Reggae History

The Pioneer's 1967 track called "Long Shot Bus' Me Bet", is said to be the first known recorded reggae song in history. Johnny Nash was the first American artist to introduce reggae to American listening ears with his 1968 single, Hold me Tight". The Wailers, a group formed of Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, and Bunny Wailer is the only band to have made it through all three stages of reggae.

They were able to change their tune enough to be successful through all forms of the genre. Island Records, a very popular Jamaican record label started recording reggae music since the late 1960's. The company was founded by Chris Blackwell, before he was sent to England where he started signing reggae artists to the label there as well. Another intricate player in the distribution of reggae music was Vincent Chin. He maintained jukeboxes at local bars. After hearing some of the local bands playing in the bars he decided to start filling jukeboxes in other areas with reggae so that he could spread the sound. Outside Chin's shop was an area called idler's Rest where reggae artists would hang out in the hopes of being picked up by the near by recording studio.

Producers would keep their windows open so that when they heard the sound they were looking for, they would move in and sign those to a record deal. In 1974 Eric Clapton did a recording of Bob Marley's song, I Shot the Sheriff, which became widely popular and became an instant hit to the American public creating a mainstream of reggae.