The Abyssinians
The Abyssinians are a Jamaican reggae and dub band with three members. They play bass, they drum and sing. On some of their albums they have background singers and musical guests.
The trio was originally formed in 1969 by Bernard Collins, Donald Manning and Linford Manning.
Her best known songs are Satta Massagana and Y Mas Gan , both partly in an old Ethiopian language, Amharic . This is a sacred language for the Rastafaris , as they worship Haile Selassie I , the last emperor of Ethiopia , as the Messiah.
Another important song by the band is Declaration of Rights , the instrumental version of which ( the riddim ) has been reused many times by countless roots reggae artists.
Linford Manning is no longer a member of the group because he converted to Christianity and accepted Jesus Christ as Messiah instead of Haile Selassie.
The band has nothing to do with The Ethiopians , although the band names are synonyms .
Discography
- Satta Massagana (1976)
- Arise (1978)
- Forward (1982)
- Declaration of Dub (1998)
- Reunion (1998)
- Satta Dub (1998)
- Forward to Zion (2001)
- Tree of satta (2003)