Original subtitles

♪ Once I reach into my record box

♪ Here comes another

Classic selection ♪

For years, it's been

branded as trouble music.

There's not been much of it

in the media.

But as our film shows,

reggae is already adapting itself

to its British way of life.

All it asks,

like the people who make it,

is the chance to be heard,

understood and enjoyed.

♪ Dim the lights

♪ Let me thrill your soul... ♪

In 1966,

five musicians got together

in Harlesden,

and straight away,

they were a big hit.

They played on 90% of the reggae

music made in this country.

Brothers and sisters,

they're here with us tonight.

So put your hands together...

...and give one big

round of applause...

for... the dynamic Cimarons!

Onstage, we're not human...

...we are... invincible.

After all these years, I didn't think

that we would survive this long.

Without Cimarons, there'd be

no reggae music in the UK.

It's like what the Rolling Stones

has done for rock and roll.

♪ This time, we're having a nice time

♪ Mood is good, and we feel fine

♪ Your liveliness is catching

Like wildfire

♪ Fire, fire

♪ We're going on as if there is

A riot, riot, riot, riot

♪ Oh, make we rock, rock, rock, rock

Rock, rock

♪ To reggae rhapsody...

It doesn't matter where you go,

in the world,

if they play reggae music,

you'll hear the name Cimarons.

♪ ..rhapsody...

They were the first

to take reggae around the world.

♪ ..to reggae rhapsody...

The first time hearing reggae,

it's a mind-blowing thing.

If people were hearing it live,

in front of them,

for the first time, hopefully

that struck a chord with 'em.

I can imagine it must have done.

♪ One dread done tell ya

♪ You better lively up yourself

♪ Another dread say

♪ You better check

Your money-maker...

I was amazed when I got out there.

It is ram out.

What is this?

Wow. We love this! Yes!

This is an unprecedented feat

for a British reggae band.

Nobody has done that before or since.

♪ Let me take you higher, higher

Higher, higher, higher, higher

♪ Come rock, rock, rock

Rock, rock, rock

♪ To reggae rhapsody...

Music back then

is how we found ourselves.

They're crucial

at that moment in time.

It takes a spark. They were

the spark that started a big flame

that is still blazing till today.

♪ Come rock, rock, rock

Rock, rock, rock

♪ To reggae rhapsody...

I don't think they have received

the credit that they should.

There was definitely racism there.

We can't get a record deal

or a distribution deal.

♪ ...

When I'm onstage, I don't feel it.

I don't feel no pain at all.

You're in a different world.

Nothing can trouble you up there.

People have given up everything

for this music.

I broke down, man. I cried.

I cried. I'm just hoping...

that the band will continue.

♪ They come rock, rock

Rock, rock, rock, rock

♪ To reggae rhapsody

♪ Come skank, skank, skank

Skank, skank, skank

♪ To reggae rhapsody

♪ They come rock, rock, rock

Rock, rock, rock

♪ To reggae rhapsody...

This is part of my heritage,

this is part of my culture.

They can't stop. They can't stop

until it's time for them to stop.

♪ Rock...

'And that's not yet.'

I mean, we're getting older,

but I'm sure the fun isn't done.

♪ Rock...

There's more to come.

♪ Rock ♪

♪ CIMARONS: Soul For Sale

So if we trace it back,

they form in the late 1960s.

And initially, they're all based

around this youth club in Harlesden.

And they came together

as a group of friends.

...this building here in Harlesden.

And this is where the Cimarons

started. We started right here.

After we mess around,

jamming on guitar,

we decided to meet here on Friday.

That rehearsal wasn't really

a rehearsal, it was just a...

feel out, get together.

Cos we didn't know many songs,

did we?

I was learning, he was learning.

So I was teaching him what I knew.

I learnt from Gichie.

Cos Gichie could play

the guitar before me.

And he couldn't teach me nothing

because he didn't know nothing.

And I learnt from...

from TV.

The Kinks. The Kinks.

And then we decided to say,

yes, go and buy an instrument.

So work, work, work,

and save up, save up, save up.

Maurice was here as well

and said he can play drum.

And then Carl Levy came in,

right here.

So everyone started right here,

you know?

I think it was the way that

they meshed together as players.

Almost immediately,

they started to make an impact.

On a Friday evening, when we were

rehearsing, it was like a party.

Everybody would leave

from downstairs, come upstairs.

Everybody dancing and drinking.

It was like a party every night.

♪ CIMARONS: Feel Nice

I'm Popsy, Starlight Records...

Harlesden.

This is where, like I said,

this is where it all started.

Harlesden is a mecca, you know?

All the producers,

all the manufacturers,

if they started out somewhere else,

they always end up in Harlesden.

Caribbeans coming over went to where

there was a friend, a family member.

Harlesden, Brent.

The largest and most diverse,

I think,

borough in London, was that place.

Individuals like Delroy Washington,

one of the first musicians

to write with Bob Marley,

it's Harlesden, Brent, again.

And so, you know,

in terms of the Cimarons,

it's not an accident

that they're from that location.

That was the place to be.

♪ AL BARRY & CIMARONS: Morning Sun

I'm Richie, Richie Johnson,

originally at Trojan Records

in the early '70s.

If you wanted something

with that Caribbean flavour,

Harlesden has always been it.

I'm General Levy, and I buss in

the same club as the Cimarons did.

Growing up in

Northwest London, Harlesden,

in the '70s and '80s,

it could have been mistaken

for the Caribbean, or even Africa.

I mean, you could have been

in Coronation Market, Jamaica.

And you'd also be seeing the people,

hearing the conversations in

the street, be smelling the food.

Musically,

there were dances every week.

House dances, blues dances,

maybe two or three in the area.

On a Friday, Saturday night,

we'd just get dressed,

walk down the road,

and we listened.

And you can hear

a sound system pumping away.

Because those days,

sound system was really the thing.

And when you get there,

it's good vibes, you know?

You can buy a drink, you can buy

food, and then you dance all night.

In the vinyl days, I mean,

records used to sell, you know?

In this area, in the Harlesden area,

there was about four record shops.

You'd hear from

Hawkeye record shops,

Starlight record shops,

Orbitone record shops,

and you'd be hearing Bob Marley,

Dennis Brown.

On the weekends, you couldn't

get in there - a roadblock.

Yeah, there's so much people there,

queuing up to get the records,

you know?

There'd be people outside, even.

Soul food, good music,

good marijuana.

In the air.

So it was good, man.

Good vibes all around.

Most of the tracks

that Cimarons actually did,

my voice is on it.

Because they were like

the first UK band,

you know, group of black guys.

They were learning on the job...

and doing everything

that they wanted to do,

until finally,

they are recording,

they are touring.

Early on, they...

were invited to tour in West Africa.

They were the first British reggae

band to play in West Africa.

I went to Africa playing...

with this finger. Remember, Locks?

With this finger.

When I came back...

I came back

playing with all of these.

We went there with a set,

which is one-hour-plus, normal set.

When we finish,

we would go back into the hotel.

We started to rehearse more -

more tune, more tune, more tune.

And this finger become so tired,

so me have to use these, you know?

That's when it getting serious.

It become serious

when we came back from Africa.

In the aftermath of that, they

started to work with Lambert Briscoe.

He started the Hot Rod label,

so they became...

the Hot Rod All Stars -

that was kind of their alter ego.

And when they performed

at the Q Club in Paddington,

they attracted the interest of one

of the A&R people at Trojan Records.

♪ This is the Cimarons! ♪

Cimarons was the name

of a Western series on TV.

It was called Cimarron Strip.

And everybody said,

'Yeah, that sounds good.'

But then we found out

that the name 'Cimarons'

actually mean, wild and free.

I got to know them very early.

In 1971, I left school,

I started working at Trojan,

and I think that's where I met them.

They were the band, you know?

They were the start of it.

They were the...

first real live band

that we had contact with.

Apart from that,

it was always records, of course.

