Tougher Than Tough
Tougher Than Tough by Derrick Morgan , also known as Rudie in Court, is a landmark song in the history of Jamaican pop music. It is one of the earliest examples of rock steady , the musical style that replaced ska in 1966 and was in turn supplanted by reggae about two years later .
What identifies the song as rock steady is the heavily syncopated bass line, which does not start on beat 1 as usual , but on beat 2. This bass riff was the brainchild of guitarist Lynn Taitt. In addition to Taitt, the following were present at the recording session: Bryan Atkinson ( bass ), Joe Isaacs ( drums ) and Gladstone Anderson ( piano ).
The status of Tougher than Tough as the first rocksteady song is not without controversy: Alton Ellis ' Girl, I've Got a Date is occasionally named as a contender for this title . Other candidates include Take It Easy by Hopeton Lewis and Hold Them by Roy Shirley .
In terms of the lyrics, the song is in the tradition of the rude boy theme. As an earlier example, Rude Boy by Bob Marley is mentioned here , as a later No Good Rudy by Justin Hinds . Rude boys are criminals organized in gangs in the slums of Kingston, Jamaica . The song fakes a court hearing, this scenario is also said to appear in other songs later. B. in Judge Dread by Prince Buster . Morgan introduces himself as a judge with chanting and reads the indictment. Unlike in Buster's song, where the Rudies burst into tears in the face of a sentence of several hundred years in prison and several hundred lashes, here they fearlessly: "Rougher than rough, tough than tough, strong like lion, we are iron".
The Rudies are sung by Desmond Dekker and his brother George. Desmond was to land the first worldwide reggae hit with Israelites in 1969 . George later joined the group The Pioneers .
Derrick Morgan says he recorded the song for a rude boy leader named "Busby". However, he was only able to enjoy his song for a short time, because he was shot one day after the single was released.
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- ↑ a b c House of Ska . ( Memento of February 8, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Accessed February 23, 2012.
- ↑ Reggae.com (engl.). ( Memento of the original from November 29, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Accessed February 23, 2012.
- ↑ Independent . Accessed February 23, 2012.
- ↑ Tallawah (Eng.). Accessed February 23, 2012.
- ↑ Guardian . Accessed February 23, 2012.
- ↑ Gleaner . Accessed February 23, 2012.
- ↑ Spectropop . Accessed February 23, 2012.
- ↑ Interview with Derrick Morgan . Accessed February 23, 2012.
