Love Oh Love - Music
Love Oh Love by Max Romeo & The Hippy Boys
Max Romeo & The Hippy Boys
Artist Biography For Max Romeo & The Hippy Boys
Max Romeo Was Born Maxie Smith In A Lttle Town In St Dacre In The Parish Of St Ann’s In The North Of Jamaica. From An Early Age Maxie Was Blessed With The Gift Of Music And It Surprised No-One When Little Maxie Grew To Become The Internationally-Famous Reggae Star Max Romeo. At The Age Of 14 Young Maxie Ran Away From Home And Drifted Around For Some Time Before Getting Involved In The Music Business. His First Job Was Not Exactly The Stuff Of Dreams - Cleaning Out Irrigation Ditches On A Sugar Plantation. But Life Sometimes Throws Up New Opportunities And In 1965 Max Was Advised By His Mentor A Mr Denham To Enter A Talent Contest In The District Of Clarendon. His Success Spurred Him Into Leaving For The City And Max Set Out On The Road To Kingston In Search Of Stardom. In 1967 At The Tail-End Of The Ska Era Max Cut His First Record. On I’LL BUY YOU A RAINBOW For The Caltone Label He Featured As Lead Singer Of A Group Called The Emotions. The Other Members Were Lloyd Shakespeare Brother Of Robbie And Kenneth Knight. The Single Made #2 On The Jamaican Charts And Placed Max Firmly On The Map. Before Long Maxie Hooked Up With Another Producer Bunny “Striker” Lee Who Was Experimenting With A New Sound He Called “Reggae.” Max Recalled “he Kind Of Invigorated Me To Go Solo. And I Went Solo And Bunny Lee Came Up With The Name Max Romeo.” In Fact “Romeo” Was A Nickname Max Already Had. At 8 O’clock One Morning He Was Chatting To A Girl Outside Her House When Her Father Came Out To Go To Work. “He Came Back Home At 5 ” Says Max. “I Was Standing In The Same Position At The Same Post!” The Guy Decided Max Was A Bit Of A “Romeo” - And The Name Stuck. It Was Of Course At This Time That Max Cut His Most Famous And Infamous Single - WET DREAM. Was It Max The “Romeo” Showing His True Feelings? Far From It - In Fact Max Didn’t Want To Record It At All. “I Was Forced To Do That Song By Bunny Lee. I Was Actually Threatened If You Don’t Do That Song You Can’t Stay Around Me!” The Risquй Lyrics Were Cut Over A Derrick Morgan Rhythm Track And In The Process Max Unknowingly Cut Himself A Major Hit. WET DREAM Was Released In England On The Unity Label And Astounded Everyone - Including Maxie - By Storming Up The Pop Charts To #2. The Song’s Suggestive Lyrics Ensured It Had No Radio Exposure But Deejays In The Discotheques And Dance Halls Played It Constantly. On The Strength Of The Hit Max Toured The UK And Europe And Cut His First Album A DREAM. A Young And Lean Max Romeo In 1969
contemplates His Success
Max’s First Album Cost About Two
pounds On Its Release. Now It’s A Highly-Prized
collectors’ Item Max’s Follow-Up Singles Like MINI SKIRT VISION Failed To Chart The Fickle 45-Buying Public Having Moved Off In Search Of Other Novelties. After A Heavy Schedule Of Touring Max Finally Returned To Jamaica Not Defeated But Fired With New Ideas. Realising The Power Of Music He Began To Infuse His Lyrics With A New Consciousness And Political Awareness. Social Injustice The Gulf Between The Rich And The Poor The Oppressor And The Oppressed And Mounting Unease In His Native Island Fired His Music To New Levels Of Feeling. PRAY FOR ME PUBLIC ENEMY NUMBER ONE And EVERY MAN OUGHT TO KNOW Showed There Was A Deeper Side To Max’s Music Beyond Love And Girl-Chasing. His Devotion To Rastafarian Beliefs Also Became Apparent In His Music. Also Max’s Composition LET THE POWER FALL Was Adopted By The People’s National Party In The Jamaican General Elections Of 1972. At A Time When Increasing Numbers Of Singers Were Including Rastafarian Themes In Their Songs Max Accused Many Of Climbing Onto A RASTA BANDWAGON. His REVELATION TIME Was Acclaimed As One Of The Best Albums Of 1975. It Was A Little Earlier In The Seventies That Max