Let the Music Play
RIP Max Romeo
Outside of reggae circles, Max Romeo is probably best known for his raunchy hit Wet Dream, an early reggae piece from 19681 that reached number 10 in the UK singles chart in August 1969 despite limited airplay2. The backing band on this and other tunes was the Hippy Boys, in which the Barret brothers Aston ‘Family Man’ on bass and Carlton on drums formed the rhythm section. Of course, Aston and Carlton Barret would later come to fame when joining Bob Marley and providing their strong rhythm backbone to the Wailers.3
Another point of contact with Romeo might be his track Chase The Devil, which is the source for the sampled lyrics *I’m gonna send him to outer space, to find another race" in The Prodigy’s Out of Space from 1992.
However, arguably his most substantial body of work comprises the albums Revelation Time4 and the Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry produced War Ina Babylon.
Both records contain deeply spiritual songs as well as heavy militant roots, both with respect to the lyrics and the tight rhythms, many of which were recorded at the legendary Black Ark studio. Max Romeo, who was working closely with Lee Perry at that time, relates
No one knows what technique Perry used. Because he used that small track tape, and he seemed to get sixteen tracks stuffed into that four-track.
— Max Romeo (from Reggae: The Rough Guide, 1997)
Unfortunately, that was the last of that fruitful collaboration5, and there was a period of lesser noticed and scarce output from Romeo. Later, he delivered a few more strong and roots-oriented albums, including collaborations with Jah Shaka in the 90s, and backed by the French group Roots Heritage on his album Words from the Brave.
After a career spanning more than 50 years, let Max Romeo speak for himself through his lyrics
Let the music play, let it play, let it play
Let the music play
Let the music play
Let it play
Let it play
— Max Romeo, Three Blind Mice, 1974
Released on the Pama Records sub-label Unity ↩︎
The tune became a coveted track amongst skinhead and boss reggae fans along tracks like Liquidator by the Harry J. All Stars, Return of Django by the Upsetters, or Double Barrel by Dave & Ansel Collins. It was devote followers of faster, uptempo reggae singles amongst the skinheads and working class that pushed more than 20 reggae 45s into the British singles chart at the end of the 1960s, before reggae changed tune to the slower, heavier and often Rastafari influenced roots sound. ↩︎
Even before that, they would become famous as the second incarnation of the respected Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry session band The Upsetters. ↩︎
being the foundation for the 1999 re-release under the name Open the Iron Gate 1973-1977 on the excellent but unfortunately defunct reissue specialist label Blood & Fire. ↩︎
it is rumoured that there was some mysterious fall-out between Romeo and Perry, and the latter directed his track White Belly Rat at the singer, for unknown reasons ↩︎