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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.
Six and Seven Books of Moses
The Maytals Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
He wrote them all
From Genesis and Exodus
Leviticus and Numbers
Deuteronomy and Joshua
Judges and Ruth
He wrote them all
And the six and the seven books
He wrote them all
From Genesis and Exodus
Leviticus and Numbers
Deuteronomy and Joshua
Judges and Ruth
And the six and the seven books
He wrote them all
And the six and the seven books
They wrote them all
And the six and the seven books
They wrote them all, they wrote them all
The Maytals' song "Six and Seven Books of Moses" is a celebration of the holy texts of the Old Testament and the importance of the prophet, Moses, who is credited with writing the first five books of the Bible. The song lists the six books of the Torah and the subsequent seventh book of Joshua and acknowledges that Moses authored all of them. These books detail the creation story, the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt, instructions for religious observances, and the conquest of the Promised Land.
The repetition of the lyrics "And the six and the seven books, he wrote them all" reinforces that Moses was the divinely commissioned scribe of these texts, and the entire song is imbued with a sense of reverence and awe for the Word of God. The Maytals' reggae rhythms and soulful vocals give the song a joyful, danceable quality that encourages listeners to celebrate the powerful stories and teachings found within the Old Testament.
Line by Line Meaning
And the six and the seven books
Refers to the first seven books of the Old Testament
He wrote them all
God is the author of the first seven books of the Old Testament
From Genesis and Exodus
The first two books of the Old Testament that tell the story of creation and the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt
Leviticus and Numbers
The third and fourth books of the Old Testament that outline the laws and guidelines for the Israelites
Deuteronomy and Joshua
The fifth and sixth books of the Old Testament recounting the story of Moses and the death of Moses, leading to the entry into the Promised Land by Joshua
Judges and Ruth
The seventh and eighth books of the Old Testament detailing the history of the Israelites during the time when they were ruled by judges
They wrote them all
The books were written by the authors inspired by God.
They wrote them all, they wrote them all
Reiterating that the books of the Old Testament were all written by God and writers inspired by God.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: FREDERICK HIBBERT, CLEMENT DODD
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Bee's
My mom would play this song every Saturday morning while she was cleaning. I love you mom and sleep in peace. Till we meet again
yeshurun Raglin
Shalom this is a beautiful song I love it praise YAH
Althea Whyte
The Maytals started my dancing feet. Thank you guys and will always love and remember the joy you brought to our poor hearts in Jamaica. Love you Toots RIP
sbking123
Best song of the LP 'Never grow old' (i have a repressed one). This is probably the best ska song ever. At least that's my opinion. When i hear this song i come in a trance. This is like dope! An un-be-lie-va-ble masterpiece!
Regina Geralad
Words can’t convey how I’m feeling right now I bounce up on this song my heart is so full my eyes 😢 are being full of tears 😢for good and not for bad so very happy those were the days I’m glad I was born in the Era. All I can say thank you nuff blessings and respect love n light to everyone 🙏🏽
YESAC.K_MUSIC Casey Donaldson
Thank you for adding to this our music industry in Jamaica and the world at large. We appreciate you, love you and may you soul rest in perfect peace.
IDK Names Are Hard
My dad played this for me once but he died 6 years ago and this song has only been a vague recollection ever since, but I did it. I found it.
Robert Moray
I am not a follower of the Book, but I love this as it is most certainly Divinely Inspired and has lifted my spirit for many many years and Decades to overcome Downpressors and suffering.
All Praise to all Righteous Humble Humans.
Jacob Katunga
This piece is just soothing and beautiful
charles skinhead cross
Esto es hermoso ❤️🍻