Connected With Lee “Scratch” Perry Maverick Producer And Renowned Eccentric. “I Think Lee Perry Is One Of The Greatest Producers Who Ever Walk The Land In Jamaica. He Did A Lot Of Things We’ve Been Together For Years Before I Even Start Recording On The Label We Were Friends.” The Pair Collaborated On A Set Of New Songs Which Eventually Culminated In The Classic Jamaican Album IT SIPPLE OUT DEH. Recorded At Perry’s Now-Legendary Black Ark Studio The Upsetters’ Rhythms Were As Deep And Intense As The Songs’ Lyrics. Incidentally The Upsetters Were No Strangers To Max. As The Hippy Boys They Used To Be His Backing Group! The “Sipple” Tracks Were Picked Up For International Release And Sporting A New Cover And New Title The Album Was Re-Launched As WAR INA BABYLON. However With Lee Perry’s Tendency To Mood-Swings And Strange Perceptions Of Reality Max Suddenly Found Himself Out Of Favour. “Where His Eccentricism Came In I Don’t Know ” Comments Max. “It Was Just A Sudden 90 Degree Turn In The Middle Of Everything.” At This Time Scratch Was Also Claiming He Had Written Most Of Bob Marley’s Classic Songs And That Chris Blackwell Was A Devil-Worshipper. More Disastrously The Black Ark Suddenly Burned To The Ground - Torched By Scratch Himself. While Others May Have Been Devastated Max Was Made Of Firmer Stuff And Simply Moved On Ever Searching For Pastures New. With Political Turmoil In Jamaica And Lee Perry Calling Him All The Names Under The Sun Max Upped And Left For New York In 1978. In The US He Collaborated With Broadway Producer Michael Butler On A Play Named “Reggae” In Which He Starred Though The Production Closed Early Due To Its Controversial Nature. Max Then Appeared On The Rolling Stones’ EMOTIONAL RESCUE Album And In Return Keith Richards Guested On Max’s HOLDING OUT MY LOVE TO YOU With Rhythms By Sly And Robbie. As The 20th Century Approached Its Close Max Was Still Busy Touring And Recording. The FARI CAPTAIN OF MY SHIP Album Saw Max Working With Producer Jah Shaka And Once Again Producing Highly-Acclaimed Material. SELASSIE I FOREVER Recorded With Mafia & Fluxy Continued The Maxie-Inna-Digital-Style Trend. Quite The Reverse Was His 1999 Recording IN THIS TIME Cut In Italy With Tribщ Acustica And Using Virtually No Electric Instruments. Known To Hardcore Roots Reggae Followers As “the Satta Album” It Stands As A Brand New Classic From Max With Songs Old And New Performed In A Totally Unique Environment. “Everybody Is Involved In Europe” Says Max. “It’s Nice To Listen To Reggae With A Different Language Different Culture. I Mean The Music Is What Reggae Is About Uniting The World. And I Think We’re Doing A Good Job Of It.” In The Year 2002 Max Romeo Is Alive And Well Looking Back On A Recording And Performing History Which Spans Four Decades And Looking Ahead To Carry His Vision Into The Future. The Future…? “Matter Of Fact ” He Says “I’m Giving 15 More Years Of My Time To The Music Business!” So Max Continues To Tour Internationally - To The Delight Of Audiences Everywhere And Earlier This Year Released The Album COLLISION A Collection Of Vocals And Dubs Specially Requested By His Fans. Max’s Record Label Charmax Continues To Release New And Classic Albums And Singles And Recently Struck A Deal With A British Company To Produce Limited-Edition CDs Of A Number Of His Albums. All Are Digitally Remastered For Optimum Sound Quality And A Total Of 17 Are Now Available With New Titles Being Added To The Catalogue All The Time. Max Romeo Born Maxwell Livingston Smith 22 November 1944 Alexandria St. Ann’s Jamaica Is A Reggae Recording Artist Who Has Achieved Chart Success In His Home Country And In The UK. He Left Home At The Age Of 14 And Worked On A Sugar Plantation Cleaning Out Irrigation Ditches Before Winning A Local Talent Competition When He Was 18 Prompting A Move To The Capital Kingston In Order To Achieve A Successful