R.I.P. Toots Hibbert

[lbpesq]

Toots Hibbert, one of the founding fathers of Reggae, and the front man for “Toots & the Maytals” passed away at 77.   I first saw him at a little bar in Key West around 1988 or ‘89.   At some point in his show, Toots would do a call and response with the audience.   I was on the floor, right up front on the lip of the stage.   When Toots did his “call and response” he would point the mic at the audience for the “response “ part.   After a couple of times, he apparently could tell that I was singing enthusiastically and at least hitting my notes.  He started pointing the mic right at me for the “response”.  Next thing I know, Toots is doing the call and I, alone, am doing the response!  Very cool! I got to meet him backstage at Slim’s in San Francisco about ten years later.  Nice guy.


May The Four Winds Blow You Safely Home


Bill, tgo

[pauldo]

What a wonderful memory. 

[soflbass]

Great memory. Another pioneer taken this year. RIP Toots.

[cozmik_cowboy]

Well, crap - that just harshed my mellow no end.

Peter

[jazzyvee]

I have seen Toots a number of times live over the years including when we were on the same bill on some European reggae festivals between 2004 and 2008. Never got to meet him but he was a great performer and his voice was so powerful and carries raspy edge of emotion. We do one of his tracks in our set list 54-46 and occasionally we have done Monkey Man.  I have a number of his older tracks so that's good and he's always been on the playlist on my ipod along with the wailers.

One of the things I was so pleased with when I got my Series I guitar is the ability to get that nasally honky like tone on the guitar when it is mirroring the bass or adding melodic lines. Ironic that I have never been able to get that tone naturally from a guitar, I always used a wah pedal set as a tone control at that place in the sweep and now I have a really expensive guitar that I am able to get the tone of what I imagine was a really cheap guitar in those days.  :-)

[rv_bass]

Love his music...I had Toots and the Maytals playing on headphones going into my dissertation defense, kept me cool and focused...shine on!

[David Houck]

I saw yesterday that he was in critical condition with Covid-19 in Jamaica, and then saw the headline this morning about his passing.