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REGGAE ON BROADWAY: LET THE SUNSHINE IN
Charles Campbell
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Many people know the song, Let The Sunshine In. It became an anthem of the international peace movement in the late 1960's through to the 1970's. Not many however, know of its genesis.
The Flesh Failures (Let The Sunshine In) is the finale of the Broadway musical, Hair: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical, with New York's social scene, the hippie counter-culture and rock music as its backdrop. It opened at the Biltmore Theatre (now Samuel J Friedman Theatre) in April 1968 and ran for 1,750 performances over four years, closing on July 1, 1972. The musical featured a racially integrated cast and was the Broadway debut of Melba Moore and Ben Vereen, best known for his role as 'Chicken George' in Roots.
During the 1960's and early 1970's, New York was a cosmopolitan, cultural potpourri, home to many second and third generation Jamaicans, dating back all the way back to the times of Claude McKay, the Harlem Renaissance, Garvey and the UNIA. Reggae music had begun seeping into the selections of club disc jockeys and was already very popular among the peace and hippie movements.
Composed by Galt MacDermot, with lyrics written by James Rado and Gerome Ragni (authors of the book on which the play is based), The Flesh Failures (Let The Sunshine In) has a distinct Reggae beat. Best known for the Hair score, MacDermot's work spans the gamut of performing arts, drawing his inspiration from a wealth of musical styles, crossing the boundaries of jazz, folk, gospel, reggae, classical styles and rap.
In 1969, The Fifth Dimension popularised the second half of what was originally a medley, releasing Aquarius/Let The Sunshine In as a single. This version downplayed the Reggae beat and transformed the composition into what was known as sunshine pop. The song won Record of the Year and Best Contemporary Vocal Performance by a Group at the Grammy Awards of 1970.
Reggae was still barely getting airplay and mainstream acceptance at home and was referred to as 'two-chord music'. In 1971, however, Bob Marley saw the symbolic significance of the penetration of Reggae into this art form, saw how it could change prejudice and perception, and penned the song Reggae On Broadway. The line that says "get on the floor, baby, I said you give me it once more now" was a lyrical description of the movements of the cast in this closing number.
The persistent under-valuing of our music has not stopped the growing appreciation by other peoples and cultures. In fact, for this very reason, we can no longer claim to own it. It has truly become a part of the heritage of the world. Unfortunately, in a sad repeat of history, we continue only to be primary producers but mass consumers of the raw material of Reggae.
I had the pleasure of attending the Reggae Symphony concert held at the Broward Centre for the Performing Arts (BCPA), Fort Lauderdale, on March 29. The concert featured performances by Freddie McGregor, Marcia Griffiths and Bob Andy, backed by Lloyd Parkes and We the People, along with a five-man horn section including Dean Fraser, Nambo Robinson, Everol Wray, Samuel Grant, Everton Gayle and the string section of the New York Symphony Orchestra, including cellos, violins, violas, harps, flutes. The facility has excellent acoustics, with theatre-style seating and a full complement of stage and production infrastructure. The interplay between the wind and string instruments had a magical effect on the voices of the singers. I had never quite heard our music sounding this good and not many Jamaicans will ever have that luxury, at least not until we build such concert halls in Jamaica.
On May 8, a video featuring Michigan's Grand Valley State University Varsity Men (Glee Club) performing in February 2009, doing a choral treatment of Hol' You Han', was posted on youtube.com. The video immediately went viral. It is a Jamaican folksong, popularised by the Hon Louise Bennett-Coverley. Arranged by composer Paul Rardin, associate director of choirs at the University of Michigan, it features the smoothest transition from and shows the cultural continuity of folk to Dancehall, with a deejay solo performed by Matt McMurry. Very few persons in Jamaica, except the Dancehall producers, are experimenting with our music in this way. One refreshing exception to this void is the University Singers. I attended their gala event on June 20 and was literally blown away by their performance, especially by the suite of songs From Mento To Dancehall.
All Dancehall fans deserve to see and hear the choreography and arrangement of their sample of songs from the three decades covered, arranged by Djenne Greaves. From the 80's Zunguzunguguzunguzeng by Yellow Man, Buddy Bye by Johnny Osbourne and Ring The Alarm by Tenor Saw. Covering the 90's they gave us I Will Do Anything For You by Snow, Nadine Sutherland, Beenie Man, Buju Banton, Louie Culture, Culture Knox and Terror Fabulous; Tingaling by Shabba Ranks and Second Class by Carol Gonzales. Moving in to the current decade, we got Dancehall Nice Again by Elephant Man, On The Rock by Mavado, Gully Creeper and Nuh Linga by Elephant Man and Mission by Damian Marley. All of the above dramatised the art form and gives us a better appreciation of its creativity, complexity and sophistication, while adding aesthetic value to the raw product. This would have been so much more enhanced had they been using a venue like the BCPA.
For decades, Cuban tourism has been famous for their vaudeville-type shows, which incorporates all the performing arts, package and present their music and its social backdrop in concert halls and nightclubs, attracting night-lifers from all over the world. I must admit that all these reflections came to me while I watched on CNN the grand event that was the Michael Jackson memorial, staged at the Staples Centre in Los Angeles on July 7.
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