Musical Career. In 1966 He Had His First Hit As Part Of The Group The Emotions With The Ken Lack Produced “ Buy You A Rainbow”. The Emotions Which Was Also Made Up Of Kenneth Knight And Lloyd Shakespeare Went On To Have Several Hit Singles And By 1968 The Singer By This Point Known As Max Romeo Felt Confident Enough To Launch A Solo Career. Working With Producer Bunny Lee The Young Star Recorded A Number Of Pop Songs Mainly Love Ballads But They Failed To Be Popular And So He Returned To The Emotions. During This Time He Began Work As A Sales Representative For Lee “Scratch” Perry And Did Some Recording For The New Band He Had Formed The Hippy Boys Which Would Later Became The Dub Outfit The Upsetters. Later On In 1968 Romeo Wrote New Lyrics For The Rhythm Track Of Derrick Morgan’s “Hold You Jack” And Handed Them Over To Perry. Morgan Who Was Due To Add His Vox To The Track Ultimately Gave It A Miss As Did Several Other Vocalists Leading The Producer To Turn To Romeo To Sing The Lyrics He Had Written. The Result “Wet Dream” Was An Instant Hit In Jamaica Although In The UK It Was Met With A Radio Ban Despite Romeo’s Somewhat-Disingenuous Claim That The Song Was Actually About A Roof That Has A Leak. Still The Ban Only Made It More Popular And The Single Charted In The Top Ten In The UK Singles Chart Spending Almost Six Months Therein Before Featuring On His LP A Dream. In 1970 Romeo Set-Up Romax An Unsuccessful Record Label And Sound System. Following Which He Recorded Several Singles Mainly With Old Producer Bunny Lee Before Going On To Work With Dub Musician Niney Holness. This Was Followed By A Period Of Which Saw The Release Of A Series Of Politically Charged Singles Most Advocating The Democratic Socialist People’s National Party PNP Which Chose His Song “Let The Power Fall On I” As Their Campaign Theme For The 1972 Jamaican General Election. After This Romeo Recorded A Number Of Religious Songs Until He Worked With Producer “Scratch” Again Producing The Classic Singles “I Chase The Devil” And “Three Blind Mice”. A Remixed Version Of His Single “Sipple Out Deh” Entitled “War Ina Babylon” Was Another Popular Track In The UK. Shortly After This The Pair Fell Out Leaving Romeo To Self-Produce His Follow-Up Album Reconstruction Which Is Generally Considered To Be A Relatively Poor Effort. He Moved To New York City In 1978 Where He Co-Wrote The Musical Reggae Which He Also Starred In. In 1981 Keith Richards Of The Rolling Stones Played On Romeo’s Album Holding Out My Love To You. The Rest Of His Output During The Decade Went Practically Unnoticed Until Romeo Returned To Jamaica In 1990 Due To Roots Music Coming Back Into Fashion And The Re-Election Of The PNP. Since Then He Has Enjoyed Some Success And Has Seen The Prodigy Sample His Track “I Chase The Devil” For Their 1992 UK Top Ten Hit “Out Of Space”. Kanye West Has Also Used Samples From It To Produce Jay-Z’s Hit Song “Lucifer”. “Chase The Devil” Is Featured On The Reggae Radio Station K-JAH Radio West In A Popular Videogame Grand Theft Auto San Andreas Released In October 2004. Notable Album Releases
Revelation Time - 1975
War Ina Babylon - 1976
Open The Iron Gate - 1978
Reconstruction - 1978
Max Romeo And The Upsetters - 1989
Transition
Pray For Me The Best Of Max Romeo 1967-73 - 2000 - Trojan Records Compilation Ultimate Collection - 2003 Compiled By David Katz
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Biography - Max Romeo & The Hippy Boys
