowhere.

(CHATTER, LAUGHTER)

Alright.

(SCATTERED APPLAUSE)

Sorry, I can't...

(APPLAUSE)

(BASS DRUM THUDDING)

(MELODIC GUITAR CHORD)

DUNN: Drum and bass, bass and drum -
I'm always where Maurice is.

We don't have to say anything.
We understand each other.

Drum and bass -
I'm always where Maurice is.

I don't think Maurice's family...

..knew him like I knew him.

I miss him.

(SNIFFLES)

Sorry.

Frank and Maurice was really,
really close,

because they live just five minutes
away from each other.

A year before, Frank lost his dad.

And at the end of the year,
end of 2019, he lost his mum.

So he took his mum
home to Jamaica to bury her,

and while he was in Jamaica,
hear that Maurice pass.

So it was a double blow for him.
He took it really hard.

For days, he was shattered.
You know? Shattered.

I phoned his brother, Johnny,

to find out what was happening.

And Johnny said to me,
'Why, it don't look too good'

But even up to that point,

I was still, you know,

believing that
it wasn't all that bad...

until Johnny phoned me
a second time and said,

'Boy, Dego.

It doesn't look like Maurice
is gonna pull through, you know.'

Shock. It's more like a disaster.

But the shock of hearing
that he was ill...

I know it takes a short time,

and then he's...he's gone, you know?

I broke down, man. I cried.

I cried.

# You say you gonna leave me...

Maurice, he's the master drummer.
(LAUGHS)

REEDY: Oh, Maurice was
one of the best drummer.

There's something about that guy.

At the time,
when Maurice was really going...

He could...a press roll...

Do you know what a press roll is? A
press roll is... (MIMICS DRUM ROLL)

On a snare drum, he could hold that
for about an hour and a half.

Unbreakable.

He was a very talented drummer.
Very, very talented.

And the thing about Maurice that...
he just didn't know how good he was.

Maurice never knew
how talented he was as a drummer.

Yeah, I would say he was
the most talented one of all of us -

Maurice was way ahead.

He was one of the best...
best drummers, like I was saying.

One of the best.

Every drummer used to come and check
him. Everybody come check Maurice.

Everybody come and check Maurice...
to see what we're up to.

How Maurice was licking the sound,
you know, licking the drum -

I said to him,
'You sound like a yard drummer.'

Compared to now,
I don't hear a drummer

who lick them skin hard
like Maurice.

Making the skin bawl
like a goat, you know?

He didn't get
much recognition for it,

but he was a top drummer in the UK.

REEDY: He played on a lot of stuff
that you don't even know.

You're dancing
to all these records for years,

and you don't know that -
it was Maurice Ellis.

He would love going onstage
and playing.

And we have to continue
because of Maurice, too, also.

We can't just stop.

MAN: Do you feel like
it's what he would want?Yes.

Yes, yes, yes.

On the drums...put your hands
together for Maurice Ellis.

(MAURICE PLAYS DRUM SOLO)
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

One, two, three...
(DRUMS COUNTING IN)

We are African, but we are...

Caribbean people.
But we are African.

Some of us don't recognise that.

But I do. We do.

# Ethiopian romance

# Ethiopian romance

# Ethiopian romance

# Ethiopian romance...

DIXON: Reggae music
is an experience.

It's a feeling, it's a love.

When you're involved,
nothing else matters.

# Ethiopian romance

# Ethiopian romance...

Some people say
reggae all sounds the same,

but if you get it, it just...

I don't know, it just does
something to me - it moves me.

It's something that reaches right
down to the depths of the soul -

that's what reggae is all about,

and that's what
the Cimarons were all about.

# I'm in love with Jah

# And his loving ways

# I'm in love with Jah

# And his loving ways

# Ethiopian romance

# Ethiopian romance

# Ethiopian romance

# Ethiopian romance...

Look how many generations
in popular music that

that's come back in
and been relevant, that sound...

that was created in the '60s.

And people still
search for that now, you know,

40-50 years beyond that,

because it's the purity
of the storytelling,

the purity of the sound that never,
you know, goes out of fashion.

It's impossible to listen to it
without actually...

feeling the music come through.

I mean, I used to come out of reggae
sessions with my stomach aching,

because I'd been kind of grooving
in the chair behind the desk.

# Africa

# Africa

# Africa

# Africa...

Reggae music is part of my heritage,
it's part of my culture, you know?

It's just like me as a black person,

me can't be white -
me have to be black.

So reggae is my thing.

Reggae have my heartbeat right now,

right now, right now - my heartbeat.

