He left home at the age of 14 and worked on a sugar plantation outside Clarendon, cleaning out irrigation ditches, before winning a local talent competition when he was 18; prompting a move to the capital, Kingston, in order to achieve a successful musical career.
In 1965 he joined up with Kenneth Knight and Lloyd Shakespeare in The Emotions, whilst also working as a record plugger for Ken Lack's Caltone label. The group were unsuccessful in auditions for other producers, but Lack offered them an audition after overhearing Smith singing to himself as he worked one day. In 1966, the group had their first hit, with the Lack-produced, "Buy You a Rainbow". The Emotions went on to have several hit singles and by 1968, the singer, by this point known as Max Romeo, felt confident enough to launch a solo career. Working with producer Bunny Lee, the young star recorded a number of pop songs, mainly love ballads, but they failed to be popular and so he returned to The Emotions, now recording for Phil Pratt. During this time he began work as a sales representative for Bunny Lee and did some recording with The Hippy Boys, which would later became The Upsetters.
Later on in 1968, Romeo wrote new lyrics for the rhythm track of Derrick Morgan's "Hold You Jack" and handed them over to Lee. Morgan, who was due to add his vocals to the track, ultimately gave it a miss, as did several other vocalists (including John Holt and Slim Smith), leading the producer to turn to Romeo to sing the lyrics he had written. The result, "Wet Dream", was an instant hit in Jamaica, although in the UK it was met with a BBC Radio ban, despite Romeo's somewhat-disingenuous claim that the song was actually about a roof that has a leak. Still, the ban only made it more popular and the single charted in the Top Ten, in the UK Singles Chart, spending almost six months therein, before featuring on his LP, A Dream, which included several follow-up singles in a similar vein, such as "Mini Skirt Version", "Fish in the Pot", "Belly Woman", and "Wine Her Goosie". A UK tour also met with Romeo being banned from performing at several venues, although many allowed him to play, the singer staying in the UK for eighteen months.
In 1970, Romeo returned to Jamaica and set-up Romax, an unsuccessful record label and sound system. Following which, he recorded several singles, mainly with old producer Bunny Lee, before going on to work a host of other producers including Niney Holness. This was followed by a period of which saw the release of a series of politically charged singles, most advocating the democratic socialist People's National Party (PNP), which chose his song, "Let The Power Fall On I", as their campaign theme for the 1972 Jamaican general election. Romeo joined the PNP Musical Bandwagon, travelling around Jamaica, playing on the back of a truck. After this, Romeo recorded a number of religious songs, until he worked with producer Lee "Scratch" Perry, producing the classic singles "Three Blind Mice" (an adaptation of the nursery rhyme with lyrics about a police raid on a party), "Sipple Out Deh", and "Chase the Devil". A remixed version of "Sipple Out Deh", entitled "War Ina Babylon", was another popular track in the UK, the first fruits of his deal with Island Records, and was followed by an album of the same name, and a follow-up single "One Step Forward". Shortly after this the pair fell out, leaving Romeo to self-produce his follow-up album, Reconstruction, which could not match the success of its predecessor. Perry's animosity towards Romeo was demonstrated by his single "White Belly Rat", with Perry also writing the word 'Judas' over a photograph of Romeo on the wall of his Black Ark studio.
He moved to New York City in 1978, where he co-wrote (with Hair producer Michael Butler) the musical, Reggae, which he also starred in. In 1980 he appeared as a backing vocalist on "Dance" on The Rolling Stones album Emotional Rescue. In 1981, the favour was returned when Keith Richards (of The Rolling Stones) co-produced and played on Romeo's album, Holding Out My Love to You. The rest of his output during the decade went practically unnoticed, with Romeo finding work at a New York electronics store. He returned to Jamaica in 1990, and began touring and recording more regularly.
He visited the UK again in 1992, recording the albums Far I Captain of My Ship and Our Rights with Jah Shaka. In 1995 he recorded Cross of the Gun with Tappa Zukie, and he joined up with UK rhythm section/production team Mafia & Fluxy in 1999 for the album Selassie I Forever.
His music has been sampled by other artists; The Prodigy sampled his track "Chase the Devil" for their 1992 UK Top Ten hit "Out of Space". Kanye West has also used samples from it to produce Jay-Z's hit song "Lucifer", which appeared on Jay-Z's 2003 release - The Black Album.
"Chase the Devil" is featured on the reggae radio station K-JAH Radio West in a popular videogame Grand Theft Auto San Andreas, released in October 2004. Romeo's single "Sipple Out Deh" appeared in John Peel's Record Box.
- Albums:
A Dream (1970) Trojan
Let The Power Fall (1972) Dynamic
Revelation Time (1975) Black World
War Ina Babylon (1976) Island
Reconstruction (1979) Island
I Love My Music (1979) Wackies
Rondos (1980) King Kong
Holding Out My Love to You (1981) Shanachie
Transition (1989) Rohit
Fari - Captain of My Ship (1992) Jah Shaka
Our Rights (1992) Jah Shaka
Cross or the Gun (1995) Tappa Zukie
Selassie I Forever (1999) Mafia & Fluxy
Love Message (1999) Warriors
Something is Wrong (1999) Warriors
In This Time (2001) 3D (Max Romeo & Tribu Acustica)
Pocomania Songs (2007) Ariwa Sounds
- Compilations:
Max Romeo Meets Owen Gray At King Tubby's Studio (1984) Culture Press (with Owen Gray)
Max Romeo and the Upsetters (1989)
Wet Dream (1993) Crocodisc
McCabee Version (1995) Sonic Sounds
Open The Iron Gate (1999) Blood & Fire
The Many Moods of Max Romeo (1999) Jamaican Gold
Pray For Me: The Best of Max Romeo 1967-73 (2000) Trojan Records
Perilous Times (2000) Charmax
On The Beach (2001) Culture Press
The Coming of Jah (2002) Trojan
Ultimate Collection (2003) (compiled by David Katz)
Holy Zion (2003) Burning Bush
Wet Dream: The Best of Max Romeo (2004) Trojan
Crazy World of Dub (2005) Jamaican Recordings
One of Jamaica's most provocative lyricists, a singer who gave us such enduring songs as 'Chase The Devil' (which was sampled in the song 'Out of Space' by The Prodigy and the song 'Lucifer' by Jay-Z), 'Public Enemy Number One', 'One Step Forward' and 'Three Blind Mice'. It was Romeo who first introduced Britain to the concept of rude reggae with 'Wet Dream', which, despite a total radio ban, reached number 10 in the UK charts in May 1969.
