Reggae Bloodlines: In Search of the Music and Culture of Jamaica

By Stephen Davis

Book Overview

'Reggae Bloodlines', originally published in 1977 and here updated with a new afterword, was the first book to tell the story of the music of the Jamaican people and their spiritual nationality, the Brotherhood of Rastafari. It includes interviews with reggae's master musicians-Bob Marley, Jimmy Cliff, Toots Hibbert, Big Youth, Peter Tosh, Augustus Pablo, Max Romeo-and Prime Minister Michael Manley; reportage on Jamaican politics; and sorties into the nation's lush interior in search of the ganja fields of Kali Mountain and the legendary Maroon enclaves.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0306804964
• ISBN13: 9780306804960
• Release Date: August 1992
• Publisher: Da Capo Press
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 1.37 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 8.0" x 10.9"

Customer Reviews

Great book, but limited

First - I love this book. It is by no means comprehensive or complete, but it's a fascinating snapshot - almost a travelog - of the writers' experience in Jamaica in the 70s, searching for reggae music. This book isn't selling anything, it just tells a story, and it has vivid detail, and I find it a great read whenever I return to to. Don't dismiss it because it's not a "do everything" reggae book. Plus, any book that gives this much space to Ras Michael & the Sons of Negus is worth looking into.

Essential roots raggae coverage

This book has it all if you like 70's roots: awesome writing style, quotes, interviews with reggae masters, copious photos, irie vibe. Don't hesitate, buy with confidence. Electronic reggae can be good I say, but organic reggae is better. Tosh and Big Youth rule. Don't miss the movie "The Harder They Come" !

Real Reggae Bible

I red this book when I was a child. still my most favorite book! This is the reggae guide which was written by photographer in the real time of 'Roots Rock Reggae'. You will feel like you're traveling Jamaica and talking with Bob Marly. You will learn a lot of things about Reggae history.

Good Book Overall.

Anyone with an interest in the Reggae scene in the 70's will enjoy this book. I liked the photos an interviews.

An early attempt to explain the then-exotic reggae beat.

For many non-Jamaicans,(myself included)this was the first in-depth look at the music that exploded out of that small Carribean island in the mid-seventies and took the world by storm.The main strength of the book is it's lyrical black and white photography(much clearer in the original edition, by the way.)The narrative is occaisionally over-awed,and,in hindsight,sometimes inaccurate.This is a small failing, especially when trying to make sense of a vibrant people and the music which reflects their lives.Facts,as the book points out,are notoriously hard to pin down in Jamaica.Davis and Simon deserve a vote of thanks for the first attempt to go beyond exotica and explain the people,nation and religious experience which shaped the music of Jamaica.