But this was a live band

really doing the business, you know?

♪ We are the Cimarons! ♪

Cimarons is the foundation of

reggae music in the United Kingdom.

In the Cimarons,

of course, there was...

Maurice Ellis that plays the drums.

Carl Levy was the organist.

There was Franklyn Dunn,

he was on the bass.

There was Gichie, of course.

Also, there was Carl Bert,

who was the lead singer.

He was very, very versatile.

He could sing anything.

He was a very good singer -

two-and-a-half years,

maybe three years,

he worked with us, and then he left.

Let's give it up

for the Cimarons!

There was no superstar

in the Cimarons, yes?

They were all playing music

the way they love to play it.

And they had their own sound. They

were different from everybody else.

They just became...

hugely in demand as session players.

They played on countless sessions

that were recorded here in the UK,

for Trojan, and also

for the Pama group of labels.

They could go into rock.

They were known for covers of

soul music early in their career.

Many of the Jamaican musicians

were jazz,

soul, then reggae,

and people forget that.

These are accomplished musicians.

They've played on countless records.

Their name's not on it.

There's no mention of them as the

band. It's the name of the singer.

Once you're not the front person,

you're invisible -

you're the backing band.

So you're there,

but you're not there,

in terms of the press,

the media, how it's reported on.

This is a band that's...

you know, been hugely

under-recognised over the years.

They're part of the records

that popularised reggae.

They're crucial

at that moment in time.

When your hear a recording, even

if they are doing a backing track,

you could say, 'Cimarons that,'

cos you would know...

by how Maurice played the drum,

you know by how Gichie play.

Franklyn how he played -

you just knew.

Cimarons were just...

in a class by themself.

That's all it was.

They were just different.

♪ Skinheads, mash up London town

Skinheads, oo-ee

♪ Skinheads, mash up London town

♪ Skinheads, oo-ee... ♪

At that point in time,

we've got an audience which...

is embracing black music,

R&B, within the Mods...

ska, Jamaican ska.

And rocksteady, precursor to reggae,

amongst the first wave of skinheads.

We started just at the end

of the ska era, into rocksteady -

and we loved rocksteady -

and then rapidly, within a year and

a half, we just switched to reggae.

Switched to reggae so quick.

Cimarons was the band

that all the artists

from Jamaica went to.

It was like a go-to band,

whether it was live gigs or TV.

We could back any artist,

any artist that came to us,

Cimarons could back them

because you knew their song.

Any artists that come

to England to perform,

naturally, it's got to be

the Cimarons, you know?

They attracted the likes

of Jimmy Cliff...

...Ken Boothe.

There was Bob Marley.

The Pioneers.

The Maytals.

There were the Heptones,

Nicky Thomas,

you name it, they backed them,

you know - they backed everybody.

Almost every artist

come from Jamaica at that time -

you have to work with the Cimarons.

Dennis Alcapone!

♪ You got to see the man called

Cassius Clay in action

♪ Tell you

♪ Huahua, chi-huahua

♪ Chi-huahua, chi-hu... Huh!

♪ Huahua, chi-huahua, tell you

Chi-huahua, chi-hu...

I am one of the Cimarons

who nobody don't know of.

I'm coming from Jamaica.

And I see these guys doing...

just working, just working, working.

You know what I mean? They do

all the concert, all the clubs them.

We were doing, like,

two shows a night -

every venue that we went to...

was packed out!

And it was mostly white people.

Mostly.

At the time, we were young people,

you know what I mean?

We carried the equipment

round the back,

and we'd take them up the stairs,

and you know,

Carl Levy, he'd have a big organ,

that, you know,

everybody have to put them on

to take it up the stairs. Yeah.

♪ The man called Cassius Clay

Is comin' back to retain his title...

First van we had,

Bedford van, there's no heater.

The windscreen wiper gone,

so one man have to...

tie a string on one side,

tie a string on the other side.

You're driving - dry that side,

dry that side, dry that side.

You know, you're working -

you're not sleeping properly,

you're not eating properly.

Time you go to bed at three,

four in the morning,

you've gotta get up, have breakfast,

go on the road again,

and it goes on for days and weeks.

It's like you're in a football team,

you know?

Them days.

Thank you!

If there's a um...

artist from Jamaica...

want us to do their song,

we'll do exactly like

how them want it.

But when we are doing our stuff,

it's different.

It's still reggae...

but our style.

When I first hear them,

they had a sound,

and I think the sound, to me,

the Cimarons' sound is really

Gichie and Franklyn.

♪ We're harder than the rock

♪ We're harder than the rock

This time

♪ We're harder than the rock

♪ We're harder than the rock

This time

Franklyn Dunn, the bass player -

reliable, rock-solid anchor.

Franklyn, the bass player,

he was a character on the stage.

Frank is a mad man onstage -

do some things that you thought,

'Whoa, crazy!'

Franklyn would do

different things with his bass,

just something out of the ordinary.

The last time, Franklyn play

with a toothbrush on his bass.

And it... it sound wicked!

You know what I mean?

And then you had Locksley Gichie,

an expressive guitarist,

and someone who's quite a...

a thoughtful and meditative person.

Gichie would know what to play

and, you know,

how to make the music come across.

♪ We're harder than the rock

♪ Harder than the rock this time

♪ We're harder than the rock

♪ So hard

♪ We're harder than the rock

This time

♪ When I was a young head

My teacher used to say

♪ The cow jump over the moon

♪ Now I've grown up, I'm a man

♪ I'm sure I can overstand

♪ Mama Africa

♪ Liberation freedom

♪ Mama Africa

♪ Liberation freedom

♪ Lord

♪ We're harder than the rock

♪ So hard

♪ We're harder than the rock

This time

♪ We're harder than the rock

♪ So hard

♪ We're harder than the rock

This time

♪ Starvation

♪ Lord

♪ Sufferation

Brutality

♪ Brutality, we know it

♪ Murder

Oh, we got too much of that

♪ Starvation

♪ We're harder than the rock, yeah

So hard

♪ We're harder than the rock

This time

♪ We're harder than the rock

♪ So hard

♪ We're harder than the rock

This time

♪ We're harder than the rock ♪

As you listen to music today,

I don't know if you listen

to the radio a lot,

or if you listen mostly

to records, but...

what are things that you see

that you think are good or bad?

I like the thing that happened in

- Jamaica called reggae.

- Excuse me?

There's a music in Jamaica

called reggae,

which has been around for years

under the disguise of ska,

bluebeat, etc, etc, but it finally

formed itself into reggae.

I don't like the word 'reggae'.

I like 'Jamaica music'.

Me have a brethren

called Chilli Dixon,

which is my best friend from,

you know,

when I just came to England -

we link up.

In those days,

we had lots of records,

and everybody's got

their little system and so on.

And he just start playing some

records, and he just start singing.

And I thought, 'Wow, you can sing.'

He told me about a band

called Cimarons.

♪ Surplus food

♪ On wasteland...

Cimarons at the time

was a very big, very popular band,

and they hear

that over in North London,

there was some guy

singing like a bird.

So I went to see them one night.

They were very good, very tight,

very professional.

They sound like Jamaican...

like a Jamaican band.

You know, the sound that them used

to have - used to love them sound.

That sound never change -

that rich, rich, rich,

rich Jamaican sound, you know?

♪ In scorching sun

Or the pouring rain...

I can remember posters saying,

'Just in from Jamaica.'

And we'd believe it.

It's only decades later,

I thought... that was a lie.

But at the time,

it was an inspiration.

The performance - just to see

a Jamaican band play was a big deal.

But when Winston come in, Winston

bring upon a rootsy level now.

♪ Say he who's lost his hoping

♪ No excuse for dreaming... ♪

Cimarons threw me

right in the deep end, really.

So we just have a few rehearsal,

and I was on tour.

Yeah, we went to Japan.

♪ CIMARONS: People Say

Japan.

We set the trend.

I'm proud about that.

