Toots and The Maytals are from Kingston, Jamaica. It was the producer Byron Lee who 1971 renamed them Toots & the Maytals. Frederick "Toots" Hibbert, the leader of the group and the lead singer, was born in May Pen in the Parish of Clarendon, Jamaica. He was the youngest of seven children. He grew up singing gospel music in a church choir, but moved to Kingston in 1961 at the age of sixteen.
In Kingston, he met Henry "Raleigh" Gordon and Nathaniel "Jerry" McCarthy, forming a group whose early recordings were attributed to "The Flames" and, possibly, "The Vikings". Having renamed the group the Maytals, the vocal trio recorded their first album, "Never Grow Old - presenting the Maytals", for producer Clement "Coxsone" Dodd at Studio One in 1962-63. With musical backing from Dodd's house band, the legendary Skatalites, the Maytals' close-harmony gospel singing ensured instant success for the 1964 release, overshadowing Dodd's other up-and-coming gospel trio, The Wailers. The original album augmented by studio out-takes from the Studio One sessions was re-released by Heartbeat/Rounder Records in 1997, and is essential listening for Maytals and Skatalites fans.
After staying at Studio One for about two years, the group moved on to do sessions for Prince Buster (released in 1974) before recording their second album produced by Byron Lee in 1965. However, the band's musical career was rudely interrupted in late 1966 when Hibbert was arrested and imprisoned on drug possession charges.
Following Hibbert's release from jail towards the end of 1967, the band began working with Chinese-Jamaican producer Leslie Kong, a collaboration which produced three classic albums and 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" and "Monkey Man", the group's first international hit in 1970. The group was featured in one of reggae's greatest breakthrough events -- The Harder They Come, the 1972 film and soundtrack starring Jimmy Cliff.
Following Kong's death in 1971, the group continued to record with Kong's former sound engineer, Warwick Lyn; produced by Lyn and Chris Blackwell of Island Records, the group released three best-selling albums, and enjoyed international hits with Funky Kingston in 1973 and Reggae Got Soul in 1976.
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", with other Maytals' covers being recorded by Sublime. 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.
In 2005, the band won a Grammy award for best reggae album for True Love, consisting of re-recorded versions of their classics alongside legendary musicians such as Bonnie Raitt, Willie Nelson, Eric Clapton, and Keith Richards, as well as popular artists such as No Doubt, Ben Harper, The Roots, and Shaggy.
They also contributed to the Easy Star All-Stars album 'Radiodread' (a dub tribute to Radiohead's OK Computer).
In 2016 Toots and the Maytals announced a return to the stage with their first tour in 3 years,[35] and on June 15 at The Observatory North Park in San Diego the group returned to the stage for the first time since 2013.
In 2017 Toots and the Maytals played Coachella Fest April 16 and 23 at 4:20 pm. They became the second reggae-based group to perform at the Coachella festival, after Chronixx in 2016.
In 2018, Toots and the Maytals launched a 50th anniversary tour with concert appearances in North America from April to August, moving to dates in the UK starting in October.
On July 25, 2018 Toots and the Maytals debuted an original song entitled "Marley" live on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, and also played the classic "Funky Kingston".
On August 24, 2018 Toots and the Maytals performed at Lockn’ Festival in Arrington, Virginia, where guest Taj Mahal accompanied them on the song “Monkey Man”.
Frontman "Toots" Hibbert died on 12 September 2020.
My Love Is So Strong
Toots and The Maytals Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
That you wish if I could go with you
Every night you keep on telling me
That you wish if I could follow you
Every time you keep on worrying, worrying me
That you wish if I could go with you
Just to do those funny things you wanted me to do
Honey, you tried to, to bend my love, yeah
You made a fool of me
One time I know is not the same
When we used to play in the sun
We used to hold each other's hand
Remember we used to play in the pond
So all the good looks that you have
Would not break my heart
My old heart still remains the same
Honey, you tried to bend my love
And made a fool of me, yeah
I said my love is so strong
And my mind is unchangeable
You take a look at my face
You will see that my future's still bright
Oh, bright as the sun in the sky
Honey, you're sure to see me shine, yeah
Shine as the stars in the morning
The pattern in the sky, oh yeah
I said my love is so strong
And my mind is unchangeable
You take a good look at my face
You will see that my future is still bright
Oh, bright as the stars in the sky
Honey, you're sure to see me shine
Shine as the morning stars
That shine on the sky, yeah, yeah
Oh, that good thing have been for you
Oh, you do those funny things
Avoiding me for good
Oh, my love is so strong
The lyrics of Toots and The Maytals's song "My Love Is So Strong" explore the idea of a partner trying to convince the singer to do things they don't want to do. The partner insists that they want the singer to follow them and worry about the singer not being with them, but the singer realizes that it's better they didn't follow because the partner was trying to bend their love and make a fool of them. The singer remembers a time when they used to play together and hold hands, but the partner's good looks can't break their heart. They declare that their love is so strong and their mind unchangeable, and their future is still bright.