Max Romeo Was Born Maxie Smith In A Lttle Town In St Dacre In The Parish Of St Ann’s In The North Of Jamaica. From An Early Age Maxie Was Blessed With The Gift Of Music And It Surprised No-One When Little Maxie Grew To Become The Internationally-Famous Reggae Star Max Romeo. At The Age Of 14 Young Maxie Ran Away From Home And Drifted Around For Some Time Before Getting Involved In The Music Business. His First Job Was Not Exactly The Stuff Of Dreams - Cleaning Out Irrigation Ditches On A Sugar Plantation. But Life Sometimes Throws Up New Opportunities And In 1965 Max Was Advised By His Mentor A Mr Denham To Enter A Talent Contest In The District Of Clarendon. His Success Spurred Him Into Leaving For The City And Max Set Out On The Road To Kingston In Search Of Stardom. In 1967 At The Tail-End Of The Ska Era Max Cut His First Record. On I’LL BUY YOU A RAINBOW For The Caltone Label He Featured As Lead Singer Of A Group Called The Emotions. The Other Members Were Lloyd Shakespeare Brother Of Robbie And Kenneth Knight. The Single Made #2 On The Jamaican Charts And Placed Max Firmly On The Map. Before Long Maxie Hooked Up With Another Producer Bunny “Striker” Lee Who Was Experimenting With A New Sound He Called “Reggae.” Max Recalled “he Kind Of Invigorated Me To Go Solo. And I Went Solo And Bunny Lee Came Up With The Name Max Romeo.” In Fact “Romeo” Was A Nickname Max Already Had. At 8 O’clock One Morning He Was Chatting To A Girl Outside Her House When Her Father Came Out To Go To Work. “He Came Back Home At 5 ” Says Max. “I Was Standing In The Same Position At The Same Post!” The Guy Decided Max Was A Bit Of A “Romeo” - And The Name Stuck. It Was Of Course At This Time That Max Cut His Most Famous And Infamous Single - WET DREAM. Was It Max The “Romeo” Showing His True Feelings? Far From It - In Fact Max Didn’t Want To Record It At All. “I Was Forced To Do That Song By Bunny Lee. I Was Actually Threatened If You Don’t Do That Song You Can’t Stay Around Me!” The Risquй Lyrics Were Cut Over A Derrick Morgan Rhythm Track And In The Process Max Unknowingly Cut Himself A Major Hit. WET DREAM Was Released In England On The Unity Label And Astounded Everyone - Including Maxie - By Storming Up The Pop Charts To #2. The Song’s Suggestive Lyrics Ensured It Had No Radio Exposure But Deejays In The Discotheques And Dance Halls Played It Constantly. On The Strength Of The Hit Max Toured The UK And Europe And Cut His First Album A DREAM. A Young And Lean Max Romeo In 1969
contemplates His Success
Max’s First Album Cost About Two
pounds On Its Release. Now It’s A Highly-Prized
collectors’ Item Max’s Follow-Up Singles Like MINI SKIRT VISION Failed To Chart The Fickle 45-Buying Public Having Moved Off In Search Of Other Novelties. After A Heavy Schedule Of Touring Max Finally Returned To Jamaica Not Defeated But Fired With New Ideas. Realising The Power Of Music He Began To Infuse His Lyrics With A New Consciousness And Political Awareness. Social Injustice The Gulf Between The Rich And The Poor The Oppressor And The Oppressed And Mounting Unease In His Native Island Fired His Music To New Levels Of Feeling. PRAY FOR ME PUBLIC ENEMY NUMBER ONE And EVERY MAN OUGHT TO KNOW Showed There Was A Deeper Side To Max’s Music Beyond Love And Girl-Chasing. His Devotion To Rastafarian Beliefs Also Became Apparent In His Music. Also Max’s Composition LET THE POWER FALL Was Adopted By The People’s National Party In The Jamaican General Elections Of 1972. At A Time When Increasing Numbers Of Singers Were Including Rastafarian Themes In Their Songs Max Accused Many Of Climbing Onto A RASTA BANDWAGON. His REVELATION TIME Was Acclaimed As One Of The Best Albums Of 1975. It Was A Little Earlier In The Seventies That Max Connected With Lee “Scratch” Perry Maverick Producer And Renowned Eccentric. “I Think Lee Perry Is One Of The Greatest Producers Who Ever Walk The Land In Jamaica. He Did A Lot Of Things We’ve Been Together For Years Before I Even Start Recording On The Label We Were Friends.” The Pair Collaborated On A Set Of New Songs Which Eventually Culminated In The Classic Jamaican Album IT SIPPLE OUT DEH. Recorded At Perry’s Now-Legendary Black Ark Studio The Upsetters’ Rhythms Were As Deep And Intense As The Songs’ Lyrics. Incidentally The Upsetters Were No Strangers