Riddim

History of riddims

Riddim is the patois spelling of rhythm. Within reggae it is used to identify a backing track that is used for more than one song. The use of specific backing tracks for various songs is peculiar to Reggae, it started in the mid 60's in the Ska period but grew massively with the emergence of Dancehall in the late 70's/early 80's.

The earliest uses of a single rhythm for more than one song emerged circa 1965. For example, Wailers - Rude Boy/Lee Perry - Pussy Galore both recorded at Studio One. The earliest uses (and to some extent later ones too) were probably just intended as ways of saving money by having two different songs whilst only having to pay the house band once.

By the late 60's the practice was becoming far more widespread, this also coincided with the growth of the version side, being in the first instance a plain instrumental version of a vocal tune and later a Dub version.

In 1970 with the explosion of the deejay phenomenon the re-use of rhythms reached a new level of popularity. Though up to this point it is worth noting that a producer might re-use a rhythm he had already voiced but would not re-record another producers rhythm. Rhythms were however occasionally shared which lead to different producers using the same rhythm track (for example Slip Away - Slim Smith for Bunny Lee and Prisoner Of Love - Dave Barker for Lee Perry).

In the early 70's Augustus Pablo begun to cut melodica versions of Studio One rhythms (El Rockers = Real Rock).

By the mid 70's the Channel One studio band, the Revolutionaries, had begun to extensively recut older rhythms, again frequently sourced from Studio One (Angola = Darker Shade Of Black, MPLA = Freedom Blues, Top Rank = Mr Fire Coal Man etc.) These rhythms were also used for new vocals. Coxsone Dodd (who was busy revoicing his own rhythms during this period) responded in kind by taking some Channel One rhythms such as Ballistic Affair and cutting them in a Studio One style.

As the Dancehall style began to dominate Jamaican music towards the end of the 1970's the re-use of classic rhythms effectively became the norm. This began as a result of deejays and singers using classic rhythms when performing live on Sound Systems. The popularity of certain songs and the rhythms they were performed on encouraged producers to re-record these rhythms so the new versions could be released on record.

A riddim can have just a couple of songs on it up to several hundred in the case of the most popular ones such as Real Rock, Stalag and Sleng Teng.

The names of riddims

During the earlier days rhythms often got their name from the first song utilizing it - as with Cuss Cuss. It was also common that rhythms changed name when reappearing in newer versions or having a new major hit on it - as with Under Me Sensi (originally known as African Beat) that was a great success for Barrington Levy. As the riddim culture evolved it was more common that some producers created rhythms specifically for recording several versions on it. These rhythms often had a name not related to any of the recordings on it - as with Diwali, or were named after one particular recording usually one that would be identified as particularly strong.

Riddim albums

The versioning of songs also created an interest in collecting these songs as album collections - thus the riddim albums where born. The first album consisting of strictly one rhythm is regarded to be the Yamaha Skank LP (Success, 1974). A set produced by Rupie Edwards featuring the riddim known as My Conversation. The popularity of one-rhythm-albums increased during the mid to late 80's and there was several dancehall rhythms that got the album treatment instead of simply having releases pressed as only singles.

The phenomena continued into the new century with Greensleeves introducing their Rhythm Albums on CD and Vinyl and the similar Riddim Driven series released by VP Records. These released have been critisised by some who feel it has encouraged producers to release inferior cuts of certain rhythms just to ensure there were enough versions to licence to Greensleeves or VP for a rhythm album.

Also see

• List of Riddims

External links

• Greensleeves rhythm albums discography at Tapirs site