Reggae Chesford Grange 1969

Reggae Chesford Grange 1969

by Pete Clemons

Of course, the roots of reggae music go back much further, but during the late 60s and early 70s, reggae made a huge impression. Most of the major music magazines were pushing the genre by way of having dedicated pages of their publications devoted to the music. And the music burst into the UK charts by way of Desmond Dekker and the Aces single 'Israelites' hit number 1.

And it didn't stop. Reggae single remained dominant in the charts. A flurry of tunes such as 'Return of Django', 'Long Shot Kick the Bucket', 'Wonderful World Beautiful People', 'It Mek' and others all fared well.

The music itself was undemanding, happy and compulsive. It contained trumpet fanfares and repetitive riffs, turned out by some sophisticated and amazing rhythm sections. Additionally there was some incredibly adventurous organ based improvisations. Youth clubs up and down the country lapped it up and would mix reggae into a set that included the best of the beat and rock music that was around at that time.

A ground breaking tour was arranged for reggae bands, The Pioneers and The Upsetters. Both bands criss crossed the country separately during November and December 1969. The Pioneers were due to begin their tour at The Matrix Ballroom in Coventry but the date was cancelled due to the band not arriving in the UK till slightly later than expected. The Upsetters began their tour at The Junction at Crewe on the same evening The Pioneers eventually got going. Both tours did visit Coventry however. The Pioneers performing at the Chesford Grange on boxing day 1969. The Upsetters played the same venue earlier in the month. Harry J and the Allstars, who had chart success in 1969 with 'The Liquidator', set up a British tour for early 1970.

The peak of the tour was a massive reggae concert in London organised for December 1969. The concert featured Desmond Dekker, The Pioneers, The Upsetters, Max Romeo, Noel and the Fireballs and Pat Kelly. The title of the concert was Reggae, Steady Go and was being used as a benchmark. If successful it would lead to a six week nationwide tour by the same package. All the artists involved had reserved the second half of January and the whole of February 1970 for the venture if it were to materialise.

The London gig however did not get off to the greatest of starts and didn't go down well with the music critics. Only opening act Noel and the Fireballs and The Pioneers came away unscathed. Apparently those two acts outshone the others who were described as 'disasters'. Max Romeo for example was well received but leant heavily on his hit Wet Dream which was 'in danger of becoming his millstone'. Amplification and microphone issues also dogged the evening.

Other extracts on how the concert was reported: 'Noel and the Fireballs energetic performance pleased the audience and earned them much applause. The Pioneers with their three man vocal team, neat routines and slick presentation, generated high temperature excitement to the delight of the screamers and this is exactly what is needed to fill the gap left by the demise of the teenyboppers pop group scene'.

The planned tour for early 1970 called 'The Biggest Reggae Package Tour In The World' doesn't appear to have materialised. However another was organised for later in the year. A television documentary focusing on a reggae festival/concert held at Wembley Stadium in 1970 followed. One of the first ever documentaries about Reggae music. The festival featuring the Pyramids, The Pioneers, Black Faith, Millie, The Maytals and Desmond Dekker. It included interviews with disk jockey Mike Raven and producer Graham Goodall who reviewed the history and the genres development. The documentary was a mixture of concert and audience footage. Several audience members are interviewed on there views of the music.