Recently the ska community, possibly the entire musical world, lost one of its most talented, unique and respectable artists. It was this past May 5th 1998 that Mr. Tommy McCook passed away in his home in Atlanta, Georgia as a result of heart failure and pneumonia. I'm sure that even as I write this, many fans are mourning his death or celebrating his life in one form or another. Be it by listening to the music he created, or by paying tribute to him through song, words, actions or prayers. Feeling that I myself did not know enough about Mr. McCook and his Skatalites, I decided that I along with many others are tremendously in need of some education. This is my tribute to one of the finest musicians of our time.
Tommy McCook was a product of Western Kingston, where he attended the Alpha Catholic Boy's School. This was where he began to develop his musical gift, as other future Skatalites did. It was in 1954 that he left Jamaica and spent the remaining decade in the Bahamas performing jazz. Ska was already established quite well upon his return in 1962. Though he first dismissed Studio One producer Coxsonne Dodd's request to lead a group of studio musicians in a steady band, he would eventually come around and apparently dub them the "Skatalites".
Sitting inside the Globe Theatre near Crossroads, dozens of ideas were tossed about until someone said they should call the band, the Satellites (At the time, the space race was in the forefront of worldwide news). McCook jumped on the reference, telling the others that since it was ska they were playing, they should call the band the Skatalites.
-taken from the insert of FREEDOM SOUNDS: A Tribute to the Skatalites, a product of Shanachie Records.
The Skatalites performed and recorded for such famed producers as Dodd, Duke Reid, Leslie Kong, Randy Chin and Justin Yapp over about 14 months. They were also instrumental in boosting the careers of such notable names as Bob Marley and Prince Buster. Unfortunately, this was all cut short by the arrest of trombonist Don Drummond and the Skatalites went their separate ways. Mr. McCook formed a new outfit called the Supersonics and would go on to play a crucial role in popular Jamaican music for the next 30 years.
The Skatalites were reformed in 1983 as a result of ska's resurgence in the form of the second wave or "2-tone" in the UK. What at first was only a few small shows at the Blue Monk Jazz Gallery in Kingston, would spawn into world tours, new albums and even numerous Grammy Award nominations! Even with ska's bizarre ability to create new hybrids along with rock, punk, hardcore, Oi! and hip hop, the Skatalites were still looked upon with nothing but respect and admiration. In turn, the Skatalites have always been excepting, gracious and tolerant towards the younger generation and the new twists they added to the music they had been instrumental (no pun intended) in creating. This was brought to mind when I read this story that Mr. Jeremy Mushlin kindly shared with me:
Once I went with a very pretty girl named Melissa to see the Skatalites play at the Grand, which was on East 13th Street in New York....its closed now...I had made flyers for an upcoming Slackers show, in which we were opening for the Crisis Band (a pickup band of reggae session musicians from New York which featured at the time the old Skatalites trombone player). The trombone player hurt his arm in a car accident on tour, and was in a sling, playing Euphonium...Tommy thought the sling
looked unprofessionion, and hired a sub to do that days earlier gig on Conan O'Brien....there was a big argument, and the trombone player gave his notice to leave, and there was alot of inner tension in the group that night.....meanwhile, i was giving out flyers that said "The Slackers, and the Crisis Band-featuring members of Steel Pulse and the Skatalites." I was called into the Skatalites dressing room, and Tommy asked if I had made the flyer, and I said yes. He took me into a back room, and he and Lloyd Brevett went crazy, screaming and cursing at me,
saying "Them no Skatalite!" and various Jamaican curses, and at the end, Tommy said "This will not go unpunished!" I then hurriedly grabbed my girl and we left, and (I lived on East 13th and B at the time) went home to watch TV. The Skatalties then went on to play half the set of what Tommy introduced as "Now we bring you the music they call DUB" and proceeded to play mad instrumental roots reggae. This was probably the best NY skatalites show ever. Tommy later was to sit in with the Slackers, and say "Them called slacker, but them no sound like slacker!"
-Jeremy Mushlin (trumpet player of the SLACKERS)
A few years ago, Mr. McCook officially retired as a Skatalite when the band signed with Island Records. Due to health problems resulting from years of touring, he felt it was time to just relax with his family in Atlanta. This of course did not deter his music, his last studio album: Tommy McCook and Friends: The Authentic Sound of Tommy McCook was recently released by Moon Ska Records. Negotiations were also under way for a joint effort between him and various musicians from Stubborn Records' Version Studios in NYC.
There have been a select group of individuals who have inspired us as fans and enriched our lives with their music. They have come to represent everything that music is about. Louis Armstrong, Pete Townshend, Otis Redding, Prince Buster and Bob Marley are just a few. Tommy McCook belongs to this group, but he is distinct and unique. That is why he is so important to ska. Personally, I was not aware of his impact on ska until recently. It saddens me that I never witnessed Mr. McCook's magic in person. I think that many my age feel the same way, as does Brandon Phillips of the GADJITS. Brandon was fortunate enough to share the stage with Mr. McCook and like me, he never really realized what he really meant to ska.
I think Tommy's death is awful. And i really wish that
the skatalites had broken a bit bigger with the ska revival so more people could have had a taste of his music. The saddest part of all that is, no one will realize what we have unitl it's gone. I myself did not really know what it meant to have shared the stage with one of the last living links to the early history of my favorite music. I wish we'd played together more often. I
wish I had asked him more questions. When my kids are the right age....I will play them the 30th anniversary version of "guns of navarone" (I know it's cheesy but it is my favorite track of theirs) and proudly tell them that I got to share the stage with those guys.
-Brandon Phillips (guitarist and lead singer of the GADJITS)
I hope that many of you will come to appreciate Mr. McCook as much as I have.
I only knew his music, which is and will always be some of the
most fantastic ska music ever created. From his first recordings
to his last release on Moon, Tommy McCook's ska stylings were genuine.
-Matt Collyer (guitarist and lead singer of the PLANET SMASHERS)