In 1972 Romeo began working with producer Lee "Scratch" Perry. 'Babylon Burning', 'Three Blind Mice' and 'The Coming Of Jah' all maintained his star status in Jamaica between 1972 and 1975. Revelation Time was one of the best albums of 1975, and 1976's War Ina Babylon was hailed by the rock press as an all-time classic reggae album. Two outstanding contributions that will remain classic recordings from the so-called ‘golden age’ of Jamaican reggae music.
Macabee Version
Max Romeo Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
King James was a white man
You built I dangerous weapon
To kill I own black man
You sold the land God gave I
And taught I to be covetous
What other wicked things
Tell me, what are gonna do
To stop these daily crimes?
Bring back Macabee Version
That God gave to black man
Give back King James Version
Belongs to the white man
Black man, get up, stand up, find your foot
And give black God the glory
Black man, get up, stand up, find your foot
And give black God the glory, yeah
You suffer I and you rob I
You starve I then you kill I
But what are you gonna do
Now that your sword have turn against you?
Black man, get up, stand up, find your foot
And give black God the glory
Black man, get up, stand up, find your foot
And give black God the glory
Bring back Macabee Version
That God gave to black man
Give back King James Version
That belongs to the white man
Black man, get up, stand up, find your foot
And give black God the glory
Black man, get up, stand up, find your foot
And give black God the glory
The lyrics of Max Romeo's "Macabee Version" can be interpreted as an indictment of the historical injustices suffered by black people, particularly in relation to colonialism and the slave trade. The song opens with Max Romeo highlighting the irony of being given the King James Version of the Bible by white men who went on to also create and sell weapons that were ultimately used to oppress and kill black people. In a sense, Max Romeo is stating that the King James Version was weaponized against black people by those who sought to exploit them. Furthermore, Max Romeo argues that black people were taught to be covetous and were robbed of the land that God had given them.
The chorus of the song is a call to action for black people to "get up, stand up, find [their] foot, and give black God the glory." This can be interpreted as a call to reclaim their sense of dignity and pride in their roots, rather than accepting the narrative of inferiority and subjugation that colonialism and slavery sought to impose upon them. The final part of the song urges those in power to return the Macabee Version of the Bible to black people, as it was originally intended for them, and to give back the King James Version to those who created it.
Line by Line Meaning
You gave I King James Version
You provided me with the King James Version of the Bible.
King James was a white man
King James was a man of white skin.
You built I dangerous weapon
You created a harmful weapon for me.
To kill I own black man
To harm people who share my skin color.
You sold the land God gave I
You sold the land that belonged to me according to God's plan.
And taught I to be covetous
You taught me to be desirous of what I am not entitled to.
What other wicked things
What additional evil deeds.
Have you got in mind?
Are you planning to commit?
Tell me, what are gonna do
Inform me, what actions are you going to take.
To stop these daily crimes?
To prevent these crimes from occurring every day.
Bring back Macabee Version
Restore the Macabee Version of the Bible.
That God gave to black man
Which was given to Black people by God.
Give back King James Version
Return the King James Version of the Bible.
Belongs to the white man
Which was historically possessed by people of white skin color.
Black man, get up, stand up, find your foot
Black people, arise, stand firm, find your footing.
And give black God the glory
And show reverence to God who created Black people.
You suffer I and you rob I
You inflicted pain and deprivation on me.
You starve I then you kill I
You deprived me of food and then murdered me.
But what are you gonna do
But what actions will you take.
Now that your sword have turn against you?
Now that your weapons have turned against you.
And give black God the glory
And show reverence to God who created Black people.
Bring back Macabee Version
Restore the Macabee Version of the Bible.
That God gave to black man
Which was given to Black people by God.
Give back King James Version
Return the King James Version of the Bible.
That belongs to the white man
Which was historically possessed by people of white skin color.
Black man, get up, stand up, find your foot
Black people, arise, stand firm, find your footing.
And give black God the glory
And show reverence to God who created Black people.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: MAXIE SMITH
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Joederbo
"Give us the teachings of his Majesty, fore we want no Devil philosophy". ❤💛💚
Nanko90
Love it
Yvonne Williams
Love it Bless up
skateMNvx1000
1 Maccabees 3:48
“And laid open the book of the law, wherein the heathen had sought to paint the likeness of their images.”
King James Version (KJV)
Yahu
Happy Hanukkah, Israelites!!!!
SHALAWAAM!
Yvonne Williams
His MAJESTY WOULD BE About 100th Birthday Rest in peace
Kevin Thomas
Selassie was an Ethiopian...he wasn't an israelite.....the Most High hates Ethiopiana
LifeWorks, ndh enterprises,llc.
good morning black People and have a nice resccurrection day for the Lord Jah up above. thank you lord.
Stealth Optimum
Looking for the instrumental for this, anyone have it net land.. 😂🙋🏾♂️
Christopher Garwood
SMH...Jamaica use to have such intelligent music.