MUSIC-JAMAICA: Remembering “Stepping Razor”

By IPS Correspondents Reprint | | Print |

Howard Campbell

KINGSTON, May 5 1998 (IPS) - During his life, Peter Tosh grew to be one of reggae’s most controversial figures. Today, 11 years after his death, mention of the man they called the “Stepping Razor” still causes heated argument.

It has been six months since the release of “Honorary Citizen” – a complilation of some of Peter Tosh’s most memorable work – but the album has failed to find large-scale distribution in Jamaica due to legal complications. To complicate matters further there is friction within the Tosh family, with one of the singer’s children questioning the legitimacy of the album – considered the most definitive Tosh set.

Dynamic Sounds, the Kingston company with distribution rights to music released by Columbia Records which released the three-CD album, has been unable to do so until it gets the green light from the various companies which first produced Tosh’s work. Besides Columbia, Tosh also signed with Island Records, EMI Records and Virgin Records and, observes Dynamic’s Managing Director Edward Lee, until the legalities are cleared up the company’s hands are tied.

“The truth is we haven’t got the clearance from the relevant people,” said Lee. “What’s holding things back is a complicated copyright situation.”

While Dynamic is not prepared to take chances and distribute “Honorary Citizen” locally, smaller retail outlets have been selling the album which was released in late 1997 in the United States by Legacy Records, Columbia’s re-issue affiliate.

A store official at “Music Mart” in Kingston said sales have been quite brisk since they first started selling “Honorary Citizen” at the start of the year. “It’s been selling well, people came in, saw it and bought it,” said a spokesman.

At Record Plaza, one of Jamaica’s largest record outlets, the response was the same. “People were asking for it before we even got it,” said the manager of that company’s Sovereign Centre branch. But at Caribbean Music, another Kingston-based outlet, the response to the set was not as positive. “Sales have been quite slow,” said an official. “People are more interested in the ‘Story of Jamaican Music’ (another multi set released by Island).”

But that has not been the case overseas. Roger Steffens, the reggae historian who wrote the liner notes for “Honorary Citizen,” reports that the set has been selling well in the US and Europe. “According to my contacts at Columbia they have sold out its first pressing and continue to sell steadily,” her said.

So well has “Honorary Citizen” been received, Steffens revealed, that Columbia is considering re-releasing “Legalize It” and “Equal Rights,” Tosh’s albums for the label which represents some of his best work.

Steffens, who had been involved with the production of “Honorary Citizen” since its inception, said it was sad that the album had not found widescale distribution in the singer’s homeland. “I find it hard to believe that his own country doesn’t think enough of him and his giant contribution to Jamaican culture, to release his set in Jamaica,” Steffens said.

Legacy released “Honorary Citizen” in November after several delays caused by licensing complications. Shortly before its release, a Legacy spokesman said the label planned to market the disc in places Tosh had a strong following, as well as to US college radio.

“Honorary Citizen” explores the work of the controversial singer/songwriter as a solo act, featuring hits for a variety of producers including Lee “Scratch” Perry and Joe Gibbs. Tracks like “Can’t Blame The Youth”, “Legalize It” and “Get Up Stand Up” see Tosh at his fiery best.

Several critics had questioned the authenticity of “Honorary Citizen.” Among them was Tosh’s son, Andrew who charged that the set was not authorized by the Tosh estate.

“Honorary Citizen” is the brainchild of Pauline Morris, a distant cousin of Tosh who oversees the Tosh museum in Westmoreland. Morris claims Tosh left his Intel Diplo publishing company to her, a claim Andrew Tosh has dismissed. The younger Tosh, who lives in Los Angeles, says lawyers for the estate are contemplating legal action against Morris.

The elder Tosh, who was murdered at his home in September, 1987 at 42. was a founding member of the Trench Town Wailers along with Bob Marley and Bunny Wailer. Tosh hailed from the rural parish of Westmoreland, but found his way to Kingston like many others in search of a better living.

With Marley and Wailer, Tosh released some of the ska idiom’s biggest hits. By the time the music changed to reggae at the beginning of the 1970s, the Wailers were being touted as the next big thing in music.

Though the trio split in 1973, Tosh fashioned a career – while not as successful as Marley’s – that produced some of reggae’s most provocative works.