You know,

everything moved fast at that time.

♪ The problems of today

♪ Is pretty darn confused

♪ Why's that...?

They ended up

touring Japan and Thailand.

They must be the first reggae band

ever to perform in Thailand.

Yeah, man, Japan really

surprised me, to be honest with you,

cos we did a show in Hibiya Park,

like, in the centre of Tokyo.

Big festival - Japanese band

were all punk, and rock and roll -

they were all rock and roll band.

And we played...

I think it was the Friday night.

And when we played, the place ram!

And we said, 'Whoa!'

They have never heard reggae music

live in their lives. I mean...

'What is this?

Whoa! We love this! Yes!'

They went crazy, man.

♪ People say

♪ People say...

They said,

'Can you come back this Sunday?'

When we came back the Sunday, there

was three times the amount of crowd.

Outside!

Can't get into the venue.

That was serious.

♪ People say... ♪

When everything came together,

that sound -

that was authentic sound

that was there - was unbelievable.

Cimarons done things that,

you know, people weren't doing.

The style of reggae

that they were playing, you know,

people gravitated to it.

Cimarons was a fantastic live band.

You had to have the live band

to take it to the people.

And that's where Cimarons came in.

The energy that the Cimarons brought

on the stage was magnificent.

You know, and their show

was a show that... was entertaining.

They were different

from everybody else -

their outfits,

just the way they performed.

When I'm onstage,

you're not here, you're not there.

You're...

on cloud nine,

or whatever you want to call it.

You're invincible, like I said.

You're enjoying yourself.

And when you see the people

them enjoying themself too,

it give you more again to push on.

Brilliant.

They were one of the first...

to really take reggae

to certain countries in the world.

♪ We've got to keep on moving on up

♪ We've got to keep on

Moving on up... ♪

I remember

when we went to Spain -

place was absolutely jam-packed.

And I went back, and I says,

'Ram - place ram out.'

'Same thing in Holland.'

Cimarons took reggae music

throughout the world.

First reggae band

to play in West Africa,

then the first reggae band

to play in Thailand and Japan.

I'm thinking about Africa...

Japan, Ireland.

It's a long way

to Tipperary.

It's a long way to go.

Without your mother.

It's a long way to Tipperary.

To the sweetest girl I know...

One, two...

♪ CIAN FINN: Rosie Dubh

If you think about it,

it makes perfect sense

that the Cimarons would be the

first reggae band to play in Ireland,

because they have

that history of that.

♪ We don't want to fight no more

♪ We just want to live and love you

♪ We don't want to fight those wars

♪ We just want to sing songs to you

♪ Sweet Rosie Dubh

♪ Let me kiss and hug you

♪ You know I love you...

Rosie Dubh...

♪ Rosie Dubh

♪ Know you're loved ♪

There's a hurt in the music,

and there's a soulful release.

And there's a...

there's a therapy in singing it.

With the Cimarons coming here

in the '70s...

you know, this soulful rebel music...

in the wilds of West Cork,

in Macroom, like, in Ireland...

...there was just nothing

people had ever seen before.

♪ We want freedom

♪ Oh, yeah...

Yeah, we were

the first reggae band...

yeah, we were the first reggae band

to go to Ireland.

The first time the Cimarons

came to Ireland was to play...

at a festival in Macroom.

They'd been playing at something

like T In The Park or one of those,

and then they were flown

in this little plane to Macroom.

Eight-seater plane.

Eight-seater to fly us in.

The pilot could hardly see

the plane - pure smoke!

He was a policeman.

It was massive, man. It was big, man.

First festival in Cork.

Walking through the crowd

with a spliff in my hand.

Policeman come up

and ask me, 'What's that?'

I say, 'I don't know. Somebody just

give it to me in the crowd, man.'

And I just kept walking.

They were blown away

by the reception they'd got.

People went absolutely berserk

for it.

They loved it.

People first time hearing reggae...

...it really blew their mind.

It's like, 'What the fuck?

That was great.'

'Who are these guys?' You know?

♪ Just stoop over the horizon

♪ And see the sun

♪ Shining down on you...

We have

some serious experience in Ireland.

♪ Ship ahoy, ship ahoy

Ship ahoy, ship ahoy...

I was doing a show

in Queen's University in Belfast.

IRA bombing up, bombing up.

When Winston came on stage, Winston

said, 'No, no, no, no, no, no.'

You see them take time

coming together.

Everybody start to mix them.

And before that, they was fighting

each other on the street.

Bombing up, fighting because

that one there Protestant,

that one there's Catholic

or whatever.

And the crowd went absolutely mad.

And I dived... I dived in the crowd.

Them start enjoying themself

when the music played.

Them forget about...

all that rubbish.

But then after the music's gone...

come tomorrow,

they gone back to normal.

So music can carry you in.

Music can carry you in.

The Irish really love reggae, man.

Reggae's popular all over Ireland,

but I think Cork is the spiritual...

home of reggae -

it's rebel music, isn't it?

Rebel music for the rebel county.

Cimarons have a song

called Ship Ahoy.

Ship Ahoy - the O'Jays record

that dealt with the...

transatlantic slave trade.

Ship ahoy, ship ahoy,

ship ahoy...

♪ Ship ahoy-oy-oy... ♪

When you play Ship Ahoy in Cork,

it mashed on the place.

The place gone mad!

Because of the tribulation

that we've been through...

Irish was slave also in Jamaica,

you know?

It's not just black people

are known as slave.

Irish was slave too.

So them feel it like us.

Who were they,

these first Irish settlers?

A great number

of the Irish immigrants

were either indentured servants

or prisoners.

Because real recognise real.

It's pain. It's pain, you know?

A lot of people who have been

through pain

can recognise other people

who have been through pain.

♪ Ship took us away

♪ From Africa

♪ They took us away from Africa...

Ireland and the Caribbean -

reggae, racism -

have always been bedfellows.

No blacks, no dogs, no Irish.

That's really...

To see that sign there, you know?

So we've been bagged, you know,

in the same category of 'human'

by the English.

England was sold as the motherland

to all its colonies -

oh, it's gonna be some warm place

that they get to.

I was just 20 years old

when I first come to England.

And, you know, the shock of it

is like, 'Wow,' you know?

How much chimney

I've seen when I come?

You know what I mean - smoke

coming out of the top of the house.

The closeness of the Irish

and Caribbean communities in general

in England

is quite a testament to how...

similar the two places are,

the two cultures are.

You must always remember, you know,

where we were living,

there was mostly Irish round there,

you know what I mean -

Queen's Park, Maida Vale.

You know what I mean?

Kilburn was Irish.

There was no separation

between these communities...

on a certain level, and so...

some of the biggest supporters of

reggae has been the Irish community.

I've always had a strong connection

with a lot of Jamaican artists.

And I do feel like

there's an element of that

that comes back to the similarity

between Ireland and Jamaica.

Yes, yes, yes, yes, Ireland.

Definitely, man.

There's Irish people in Jamaica,

There's a strong connection.

That's why the Guinness is so

popular as well, I think, you know?

The traditional music in Ireland...

compared to the traditional music

in Jamaica,

and the history of it, sonically

might be slightly different.

At the core of it, the message...

...is quite similar, and

the storytelling is quite similar.

A lot of the songs

are about oppression,

a lot of songs are about,

you know, upliftment, as well.

A lot of the songs make you

feel like, 'Don't worry,

things are gonna get better.'

There's a reggae community

in Ireland now, with the Cimarons...

bringing reggae to Ireland

for the first time...

you know, paved the way

for this incredible Caribbean music.

♪ Ship took us away

♪ From Africa ♪

So the Cimarons would have been

in Ireland probably...

two years before Bob Marley played.

And he says,

'Yo, fellas, this is Bob Marley.'

We said, 'Bob Marley?'

He said, 'It's Bob Marley.'

I said, 'What are you talking about?'

He said, 'This is Bob.' Bob said...