# Africa

# Africa

# Africa

# Africa

# Africa... #

Reggae is humane music - it's
humanity singing about human issues.

It's a music that expresses
the problems...

of the Jamaicans who created it,

but it has that universality.

He says,
'I'm singing about my problems,

but I'm singing about
your problems too.'

It's a warm vibe,
and it's a warrior vibes.

And it's soulful,

and...rebellious.

REEDY: It's a big force, man.

It means a lot to me.

It carry me, teach me.

Make me feel happy,
make me feel sad.

Long live reggae music.

Well, Cimarons' destiny
is just to be themselves...

and get back into the thing.

You know what I mean?
They've lost their drummer.

And I'm sure...
I'm sure that none of them...

..wants to stop playing music.

(INDISTINCT CHATTER)

We should start rehearse tomorrow,
and go back on the road.

Basically.

Go on through, young boy.

Go onstage, make people enjoy
themselves, make me enjoy myself.

I miss that. I would...

I would do that now - right now -
even though me have a bad back.

But when you go onstage,
you don't feel no pain.

You don't feel no pain at all.

That's the best painkiller you can
get - go onstage and play music.

# Ethiopian romance... #

Yeah, Westbourne Rehearsal Studio.
Yes, in the basement.

In the basement, where we can't
get no place to park.(LAUGHTER)

If we all get the tune, them
sharpen up like irons, you know?

Yeah, ready to go to battle and...

you know, bring forth Jah message.

You know?

It's not a big thing
if they don't play for
two or three months, or even a year.

But when you call them,
they're ready.

Because they know exactly
how to play with each other.

Simple as that. Yes, simple as that.

All they need is a couple of
rehearsal. They're ready to go, man.

Trust me, ready to go.

('ETHIOPIAN ROMANCE'
PLAYS ON CAR STEREO)

We did our final rehearsal
last night,

and the gig will be tomorrow -

tomorrow at Hootananny in Brixton.

Good people, good afternoon.
(CAR DOOR CLOSES) Bless up, bless up.

I'm alright, thanks, I'm alright.

I'm not good, but I'm alright.
(LAUGHTER)

We're gonna go and visit Dego,
who is, unfortunately, not too well.

He's in hospital.

He's so upset that he won't
be able to be a part of it. You know?

Cos he's been a great help,
his songwriting ability.

We've done two of his songs
on the album.

His harmony is brilliant. We won't be
able to use his harmony so...

yes, we pray that he'll be OK.

We don't know
what's happening on Sunday.

We'll just get up
and go down and go set up.

Me, you, everybody go set up.

Just like what Michael Jackson do.

Soundcheck, rehearse,
dress rehearsal, soundcheck.

Have a smoke, have a drink.All in
all, it's a celebration of Cimarons.

Yes. Yeah, the return.
Yeah.

Time flies so fast. We lost Maurice
about two-and-a-half years ago,

and that was a shock for us.

I want to start some gigs
before we lose any more members.

Pandemic came along
and everything fell apart.

So it's over three, four years we've
had to wait now for this moment.

It's a tough place to start,

because the London audiences are as
critical as the Jamaica audiences.

They know music,
so we just have to be good.

It's like a crucible, but then um...
(LAUGHS)

..if you're any good,
you've got to go through the fire.

(GROANS)

It is the calm before the storm -

only that we are
in control of the storm.

We're in control of the winds,
the temperature and the pressure.

Just wanna make sure
everything goes right.

We would have loved
to have Dego with us tonight.

Because Dego has, like...always
been around Cimarons from the '70s.

So I miss him. Yeah.

(BAND PLAYS IN BACKGROUND)

When I look at my drummer
on my right,

I'm seeing Carl, but that's Maurice.

I'm gonna see...but it's Maurice.
He's there with me.

In spirit.

In thoughts.

Yeah, he'll be there.

Playing this, playing reggae music,

has always been my life,
you know what I mean?

So when I'm up here,
I'm playing, it's like...

freedom. Yeah. Freedom, yeah.

But it's also...

the love of it,
you know what I mean?

From 1971, I've been with these
guys. They're bona fide friends.

(PEOPLE CHATTING)

Honestly, a sense of nervousness.

You prepare your best you can,

but when you get out there,
and the atmosphere...

and the vibe hits you,

you give, you know, everything.

Sing close to the microphone,
please -

gonna make the difference, you know?
You're gonna be more comfortable.

Closer.

Are you ready?!
(CHEERING)

The first band
to take reggae music to Japan.

(CHEERING)

The drum beat of Africa,
Ghana, Asia.

The first reggae band in Europe.

(CHEERING)
(CYMBAL CRASHES)

Ladies and gentlemen,
boys and girls...