To Max. As The Hippy Boys They Used To Be His Backing Group! The “Sipple” Tracks Were Picked Up For International Release And Sporting A New Cover And New Title The Album Was Re-Launched As WAR INA BABYLON. However With Lee Perry’s Tendency To Mood-Swings And Strange Perceptions Of Reality Max Suddenly Found Himself Out Of Favour. “Where His Eccentricism Came In I Don’t Know ” Comments Max. “It Was Just A Sudden 90 Degree Turn In The Middle Of Everything.” At This Time Scratch Was Also Claiming He Had Written Most Of Bob Marley’s Classic Songs And That Chris Blackwell Was A Devil-Worshipper. More Disastrously The Black Ark Suddenly Burned To The Ground - Torched By Scratch Himself. While Others May Have Been Devastated Max Was Made Of Firmer Stuff And Simply Moved On Ever Searching For Pastures New. With Political Turmoil In Jamaica And Lee Perry Calling Him All The Names Under The Sun Max Upped And Left For New York In 1978. In The US He Collaborated With Broadway Producer Michael Butler On A Play Named “Reggae” In Which He Starred Though The Production Closed Early Due To Its Controversial Nature. Max Then Appeared On The Rolling Stones’ EMOTIONAL RESCUE Album And In Return Keith Richards Guested On Max’s HOLDING OUT MY LOVE TO YOU With Rhythms By Sly And Robbie. As The 20th Century Approached Its Close Max Was Still Busy Touring And Recording. The FARI CAPTAIN OF MY SHIP Album Saw Max Working With Producer Jah Shaka And Once Again Producing Highly-Acclaimed Material. SELASSIE I FOREVER Recorded With Mafia & Fluxy Continued The Maxie-Inna-Digital-Style Trend. Quite The Reverse Was His 1999 Recording IN THIS TIME Cut In Italy With Tribщ Acustica And Using Virtually No Electric Instruments. Known To Hardcore Roots Reggae Followers As “the Satta Album” It Stands As A Brand New Classic From Max With Songs Old And New Performed In A Totally Unique Environment. “Everybody Is Involved In Europe” Says Max. “It’s Nice To Listen To Reggae With A Different Language Different Culture. I Mean The Music Is What Reggae Is About Uniting The World. And I Think We’re Doing A Good Job Of It.” In The Year 2002 Max Romeo Is Alive And Well Looking Back On A Recording And Performing History Which Spans Four Decades And Looking Ahead To Carry His Vision Into The Future. The Future…? “Matter Of Fact ” He Says “I’m Giving 15 More Years Of My Time To The Music Business!” So Max Continues To Tour Internationally - To The Delight Of Audiences Everywhere And Earlier This Year Released The Album COLLISION A Collection Of Vocals And Dubs Specially Requested By His Fans. Max’s Record Label Charmax Continues To Release New And Classic Albums And Singles And Recently Struck A Deal With A British Company To Produce Limited-Edition CDs Of A Number Of His Albums. All Are Digitally Remastered For Optimum Sound Quality And A Total Of 17 Are Now Available With New Titles Being Added To The Catalogue All The Time. Max Romeo Born Maxwell Livingston Smith 22 November 1944 Alexandria St. Ann’s Jamaica Is A Reggae Recording Artist Who Has Achieved Chart Success In His Home Country And In The UK. He Left Home At The Age Of 14 And Worked On A Sugar Plantation Cleaning Out Irrigation Ditches Before Winning A Local Talent Competition When He Was 18 Prompting A Move To The Capital Kingston In Order To Achieve A Successful Musical Career. In 1966 He Had His First Hit As Part Of The Group The Emotions With The Ken Lack Produced “ Buy You A Rainbow”. The Emotions Which Was Also Made Up Of Kenneth Knight And Lloyd Shakespeare Went On To Have Several Hit Singles And By 1968 The Singer By This Point Known As Max Romeo Felt Confident Enough To Launch A Solo Career. Working With Producer Bunny Lee The Young Star Recorded A Number Of Pop Songs Mainly Love Ballads But They Failed To Be Popular And So He Returned To The Emotions. During This Time He Began Work As A Sales Representative