'African' meets 'Colouring Book'?

 ... Peter Tosh, Vybz Kartel recording was planned

It is not uncommon to hear recordings in which the voices of performers who are long dead are fused with those of the living to create duets. In Jamaica, it has been done with Tenor Saw and Buju Banton, Chino and Dennis Brown, and Bob Marley and Busta Rhymes, Lauryn Hill and several others.

Last Wednesday evening at the 2011 Peter Tosh symposium, held at the Undercroft of the University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona, Dave Tosh raised the thought of an unexpected combination with his father.

He said that in celebrating Peter Tosh, there had been the possibility of remaking his song Can't Blame the Youth with Vybz Kartel.

This caused murmurs in the audience at the striking contrast between a man who sang African ("it no matter where you come from/as long as you're a black man you are an African") and the Colouring Book Kartel, who declared famously "cool like mi wash mi face with the cake soap" hitting home.

Still, Dave Tosh pointed out that while his father and Bob Marley are now celebrated at places like UWI, he can remember a time in his childhood when they were considered "dutty-head Rasta".

Peter Tosh is known for his militancy. Copeland Forbes said when he asked him why he did not do more love songs - which he was very good at - Tosh replied, "Me tired to sing 'bout 'darling I love you' and them (expletives) thing. I have to sing about revolution".

So when singer Gwen Guthrie approached Forbes with the idea of getting Tosh to do Nothing But Love with her, he wished her good luck. But she explained the song to Tosh and they recorded it, the track exceeding all expectations as it made a lasting impact.

Forbes also outlined how Tosh was influenced in his song choices by hangers-on. Guitarist Donald Kinsey brought Johnny B Goode, a Chuck Berry original, to Tosh's attention. The rhythm was laid at Dynamic Studios in Kingston, but when Tosh heard the lyric "you got to be the leader of a rock and roll band" he refused to do the song.

Forbes said "I call him one side and say, 'Peter, is you teach me how to cook porridge and soup". In those processes the seasoning comes last, and Forbes told Tosh "I see you as the seasoning for this song now. I think you should voice it". However, someone else was there saying differently and Tosh was listening to him. However, the hanger-on left the studio to do something and Forbes seized the opportunity to rewrite the disagreeable lyrics, changing 'Louisiana' to 'Mandeville' and 'rock and roll' to 'reggae', injecting 'skenge, skenge' to reinforce the reggae feel.

All 12 utilised

Tosh said he would do the song once and any mistakes would have to remain. But when he started to sing there was an error and he instructed, "come forward". As Tosh got more enthused, they used more and more tracks, until 12 were utilised in all.

"As him don,e him jump in the Volvo and gone," Forbes said. "We sat and worked on it that whole night."

Then, when they visited the record company's offices in the United States to choose songs for the upcoming album, Tosh made it clear that there were two songs he did not want - Johnny B Goode and Where You Gonna Run, both on the influence of hangers-on.

Yet, when they sat to listen to the set in New York, along with the record company executives, when Tosh heard Johnny B Goode - without the influence of others - he said "Put it on the album". This was after he had asked Forbes, "Who sing da song deh?", and Forbes replied, "Chuck Berry". And he compared Where You Gonna Run to his song, Downpresser Man, on which Dean Fraser's saxophone solo caught the attention of the listening music executives.

As for Tosh's infamous Oh B ... t, Forbes said Tosh reasoned that it was a word he used to ward off duppies, so if he could say it he could sing it. "The record company don't know what it is," Forbes said, to laughter.

And the Jamaican curse word at the end of Maaga Dog was put in as a touch of humour, but the engineer liked it and let it remain.