The lyrics seem to express the singer's refusal to be manipulated or controlled by their partner. They recognize the partner's attempts to bend their love and make them do things they don't want to do. The lyrics also express the singer's enduring love and faith in themselves. They know who they are and what they want, and they won't be swayed by someone else's wishes.
Line by Line Meaning
Every day you say
That you wish if I could go with you
You ask me to come with you every day
Every night you keep on telling me
That you wish if I could follow you
You ask me to follow you every night
Every time you keep on worrying, worrying me
That you wish if I could go with you
You worry me every time by asking me to come with you
But it's a good thing I didn't follow you
Just to do those funny things you wanted me to do
Honey, you tried to, to bend my love, yeah
You made a fool of me
I did not follow you because you were trying to manipulate me into doing things I did not want to do, and you made me look foolish
One time I know is not the same
When we used to play in the sun
We used to hold each other's hand
Remember we used to play in the pond
Things have changed, and we cannot go back to the way things used to be when we were carefree and in love, playing outside together
So all the good looks that you have
Would not break my heart
My old heart still remains the same
Honey, you tried to bend my love
And made a fool of me, yeah
Your appearance does not change how I feel about you, and you cannot manipulate me into doing what you want which led to embarrassing myself
I said my love is so strong
And my mind is unchangeable
You take a look at my face
You will see that my future's still bright
I love you deeply and nothing can change that. If you look at me, you'll see that I have a bright future ahead
Oh, bright as the sun in the sky
Honey, you're sure to see me shine, yeah
Shine as the stars in the morning
The pattern in the sky, oh yeah
I am going to shine like the sun and stars, and everyone will see me soar high like the stars in the sky
Oh, that good thing have been for you
Oh, you do those funny things
Avoiding me for good
It's better for you that I didn't go along with your manipulations and that I'm now avoiding you for good
Oh, my love is so strong
My love for you is unwavering and unbreakable
Contributed by Cameron G. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Michel Cratere
Rest in Peace, Toots est un des plus grands chanteurs de reggae, un vrai gentleman que j'ai eu l'immense plaisir de voir jouer à trois reprises,et chacun de ses concerts était unique ! Un grand monsieur !Tu manques à tous tes fans, merci d'avoir laissé un héritage que j'espère immortel !
Chris Kelman
Love this song so much.
lessismore59
Might be the best Toots album? It's really great!!! Thanks's a lot for uploading!
Lawrence Njawe
Definitely NOT Toots's best album. Far from it!! Check out Reggae got Soul 1976, Knock out 1981, I'm the Dark 1973, and Perhaps Funky Kingston 1971 and True Love 2004
Lawrence Njawe
@lessismore59 You might also want to check out Just like That 1980
Mathias Stevenson
I agree that it’s one of Toot’s best. Super soulful and consistent all the way through. This is one of his best all time tracks no doubt. This album wipes the floor with ‘Knock Out’ and ‘Just Like That’. I rate this as second only to ‘Funky Kingston’ with ‘Reggae Got Soul’ a close third.
S.J.Downes
Great Album!.. In the Dark is my fave... R. I. P TOOTS x
Mathias Stevenson
S J Yeah, I think ‘In the Dark’ has to be in the top 2. I overlooked it because I don’t have it in my collection. But it’s amazing. All his albums are great, really. ‘Toots in Memphis’ is sick. REST IN POWER TOOTS!!
DJ Crystal
Big tune ❤️❤️
Rocktron is Back
:) I love the vinyl sound!