The Story of the Blue Riddim Band | America's First Reggae Group - video Dailymotion

Reggae Appreciation Society

This video tells the little known story of the first Reggae Band to come out of America. A ridiculously talented lineup that showed that Reggae could also be done brilliantly by non-Jamaicans

Transcript

00:00Hello everybody, you're welcome back again to the Reggae Appreciation Society.

00:06It goes without saying that reggae music has conquered the globe since its explosion out

00:10of Jamaica towards the end of the 1960s.

00:13With every country on the planet representing with its own homegrown sound, with the United

00:17States no exception to this phenomenon, the Californian or Cali reggae scene is a massive

00:23movement today and New York was the epicenter of that country's initial reggae wave in

00:28the 80s.

00:29But the origins of America's indigenous scene was quite far away from these two vibrant

00:34hubs of culture and right in the heart of middle America.

00:38When we hear about the state of Missouri, what first comes to mind are factories or agriculture

00:43and massive farms like we saw in movies like Wizard of Oz or the peaceful idyllic place

00:48where Clark Kent grew up in the movie Superman.

00:51I can bet that very few people know that straight out of Kansas City sprang one of the toughest

00:56and most talented groups of reggae's golden era in the fabulous blue rhythm band.

01:01Very far from a novelty act, they were as authentic and as powerful as their Jamaican counterparts.

01:06I can't name many bands that blew Bob Marley away or were heavily respected by legends like

01:12Tommy McCook of the Scatterlights, The Burning Spear or Mikey Dread or had a rhythm section that

01:18left even Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare totally stunned at live shows.

01:23Anyone who knows a thing or two about Jamaican audiences knows for sure that they are the

01:27most difficult to impress.

01:29But when the blue rhythm band made history as the first American act to perform on Jamaican

01:33soil in their most elite reggae festival, they simply blew away the 30,000 strong audience,

01:39earned huge reviews in Jamaica's press and totally changed the narrative about non-Jamaican bands.

01:45But despite being such titans with amazing sound and legends on the live show circuit, their

01:50devotion to their craft as musical road warriors without much focus to the business plus a host

01:56of other factors would keep them from mainstream success as one of reggae's all-time great

02:01bands.

02:02Let's take a look at the story of the blue rhythm band, America's first reggae group.

02:07Now this story begins at Shawnee Mission East High School in Kansas in 1968 with two music-loving

02:13friends in multi-instrumentalist Bob Zoome and drummer Steve McClain who both graduated

02:19in that year and soon after formed a rhythm section called Rhythm Function.

02:23The pair soon added Andy Myers, Pat Pierce and Howard Yukers to the group and were primarily

02:28an R&B and jazz band that were very tight and soon began to play shows all over the state

02:34and eventually beyond Missouri by the dawn of the 70s.

02:38By 1973, the four guys were based in New York and during their thing, when Steve McClain

02:43began to notice a powerful new sound called reggae that was getting more and more airplay

02:48on the radio.

02:49This sound was hardly known in America before then.

02:52But a Jamaican trio called The Whalers had just played a promotional tour of the US to

02:57promote their album Catchafire.

02:59And American singer Johnny Nash had just scored major hits in the US with the reggae songs

03:04like Stare It Up and I Can See Clearly Now.

03:07Not to mention a new Jamaican movie called The Harder They Come and its awesome soundtrack

03:11that was getting lots of airplay.

03:14Steve McClain was blown away by this new sound and when the band returned to Kansas a few months

03:18later, he sold the idea to founding member Bob Zone for their band to start playing reggae.

03:24They didn't just want to learn about this new sound from listening to a few records but

03:28truly wanted to get an appreciation of the culture that created it.

03:32So late that year, Zone and McClain took their first trip to Jamaica and when they first got

03:37there, they left hanging out at a new popular nightclub called The Turntable on Wed Hills Road

03:42in Kingston.

03:43And it was there that they became friendly with the Soul Syndicate band and being a rhythm section

03:48themselves.

03:49They would bond particularly with Soul Syndicate's own drum and bass superheroes in Santa Davis

03:54and George Foley Ford, who would over time give them priceless coaching on how to perfect

03:59their sound.

04:00Over the next 2 years, they would travel back and forth to Jamaica to amass records and

04:04to soak up the culture.

04:06And by 1976, they were red hot and the only band in America performing reggae at live shows

04:12all over the country.

04:13To really complete the authentic sound that they wanted, they would add trumpeter and vocalist,

04:18Scott Korchak and saxophonist Jack Blackett in 1977.

04:22And the Blue Redden Band was officially born as America's first reggae group.

