Max Romeo puts his money where his mouth is

Mel Cooke, Freelance Writer

"Hail I Jah, Rastafari!

A so

If a so, no so"

- Max Romeo, 'Maccabee Version'

Max Romeo starts the 1971 recording Maccabee Version with a declaration of Rastafari and utilising 'a so', which could be seen as a statement of resignation, a statement of defiance.

And Romeo told The Sunday Gleaner that as a young Rastafarian, he had to put his money where his mouth was to make what became his first Jamaican hit.

"I had it (the song) about a year playing around with. A lot of producers did not want to touch it because the Maccabee (Bible) was banned and they feared I would face a reprisal," Romeo said.

So he paid for the session himself at Randy's, North Parade, Kingston, and with the Soul Syndicate Band (with George Fullwood on bass, Santa Davis on drums, and Tony Chin and Earl 'Chinna' Smith on rhythm and lead guitar, respectively) recorded Maccabee Version. He sang:

"You gave I King James version

King James was a white man

Now give I Maccabee version

For I am a black man

You stole the land God gave I

And taught I to be covetous

What other wickedness

Have you got in mind?

Tell me what are you gonna do

To stop these daily crimes?

Bring back Maccabee version

That God gave to black man

Give back King James version

It belongs to the white man

Black man get up stand up pon

yu foot

And give Black God the glory

Black man get up and know

yourself

And give Rasta the glory, yeah

Hail I Jah Rastafari

A so"

Just a decade after Independence and on the cusp of the Black Power movement, not only in Jamaica but across the Caribbean, Romeo knew that he was stepping into untested waters, but he was not wary of the repercussions.

"My concept as a young man then was to find the half that had never been told. I was always looking for controversial things," he said. He said there were other banned texts and "these books were ringing in my head".

"As a young man, I did not care. As a kid growing up in the street, I did not have any fear."

Romeo did not have a copy of the Maccabee chapters, but says: "A friend of mine had it. I glanced through and realised it is something different from the Bible."

'We were experimenting'

Not only was he singing about an unaccustomed topic, but Romeo also says the music was different from what was being produced at the time as "we were experimenting". It turned out to be "a good project", as Maccabee Version became Romeo's first popular song in Jamaica, although he had had Wet Dream become popular in England before.

He says Wet Dream was banned by the BBC and Maccabee Version was duly banned in Jamaica. That did not preclude the song from finding favour with Jamaicans, and Romeo points out that it was the music which struck a chord first, and then the lyrics.

His reference to "daily crimes" was testament to the rising violence, as Romeo says: "What was happening in the 1970s still happening now. We still fighting that crime situation that started in the 1960s, I would say, when people started to disrespect one another."

Maccabee Version has remained a part of Romeo's live performances, including those on a recent two-week trip to Niger, he said. There, he said he was asked by some angry persons about Vybz Kartel's bleaching. "They were very upset, saying he does not love his blackness," Romeo said.

Romeo said that he has never had a negative experience performing Maccabee Version, which is the first song on his definitive multi-disc collection. And it is being taken up by another generation, as Romeo said his sons, who form the duo Rominal, are recording a version of the song themselves.