Jackie Jackson, Reggae Bassist for Toots and the Maytals, Dies at 79
An architect of the Jamaican bass style has passed on as Clifton “Jackie” Jackson, who recorded with Bob Marley and Toots and the Maytals, died on September 23rd at 79. The Jamaica Gleaner reported the news, noting that Jackson was admitted to Cornwall Regional Hospital in Montego Bay for close to two months.
The Wailers also posted a tribute on their social media, recalling his impact on fellow reggae legend Aston “Familyman” Barrett.
“Today we lost a living legend, Jackie Jackson,” Aston Barrett, Jr. wrote on the band’s Facebook page. “Jackie was one of the legends who paved the way for reggae music. Familyman always spoke highly of him. He was a mentor to my father and gave him one of his first live gigs in the 1960s. Our condolences to his family and loved ones. May his soul rest in peace.”
Jackson was born in Kingston, where he grew up and began his music career in the mid-60s. He attended a music school and started playing bass after seeing the Skatalites with Lloyd Brevett. Jackson was also influenced by American music.
“By that time bass guitar was coming into its own so my favourite guy was the Motown bass player, James Jamerson. Love him!” he told United Reggae in 2016. “I had every Motown song in those days. Every album. Stevie Wonder, Supremes, Four Tops, everybody. And I used to sit every day after school, after music lessons, and play every one of those songs.”
He soon started playing with Ty and the Titans and The Cavaliers. After the Skatalites broke up, saxophonist Tommy McCook formed a new band called the Supersonics, which Jackson played in for five years. It was also then that he began to get a name as a session player with producer Duke Reid. His first session was for “Girl I’ve Got A Date” by Alton Ellis, which became hugely influential. The bass line and melody would serve as the core (or at least a heavy influence) for another song, “Liquidator” by The Harry J Allstars, which in turn was borrowed for the Staples Singers megahit “I’ll Take You There.” Most importantly for Jackson, it launched his career as Reid tapped him to be an A-lister at his Treasure Isle recording studio.
“If there is a song that hits, everybody wants to know ‘Who played on this?’ They say ‘Who played the bass?’ ‘Jackie Jackson’. And from there, after that song, pow pow! Tip Top, Beverley’s, Prince Buster,” Jackson said. “That was the birth of Jackie Jackson.”
Hear his career-launching bass line on “Girl I’ve Got a Date”:
He would play bass on some of the most influential reggae, rocksteady, and ska songs of all time: Bob Marley’s “Small Axe,” Jimmy Cliff’s “The Harder They Come,” and Toots Hibbert’s “Pressure Drop.” Paul Simon recruited Jackson to play on his 1972 song “Mother and Child Reunion.”
Watch Jackson go through some of his most popular bass lines:
Reggae’s international popularity took Jackson on the road as part of Toots and the Maytals, with whom he stayed for decades. The bassist won a Grammy as a member of the band for 2004’s True Love.
Our thoughts are with the family and friends of Clifton “Jackie” Jackson.
In his time with No Treble, Kevin has met hundreds of amazing bassists and interviewed icons like Jack Casady, Victor Wooten, Les Claypool, Marcus Miller, and more. He's a gigging bassist performing jazz in Northern Virginia and bluegrass with The Plate Scrapers up and down the East Coast. Kevin appreciates all genres of music, from R&B to metal and everything in between. Connect with Kevin on Facebook and check his performance schedule on his website.
