- - -
Frederick "Toots" Hibbert, the leader of the group, was born in May Pen, Clarendon, Jamaica. He was the youngest of seven children. He grew up singing gospel music in a church choir, but moved to Kingston in 1958 at the age of thirteen. In Kingston, Hibbert met Henry "Raleigh" Gordon and Nathaniel "Jerry" McCarthy, forming in 1962 a group whose early recordings were incorrectly attributed to "The Flames" and "The Vikings" by Island records in the UK.
The Maytals first had chart success recording for producer Clement "Coxsone" Dodd at Studio One. With musical backing from Dodd's house band, the legendary 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 1965. With Lee, the Maytals won their first Festival Popular Song Competition with "Bam Bam". However, the group's musical career was interrupted in late 1966 when Hibbert was arrested and imprisoned. Toots states that he was not arrested for ganja but while bailing a friend. He also states that he made up the number 54-46 when writing 54-46 That's My Number about his time in jail.
Following Hibbert's release from jail towards the end of 1967, the Maytals began working with Chinese-Jamaican producer Leslie Kong, a collaboration a string of hits throughout the late sixties and early seventies - "Do the Reggay", a 1968 single widely credited with coining the word reggae, "Pressure Drop", "54-46" the 1969 Jamaica festival's popular song winner, "Sweet & Dandy" and "Monkey Man", the group's first international hit in 1970 . In 1972 they won their third Jamaica festival popular song with "Pomps & Pride". The group was also featured in one of reggae's greatest breakthrough events - The Harder They Come, the 1972 film and soundtrack starring Jimmy Cliff, named as one of Vanity Fair's Top 10 Best Soundtracks of all time.
Following Kong's death in 1971, the group continued to record with Kong's former sound engineer, Warwick Lyn; the group released three best-selling albums produced by Lyn and Chris Blackwell of Island Records, and enjoyed international hits with Funky Kingston in 1973 and Reggae Got Soul in 1975. Following the release of "Reggae Got Soul", Toots & The Maytals were invited to tour as the warm-up act for The Who during their North American Tour. The tour went poorly and Toots & The Maytals never went on the success of Bob Marley or Peter Tosh in the US.
Toots and the Maytals' compositions would be given a second airing in 1978-80 during the reggae-punk and ska revival period in the UK, when The Specials included "Monkey Man" on their 1979 debut album and The Clash produced their version of "Pressure Drop". They were also included in the Bob Marley and the Wailers song, *Punky Reggae Party". "The Wailers will be there, The Damned, The Jam, The Clash, The Maytals will be there, Dr. Feelgood too".
Having toured throughout the world for many years, Toots and the Maytals disbanded in the early 1980s, but reformed in the early 90s to continue touring and recording successfully. Sublime recorded cover versions of some Maytals songs in the 1990s as well.
The group recently won the 2005 Grammy award for best reggae album True Love, an album consisting of re-recorded versions of their classics alongside popular and legendary musicians such as Bonnie Raitt, Willie Nelson, Eric Clapton, and Keith Richards, as well as popular artists today such as No Doubt, Ben Harper, The Roots, and Shaggy.
In 2006, they recorded a reggae/ska version of Radiohead's Let Down for the tribute album, Radiodread, by the Easy Star All-Stars. The album is a complete song for song makeover of the English rock band's album OK Computer into reggae, dub and ska. Let Down has been frequently cited by reviewers as one of the successes of the album.
A follow up to 2004's Love was being recorded in 2005 and released in 2007, and featured re-workings of classics such as "Johnny Cool Man" as well as new material. Light Your Light was nominated for the Grammy in the category Best Reggae Album.
Frederick Nathaniel 'Toots' Hibbert passed away September 11, 2020 at age 77.
Johnny Coolman
The Maytals Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
They call me Johnny Cool Man
I wake up soon and I feel so good
And home just don't bother me
They call me Johnny Cool, Cool, Cool. Cool Man
They call me Johnny Cool Man
But sticks and stones may break my bones
And words just don't bother me
They take me for the other man
But sticks and stones can break my bones
And words just don't bother, bother me
They call me Johnny Cool Man
They call me Johnny Cool Man
But sticks and stones may break my bones
And words just don't bother me
They said some things to make me change
They said some things to make me feel bad
But sticks and stones can break my bones
And words just don't bother me
The song "Johnny Cool Man" by The Maytals is about a man who is confident, self-assured and does not let others' opinions affect him. The repeated chorus "They call me Johnny Cool Man" emphasizes how the singer identifies himself, and how others perceive him. He wakes up feeling good, not bothered by his surroundings, and regardless of what is said to him, he remains unaffected. The line "But sticks and stones may break my bones, and words just don't bother me" reinforces this message and underscores the toughness and resilience of the singer. Despite others' attempts to belittle him or bring him down, he remains steadfast and unyielding.
The repetition of the chorus is reminiscent of a mantra, invoking a sense of confidence and steadfastness to the listener. The song's message is clear: be true to yourself, and do not let others bring you down. It is an empowering message that resonates with many people, and continues to be relevant today.
Line by Line Meaning
They call me Johnny Cool Man
I am known as Johnny Cool Man
They call me Johnny Cool Man
People refer to me as Johnny Cool Man
I wake up soon and I feel so good
I wake up feeling great
And home just don't bother me
Being at home doesn't affect me negatively
They call me Johnny Cool, Cool, Cool. Cool Man
My nickname is Johnny Cool, and people emphasize it by repeating 'Cool'
They call me Johnny Cool Man
People continue to call me Johnny Cool Man
But sticks and stones may break my bones
Physical harm can impact me
And words just don't bother me
Emotional pain from words doesn't affect me
I was on the other hand
However, there was a different situation
They take me for the other man
People mistake me for someone else
But sticks and stones can break my bones
Physical harm can still hurt me
And words just don't bother, bother me
Despite this, I'm still not affected by emotional pain from words
They call me Johnny Cool Man
Despite what happens, people still call me Johnny Cool Man
They call me Johnny Cool Man
The repetition emphasizes that people continue to call me Johnny Cool Man
But sticks and stones may break my bones
A reminder that I'm not invincible to physical harm
And words just don't bother me
Emotional pain from words still doesn't affect me
They said some things to make me change
People tried to influence me to change
They said some things to make me feel bad
People tried to make me feel bad through their words
But sticks and stones can break my bones
However, physical harm can still affect me
And words just don't bother me
Despite this, emotional pain from words still doesn't affect me
Contributed by Bentley V. Suggest a correction in the comments below.