Toots and the Maytals Recoup (Alla Son)
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Along with collaborators Jerry Matthias and Raleigh Gordon–the Maytals–Hibbert has long been one of reggae’s most influential acts. Since the early 60s he’s been a constant in Jamaican music, from the early days of ska through the rock steady period of the mid-60s to the development and refinement of reggae and beyond. He’s sort of the Forrest Gump of modern Jamaican music, always in the picture somewhere. His recordings range from early ska singles like 1963’s “Six and Seven Books of Moses” to Toots in Memphis, a set of Stax/Volt covers that was nominated for a Grammy in 1988. But by then Bob Marley had been dead for seven years, and interest in roots music was on the wane. And so, shortly after Memphis, Island Records cut Hibbert adrift. He’s been without a record contract ever since.
Nine years after he got the cold shoulder from Island, Toots and the Maytals have finally put a new record on the shelves, but not without some doing. Hibbert had to create his own company, the Canadian-based Alla Son, to release the aptly titled disc. Because Toots and the Maytals had toured continually in the nine years since their last album, and because this past summer’s North American shows confirmed that Hibbert still has the fire that’s made his live shows such a draw for years, there was every reason to believe that Recoup would do just that for Hibbert’s career.
The whole project seems a halfhearted effort to jump-start a career on the decline, all the way down to the sparse liner notes. Fans of Toots and the Maytals–even those slightly intrigued by the older tracks on Recoup–would be better served by the Island anthology. Live shows, which are still excellent, would be an even wiser choice. But even those performances, like the better parts of Recoup, bank on early material–an indication that, while he’s loathe to admit it, Hibbert’s best years in the studio are far behind him.
