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.
Dim the lights
Let me thrill your soul...
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.
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.
...
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
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.
The Kinks. The Kinks.
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.
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.
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.
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.
In the air.
So it was good, man.
Good vibes all around.
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!
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.
Let's give it up
for the Cimarons!
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.
Switched to reggae so quick.
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.
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.
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 Brutality
Brutality, we know it
m*rder 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'.
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.
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.
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.
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...
I remember when
we went to Spain -
place was absolutely jam-packed.
And I went back, and I
says, 'Ram - place ram out.'
'Same thing in Holland.'
Cimarons took reggae music
throughout the world.
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.
It's a long way to Tipperary.
It's a long way to go.
Without your mother. It's
a long way to Tipperary.
To the sweetest girl I know...
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...
Rosie Dubh...
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!
He was a policeman.
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 f*ck?
That was great.'
'Who are these guys?' You know?
Just stoop over the horizon
And see the sun
Shining down on you...
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 sl*ve trade.
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 sl*ve also
in Jamaica, you know?
It's not just black
people are known as sl*ve.
Irish was sl*ve 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.
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.
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
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!'
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...
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...
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?
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.
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
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.
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.'
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.
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...
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.
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.
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.
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...
onstage. Mad.
They're all playing the...
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.
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 f*cking reggae.
Who else do you wanna sound like?
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.
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.'
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...
sh*t. 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 r*cist.
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.
But I had to go to
Heathrow, meet my cousin.
Oh, bloody marvellous, eh?
They're flying them in now.
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...
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?
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...
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.
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.
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...
My girl...
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
Was the leader of our strife
He travelled a long, long
way Across the valley...
My name is Michael Wright.
AKA Michael Arkk
Paul Bogle, oh, lord...
When I first came to London,
I've never seen anything like it.
At school, we heard of...
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.
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.'
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.
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.
So I had to find work. So um...
I became...
a cleaner.
I say I do cleaning, but I've
never seen myself as a cleaner.
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...
Yeah, yeah. Yeah.
This is where the
magic really happens.
We are lucky to have the
legendary Cimarons...
back for one...
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 f*cking 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.
Well, it would help
if he was here.
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.
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...
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.
Alright.
Sorry, I can't...
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.
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.
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...
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.
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.
Do you feel like - it's what he would want?
- Yes.
Yes, yes, yes.
On the drums... put your hands
together for Maurice Ellis.
One, two, three...
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...
Reggae music is an experience.
It's a feeling, it's a love.
When you're involved,
nothing else matters.
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...
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...
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...
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.
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.
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.
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.
We did our final
rehearsal last night,
and the gig will be tomorrow -
tomorrow at
Hootananny in Brixton.
Good people, good afternoon.
Bless up, bless up.
I'm alright,
thanks, I'm alright.
I'm not good, but I'm alright.
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...
if you're any good, you've
got to go through the fire.
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.
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.
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?!
The first band to take
reggae music to Japan.
The drum beat of
Africa, Ghana, Asia.
The first reggae band in Europe.
Ladies and gentlemen,
boys and girls...
Yeah, man. Are
you ready for...
Are you ready? Yes, man.
The return of...
Cimarons!
Michael Arkk.
Yeah!
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.
To Reggae Rhapsody...
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...
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
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...
..the man whose position
I'm standing in tonight...
the great Winston Reedy,
is somewhere around.
Yes!
Respect due.
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.
Um... How it go again?
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!
Put your hands together...
for the great Winston...
Reedy!
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.
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...
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...
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.
To reggae rhapsody, yeah...
Come we rock.
Come we rock to
reggae rhapsody. Yeah!
Come we rock...
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.
The cosmos must have
something to do with this.
So I'm looking
forward to tonight.
It has to be good, you know?
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.
From the UK...
the first band touring Japan,
Africa...
please, welcome onstage...
From 1967 until these times,
the Cimarons from the UK.
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...
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!
Thank you!
Tonight, we are the Cimarons.
Ganja weed and music, yeah...
number one - ganja weed,
music and food, girls.
That's... showbusiness.
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-oy-oy
Far
As your eyes can see
Men, women and baby sl*ves
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-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.
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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