REGGAE CLASSIC :: Toots and the Maytals - 54-46 That's My Number

The originators of Reggae music - in fact the first to use the word reggae (spelled "reggay") in the title of a song - Do The Reggay ... Toots and the Maytals have been performing for 40+ years.

Frederick “Toots” Hibbert, the frontman of the group, was born in May Pen, Clarendon, Jamaica in 1945, the youngest of seven children. He grew up singing gospel music in a church choir, and moved to Kingston in 1958 at the age of thirteen. In 1961, Hibbert met Henry "Raleigh" Gordon and Nathaniel "Jerry" Mathias, forming a group whose early recordings were incorrectly attributed to "The Flames" and "The Vikings" in the UK by Island Records. The Maytals first had chart success recording for producer Clement "Coxsone" Dodd at Studio One. With musical backing from Dodd's house band, The Skatalites, the Maytals' close-harmony gospel singing ensured success, overshadowing Dodd's other up-and-coming vocal group, The Wailers. After staying at Studio One for about two years, the group moved on to do sessions for Prince Buster before recording with Byron Lee in 1966.

With Lee, the Maytals won the first-ever Jamaican Independence Festival Popular Song Competition with their original song "Bam Bam" (later covered in a Dancehall style by Sister Nancy, and also by Yellowman in 1982). However, the group's musical career was interrupted in late 1966 when Hibbert was arrested and imprisoned for 18 months. He stated that he was not arrested for ganja, but while bailing a friend. He also stated that he made up the number 54-46 when writing 54-46 That's My Number about his time in jail.

BONUS: Toots and the Maytals - Pressure Drop / The Golden Tracks (full album)


1. 54-46 Was My Number
2. Revival Reggae
3. African Doctor
4. Take Me Home Country Roads
5. Funky Kingston
6. I Can't Believe
7. Revolution
8. Pressure Drop
9. Monkey Man
10. Gold And Silver
11. Redemption Song
12. Pomps And Pride
13. Time Enough
14. In The Dark
15. Peeping Tom
16. Love Gonna Walk Out On Me
17. She's My Scorcher
18. One Eyed Enos
19. Feel Alright
20. Thy Kingdom Come
21. It Must Be True Love
22. It's You
23. If You Act This Way
24. Monkey Girl

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