THE ZINC FENCE MILLENIUM COUNTDOWN

 

 

Record of 1997

 

FOUNDATION

BEENIE MAN

 

Two well-established practices have been central to the development of Jamaican music: adapting hits from 'foreign' and continuously recycling the island's own rhythms. The former has been important from its very birth, when US rhythm & blues and jazz recordings provided the basis for countless local interpretations, the latter from at least the late 1960s, when the instrumental versions of popular vocals began to appear, first on acetates for sound-system play, and then on vinyl for the general public to take home.

Foundation, a massive hit for Beenie Man in the summer of 1997, represents the modern interface of these traditions. For while younger dancehall patrons might have known it as simply the deejay's cut of the Taxi Gang's slamming instrumental, Beardman Shuffle, older reggae lovers probably recognised the rhythm from at least two earlier incarnations.

In the late 1960s, the former 'boss deejay' from Coxsone's Downbeat sound system, King Stitt (with the innovative engineer Andy Capp) had enjoyed a massive hit in both Jamaica and with the UK's skinheads with the Clancy Eccles-produced Herb Man (aka Herbman Shuffle), an atmospheric paean to the herb and the dreadlocked men who smoked it in serious quantity. But Herb Man was not the first cut of the rhythm. Several years before Clancy's production, the Skatalites had recorded Beardman Ska for Clement Dodd - one of the few ska records with a direct reference to the Rastafarianism of their trombonist Don Drummond.

But even the Skatalites' classic wasn't actually the original - just the first Jamaican cut. Like many of the most successful ska instrumentals, the melody was taken from a US record - in this case, Ernie Freeman's rhythm & blues instrumental Live It Up which, like the same artist's Dumplin's, was a favourite in the Jamaican dancehalls of the pre-ska era.

Sly & Robbie's initial version of the rhythm was the Taxi Gang instrumental, which featured the vintage keyboards player Ansel Collins. This combined both the Skatalites and King Stitt titles; interestingly, Ernie Freeman's title was used, followed in brackets by "Beardman Shuffle", when it appeared on the excellent Mambo Taxi album. This was one of an inspired serious of instrumentals on Taxi in the late 1990s that looked in all directions for inspiration, and was then followed by Beenie Man's ebullient interpretation. The popular mikeman had already made his mark on Taxi - with No Mama No Cry and two combination tunes in the company of Luciano, Crazy Baldhead and Running Away. But for sheer exuberance, nothing compared to this call for unity between the often warring Kingston ghettos, as well as among the different variations of Rastafarianism and Christians (the majority faith in Jamaica, it should not be forgotten).

Calls to put up the gun might not sound as if they might be particularly joyous, but Beenie Man's approach could not be more so, as as he posits music as the primary unifying force. In time-honoured deejay fashion he spends considerable time commenting on the track over which he delivers his message. So, Mr Sly, Mr Robbie and the Taxi Gang are all rightfully celebrated along the way as the 'Foundation', and, given the lineage of the rhythm, there really could be no more apposite title for the tune.

The sheer number of top records with which Beenie Man has registered to date makes it impossible to pick any one as his supreme moment on disc - just think of important hits like Romie, Slam, Blackboard, Let Him Go, Bookshelf, Who Am I, Year 4, Tell Me, etc., etc. Many more are obviously to come - no deejay is hotter at the moment. But it is safe to say that Foundation will certainly always be considered among his dozen best 45s, and one of the truly essential tunes of the 1990s.

Peter Dalton, December 1999

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