WOMAN: Yeah, man.
..are you ready for...

Are you ready?
ALL: Yes, man.

..the return of...

Cimarons!
(CHEERING)

Michael Arkk.
(BAND PLAYS)

Yeah!

# (VOCALISING)

# This time we're having a nice time

# Mood is good and we feel fine

# Your liveliness
Is catching like wildfire

# Fire, fire

# We're going on as if there is
A riot, riot, riot, riot

# Make me rock, rock, rock, rock
Rock, rock

# To reggae rhapsody...

Playing together is
just like we just know exactly...

how the sound go -
we still can do it, innit?

You know,
put a guitar in Gichie hand,

and a guitar in my hand,
and you hear music. (CHUCKLES)

# To Reggae Rhapsody...

GICHIE: When I'm surrounded
with music, I'm fully alive.

I feel like I'm at home, you know,
I feel, definitely, like I'm at home.

# One dread come tell ya

# You'd better lively up yourself...

Yeah, we are all one -
we can just use eyes contact,

and we know what's happening,
and we go from there.

Beautiful onstage.

Onstage, we're not human.

We are...invincible.

# Come rock with me
Let me take you higher, higher,

# Higher, higher, higher, higher

# Come rock, rock, rock, rock, rock
Hey!

# To reggae rhapsody

# Come choke, choke, choke
Choke, choke, choke

# To reggae rhapsody...

REEDY: You feel light,
you feel...rewarded.

Me feel blessed.

You feel special. You feel...

'Thank you, Father, for giving me
this moment, because...

not a lot of people
can experience this sort of moment.

# Cimarons...!

When the whole crowd is going mad,
you're crazy in your head, and...

..and everything is still together.

You sort of miss each other -
as friends.

As a brethren,
missing togetherness and playing.

You do miss it.

Yeah, you do miss it.

# Come make me rock
Come make me rock

# To reggae rhapsody

# Boy, come make me rock
Come make me rock

# Ay! To reggae rhapsody

# Come make me rock #

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

Still, I miss my original singer.

I don't want to belittle anyone.

But my Reedy is my singer.

Winston Reed is my singer.

Not to put down Mikey or anything,

because from Mikey
coming in the flock...

he is my singer.

It is said to me that...

(CHUCKLES) ..the man whose
position I'm standing in tonight...

the great Winston Reedy,
is somewhere around.

(CHUCKLES)
(PEOPLE YELL OUT INDISTINCTLY)

Yes!

Respect due.

(CHEERING) (ELECTRONIC WARBLING)
Yeah.

This is the man.

You're giving me the mic,
my brother?

Yeah, man. Say something.
Oh, my God, I'm humbled.

I'm feeling humbled.

What can I say about this band here?

This band here teach me everything.

Carry me all over the world.

Bless you, Cimarons,
for teaching me everything.

Harder Than The Rock.

Harder Than The Rock. Um...
How it go again?(BASS DRUM STARTS)

This we never plan, you know?
No rehearsal.

# We're harder than the rock

# We're harder than the rock
This time

# We're harder than the rock

# Harder than the rock, this time

# Oh, yeah...

Winston.

# Harder than the rock
So hard

# We're harder than the rock
This time

# So hard
Harder than the rock

# We're harder than the rock
This time

# Cimarons #

Thank you!
(NOTE CONTINUES)

Put your hands together...

for the great Winston...

Reedy!

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
Thank you, sir! Yeah.

Cimarons is out now, yeah?

There's nothing can stop them.

Those people that were there,
they are all Cimarons fans.

GICHIE: Yes, yes, yes.
And it's a blessing, man. Rastafari.

Blessings, blessings, blessings,

Listen. Irie. Irie.

Ah, cricket.

Mmm. Yes, yes.

I was so well-prepared for the gig.

I just became very ill.

And ended up in the hospital.

I was in there for about...
two weeks.

I was so...

(CHUCKLES SOFTLY)

I was angry.

But...you know what them say?

Every disappointment is for a good.

But I'm hoping...

you know...

future gigs...

I might be able to be there.

You know?

# CIMARONS: Rock Reggae Rhapsody

# Well...

# Come we rock, rock, rock
Rock, rock, rock

# To reggae rhapsody...

(GREETINGS DROWNED OUT BY MUSIC)

# To reggae rhapsody...

Yeah, man. Here we are.
Rototom time. That's it.

Come to mash up Spain.
Come to tear Spain down.

That's it. (CHUCKLES)

# To reggae rhapsody, yeah...

BOTH: (SINGING WITH TRACK)
Come we rock.

Come we rock to reggae rhapsody.
Yeah!