We said, 'Yeah, we know his songs.'

Bob said, 'Which song do you know?'

We said, 'Duppy Conqueror.'

So we start playing Duppy Conqueror,

and Bob couldn't believe it.

Bob said, 'Why?!' and ended up

swearing, 'Bloodclaat!'

Bob wanted to do the live gigs -

it was his first time in England.

So we did Bob Marley's first gig

in England, at the Apollo Club.

A week after we did...

the Bouncing Ball in Peckham.

That went down crazy, man. Bob

really did work the show, you know?

And then a week after,

we did The Bamboo Club in Bristol.

We did two nights. They billed it

as Bob Marley and the Wailers.

Bob Marley and Cimarons,

it should have been.

You know? That's history.

It was at the carnival -

Notting Hill Carnival.

And Bob said to Gichie,

'I notice you guys licking over

a lot of other people's music,

but you no lick no Wailers?'

So we went and do Talking Blues,

and it went to number one

in Jamaica.

♪ CIMARONS: Talking Blues

I'd like to be able to claim that

we had the session from the Cimarons

before they'd actually

made a commercial record.

But that'd be manifestly untrue -

they've already had

a number-one record in Jamaica

with Talking Blues.

♪ Talking blues

♪ They say your feet

Is just too big for your...

Now, Talking Blues

was a pretty obscure record,

but their recording

that they made up here

became a chart-topping success

in Jamaica.

♪ They say your feet

Is just too big for your shoes

♪ Yes...

This is an unprecedented feat -

for a British reggae band...

to go to Jamaica and have

a number-one hit on the charts

with a cover of

a Bob Marley and the Wailers record?

Nobody has done that,

really, before or since.

♪ ..on the rock for so long

So long...

So he come and check us now

to play a game of football.

So he come up to me,

and he look, and he says...

...'So you're the youth

who sing my song.'

So me say, 'Yes, Bob.'

And he said, 'Sound alright.'

If Bob Marley tell you

that your thing sound alright,

sounds good, isn't it?

You couldn't do that,

you know?

Cimarons was my baby.

I couldn't give it up.

No regrets.

I just feel good to know that I knew

the great man and work with him.

To me, that's enough. I knew Bob.

And through that success,

they came down to Jamaica,

and they recorded

their magnum opus -

an album called On The Rock.

♪ We're all on the rock, Jah say

♪ We're all on the rock, Jah say

♪ We're all on the rock, Jah say

♪ We're all on the rock, Jah say

♪ On the rock

♪ On the rock

♪ Wake up, Jah-man-can

♪ Wake up, roots man

♪ Get yourself together

Together

♪ Try to know your brother

♪ And sister

♪ Critical has got other plans

♪ By undermining the weaker minds

♪ With false hopes

♪ Can't you see critical is using

Jah name in vain?

♪ Them use it in court as a joke

♪ Them use it in church as a curse

♪ Them use it in a

♪ We're all on the rock, Jah say

♪ We're all on the rock, Jah say

♪ We're all on the rock, Jah say

♪ We're all on the rock, Jah say

♪ On the rock

♪ On the rock

♪ Wake up, Jah-man-can...

They're a classic, original,

roots reggae band,

and when they did their own stuff,

I love it, absolutely love it.

My best Cimarons album

is On The Rock.

♪ Let us be free...

I think that album

was very interesting.

You know, in Jamaica,

they played these significant gigs

around the island, and they made

a tremendous impact there.

And they were working

at Channel 1 and Randy's,

and also at Lee Scratch Perry's

Black Ark,

where they made some exceptional

music together with Scratch.

Wow, actually in Black Ark Studio,

with the great Lee Perry -

he's energetic.

He said to Frank,

'Oh, man. Play the bass, man.'

He's very, you know...

He'll tell you what he wants.

♪ Wake up, Jah-man-can

♪ Wake up, roots man

♪ Wake up, Jah-man-can

♪ We're all on the rock, Jah say

♪ We're all on the rock, Jah say

On the rock

♪ We're all on the rock, Jah say

♪ We're all on the rock, Jah say

On the rock

♪ We're all on the rock, Jah say

♪ We're all on the rock, Jah say

♪ We're all on the rock, Jah say

♪ We're all on the rock ♪

♪ CIMARONS: Paul Bogle

♪ Call his name out loud

♪ Everybody, yeah

♪ Paul Bogle...

They did produce,

throughout their career,

some really hardcore roots reggae

that was very interesting

and very innovative -

I'm thinking of songs

like Paul Bogle,

which celebrated one of

the Jamaican national heroes.

Paul Bogle.

♪ Was the leader of our strife...

And then the 12-inch

has this wonderful toast,

this kind of hardcore

Jamaican toasting.

You know, when you hear

songs like those,

you just think,

'Wow, this is phenomenal.'

♪ England needs a leader...

♪ We need a leader

♪ Leader like Paul Bogle... ♪

The music we have done over the

years, we haven't had no great hits.

What we did was a lot of albums.

We did a live album -

we did Live At The Roundhouse.

We got a deal with Polydor Records,

and...

when we brought the live album

to them, they loved it.

I believe it was the first reggae

band to be signed by a major.

Polydor in the '70s.

And then we ended up doing

an album called Maka.

♪ CIMARONS: Loosening Out

Maka was an experiment.

Frank always come up with some...

some mad professor ideas.

Because in those days, we used

to like one or two rock group,

like Cream and...

T-Rex and Fleetwood Mac.

So we decided to use

a bit of rock sound,

add a bit of rock sound

to the reggae,

and at the same time,

create a new sound.

So we decided to go to Pebble Beach.

Tony Platt was the engineer.

Well, my first interest,

really, in reggae music

started because

I was working at Island Studios.

I was asked to work on

the Catch Fire album.

My introduction to the Cimarons...

the first day in the studio

was the first time that I met them.

When you work as a studio engineer,

you're kind of thrown in at the deep

end at the beginning of a session.

That's what we did for two weeks -

there was no distraction.

No distraction - just wake up

in the morning, have breakfast.

Bang - studio all day until about...

two o'clock in the morning.

These guys weren't necessarily

used to...

a sleepy little Sussex coastal town.

♪ High up...

I can remember, in the studio,

smoking a lot of the weed.

♪ High up, not below...

Well, we call Maka, 'weed'

It was weed.

I think we was experimenting...

the sound.

I think they were very much

receptive to other...

other ideas and other influences,

that's for sure.

And so the ideas we came up

with, we can hear it now.

You watch a lot of reggae band

playing live,

you can hear the rock sound.

Gichie's one of the first one

who bring this rock...

...onstage. Mad.

They're all playing the...

We started that.

♪ I will take you higher

♪ Way up there, way up there... ♪

I think anywhere a Jamaica group is,

it will always...

the environment and the condition...

of the particular country will

always come over in their music.

Cimarons is an English-based group.

Their music is very influenced by...

the roots of Jamaica,

and also a British rock sound.

Even though they're very rootsy,

but living in England,

I think that's rubbed off

on their music.

And then that inspires

a whole other generation

of successive waves

of other British reggae bands.

We were very aware

of the Cimarons.

There were two bands

that we were very aware of,

back then,

as Jamaican bands in Britain -

one was the Cimarons,

the other was Matumbi.

And in every case, we thought

they were better than us,

because they sounded Jamaican.

That was the aspiration -

to sound Jamaican.

We were making fucking reggae.

Who else do you wanna sound like?

Well, they have a phrase saying...

'A king is not being recognised

in his own country,' is it?

So them don't recognise us

in England.

Their time as a band,

when they were in their prime,

there was a passion

for anything that was Jamaican.

Things that were English,

and if you were based in England,

were not regarded as authentic.

At a point where your identity

is also being formed,

the location in which you live

is saying, 'You're not from here.

You're still not quite 100% British

or 100% Jamaican.'

The thing I find

with Jamaican musicians,

Jamaican musicians can play soul

as good as the Americans.