For Lee “Scratch” Perry And Did Some Recording For The New Band He Had Formed The Hippy Boys Which Would Later Became The Dub Outfit The Upsetters. Later On In 1968 Romeo Wrote New Lyrics For The Rhythm Track Of Derrick Morgan’s “Hold You Jack” And Handed Them Over To Perry. Morgan Who Was Due To Add His Vox To The Track Ultimately Gave It A Miss As Did Several Other Vocalists Leading The Producer To Turn To Romeo To Sing The Lyrics He Had Written. The Result “Wet Dream” Was An Instant Hit In Jamaica Although In The UK It Was Met With A Radio Ban Despite Romeo’s Somewhat-Disingenuous Claim That The Song Was Actually About A Roof That Has A Leak. Still The Ban Only Made It More Popular And The Single Charted In The Top Ten In The UK Singles Chart Spending Almost Six Months Therein Before Featuring On His LP A Dream. In 1970 Romeo Set-Up Romax An Unsuccessful Record Label And Sound System. Following Which He Recorded Several Singles Mainly With Old Producer Bunny Lee Before Going On To Work With Dub Musician Niney Holness. This Was Followed By A Period Of Which Saw The Release Of A Series Of Politically Charged Singles Most Advocating The Democratic Socialist People’s National Party PNP Which Chose His Song “Let The Power Fall On I” As Their Campaign Theme For The 1972 Jamaican General Election. After This Romeo Recorded A Number Of Religious Songs Until He Worked With Producer “Scratch” Again Producing The Classic Singles “I Chase The Devil” And “Three Blind Mice”. A Remixed Version Of His Single “Sipple Out Deh” Entitled “War Ina Babylon” Was Another Popular Track In The UK. Shortly After This The Pair Fell Out Leaving Romeo To Self-Produce His Follow-Up Album Reconstruction Which Is Generally Considered To Be A Relatively Poor Effort. He Moved To New York City In 1978 Where He Co-Wrote The Musical Reggae Which He Also Starred In. In 1981 Keith Richards Of The Rolling Stones Played On Romeo’s Album Holding Out My Love To You. The Rest Of His Output During The Decade Went Practically Unnoticed Until Romeo Returned To Jamaica In 1990 Due To Roots Music Coming Back Into Fashion And The Re-Election Of The PNP. Since Then He Has Enjoyed Some Success And Has Seen The Prodigy Sample His Track “I Chase The Devil” For Their 1992 UK Top Ten Hit “Out Of Space”. Kanye West Has Also Used Samples From It To Produce Jay-Z’s Hit Song “Lucifer”. “Chase The Devil” Is Featured On The Reggae Radio Station K-JAH Radio West In A Popular Videogame Grand Theft Auto San Andreas Released In October 2004. Notable Album Releases
Revelation Time - 1975
War Ina Babylon - 1976
Open The Iron Gate - 1978
Reconstruction - 1978
Max Romeo And The Upsetters - 1989
Transition
Pray For Me The Best Of Max Romeo 1967-73 - 2000 - Trojan Records Compilation Ultimate Collection - 2003 Compiled By David Katz read less
read more
contemplates His Success
Max’s First Album Cost About Two
pounds On Its Release. Now It’s A Highly-Prized
collectors’ Item Max’s Follow-Up Singles Like MINI SKIRT VISION Failed To Chart The Fickle 45-Buying Public Having Moved Off In Search Of Other Novelties. After A Heavy Schedule Of Touring Max Finally Returned To Jamaica Not Defeated But Fired With New Ideas. Realising The Power Of Music He Began To Infuse His Lyrics With A New Consciousness And Political Awareness. Social Injustice The Gulf Between The Rich And The Poor The Oppressor And The Oppressed And Mounting Unease In His Native Island Fired His Music To New Levels Of Feeling. PRAY FOR ME PUBLIC ENEMY NUMBER ONE And EVERY MAN OUGHT TO KNOW Showed There Was A Deeper Side To Max’s Music Beyond Love And Girl-Chasing. His Devotion To Rastafarian Beliefs Also Became Apparent In His Music. Also Max’s Composition LET THE POWER FALL Was Adopted By The People’s National Party In The Jamaican General Elections Of 1972. At A Time When Increasing Numbers Of Singers Were Including Rastafarian