The Maytals – 54-46 Was My Number
Toots and the Maytals
Listen/Download – The Maytals – 54-46 Was My Number
Greetings all.
I sit here at the heart of the Funky16Corners Record Vault and Podcasting Nerve Center, while the biting winds of autumn howl outside the window.
I was outside waiting for the littlest Corner to get off the bus, and I was reveling in the cool breeze, bright blue sky and wave upon wave of bright yellow and red leaves blowing around the neighborhood, digging the fall-ness of it all, though dreading that the leaves must eventually be removed, lest the neighbors soil themselves in a rage.
Such is life in the suburbs, where one side of the walls is wailing leaf blowers, and the other is heaps of warming vinyl, providing protection from the elements.
It behooves me to pause here and remind you all that this Friday night at 9PM you should all gather around your computers for warmth for another episode of the Funky16Corners Radio Show on Viva internet radio. I promise you that if funk and soul is your bag, then you will not be disappointed (on account of that’s how we roll).
I will now return to our regularly scheduled post and unleash a killer record for your delectation.
It’s reggae time again (thanks go out to my youngest sister for the inspiration).
If you are not hep to the mighty Toots Hibbert and his faithful Maytals, then I have something for you that will surely be a nice surprise.
I’ll spare you my usual reggae = soul boilerplate*, since of all the soulful singers from that particular genre, none is more so than Toots Hibbert.
Back in the olden days, when I was first becoming wise to the sounds of Jamaica via the Two Tone-rs, the name Toots and the Maytals was one frequently invoked by those in the know. Their songs were covered by the likes of the Clash (Pressure Drop) and the Specials (Monkey Man) among others**.
My first exposure to their music was via comps of ska originals, but the record that really pulled me in was their 1980 live album.
Recorded at the Hammersmith Palais in London, ‘Toots and the Maytals Live’ is as ass-kicking a reggae album as you’re ever likely to hear, with the band at the top of their game, feeding off of the energy of an audience that was clearly in love with their music.
It was on that album that I first heard the song ’54-46 Was My Number’. The tale of Toots being framed and jailed for possession of the lowly collie weed***.
It is a remarkable bit of stomping, danceable skinhead reggae, one of Toots finest, and an all around masterpiece of Island soul.
The original version was released in 1969 on Beverlys (in Jamaica) and Pyramid and Trojan (in the UK), and as far as I can tell did not have a contemporary US release.
Which is where today’s 45 (credited only to the Maytals) comes into play.
Despite some diligent searching I have not been able to find out how this song (and no accompanying LP) got issued as a 45 by Leon Russell and Denny Cordell’s Shelter Records.
Founded in 1970, Shelter had a discography that tilted heavily in the direction of gospel-tinged roots rock (Russell) , blues (Freddy King), pop (Phoebe Snow’s ‘Poetry Man’, probably the label’s biggest hit) and by the mid-70s the proto-New Wave/power pop of Dwight Twilley and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.
As far as I can tell, aside from this hard to find 45 (in 1972) , and a two-sider of Funky Kingston and Pressure Drop (which I’ve never seen a copy of) a year later, Shelter never released another reggae 45 or LP in their decade-plus history.
Though I haven’t turned up any specific info on how Toots and the Maytals hooked up with Shelter, my best guess is that is has something to do with Denny Cordell.
Cordell, who hailed from the UK got his start working for Chris Blackwell at Island Records in the mid-60s, and was certainly exposed to the sounds of Jamaica. Whether bringing Toots and the Maytals to Shelter was his idea of a way to test the waters for further reggae releases on the label (which never materialized) I can’t say for sure, but Island would release the ‘Funky Kingston’ LP (an amalgam of tracks released a few years earlier in Jamaica) in 1973, in the US.
Either way, it is indeed a mighty record, and as an object, an unusual footnote to the history of reggae in the US.
Dig it, and I will join you all again on Monday.
Peace
Larry
*Laid out in detail a number of times previously
** 54-46 Was My Number was later covered by Sublime
***Based no doubt on Hibbert’s actual arrest and jailing in 1966
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Themocracy
Great tune.
Saw the band here in Glasgow a few months back.
First time ever to see a genuine reggae/ska/soul legend in the flesh.
Was awesome (in the proper sense of the word)!
This is probably their catchiest tune, but they have literally dozens of crackers.
Sweet and Dandy, Larry! 🙂
Lucky man, Stu! I haven’t had the chance to see the Maytals, and Toots is one of my favorite singers.
I first heard the original (“54-46 That’s My Number”) back in ’68 at The Ska Bar held in St.Mary’s Ballroom, Putney (in South West London) as a 16-year-old.
The crowd was nearly all Jamaican or second-generation English-born from Jamaican parents, so I was one of the few white males there that night.
This fantastic record was played that really made a big impression, but I had no idea what the title was or who had recorded it. So I it took a long trawl of record shops before I eventually found it.
The single was released in the UK on the Pyramid label with Roland Alphonso’s “Dreamland” on the ‘B’ side.
It is now with a case full of other great 45’s lying alone and forlorn in my garage.