04:26Their fame would grow quickly as reggae was becoming more popular.

04:30And most importantly, they were an incredible act that drew very heavily from the traditional

04:34ska and rock steady sound from Studio One.

04:37They came under the radar of Chris Blackwell of Ireland Records who fell in love with their

04:42music and chose them to be the opening act for Bob Marley on a survival album tour of the

04:47US in 1979.

04:49After years of doing exploits on the local scene, they were faced with their first acid tests

04:53on the 6th of December at the Hawk Auditorium at the University of Kansas and in 30 minutes

04:59received the most important validation that any reggae band could get.

05:03At first, the audience was cold and impatient as they had paid good money to come and watch

05:09Bob Marley who was then the global icon and ambassador for reggae music.

05:12But when they began to jam, the whole atmosphere would change as they unleashed a heavy bass-driven

05:18sound with precision and raw authenticity.

05:21And as their sets drew to a close, their energy would draw Bob Marley out of his dressing room

05:26who was supposed to be chilling and getting in the zone before his own act.

05:30According to witnesses, the tough gong came out to watch them and stood totally riveted next

05:35to the sound engineer at the mixing desk as the band ended their set to a standing ovation.

05:40Bob was particularly captivated by Steve McLean who was executing complex heavy one-drop rhythms

05:46and told the engineer that that was one of the best reggae drummers he'd ever seen.

05:51It was now official that the Blue Rhythm Band were legit and subsequently they were the

05:56only American reggae band called upon to open concerts whenever Jamaican superstars like

06:01Dennis Brown, Peter Tosh, Kulture or Big Youth were in town and they would also open for

06:07Burning Spear who very quickly became one of their biggest fans.

06:11In 1980, they travelled to Jamaica to record 19 songs at the popular Channel 1 studios with

06:16the aim of making an album.

06:18But for reasons best known to Chris Blackwell, Blind Records would choose not to release it.

06:24This band was firstly committed to their live shows with little or no interest in recording.

06:29But thank goodness that in 1981, they would record the songs that made up their debut album

06:34Restless Spirit.

06:35And the next year, they unleashed their biggest single named Nancy Reagan, a humorous jab at

06:40the then first lady of the US.

06:43And that song became an underground smash hit.

06:46But in December 1982, the ultimate test of their credibility would come when they were invited

06:51to perform at the fifth edition of the Reggae Swan Splash, the first American reggae act

06:56to get invited.

06:57They faced a skeptical audience of 30,000 people who saw them simply as a novelty act.

07:03But in a matter of minutes, they had that crowd in their pockets, singing along and rocking

07:08out at the churned-out tune after tune, including long-time admirers like Sly and Robbie and the

07:13Burning Spear.

07:14Alongside British reggae acts Asward, they were named as the best performers at that year's

07:19festival.

07:20And their spectacular performance that night was released as a live album named Alive in

07:25Jamaica that came out in 1984 and got nominated for Best Reggae Album at the Grammy Awards in

07:311986 but lost narrowly to Cliffhanger by Jimmy Cliff.

07:35But while Reggae Sun Splash 82 was their finest hour, everything would go downhill from there

07:40as founding member Bob Zone left the group to pursue other projects in 1983 and passed away

07:46from a heart attack in 1987.

07:48The band kept touring into the middle of the 80s when doing a legal dispute with their management

07:54cost them the rights to use the name Blue Rhythm Band and they would go by a new name

07:58called Strategic Dance Initiative for a few years until they reacquired the rights to the

08:03original name.

08:04This band never broke up per se but badly demoralized by legal issues and the sad loss of Bob Zone,

08:11their activity and output would slow down a great deal over the years.

08:14Though they made a comeback in the mid 90s with a strong showing at the Sierra Nevada World

08:19Music Festival in 1997 and would be backing band to big names like Junior Reed and Big Youth

08:26whenever their tours would pass through Kansas City over the years.

08:30Sadly, they lost trumpeter and singer Scott Kocak in 2007 and were inducted in that same year

08:36into the Kansas Music Hall of Fame.

08:39This wonderful band still reunites from time to time and are by no means retired.

08:43Though among the most gifted bands to ever do it, their lack of interest in recalling their

08:48material has meant that their spectacular activities over the years haven't gotten them the accolades

08:54that they more than deserve.

08:55But truth be told, what they have put out is more than enough evidence to say for a fact

09:00that this ensemble wasn't just the first American reggae band but among the best that the genre has ever seen.

09:06So there you have it.

The Story of the Blue Riddim Band | America's First Reggae Group

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