The Rough Guide to Reggae 3 (Rough Guide Music Guides) (Rough Guide Reference)

The book chronicles the entire history of Jamaican music chapter by chapter, from the earliest beginnings to the sounds being made today; explaining when, how and why each new style developed, who made it happen and the background of continuing social change in Jamaica itself, which has always played a part in shaping the music. There are also excellent accounts of the evolution of reggae in the UK, the USA and Africa.

In each chapter the main text is supplemented by profiles of the major singers, groups, dj's, musicians, producers, engineers, studios and promoters who came to the fore in that particular era, which often include interviews with the artists themselves. The accompanying discographies are well researched and can reliably be used to add to your record collection. There are over a thousand featured albums in the book, each of which is concisely reviewed, and although there's no rating system as such, the most important releases are highlighted as being essential for a particular artist or style. Such ratings are inevitably subjective, but if you follow these recommendations you won't go far wrong.

The Rough Guide is also well illustrated throughout with photographs and album artwork, and overall the book is as comprehensive and accurate as it can be while remaining reasonably concise. I don't generally spend much time wading through books about music because theory (ie reading about it) is invariably much less enjoyable and informative than practice (ie listening to it), but I've found this one to be consistently useful.

If you have a few dollars more to spare I'd recommend that you also buy the wonderful 4 CD set "Tougher than tough: the story of Jamaican music", so you can read and listen in parallel; and if you'd like to dig deeper into the subject try the excellent "Bass culture: when reggae was king" by Lloyd Bradley. But the Rough Guide should definitely be your first book about reggae music and will probably be the only one you'll ever need.


Very good buyer's guide. . .   August 18, 2002
Achis (Kingston, JA/Philipsburg, SxM)
6 out of 7 found this review helpful

I can't imagine that I'd actually ever sit down to read this book, from beginning to end, I mean, now that would be boring, like watching grass grow, or reading a math text book from beginning to end. However, that being said, I don't think that this book was meant to be read in that way. It is a buyer's guide, and strictly as a buyer's guide, it is very good. Like another reviewer here, this book has cost me some serious dough indirectly, searching for, finding and purchasing some of the classics in this book has ran me over 2 thousand dollars. I lie the format where they give a brief accounting of the type of music for the chapter, then break it down by the artists and their best albums. It even has a dub section which is very extensive, and the best of its kind about this oft-forgotten type of music. It brought back memories, of my father playing tunes by Fred Locks, Tappa Zukie, Augustus Pablo, Yabby You and the Congos when I was younger, (I'm only 21) and I was able to purchase alot of those albums for my own collection. And my father owns the book, he's 47 years old, owns approximately 60% of the material in the book, and he's been listening to the music for approximately 47 years, and he loves it. In my opinion, if you just approach this one as what it is, a buyer's guide, then it'll work for you. I also like the way it handles Bob Marley and the Wailers, it gives a very in depth summary, but it doesn't over-do it, as many books on reggae does. And it also goes in depth on Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer as well. It covers very in depthly the current era of reggae as well, with the dancehall, and conscious vibes well touched upon. Overall, I say if you are a collector of reggae music, especially a newer collector, then this book will work for you, it does all of the research for you, gives you 100% of the labels, so you can go directly to the source, and get the material you want. Very very good!


Great Reference work by a very knowledgeable source   February 1, 2001
Steve Irons (Minneapolis, MN United States)
5 out of 12 found this review helpful

If you're looking for a quick and easy read on the history of Reggae, this probably isn't the place to start. If you're looking for a reference work to help you flesh out your reggae collection, this is the book for you. Steve Barrow might well be the most knowledgeable person writing about Reggae today.

Since buying this book I've personally dropped a couple a grand on Reggae CDs, mainly on recommendations in this book or the Virgin Reggae guide. Overall, I'd say about 90%+ were worth my money. In this respect, the book has been invaluable to me. If you're a true fan of Reggae, it will be invaluable to you too.

Some of the criticisms leveled by other reviewers on this site are a result of unfair or misguided expectations. They are apparently disappointed that the book isn't an easy read, or an oral history of some sort. I think the best way to approach this book is to start with a particular style of Reggae that you're interested in (i.e., Roots, Ska, etc.) and dig in. Get some on the recommended CDs, and enjoy! Then move on to another chapter if you are so inclined.

One last plug for the author: Steve Barrow is the co-owner of Blood & Fire, currently Reggae's best reissue label. Buy everything you can get your hands with the B & F logo! - the stuff is worth its weight in ganja.


NOT THE BEST BUT WORTH READING   October 25, 1998
4 out of 7 found this review helpful

Of the three books on reggae I have recently read this is the second best. It gives a fairly good overview of the music, recommends albums from various periods and interviews a lot of former and current stars. It's not really a book for continuous reading but rather a reference work to be consulted occasionally. Overall a worthwhile addition to the growing literature on reggae - better than Reggae, Rasta, Revolution but not as good as Reggae Routes : The Story of Jamaican Music which is definitely the best book ever written on the subject.