Themes In Their Songs Max Accused Many Of Climbing Onto A RASTA BANDWAGON. His REVELATION TIME Was Acclaimed As One Of The Best Albums Of 1975. It Was A Little Earlier In The Seventies That Max Connected With Lee “Scratch” Perry Maverick Producer And Renowned Eccentric. “I Think Lee Perry Is One Of The Greatest Producers Who Ever Walk The Land In Jamaica. He Did A Lot Of Things We’ve Been Together For Years Before I Even Start Recording On The Label We Were Friends.” The Pair Collaborated On A Set Of New Songs Which Eventually Culminated In The Classic Jamaican Album IT SIPPLE OUT DEH. Recorded At Perry’s Now-Legendary Black Ark Studio The Upsetters’ Rhythms Were As Deep And Intense As The Songs’ Lyrics. Incidentally The Upsetters Were No Strangers To Max. As The Hippy Boys They Used To Be His Backing Group! The “Sipple” Tracks Were Picked Up For International Release And Sporting A New Cover And New Title The Album Was Re-Launched As WAR INA BABYLON. However With Lee Perry’s Tendency To Mood-Swings And Strange Perceptions Of Reality Max Suddenly Found Himself Out Of Favour. “Where His Eccentricism Came In I Don’t Know ” Comments Max. “It Was Just A Sudden 90 Degree Turn In The Middle Of Everything.” At This Time Scratch Was Also Claiming He Had Written Most Of Bob Marley’s Classic Songs And That Chris Blackwell Was A Devil-Worshipper. More Disastrously The Black Ark Suddenly Burned To The Ground - Torched By Scratch Himself. While Others May Have Been Devastated Max Was Made Of Firmer Stuff And Simply Moved On Ever Searching For Pastures New. With Political Turmoil In Jamaica And Lee Perry Calling Him All The Names Under The Sun Max Upped And Left For New York In 1978. In The US He Collaborated With Broadway Producer Michael Butler On A Play Named “Reggae” In Which He Starred Though The Production Closed Early Due To Its Controversial Nature. Max Then Appeared On The Rolling Stones’ EMOTIONAL RESCUE Album And In Return Keith Richards Guested On Max’s HOLDING OUT MY LOVE TO YOU With Rhythms By Sly And Robbie. As The 20th Century Approached Its Close Max Was Still Busy Touring And Recording. The FARI CAPTAIN OF MY SHIP Album Saw Max Working With Producer Jah Shaka And Once Again Producing Highly-Acclaimed Material. SELASSIE I FOREVER Recorded With Mafia & Fluxy Continued The Maxie-Inna-Digital-Style Trend. Quite The Reverse Was His 1999 Recording IN THIS TIME Cut In Italy With Tribщ Acustica And Using Virtually No Electric Instruments. Known To Hardcore Roots Reggae Followers As “the Satta Album” It Stands As A Brand New Classic From Max With Songs Old And New Performed In A Totally Unique Environment. “Everybody Is Involved In Europe” Says Max. “It’s Nice To Listen To Reggae With A Different Language Different Culture. I Mean The Music Is What Reggae Is About Uniting The World. And I Think We’re Doing A Good Job Of It.” In The Year 2002 Max Romeo Is Alive And Well Looking Back On A Recording And Performing History Which Spans Four Decades And Looking Ahead To Carry His Vision Into The Future. The Future…? “Matter Of Fact ” He Says “I’m Giving 15 More Years Of My Time To The Music Business!” So Max Continues To Tour Internationally - To The Delight Of Audiences Everywhere And Earlier This Year Released The Album COLLISION A Collection Of Vocals And Dubs Specially Requested By His Fans. Max’s Record Label Charmax Continues To Release New And Classic Albums And Singles And Recently Struck A Deal With A British Company To Produce Limited-Edition CDs Of A Number Of His Albums. All Are Digitally Remastered For Optimum Sound Quality And A Total Of 17 Are Now Available With New Titles Being Added To The Catalogue All The Time. Max Romeo Born Maxwell Livingston Smith 22 November 1944 Alexandria St. Ann’s Jamaica Is A Reggae Recording Artist Who Has Achieved Chart Success In His Home Country And In The UK. He Left Home At The