“In celebration of Joseph Hill’s life it is his own beliefs that comfort us when we remember how he unselfishly shared his life and music with us all.  In his many performances and interviews, Joseph never tired of sharing his wisdom and love with others.”

– Eric Doumerc, France

The reggae community is mourning the loss of one of its greatest singer, performer and writer.   Joseph Hill passed on to Zion at the age of 57 on August 19th, 2006 in Berlin, Germany halfway through Culture’s European tour.  Ever since his passing became known, tributes have been pouring out on the internet and in the print media.

Our heartfelt condolences go out to Joseph’s family and his many friends.  He will be sorely missed in the flesh as we will no longer see “Culture” - as he was sometimes known - live  and prancing on stage, fighting all kinds of demons, talking to the audience and like the true Jah Warrior that he is “chanted down Babylon” in his own inimitable way. 

Joseph Hill was born in 1949 in the parish of St Catherine in Jamaica and had become involved in the music business from an early age, eventually playing in a band called the Soul Defenders which was one of the backing bands at Studio One.  The work Hill did with them can be heard on the Heartbeat CD The Soul Defenders at Studio One (1991). Hill played percussion, provided background vocals and recorded songs like “Take Me Girl”.  He also recorded an early track called “Behold” at Studio One, which was later released on the Heartbeat compilation Full Up - Best of Studio One Vol.2.        .

A few years later Hill formed a band with his cousin Albert Walker and his friend Kenneth Dayes. The group was given the name “Culture” by the musicians recording at Joe Gibbs’ studio as their lyrics were so serious or “dread”.  The songs recorded during these sessions provided the material for a first album entitled Two Sevens Clash which was released in 1977.

The title song became a hit and its apocalyptic leanings caused the whole of Jamaica to shut down on July 7^th, 1977, when four sevens clashed.  An analysis of that song was published in the November 2005 edition of Reggae Review.  Other outstanding songs on the LP included “Pirate Days”, a history lesson setting the record straight with its chorus “The Arawaks, the Arawaks, the Arawaks was there first !”, “I’m Not Ashamed” and “See Dem a Come”, based on an old Studio One “riddim”.  Two Sevens Clash reflected the dread mood of the time (the late 1970s) and was steeped in Rastafarian symbolism. The song entitled “Jah Pretty Face” sounds like a prayer.

In the late 1970s, Culture went from strength to strength and recorded a string of LPs which established the trio as one of the greatest reggae act on the scene.  These LPs included Africa Stand Alone (April Records, 1978), Harder Than The Rest (Frontline, 1978), Baldhead Bridge (Joe Gibbs, 1978), Cumbolo (High Note, 1978), and The International Herb (Frontline, 1979).  Cumbolo featured the hit “Natty Never Get Weary”.

In the early 1980s the group split up and Hill recorded a solo LP entitled Lion Rock (Sonic Sounds, 1981) with the Soul Defenders, the backing band he had worked with at Studio One. That LP included “A Double Tribute to the O.M”, a stirring homage to Bob Marley, who had passed away recently, and great tracks like “Babylon Big Dog”, “Forward to Africa” and “Disobedient Children”.

After a dormant period, the group resurfaced in the mid-1980s with the stunning Culture in Culture LP (Blue Track, 1986).  On that disc, Hill commented on the increasing resort to the gun in Jamaica at the time (“Peace and Love”: “I ‘m not afraid of your M-16…”) and added his own twist to the sleng-teng riddim which had revolutionised reggae in 1985, “Capture Rasta”.  “Capture Rasta” is one of the most memorable reggae tracks ever, even today with its mixture of dancehall rhythms and conscious lyrics (“and a boast dem a capture Rasta”).  Other outstanding tracks on the LP were “Step Along”, a piece of advice to the people who were using reggae music to achieve questionable aims (“Children, children, where have you been on the back of reggae music ?”) and the moving “Mister Music” (“Sometimes, I feel to play for the children; sometimes, I feel to play for the prisoners too”).

The years 1986-1989 were extremely productive for the trio, with three albums in short succession, Culture at Work (Shanachie, 1986), Nuff Crisis (Blue Mountain, 1988) and Good Things (RAS, 1989). Culture at Work contained the track entitled “Dancehall Style”, which was a commentary on the latest dancehall developments, fads and “dance steps”:  “Everybody’s asking what a gwaan, sah, inna dancehall, sah, right inna mi yard, sah”.  Hill mentioned new dances like the “rocking dolly” or the “water pumping” which were rocking the dancehalls in the mid-1980s and showed that he was well aware of the latest trends.  But the song is not a condemnation of these developments as Hill was not dwelling in the past.  It is more a celebration of dancehall creativity.

In the 1990s the group remained very popular despite line-up changes (in 1996 Kenneth Dayes left to pursue a solo career) and toured ceaselessly to support the albums One Stone (RAS, 1996), Payday (RAS, 2000) and Humble African (VP, 2000).  The last Culture album was World Peace, released in 2003 on the Heartbeat label.  There are several live recordings which enable us today to hear the magic of Culture on stage. Live in Negril (Sankofa/Blackstar; Roots and Culture, 2003) was recorded in the late 1980s and features memorable renditions of “Peace and Love”, “One Grandson”, “Mister Music” and “Capture Rasta”(“Columbus”) among others.  The backing band is simply great and Hill is, as usual, a master performer.  Then there are Cultural Livity – Live Culture (RAS, 1998) and Live in Africa (RAS, 2002), which is also available on DVD.  These albums are important too because for many (maybe for most of us) Culture was the group to see live.  Indeed Hill’s charisma, warm personality and outstanding gifts as a performer meant that a Culture gig was never only about a harmony trio performing on stage.  It was always more.  Hill had that uncanny ability to make old songs sound new and to turn old Culture standards into fresh dancehall tunes.  In the mid-1980s he would ceaselessly ask the band to stop the music and start again.  That “stop and start” style was meant to recreate the excitement of a live sound-system session, but I’ve always felt that Joseph was trying to get it absolutely right, to make sure that everyone was ready to give 100 %.

I saw Culture live on stage many times (in the 1980s and 1990s in France and in England, in 1996 at Reggae Sunsplash in Jamaica) and I was always amazed at the energy Hill deployed on stage and at his ability to communicate with the audience.  The last time I saw Culture live was in Toulouse, France in November 2005.  After a rousing set that included such standards as “Feel like Chanting On”, “Iron Sharpening Iron”, “Stop the Fussing and Fighting”, “See Dem a Come”, “International Herb”, “Two Sevens Clash” and “I’m Not Ashamed”, the group performed three Wailers songs for the encore set: Peter Tosh’s “Equal Rights”, Bob Marley’s “Chant Down Babylon” and Bunny Wailer’s “Let Him Go”.  Before launching into Tosh’s “Equal Rights”, Hill said: “I’ll do one Peter Tosh song.  If you’re taking it home, don’t even cook it!  Swallow it raw, ‘cause it is good!”.  Hill saw himself as a spokesman for the reggae community and the living embodiment of the reggae tradition.  On other occasions, the group would open their set with “Satta Amasa Gana”, thus showing their respect for tradition and roots.  With Joseph Hill, one always got more than a Culture gig.  One got the whole reggae experience.  Joseph Hill lives on in his many recordings and in the hearts and minds of the people who were fortunate enough to see the man on stage.