Jamaican musicians can play pop

as good as the Englishman.

But neither the Englishman

nor the American...

can play the reggae

as good as the Jamaican in Jamaica.

Authentic Jamaican artists,

that's what you looked for.

There was no such thing

as black British reggae.

You had Jamaican reggae,

and then you had... shit.

That was it.

Yeah, that's Jamaica. Jamaica...

Forget Cimarons - Jamaica is a...

trendsetter.

Cimarons were authentic.

They were just in a different place.

They grew up in Jamaica.

They understood that.

They understood the sound.

But they're now located in England.

Yeah, they set a precedent that...

here is a band based in Britain

that's playing reggae that can be

just as good as a Jamaican band.

It provided that bridge that

brought us closer to the music -

you know, that we can make reggae

here in England as well.

♪ ..Africa

♪ You're the mother of all creation ♪

I think, one of the things

that's very important is...

when you're being introduced

to reggae, not to expect anything.

Do you know? Go there

with a completely blank mind.

And then the things

will come out to you.

Music, back then...

is how we found ourselves.

It was like a newsreel for us,

the Caribbean news, you know?

That's how you kept up to date,

cos often, the mainstream radios...

didn't really give us

that information.

Reggae had low status in this

country. It wasn't recognised.

In fact, it was ridiculed on the BBC

on a regular basis.

It was the accent,

it was the subject matter,

it was the rhythm, it was people

who looked like my parents.

It was people who looked like me.

♪ So get ready up a Harlesden

♪ Yeah, get ready

Round a Willesden... ♪

In England, right, you come up...

against a class structure.

And there's also

a racial structure as well.

There came a time where...

racial tension was a bit tight -

in those days, very, very tight.

You know, most communities

who ended up coming over here

had to deal with, you know,

the backlash of prejudice,

and racism, and being the outsiders.

We come from Jamaica, not knowing...

what the word 'prejudice' means -

we don't know what prejudice mean.

I went to school in East London,

so I saw a bit of the Teddy Boys

and the National Front.

We grew up during a point

in British history

where I think, politically,

it was OK to be...

overtly, openly...

vocally racist.

♪ Racemongers are spitting out words

Abomination... ♪

Up until his diatribe,

he was a hero.

His performance

was born out of black music,

and he covered our hero's song -

I Shot The Sheriff.

And so anyone that helped promote

reggae... we were a fan of.

And all these people

wrote in to New Musical Express,

Sound On Sound, Melody Maker.

There was a huge groundswell

of letters

that came into these magazines,

which gave rise

to Rock Against Racism.

♪ Rock against racism

Adopting make a schism

♪ What about the children? ♪

To me, the Asians, the West Indians,

all these other immigrants

coming in...

is an added plus

to the English society.

And the sooner they realise this is

the better it is, better it will be.

- Where have you been?

- I'm sorry I

couldn't make it this morning, bwana.

But I had to go

to Heathrow, meet my cousin.

Oh, bloody marvellous, eh?

They're flying them in now.

What's the hurry?

Couldn't he get on a banana boat?

It also appealed to my white mates.

It was like, 'Yeah,

we're in the same boat, mate.'

Well, not really,

but I get where you're coming from.

♪ The oppression, the oppression... ♪

In this country,

there was a lot of sufferation

going on at that time.

Reggae music, it mixed in with

the punk thing because it was like...

chanting, the same kind of thing.

Try to break down the same barrier,

you know?

Fighting and looting

went on well into the night.

Only a quarter of a mile away,

the bands were still playing.

♪ It was a riot, riot in the city

♪ Riot, riot in the town...

At the time, the Cimarons was doing

most of the universities and college

circuits - we are the headliners.

Most of the bands used

to support Cimarons, like UB40...

Tom Robinson.

I remember doing a gig one night

with Sham69.

You know,

the guy came out and said...

So that relationship

between punk and reggae...

was not as distant as the press

often made it out to be.

The only difference

is maybe the music.

But we're the same. A band is a band,

you know? We all love each other.

We're in the same dressing room.

We don't see nobody different.

♪ And there's a riot

Riot in the city...

That audience

were already embedded -

wedded to reggae

as much as they were to punk.

It was the lyrics...

and that political resistance

to the state.

That was loud, that was

right in your face within reggae.

If they were a white band

or a rock band, you understand,

they'd have got a lot further

than where they are today.

You know, people would

still be hailing them out now,

you understand, and their journey

would have just been continuous.

Everybody after Bob Marley

had to have...

a kind of sexy kind of appeal

and that kind of stuff.

The original appeal was not about

that, it was a rebellious thing.

I think that bands

like The Cimarons who...

maintain the original fundamental

message of the reggae music,

may have been seen as too raw,

and then the majors got involved.

And then they wanted

to change the direction.

And I think that it got diluted.

♪ Mull of Kintyre...

There's not too many

reggae artists who can...

say they were asked to create an

album by Paul and Linda McCartney,

but the Cimarons can say that.

♪ Oh, Mull of Kintyre...

We was in Chalk Farm Studios,

and the Engineer said,

'Um... Guys.

Paul McCartney is on the phone.

He wants to talk to one of you guys.'

Paul McCartney?

This man is a crazy man!

Paul and Linda McCartney

are long-standing reggae fans.

Paul McCartney has spoken at length

about hearing reggae,

and the effect it had on him, and

travelling to Jamaica in the '70s.

Well, about nine... ten years ago,

we were in Jamaica,

a place which I liked very much.

Linda was really a nice person.

Linda was down to earth, man.

Linda loved reggae music to the max.

And listening to RJR,

which is a radio station there,

and all they played at the time

was reggae music,

and I just

fell madly in love with it.

♪ Mull of Kintyre...

So, in the early 1980s,

the Reggaebility album began as

a... a command performance, really -

Paul and Linda McCartney recruiting

the Cimarons to make this album.

♪ Oh, Mull of Kintyre... ♪

Even though we were singing

mostly roots songs before but...

you're gonna try things.

You never know.

You might get a crossover

and end up in the charts, you know?

♪ Big girls, they don't cry...

♪ My girl...

I thought this would be

a big breakthrough for Cimarons.

It was supposed to be

their ticket to the big time,

but it was basically a flop.

We were really hoping Big Girls

Don't Cry would have hit the chart,

which it didn't.

They had a lot staked

on a breakthrough,

and it just must have been

a huge disappointment.

There was a kind of

loss of direction,

and things began to collapse.

♪ CIMARONS: Reality

After the Paul McCartney project,

we continued for about a year after,

I think,

but then things got really, really

slow - nothing was happening for us.

The punitive nature

of the music industry is such,

and especially in reggae, that it's

very, very hard to earn a living.

I remember when Maurice

said him was going to stop playing.

There was some discrepancy

about funds.

I said to him, 'Yeah, boy,

you can't stop right now.'

Him say, 'Yeah.' Me say,

'What you gonna do with your drums?'

Him say, 'No, no.' Him not gonna get

rid of them. Him gonna find a job.

Carl Levy, the keyboard player,

he went to off to America.

Winston got lucky

and broke out as a solo artist.

And I had to go and do a 9-5.

I wasn't very happy about that.

I remember Franklyn Dunn,

in those years,

was driving a minicab

to make ends meet.

You know, a lot of musicians

went through that here in the UK.

A lot of reggae musicians

were forced...

they cannot rely

on just being musicians,

regardless of high-calibre

international touring

and success abroad.

Even though you're working,

and you're on the move, but...

you're not earning a lot of money.

You're still under pressure

in a way,

but you don't see it that way

when you're doing it.

But financially,

you're still under pressure.

So we're always breaking records,

always breaking records.

First one to do this, first one

to do that, first one to do that.

Always the first.

We was the last one to get that...

get that...

I need some of that now.

Need some retirement money now.

Only thing that was wrong

with the whole situation is that...

there was no representative

to represent us.

