Meditation - Music

The Abyssinians Are A Jamaican Roots Reggae Group Famous For Their Close Harmonies And Promotion Of The Rastafari Movement In Their Lyrics. The Vocal Trio Was Originally Formed In 1968 By Bernard Collins And Donald Manning. Their First Song Was "Satta Massagana" Which Was Strongly Influenced By Carlton Manning's "Happy Land". "Satta Massagana" Is A Rastafarian Hymn Sung Partly In The Ancient Ethiopian Amharic Language. They Recruited A Third Vocalist Who Was Still At School And Often Unable To Attend Rehearsals He Was Soon Replaced By Donald's Brother Lynford Manning Who Had Previously Been A Member Of Their Brother Carlton Manning's Group Carlton And The Shoes. "Satta Massagana" Was First Recorded For Producer Clement "Coxsone" Dodd In March 1969 But He Decided Against Releasing It Seeing No Commercial Potential For What He Saw As A Song Constituting Cultural Subversion. In 1971 The Group Purchased The Master Tapes From Dodd For £90 And Released It On Their Own Clinch Label The Single Becoming A Massive Success Prompting Dodd To Release His Own Instrumental And Deejay Versions. The Group Released Further Takes On The Song On Clinch By Tommy McCook Big Youth And Dillinger As Well As Their Own "Mabrak" Featuring The Group Reciting Passages From The Old Testament. It Has Since Been Recorded By Dozens Of Artists. The Group's Second Release "Declaration Of Rights" Featured Leroy Sibbles On Backing Vocals And Like Their First Was A Huge Hit In Jamaica And Subsequently In The International Market And Has Been Covered Several Times Since. Their 1973 Single "Y Mas Gan" Was Similar To "Satta" In Its Use Of Amharic. The Group Continued To Record Throughout The 1970s For Producers Including Lloyd Daley Tommy Cowan And Geoffrey Chung And Their Debut Album Forward On To Zion Was Produced By Clive Hunt And Released In 1976. The Follow-Up Arise 1978 Was Recorded Under Stressful Conditions With Internal Rivalries Threatening To Break Up The Group And After The Album's Release Collins Left The Band To Be Eventually Replaced By Carlton Manning. This Line-Up Performed At The 1979 Reggae Sunsplash Festival But Split Up The Following Year. Donald Manning Had A Brief Solo Career In The Early 1980s In Which He Recorded As Donald Abyssinian. Bernard Collins Launched His Own Version Of The Group In The Late 1980s With Two Versions Of The Group Existing For A Time. The Original Line-Up Reunited In 1998 And Went On To Record New Material Including The Singles "African Princess" And "Swing Low" And The Album Reunion Although Collins Was Not Involved In Songwriting At This Time. Collins Left Again In 1999 And Released Material As Bernard Collins & The Abyssinians Releasing An Album The Same Year. The Abyssinians Are Credited On "Slave Song" From Sade's 2002 Album Lovers Live. Discography Studio Albums
1976 Satta Massagana - Jam Sounds Reissued 1988 On Clinch 1993 2007 On Heartbeat Also Released As Satta And Forward On To Zion 1978 Arise - Tuff Gong/Virgin/Clinch
1998 Reunion - Artists Only Compilation Albums
1982 Forward - Alligator
1994 Best Of The Abyssinians - Musidisc
1996 19.95 TAX
1998 Satta Dub - Tabou 1
1998 Declaration Of Dub - Heartbeat
1999 Last Days - Clinch Credited To Bernard Collins 2003 Abyssinians & Friends Tree Of Satta Vol. 1 - Blood & Fire Live Albums
2002 Live In San Francisco - 2b1 II read less