Love this track Ernest Ranglin does a great acoustic/reggae/jazz version on his album Below The Bassline
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Below-Bassline-Ernest-Ranglin/dp/B000001EA6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1290117624&sr=8-1
Saw Toots back in the early 90s at Toad’s Place in New Haven and he quite literally blew the doors off the place with his incredible energy. I own an original press of ‘Reggae’s Got Soul,’ on Dynamic I think. Man is a legend, big respect.
Two versions of this came out in the UK, the one you’ve posted, on Trojan in 1969 and a slower, more Rock Steady version on Pyramid (with easier to understand lyrics) in 1968. I saw The Clash do this live at London’s Electric Ballroom on the London Calling tour (Mick Jones just singing with drums – bootleg anyone ?). Toots is still arond and played London Islington O2 earlier tis year. Can’t beleive I didn’t go.
I saw a copy of this up for auction recently and was intrigued, but I didn’t click to the fact that it was released before the album on Island.
There’s another album called Funky Kingston, which provides the core of what was released in the US under that name. I’m not in a position to check right now, but I think it’s on the Dragon label [?]. Are those some of the tracks you say were released earlier in Jamaica? I’ve always assumed it was the “English version” of the album. I’d be very surprised if it wasn’t issued before the US release.
My dad is Toots fan numero uno, I got the record from him along with an old copy of Bla Bla Bla, which is where both “Sweet And Dandy” and the US release version of “Pressure Drop” came from.
Ana_b
As far as I know, the Island version of the Funky Kingston LP is an amalgam of a few different Jamaican albums. Since Dragon is a Jamaican label, my guess would be that their Funky Kingston album has a different track list.
Larry
@Ian – I didn’t know the Pyramid and Trojan were different versions. Thanks for the info.
Thanks for the info Larry, trying to google Dragon Records is an exercise in frustration. Looks like I own Jamaican pressings of everything up to “Reggae Got Soul”.
Now that I look at the records, I see that most of the songs on the US release come off another album, “In The Dark”, also on Dragon….and only a few come off of the Dragon issue Funky Kingston. No wonder I’m confused about tracks.
Larry,
Great stuff as always!
Here’s an Mp3 of the alternative ‘slower’ version that Ian mentioned. It was also included on the ‘Do The Reggae 1966-1970’ LP.
https://www.divshare.com/download/13269595-189
Enjoy!
Mr Double Down
That slow version is the Shelter 45. I can’t recall at the moment, but this was mentioned in one of two books I’ve been re-reading: People Funny Boy (about Lee Perry), and Familyman Barrett’s story. There’s something about Shelter in there; they released the Wailers “Duppy Conqueror” single a s well.
Carry on Bro man
There were at least six, possibly as many as eight, reggae singles released on Shelter Records in the mid-70s. All were licensed by Denny Cordell, co-founder of Shelter (with Leon Russell) for release. Denny felt reggae was going to be huge in America. As far as I know, none of these made much of an impact as far as sales are concerned.
Here are the six I can confirm:
Bob Marley & the Wailers: Doppy Conquer/Justice(The Upsetters)
Maytals: 54-46 Was My Number/The Man
John Holt: Holly Holy/Do You Want Me
Hugh Roy: Flashing My Whip/Mr. Fire Coal Man (The Classics)
Freddie McKay: Sweet You, Sour You/Version
Maytals: Funky Kingston/Pressure Drop
I have the stock copy of all of these except for the Marley single. I have a promo copy of it which is “Doppy Conquer” on both sides. An old Billboard magazine article on Shelter’s reggae interests indicated there were eight singles released but I have never found what the remaining two singles may have been.
Shelterfan
Thanks for that! I had a discography but it didn’t list most of those 45s.
Fascinating little chapter in the label’s history.
Larry
PS is ‘Hugh Roy’ U-Roy or someone else??
I don’t know if U-Roy and Hugh Roy are the same person or not. Currently there are 14 reggae singles listed on ebay by Hugh Roy. However, there are 3 copies of “Flashing My Whip” by U-Roy listed making me question if I made an error on my list or if perhaps Shelter erred when they released the single years ago. I’ll have to check my copy and get back with you. BTW: that particular single was released with a picture sleeve which was quite a rarity for Shelter. Out of the entire US Shelter catalog only 4 singles were released w/ picture sleeves (as far as I can determine).
Checked the single and it is listed as “Hugh Roy”. Interestingly, the song was written and produced by Duke Reid, who also wrote & produced “Flashing My Whip” by U-Roy (on the Upsetter label). So that leads me to think that U-Roy and Hugh Roy must be the same artist since the same records were released under both names. Just my thoughts for whatever they are worth.
Uroy and Hugh Roy are indeed the same. The flipside of Flashing my whip, Mr. Fire Coal Man by the Classics is an absolute scorcher.
I too still seek the stock copy of Doppy Conquer with Justice on the flip. I wonder if it can exist?
There were two albums put out in 1975, one a double, one a single, by Columbia House (Columbia Musical Treasury). I believe this must have been some record club deal. Anyway, the compilations were put together by Shelter, and must’ve been the first US reggae compilation. Quits a few of the shelter singles are on it as well as a few other scorchers by the tennors and ken boothe etc. The awesome shelter single, sweet you,sour you by Freddie Mckay is there too . Here is a link to one of the records:
https://www.reggaecollector.com/en/detail/index.php?number=244077&searchstyle=detail
Anyhows, nicw to stumble across your site..
Barney