They didn't have

the professional management...

to ensure that their contracts...

would pay dividends.

No management - we manage ourself.

But I reckon that was a mistake.

I reckon that was a mistake.

We should have a manager,

but we didn't.

They're not getting royalties.

They've made all this music.

You might say, why don't we know...

more about the band?

And from day one, they weren't

as I said, getting the publicity.

They never had the press coverage.

They never made videos.

There's a lack of photography,

even, to support that they existed.

They just sort of...

disappeared out of view, really.

I think that was very disappointing.

Major record labels

were a little intimidated

by the idea

of trying to market that music.

You know, well,

'Where's our audience?

Who are we aiming this at?'

We love the music, so...

we went into it for the music,

not for the business.

We didn't have the knowledge

of the business side of things.

Once you believe in a certain thing,

you know,

it doesn't really matter too much

about how much money you're making.

Yes? That was the attitude we had.

We just wanted to do music.

Yes? That's all we wanted to do.

We never trust anybody.

We still don't trust anybody.

And there's a lot of promoter

in England...

who owe Cimarons money.

A lot of them - some of them

die now - owe Cimarons money.

I find it so distressing, really,

when you hear certain songs playing,

and you say,

'Yes, that's one of my songs.'

What have you got to show? Nothing.

Nothing. You got nothing to show.

♪ Harder than the rock

So hard

♪ Harder than the rock

♪ So hard

Harder than the rock this time

♪ Harder than the rock

♪ Harder than the rock this time

♪ So hard

Harder than the rock

♪ So hard

♪ Harder than the rock, rock, rock

Rock, rock, rock, rock, rock... ♪

We were planning to start again

in March this year.

And we started rehearsing.

We had a couple of gigs lined up.

And then COVID took over

and just stopped everything.

It's all about relaunching the band,

making the people know we're here,

and we're ready.

Here to go.

That same authenticity is still

there, you know, so they can't stop.

That's why they keep going now,

when they're far beyond

a standard age of retirement -

they're not just

going through the motions.

They're doing it

because they have to do it.

They can't stop until it's time for

them to stop. And that's not yet.

Winston Reedy, he's been doing

his own thing as a solo artist.

He couldn't really find his space

and time to fit in with us.

So we bought in a new singer

by the name of Michael. Michael Arkk.

♪ Yeah

♪ Paul Bogle

♪ Was the leader of our strife

♪ He travelled a long, long way

Across the valley...

My name is Michael Wright.

AKA Michael Arkk

♪ Paul Bogle, oh, lord... ♪

When I first came to London,

I've never seen anything like it.

At school, we heard of...

London Bridge

is burning down, burning down.

I didn't know I would

have seen it for real.

I couldn't bear it at first.

I didn't like it at all.

In Jamaica,

I know everybody in my community.

But here, nobody gives a...

gives a biscuit about you.

But as time goes by, you know...

you know, you adjust...

and accept that this is the reality

of this city living.

My friend Charles,

he called me one day and said,

'There's this band

that needs a singer.'

He brought me over to Harlesden

to meet up with Cimarons.

I've never heard of Cimarons before.

Never heard of Cimarons before.

And...

from the time I met them,

it's as if I knew them.

I felt as if I went to school

with these guys.

And when I saw them, the spirits

between us was so cordial that,

you know, I think they say,

'Yeah, man.

Brother, ya...

Brother, you're alright.'

They were wild and free.

I'm wild and free.

So we gelled.

♪ Was the leader of...

♪ The leader of our strife, yeah...

I can't remember

them interviewing me or...

asking me to sing anything.

We just started. Right there

and then, we just started.

And, you know, it's been like that.

♪ Cimarons are saying...

Kind of give me

a bit of a funny feeling,

though, but... yeah.

Because I like Michael - he's got

the character that suits the band.

It's not a competition thing, but...

having to follow

in Winston's steps...

it's not easy. It's not easy.

Very different from me

in a certain way.

I'm aggressive. I'm like, you know...

I'm like early Tyson - I just knock

you out in the first round, man.

Me no partial.

But he's more cool.

It's not an easy shoes to fill.

Not an easy shoes to fill.

But I'm trying my best.

Yeah, I hope Mikey um...

...likes what he's doing.

I hope... How am I gonna say this?

I hope we grow on him.

We have to grow on each other.

♪ Oh, yeah, oh, yeah ♪

♪ CIMARONS: Rock Reggae Rhapsody

♪ Rock, rock, rock, rock, rock, rock

♪ In reggae rhapsody

♪ Rock, rock, rock

Rock, rock, rock... ♪

Over the years, I've had to...

subsidise my musical... desire.

So I had to find work. So um...

I became...

...a cleaner.

I say I do cleaning, but I've

never seen myself as a cleaner.

And hoping that Cimarons now...

we will grow to the stage where...

we don't... I don't have

to have the side hustle.

That hasn't happened yet,

but I can see it happening.

♪ Rock, rock, rock, rock, rock, rock

♪ In reggae rhapsody... ♪

Yeah, yeah. Yeah.

This is where

the magic really happens.

We are lucky to have

the legendary Cimarons...

back for one...

...back by public...

no, by my demand or their demand.

Recording new tracks

for their forthcoming LP.

♪ Words of wisdom, wisdom

♪ Spoken in parables...

This is a Neumann U47.

Ella Fitzgerald.

Oh, right, this is the one they used?

Yeah.

And this is my little studio.

Well, I say it's mine.

It was built by a couple

of elderly Jamaican fellows.

So it was built

as a reggae studio, originally.

♪ Spoken in parables... ♪

Which is why it actually suits

these guys down to the ground.

You know, look at these speakers -

they're built into pods like that...

to get as much sort of...

of that dub-y sort of bass sound.

- Not very well labelled.

- No.

It's all over the fucking shop.

All over the place, yeah, yeah.

Typical Frank.

We took them off Frank's hard drive,

and he probably labels things how

he thinks they should be.

Well, it would help if he was here.

Because he probably knows

where he's...

hidden them all, but...

So we rang him,

and he was in a garden in Jamaica.

Chop down Babylon.

And I was jealous. Very jealous.

♪ Green is the colour of the grass

♪ That grows so wild...

Yeah, yeah,

I think it's different, yeah...

a mixture of rocksteady -

you can hear the rocksteady

and the reggae mixed together.

It's where we started from - roots.

You know, more roots-y.

I can hear you now.

To be working with these guys is...

is something I never,

ever dreamed of.

This is a little bit

short of a miracle.

Yeah, well, it's just, you know...?

It's a good feeling, though,

- isn't it?

- Yes.

What is yours is yours -

the rest, it don't matter.

At the end of the day, yeah,

the path leads here, you know?

♪ Gold is the colour of the sun

♪ That shines so free

♪ For you and for me

♪ And for all living things...

♪ Gold is the colour of the sun... ♪

That's how life is, you know...

...one day you're here,

and the next day you're nowhere.

Alright.

Sorry, I can't...

Drum and bass, bass and drum -

I'm always where Maurice is.

We don't have to say anything.

We understand each other.

Drum and bass -

I'm always where Maurice is.

I don't think Maurice's family...

...knew him like I knew him.

I miss him.

Sorry.

Frank and Maurice was really,

really close,

because they live just five minutes

away from each other.

A year before, Frank lost his dad.

And at the end of the year,

end of 2019, he lost his mum.

So he took his mum

home to Jamaica to bury her,

and while he was in Jamaica,

hear that Maurice pass.

So it was a double blow for him.

He took it really hard.

For days, he was shattered.

You know? Shattered.

I phoned his brother, Johnny,

to find out what was happening.

And Johnny said to me,

'Why, it don't look too good'

But even up to that point,

I was still, you know,

believing that

it wasn't all that bad...

until Johnny phoned me

a second time and said,

'Boy, Dego.

It doesn't look like Maurice

is gonna pull through, you know.'

Shock. It's more like a disaster.

But the shock of hearing

that he was ill...

