MISTY EYES IN CALIFORNIA
Misty In Roots
Article by Daniel Frankston © 2005
Photos by Robert Salzman -
Phantom Photos
"Jah be praised. Only one god. Peace, love, understanding.
That’s what we need in the world. We don’t need no fussing and fighting, as they
would say. We don’t need no wars. Let us reason as people, no matter where you come
from. You could be a Caucasian, you could be an Indian, you could be an African. We can
talk. That is my message."
- Misty In Roots
I remember walking into Rough Trade Records on
San Francisco’s Grant Street one day in 1980. The woman behind the counter, who knew
my pension for solid roots music, smiled at me and said "I’ve got something that
I know you’re going to want." She wheeled around and pulled out a live album
from a British group that I never heard of before: Misty In Roots - Live At The Counter
Eurovision 79. I explained to her that, while I love attending reggae shows, live
reggae recordings really don’t do much for me, and that Burning Spear’s Live
album is just about the only live album that I have played more than a few times. After
some persistence, I picked it up along with a stash of other records and headed home.
I loved that MIR
Eurovision from the moment I laid the needle down upon it. The music
created an indescribable feeling both within the room and within me. That album got a
tremendous amount of airtime on my reggae radio shows in Sonoma County, as did
"Wise And Foolish", the band’s first studio album that I obtained the
following year. In those days, CDs were non-existent and Jamaican and English releases
were nearly impossible to find except in ‘specialty stores’, and I would
repeatedly get phones calls asking "Where can I buy" this or that album. By far,
the most popular |
Roots Controller - Tsungi
|
request was "Wise And
Foolish" by Misty In Roots, though I suspect that my incessant playing of it
might have had something to do with that. |
Several years later found me living in San
Francisco, still a roots music lover addicted to sounds of Misty In Roots. The
1980’s releases of "Earth", "Musi-O-Tunya" and
"Forward" did absolutely nothing to help the situation. In spite of the
fact that they were my favorite roots band for nearly 20 years, I never got an opportunity
to see MIR live because they never performed in the United States. I nearly wet my
pants when I learned that Makeda Dread (bless her for bringing Midnite and MIR to
California) had arranged for them to perform at the Bob Marley Day Festival in San
Diego and The Ragga Muffins Festival in Long Beach. Needless to say, all of my
expectations were set to the highest level for their appearances.....
Have you ever noticed that, when you go to see a
movie that everyone has been raving about, you are often disappointed? I was afraid that
they would not live up to my decades of built-up expectations. Gentleman preceded Misty
In Roots. He was great at the Sierra Nevada World Music Festival last year, and
even better this time with his own band. After a brief tribute to Dennis Brown, Richie
B and Amlak Tafari came out and introduced..... MISTY IN ROOTS.
Have you ever
noticed that, when you go to see a movie that everyone has been raving about, you are
often disappointed? I was afraid that they would not live up to my decades of built-up
expectations. Gentleman preceded Misty In Roots. He was |
Roots Controller - Tawanda
|
great at the Sierra Nevada
World Music Festival last year, and even better this time with his own band. After a
brief tribute to Dennis Brown, Richie B and Amlak Tafari came out and
introduced..... MISTY IN ROOTS. |
As soon as keyboard player Tawanda started
playing the opening bars of ‘True Rasta", I was thrown into a 43 minute
meditative state. Music is a large part of my life. Misty In Roots are a large part
of my music. Hearing songs like "Musi-O-Tunya" and "Ghetto Of The
City" conjure up distant memories still dear to my heart. Personally, I would
have liked to hear more materials from Earth and Wise & Foolish, but I
realize that many of my favorite songs from those albums were sung by Duxie who
died in the early 90s. Crucial selections like "Cover Up", "Dancehall
Babylon", "On The Road" and "Almighty", from
their 2002 release "Roots Controller", more than compensated.
Because almost none of their materials have been
released in the US, the sold-out crowd was not familiar with the music of Misty In
Roots, but that didn’t stop the vibes from penetrating the audience. The MC
summed the all too brief set perfectly when he bawled out "I feel that one right
down in the roots of my heart. Ladies and gentlemen, was that fantastic or what?"
If you enjoy roots music at all, you couldn’t help but love Misty In Roots.
Roots Controllers - Tsungi & Kawiwayi, Poko
Preceding their Long Beach appearance, several MIR
members participated in a Press Conference in which Midnite’s Vaughn Benjamin
said of Misty In Roots "these man may not know who they touch and what
distance they travel and all where they have been, and whose growth they are involved in
forming."
The band members were humble and modest in
accepting the accolades of those who came to show their respect for one of the greatest
roots bands. Of their first musical journey into the United States, MIR drummer Barry
noted: "It’s the first time for us, here. We’re well known in Europe,
and what we do is really bring the message of the people. Because, everywhere, people
suffer you know, and it is their voice that is not heard and we have been given the
opportunity to take this to the people, and we carry their aspirations and their needs to
the wider masses."
Following
the Press Conference, I had the opportunity to conduct an interview with Poko, the
band’s lead singer. "To me, the roots music is a spiritual form of music.
Whereupon a man know it, where he is at within the scheme of things. Whereupon we see our
self from the roots, which as we know is Africa. And we are a part of the roots all the
way. Although we are living abroad, we are within the African lineage. So roots to us,
means that we check for Africa. We deal with the spiritual side and the physical part of
Africa. That is roots." |
Roots Controller - Poko
|
Poko discussed the band’s early days
and a 1982 protest against the National Front in the Southall region of London. This is
where Misty In Roots lived in the ‘People’s Unite’ compound that they were
a part of. When the police arrived, things got ugly, ultimately ending with the infamous
death of Blair Peach, the brutal beating of MIR’s manager, and the imprisonment of
one of the band members. The compound was razed shortly thereafter, and the band went to
live in Africa for an extended period. The entire interview can be heard at Ireggae.com
The following day, Misty In Roots appeared
in San Diego to participate in the 23rd Annual Bob Marley Day Festival.
The even briefer set was just as full of solid roots, with "Jah See, Jah Know"
and "See Them Ah Come" replacing several of the songs they had played in
Long Beach. The packed crowd in San Diego seemed far more receptive to Tsungi’s
heavy roots bass lines and were rocking to Barry’s ‘steppers’ beats.
Jamaicans often say "The hotta de battle, ah
de sweeter de victory". That certainly rings true with my decades long wait to
finally take in the sweet sounds of Misty In Roots live. As I make the long trek
home, I listened to that first live MIR albums and reminisced about all those
magical moments that I have experienced under the influence of their music. I still cannot
properly describe it, but i can tell you what it is....... VIBES!
|