Age Of 14 And Worked On A Sugar Plantation Cleaning Out Irrigation Ditches Before Winning A Local Talent Competition When He Was 18 Prompting A Move To The Capital Kingston In Order To Achieve A Successful Musical Career. In 1966 He Had His First Hit As Part Of The Group The Emotions With The Ken Lack Produced “ Buy You A Rainbow”. The Emotions Which Was Also Made Up Of Kenneth Knight And Lloyd Shakespeare Went On To Have Several Hit Singles And By 1968 The Singer By This Point Known As Max Romeo Felt Confident Enough To Launch A Solo Career. Working With Producer Bunny Lee The Young Star Recorded A Number Of Pop Songs Mainly Love Ballads But They Failed To Be Popular And So He Returned To The Emotions. During This Time He Began Work As A Sales Representative For Lee “Scratch” Perry And Did Some Recording For The New Band He Had Formed The Hippy Boys Which Would Later Became The Dub Outfit The Upsetters. Later On In 1968 Romeo Wrote New Lyrics For The Rhythm Track Of Derrick Morgan’s “Hold You Jack” And Handed Them Over To Perry. Morgan Who Was Due To Add His Vox To The Track Ultimately Gave It A Miss As Did Several Other Vocalists Leading The Producer To Turn To Romeo To Sing The Lyrics He Had Written. The Result “Wet Dream” Was An Instant Hit In Jamaica Although In The UK It Was Met With A Radio Ban Despite Romeo’s Somewhat-Disingenuous Claim That The Song Was Actually About A Roof That Has A Leak. Still The Ban Only Made It More Popular And The Single Charted In The Top Ten In The UK Singles Chart Spending Almost Six Months Therein Before Featuring On His LP A Dream. In 1970 Romeo Set-Up Romax An Unsuccessful Record Label And Sound System. Following Which He Recorded Several Singles Mainly With Old Producer Bunny Lee Before Going On To Work With Dub Musician Niney Holness. This Was Followed By A Period Of Which Saw The Release Of A Series Of Politically Charged Singles Most Advocating The Democratic Socialist People’s National Party PNP Which Chose His Song “Let The Power Fall On I” As Their Campaign Theme For The 1972 Jamaican General Election. After This Romeo Recorded A Number Of Religious Songs Until He Worked With Producer “Scratch” Again Producing The Classic Singles “I Chase The Devil” And “Three Blind Mice”. A Remixed Version Of His Single “Sipple Out Deh” Entitled “War Ina Babylon” Was Another Popular Track In The UK. Shortly After This The Pair Fell Out Leaving Romeo To Self-Produce His Follow-Up Album Reconstruction Which Is Generally Considered To Be A Relatively Poor Effort. He Moved To New York City In 1978 Where He Co-Wrote The Musical Reggae Which He Also Starred In. In 1981 Keith Richards Of The Rolling Stones Played On Romeo’s Album Holding Out My Love To You. The Rest Of His Output During The Decade Went Practically Unnoticed Until Romeo Returned To Jamaica In 1990 Due To Roots Music Coming Back Into Fashion And The Re-Election Of The PNP. Since Then He Has Enjoyed Some Success And Has Seen The Prodigy Sample His Track “I Chase The Devil” For Their 1992 UK Top Ten Hit “Out Of Space”. Kanye West Has Also Used Samples From It To Produce Jay-Z’s Hit Song “Lucifer”. “Chase The Devil” Is Featured On The Reggae Radio Station K-JAH Radio West In A Popular Videogame Grand Theft Auto San Andreas Released In October 2004. Notable Album Releases
Revelation Time - 1975
War Ina Babylon - 1976
Open The Iron Gate - 1978
Reconstruction - 1978
Max Romeo And The Upsetters - 1989
Transition
Pray For Me The Best Of Max Romeo 1967-73 - 2000 - Trojan Records Compilation Ultimate Collection - 2003 Compiled By David Katz read less
16 Similar Artists To Max Romeo & The Hippy Boys - Frogtoon Music
The Victors The Hippy Boys Joe Mansano The Reggae Boys The Music Doctors The Corporation Desmond Riley Busty Brown The Cimarons The Prophets Glen Adams The Bleechers Winston Groovy The Creations Harry & Radcliffe The Mystic Revealers.