I know it takes a short time,

and then he's... he's gone, you know?

I broke down, man. I cried.

I cried.

♪ You say you gonna leave me...

Maurice, he's the master drummer.

Oh, Maurice was

one of the best drummer.

There's something about that guy.

At the time,

when Maurice was really going...

He could... a press roll...

Do you know what a press roll is? A

press roll is...

On a snare drum, he could hold that

for about an hour and a half.

Unbreakable.

He was a very talented drummer.

Very, very talented.

And the thing about Maurice that...

he just didn't know how good he was.

Maurice never knew

how talented he was as a drummer.

Yeah, I would say he was

the most talented one of all of us -

Maurice was way ahead.

He was one of the best...

best drummers, like I was saying.

One of the best.

Every drummer used to come and check

him. Everybody come check Maurice.

Everybody come and check Maurice...

to see what we're up to.

How Maurice was licking the sound,

you know, licking the drum -

I said to him,

'You sound like a yard drummer.'

Compared to now,

I don't hear a drummer

who lick them skin hard

like Maurice.

Making the skin bawl

like a goat, you know?

He didn't get

much recognition for it,

but he was a top drummer in the UK.

He played on a lot of stuff

that you don't even know.

You're dancing

to all these records for years,

and you don't know that -

it was Maurice Ellis.

He would love going onstage

and playing.

And we have to continue

because of Maurice, too, also.

We can't just stop.

Do you feel like

- it's what he would want?

- Yes.

Yes, yes, yes.

On the drums... put your hands

together for Maurice Ellis.

One, two, three...

We are African, but we are...

Caribbean people.

But we are African.

Some of us don't recognise that.

But I do. We do.

♪ Ethiopian romance

♪ Ethiopian romance

♪ Ethiopian romance

♪ Ethiopian romance...

Reggae music

is an experience.

It's a feeling, it's a love.

When you're involved,

nothing else matters.

♪ Ethiopian romance...

Some people say

reggae all sounds the same,

but if you get it, it just...

I don't know, it just does

something to me - it moves me.

It's something that reaches right

down to the depths of the soul -

that's what reggae is all about,

and that's what

the Cimarons were all about.

♪ I'm in love with Jah

♪ And his loving ways

♪ I'm in love with Jah

♪ And his loving ways

♪ Ethiopian romance

♪ Ethiopian romance

♪ Ethiopian romance...

Look how many generations

in popular music that

that's come back in

and been relevant, that sound...

that was created in the '60s.

And people still

search for that now, you know,

40-50 years beyond that,

because it's the purity

of the storytelling,

the purity of the sound that never,

you know, goes out of fashion.

It's impossible to listen to it

without actually...

feeling the music come through.

I mean, I used to come out of reggae

sessions with my stomach aching,

because I'd been kind of grooving

in the chair behind the desk.

♪ Africa

♪ Africa

♪ Africa...

Reggae music is part of my heritage,

it's part of my culture, you know?

It's just like me as a black person,

me can't be white -

me have to be black.

So reggae is my thing.

Reggae have my heartbeat right now,

right now, right now - my heartbeat.

♪ Africa

♪ Africa

♪ Africa

♪ Africa... ♪

Reggae is humane music - it's

humanity singing about human issues.

It's a music that expresses

the problems...

of the Jamaicans who created it,

but it has that universality.

He says,

'I'm singing about my problems,

but I'm singing about

your problems too.'

It's a warm vibe,

and it's a warrior vibes.

And it's soulful,

and... rebellious.

It's a big force, man.

It means a lot to me.

It carry me, teach me.

Make me feel happy,

make me feel sad.

Long live reggae music.

Well, Cimarons' destiny

is just to be themselves...

and get back into the thing.

You know what I mean?

They've lost their drummer.

And I'm sure...

I'm sure that none of them...

...wants to stop playing music.

We should start rehearse tomorrow,

and go back on the road.

Basically.

Go on through, young boy.

Go onstage, make people enjoy

themselves, make me enjoy myself.

I miss that. I would...

I would do that now - right now -

even though me have a bad back.

But when you go onstage,

you don't feel no pain.

You don't feel no pain at all.

That's the best painkiller you can

get - go onstage and play music.

♪ Ethiopian romance... ♪

Yeah, Westbourne Rehearsal Studio.

Yes, in the basement.

In the basement, where we can't

get no place to park.

If we all get the tune, them

sharpen up like irons, you know?

Yeah, ready to go to battle and...

you know, bring forth Jah message.

You know?

It's not a big thing

if they don't play for

two or three months, or even a year.

But when you call them,

they're ready.

Because they know exactly

how to play with each other.

Simple as that. Yes, simple as that.

All they need is a couple of

rehearsal. They're ready to go, man.

Trust me, ready to go.

We did our final rehearsal

last night,

and the gig will be tomorrow -

tomorrow at Hootananny in Brixton.

Good people, good afternoon.

Bless up, bless up.

I'm alright, thanks, I'm alright.

I'm not good, but I'm alright.

We're gonna go and visit Dego,

who is, unfortunately, not too well.

He's in hospital.

He's so upset that he won't

be able to be a part of it. You know?

Cos he's been a great help,

his songwriting ability.

We've done two of his songs

on the album.

His harmony is brilliant. We won't be

able to use his harmony so...

yes, we pray that he'll be OK.

We don't know

what's happening on Sunday.

We'll just get up

and go down and go set up.

Me, you, everybody go set up.

Just like what Michael Jackson do.

Soundcheck, rehearse,

dress rehearsal, soundcheck.

- Have a smoke, have a drink.

- All in

all, it's a celebration of Cimarons.

Yes. Yeah, the return.

Yeah.

Time flies so fast. We lost Maurice

about two-and-a-half years ago,

and that was a shock for us.

I want to start some gigs

before we lose any more members.

Pandemic came along

and everything fell apart.

So it's over three, four years we've

had to wait now for this moment.

It's a tough place to start,

because the London audiences are as

critical as the Jamaica audiences.

They know music,

so we just have to be good.

It's like a crucible, but then um...

...if you're any good,

you've got to go through the fire.

It is the calm before the storm -

only that we are

in control of the storm.

We're in control of the winds,

the temperature and the pressure.

Just wanna make sure

everything goes right.

We would have loved

to have Dego with us tonight.

Because Dego has, like... always

been around Cimarons from the '70s.

So I miss him. Yeah.

When I look at my drummer

on my right,

I'm seeing Carl, but that's Maurice.

I'm gonna see... but it's Maurice.

He's there with me.

In spirit.

In thoughts.

Yeah, he'll be there.

Playing this, playing reggae music,

has always been my life,

you know what I mean?

So when I'm up here,

I'm playing, it's like...

freedom. Yeah. Freedom, yeah.

But it's also...

the love of it,

you know what I mean?

From 1971, I've been with these

guys. They're bona fide friends.

Honestly, a sense of nervousness.

You prepare your best you can,

but when you get out there,

and the atmosphere...

and the vibe hits you,

you give, you know, everything.

Sing close to the microphone,

please -

gonna make the difference, you know?

You're gonna be more comfortable.

Closer.

Are you ready?!

The first band

to take reggae music to Japan.

The drum beat of Africa,

Ghana, Asia.

The first reggae band in Europe.

Ladies and gentlemen,

boys and girls...

Yeah, man.

...are you ready for...

Are you ready?

Yes, man.

...the return of...

Cimarons!

Michael Arkk.

Yeah!

♪ This time we're having a nice time

♪ Mood is good and we feel fine

♪ Your liveliness

Is catching like wildfire

♪ Fire, fire

♪ We're going on as if there is

A riot, riot, riot, riot

♪ Make me rock, rock, rock, rock

Rock, rock

♪ To reggae rhapsody...

Playing together is

just like we just know exactly...

how the sound go -

we still can do it, innit?

You know,

put a guitar in Gichie hand,

and a guitar in my hand,

and you hear music.

