Toots & The Maytals Follow

Top 8 comments

• Elbert 0 points 2010-08-08 19:02

  Here's more info about this song (courtesy of Wikipedia's source list).

  It appears that this song is "an affectionate dig at their producer [Leslie Kong]. No racism (thank goodness!).

  Song Review by Jo-Ann Greene

  The Maytals' relationship with producer Leslie Kong had a mixed history. Kong, of course, had flatly rejected a solo Toots Hibbert in his pre- Maytals' days. But once the trio had scored a string of hits with Coxsone Dodd, Kong's opinion had changed. The vocal group had cut a handful of seminal songs with Kong after their split from Dodd, but had settled in the end with Byron Lee and Ronnie Nasralla. That relationship was severed by Hibbert's imprisonment on drug charges, and upon his release, Kong made new overtures and the trio happily went on to record exclusively with him. It was a successful partnership, as the group's steam of hits across the late '60s proved. "Monkey Man," then, was an affectionate dig at their producer, all set to a insistent reggae beat. "Now I know that/Now I understand/You turning the monkey on me," the group exclaims, as the song simmers along, fueled by the beat, a supple bass line, and a bright guitar riff. With a rhythm made for the dancefloors, the single fired up the Jamaican sound systems, then crossed the Atlantic to give the group their first British hit when it aped its way into the Top 50 in 1970. The song would also kick off volume three of the legendary Tighten Up compilation series, and would then title the group's own 1971 album. Later in the decade, the Specials took this reggae classic, added their own punk frenzy and turned it into a Two Tone masterpiece.

• DJ Jah-T 0 points 2010-05-01 04:27

  Nobody said it was racist, they are saying that there are inaccurate lyrics.

  Whose the racist now, reading into things a bit too much. Just Kidding.

  Epic Song Toots, also gotta love Pressure Drop

• dani 0 points 2010-02-05 10:29

  haha,

  This song is not racist, if you mean that by "a bit suspect".
  It`s a song about their manager Leslie Kong.

• wan 0 points 2008-02-12 10:26

  Yeah, suspect lyrics alright (as bad as 'the ants are my friends, they're blowin' in the wind...') - I hear it more like this:

  [Aye aye aye, aye aye aye,
  tell you baby,
  you're huggin' up the big monkey man] (repeat)

  [I've seen no sign of you,
  I only heard that you're
  huggin' up the big monkey man] (repeat)

  [It's not lies, it's not lies,
  them a tell me,
  you're huggin' up the big monkey man] (repeat)

  [Now I know that, now I understand,
  you turnin' the monkey on me] (repeat)

  Absolute bleedin' classic tho - big up Trojan records!

• jc 0 points 2007-08-25 10:12

  YO THIS SONG IS awsome!!!!!

• cajik 0 points 2007-05-08 18:38

  to melissa: it possible, there are lots of cover versions of this song from such artists as Reel Big Fish, The Specials, Jazz Jamaica, Chris Murray, etc.
  And about the lyrics- its totally different then all versions I know... I think the lyrics are useless...

• melissa 0 points 2007-04-21 17:04

  i saw amy whinehouse doing this song and it sounded so familiar so i thought i'd look it up, i had a feeling that maybe Bad Manners did a version of it?

• Hamish 0 points 2007-01-21 21:43

  This is an absolute classic reggae song, even if the lyrics are a bit suspect. I can't believe that I'm the first person to post a comment about it. Listen to this track and jump around.