# Come we rock

# Come we rock...

(LAUGHTER)
Alright! Alright! Alright!

Massive day for the Cimarons.

Massive day for Cimarons.

Massive, beautiful day.

Back in Spain.

First reggae band ever in Spain,
and back in Spain now.

It's... It's cosmic.

(LAUGHS)

The cosmos must have
something to do with this.

So I'm looking forward to tonight.

It has to be good, you know?

(BOTH SING MELODY)

Yes, Rasta.

I'm glad I come back,
and the sun shining like Jamaica.

Rototom is the biggest
reggae festival in Europe.

All the top acts from Jamaica
has played Rototom over the years.

For us to be part of Rototom,
to me, it's a big thing.

I wasn't thinking about it.

I was thinking about going home.

Sun. Ganja weed.

Coconut water.

But...I'm not complaining.

Yeah, I hope to have a nice time.

If I enjoy myself,
the crowd should enjoy themselves.

Hopefully. Yeah. What about you?

I am elated, over the moon,

ecstatic to be among the legends.

Well, one word - irie. (LAUGHS)

MC: From the UK...

the first band touring Japan,

Africa...

please, welcome onstage...

WHITE: From 1967 until these times,

the Cimarons from the UK.

(BAND SINGING AND VOCALISING)

Good to go.

# Ethiopian romance

# Ethiopian romance

# Ethiopian romance

# Ethiopian romance

# Africa...

Everybody have a destiny.

It doesn't matter how long
you take to get there. Yes?

But you have a destiny.
And it will come.

Cos that's how
the Father prepare it.

# Africa...

One morning, my dad said
we should tell God what we want.

I told God I wanted to be a singer.

My most happy moments
is since meeting Cimarons.

Because I am experiencing
what I dreamt about.

# What did I say?
Ethiopian romance...

The steps of a righteous man
is ordered by the Lord.

You could take out
the righteous bit.

But the steps of this man
was ordered by the Lord.

# Ethiopian romance...

Gichie, Maurice...

them are my life.

They are my life, my musical friend,
and my musical family.

# Africa

# Africa

# Africa

# Africa...

Reggae music is alive and well
and will never die.

And reggae music, it's part of Earth,
part of nature, part of creation.

And that can never die.
It will always be there.

Reggae music is one of the parents
of modern pop music.

My generation of musicians -
and just people -

stand on the shoulders
of bands like the Cimarons.

# Cimarons...!

Do your thing. Yeah, do your dream.

Thirty years,
we've been waiting for this.

It's nobody's dream but your dream.

Cimarons have a dream and Cimarons
never allowed the dream to die.

# Ethiopian romance...

Jah be praised, you know?

# Ethiopian romance...

GENERAL LEVY: It takes a spark -
they were the spark...

that started a big flame.

And often,
when the big flame takes over,

people forget about the spark,
but the Cimarons...

are definitely a spark
that started...

a big, big, big, big fire -

a big flame, positive flame.

And it's still blazing
till this day.

Thank you! (CHUCKLES)

Thank you!

Tonight, we are the Cimarons.

(CHEERING)

Ganja weed and music, yeah...

..number one -
ganja weed, music and food, girls.

That's...showbusiness.

(CROWD YELL INDISTINCTLY)

Every good thing...

has a place to begin
and a place to end.

# CIMARONS: Ship Ahoy

Rototom!

Cimarons!

Thank you!

# Ship ahoy, ship ahoy, ship ahoy

# Ship ahoy-oy-oy

# Ship ahoy

# Ship ahoy, ship ahoy, ship ahoy

# Ship ahoy-oy-oy

# Far

# As your eyes can see

# Men, women and baby slaves

# Going to a land called liberty

# But life, you see, is already made

# So young and so strong

# You're just waiting to be saved

# Lord, I'm so tired

# And I know you're tired too

# Look over the horizon

# And see the sun

# Shining down on you

# Yeah

# Ship ahoy, ship ahoy, ship ahoy

# Ship ahoy-oy-oy

# Ship ahoy

# Ship ahoy, ship ahoy, ship ahoy

# Ship ahoy-oy-oy

# Ship ahoy, ship ahoy, ship ahoy

# Ship ahoy-oy-oy

# Can you feel
The motion of the ocean?

# Can you feel

# The cold winds blowing by?

# Ship took us away

# From Africa

# Ship took us away

# From Africa #

Jah!

Rastafari.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

(SONG CONCLUDES)

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE CONTINUES)
We wanna thank you all for watching.

I hope to see you all next time.

So, from Cimarons...

and to all of you,
I wanna say peace and love...

Thank you very much.

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