♪ To Reggae Rhapsody...

When I'm surrounded

with music, I'm fully alive.

I feel like I'm at home, you know,

I feel, definitely, like I'm at home.

♪ One dread come tell ya

♪ You'd better lively up yourself...

Yeah, we are all one -

we can just use eyes contact,

and we know what's happening,

and we go from there.

Beautiful onstage.

Onstage, we're not human.

We are... invincible.

♪ Come rock with me

Let me take you higher, higher,

♪ Higher, higher, higher, higher

♪ Come rock, rock, rock, rock, rock

Hey!

♪ To reggae rhapsody

♪ Come choke, choke, choke

Choke, choke, choke

♪ To reggae rhapsody...

You feel light,

you feel... rewarded.

Me feel blessed.

You feel special. You feel...

'Thank you, Father, for giving me

this moment, because...

not a lot of people

can experience this sort of moment.

♪ Cimarons...!

When the whole crowd is going mad,

you're crazy in your head, and...

...and everything is still together.

You sort of miss each other -

as friends.

As a brethren,

missing togetherness and playing.

You do miss it.

Yeah, you do miss it.

♪ Come make me rock

Come make me rock

♪ To reggae rhapsody

♪ Boy, come make me rock

Come make me rock

♪ Ay! To reggae rhapsody

♪ Come make me rock ♪

Still, I miss my original singer.

I don't want to belittle anyone.

But my Reedy is my singer.

Winston Reed is my singer.

Not to put down Mikey or anything,

because from Mikey

coming in the flock...

he is my singer.

It is said to me that...

..the man whose

position I'm standing in tonight...

the great Winston Reedy,

is somewhere around.

Yes!

Respect due.

Yeah.

This is the man.

You're giving me the mic,

my brother?

Yeah, man. Say something.

Oh, my God, I'm humbled.

I'm feeling humbled.

What can I say about this band here?

This band here teach me everything.

Carry me all over the world.

Bless you, Cimarons,

for teaching me everything.

Harder Than The Rock. Um...

How it go again?

This we never plan, you know?

No rehearsal.

♪ We're harder than the rock

♪ We're harder than the rock

This time

♪ We're harder than the rock

♪ Harder than the rock, this time

♪ Oh, yeah...

Winston.

♪ Harder than the rock

So hard

♪ We're harder than the rock

This time

♪ So hard

Harder than the rock

♪ We're harder than the rock

This time

♪ Cimarons ♪

Thank you!

Put your hands together...

for the great Winston...

Reedy!

Thank you, sir! Yeah.

Cimarons is out now, yeah?

There's nothing can stop them.

Those people that were there,

they are all Cimarons fans.

Yes, yes, yes.

And it's a blessing, man. Rastafari.

Blessings, blessings, blessings,

Listen. Irie. Irie.

Ah, cricket.

Mmm. Yes, yes.

I was so well-prepared for the gig.

I just became very ill.

And ended up in the hospital.

I was in there for about...

two weeks.

I was so...

I was angry.

But... you know what them say?

Every disappointment is for a good.

But I'm hoping...

you know...

future gigs...

I might be able to be there.

You know?

♪ CIMARONS: Rock Reggae Rhapsody

♪ Well...

♪ Come we rock, rock, rock

Rock, rock, rock

♪ To reggae rhapsody...

♪ To reggae rhapsody...

Yeah, man. Here we are.

Rototom time. That's it.

Come to mash up Spain.

Come to tear Spain down.

That's it.

♪ To reggae rhapsody, yeah...

Come we rock.

Come we rock to reggae rhapsody.

Yeah!

♪ Come we rock...

Alright! Alright! Alright!

Massive day for the Cimarons.

Massive day for Cimarons.

Massive, beautiful day.

Back in Spain.

First reggae band ever in Spain,

and back in Spain now.

It's... It's cosmic.

The cosmos must have

something to do with this.

So I'm looking forward to tonight.

It has to be good, you know?

Yes, Rasta.

I'm glad I come back,

and the sun shining like Jamaica.

Rototom is the biggest

reggae festival in Europe.

All the top acts from Jamaica

has played Rototom over the years.

For us to be part of Rototom,

to me, it's a big thing.

I wasn't thinking about it.

I was thinking about going home.

Sun. Ganja weed.

Coconut water.

But... I'm not complaining.

Yeah, I hope to have a nice time.

If I enjoy myself,

the crowd should enjoy themselves.

Hopefully. Yeah. What about you?

I am elated, over the moon,

ecstatic to be among the legends.

Well, one word - irie.

From the UK...

the first band touring Japan,

Africa...

please, welcome onstage...

From 1967 until these times,

the Cimarons from the UK.

Good to go.

♪ Ethiopian romance

♪ Ethiopian romance

♪ Ethiopian romance

♪ Ethiopian romance

♪ Africa...

Everybody have a destiny.

It doesn't matter how long

you take to get there. Yes?

But you have a destiny.

And it will come.

Cos that's how

the Father prepare it.

♪ Africa...

One morning, my dad said

we should tell God what we want.

I told God I wanted to be a singer.

My most happy moments

is since meeting Cimarons.

Because I am experiencing

what I dreamt about.

♪ What did I say?

Ethiopian romance...

The steps of a righteous man

is ordered by the Lord.

You could take out

the righteous bit.

But the steps of this man

was ordered by the Lord.

♪ Ethiopian romance...

Gichie, Maurice...

them are my life.

They are my life, my musical friend,

and my musical family.

♪ Africa

♪ Africa

♪ Africa

♪ Africa...

Reggae music is alive and well

and will never die.

And reggae music, it's part of Earth,

part of nature, part of creation.

And that can never die.

It will always be there.

Reggae music is one of the parents

of modern pop music.

My generation of musicians -

and just people -

stand on the shoulders

of bands like the Cimarons.

♪ Cimarons...!

Do your thing. Yeah, do your dream.

Thirty years,

we've been waiting for this.

It's nobody's dream but your dream.

Cimarons have a dream and Cimarons

never allowed the dream to die.

♪ Ethiopian romance...

Jah be praised, you know?

♪ Ethiopian romance...

It takes a spark -

they were the spark...

that started a big flame.

And often,

when the big flame takes over,

people forget about the spark,

but the Cimarons...

are definitely a spark

that started...

a big, big, big, big fire -

a big flame, positive flame.

And it's still blazing

till this day.

Thank you!

Thank you!

Tonight, we are the Cimarons.

Ganja weed and music, yeah...

...number one -

ganja weed, music and food, girls.

That's... showbusiness.

Every good thing...

has a place to begin

and a place to end.

♪ CIMARONS: Ship Ahoy

Rototom!

Cimarons!

Thank you!

♪ Ship ahoy, ship ahoy, ship ahoy

♪ Ship ahoy-oy-oy

♪ Ship ahoy, ship ahoy, ship ahoy

♪ Ship ahoy-oy-oy

♪ Far

♪ As your eyes can see

♪ Men, women and baby slaves

♪ Going to a land called liberty

♪ But life, you see, is already made

♪ So young and so strong

♪ You're just waiting to be saved

♪ Lord, I'm so tired

♪ And I know you're tired too

♪ Look over the horizon

♪ And see the sun

♪ Shining down on you

♪ Yeah

♪ Ship ahoy, ship ahoy, ship ahoy

♪ Ship ahoy-oy-oy

♪ Ship ahoy, ship ahoy, ship ahoy

♪ Ship ahoy-oy-oy

♪ Ship ahoy, ship ahoy, ship ahoy

♪ Ship ahoy-oy-oy

♪ Can you feel

The motion of the ocean?

♪ Can you feel

♪ The cold winds blowing by?

♪ Ship took us away

♪ From Africa

♪ Ship took us away

♪ From Africa ♪

Jah!

Rastafari.

We wanna thank you all for watching.

I hope to see you all next time.

So, from Cimarons...

and to all of you,

I wanna say peace and love...

Thank you very much.

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