Happy Birthday to two Jamaican Greats

[HL]

Iz true that Eddie Seago was not born in Jamaica?

[Gamma]

how can historian be so strident in his rejection of any influence jamaica had on Bell? children see the world through the lens provided by their family background...and this is soooo evident in listening to this interview!

if it was that bell was adopted the day he was born by an american family and grew up there i would say he has a point! but how could bell's outlook on everything NOT be affected by the fact that he grew up in a jamaican household and he says as much when he says that he looked at thigs differently including music ....... SMDH

[Islandman]

I am in agreement with you on this Historian. As I have said previously, where your mother pushed you out counts for very little in my book. It is the society and culture that influences your life work that matters. Yes there are grey areas, one can be influenced by multiple cultures.

I respect the opinion of those who see it differently once the position is CONSISTENT. If we want to claim the successful person who left JA in diapers then we must also accept the Jamaica-born label given to every negative story involving someone who left the country while sucking on a pacifier.I do not.

[Exile]

Island...there are a lot of things intermingled...yes, initial birthplace may be trite (not to some) but being Jamaican (or Jamaican influenced) is more than just being born a yaad....as Mosiah intimated, the socio-cultural upbringing from Jamaican parents - no matter where the child lives does have a MAJOR role to play - whether positive or negative....but observing in passing does not necessarily mean worshiping...and we could go on and on...what about Colin Powell? He is American as they get BUT I've heard him say LIVE that he has been heavily influenced not only by his Jamaican roots but his Caribbean influences....says he was listening to "The Mighty Sparrow" - a Grenadian who calls Trinidad his home...

Methinks we are getting a little picky....

[Islandman]

Agreed, like I said it is not black and white. It is a matter of degree. I would not consider Colin Powell a Jamaican. His roots certainly has made me more interested in him than if he had none in Jamaica but his story is an American one.

But once you are of the view that the good must go with the bad then I have no problem. I take it you are OK with the policy of deporting criminals to JA who left before they were ten years old then.?

[Historian]

Thanks, I'man

I am in agreement with you on this Historian. As I have said previously, where your mother pushed you out counts for very little in my book. It is the society and culture that influences your life work that matters. Yes there are grey areas, one can be influenced by multiple cultures.

I respect the opinion of those who see it differently once the position is CONSISTENT. If we want to claim the successful person who left JA in diapers then we must also accept the Jamaica-born label given to every negative story involving someone who left the country while sucking on a pacifier.I do not.

Thank you, Islandman! What you have said here sums up perfectly what I was hoping the other gentlemen would see.

Another major weakness in the comments by Mo and Gamma and Jangle is their conclusion/suggestion that because a child grows up in a Jamaican household, that association naturally influences his/her inclination to turn to music. EVERY modern Western society has similar influences, and so in the same way a black Jamaican child sometimes turns to music, an American black child does as well.

Also, are Jamaican children primarily socialized into music by their families, or because of other reasons (for example, the prevalence of sound systems in some communities, the influence of their peers, etc.)? Jamaicans do NOT have a monopoly on music talent or musical inclinations!

By the way, I made an error in that I attached my second post (“I Completely Disagree!!!”) to the wrong link (post). My lengthy “completely disagree” post was a direct response to Mo’s detailed rebuttal, and NOT specifically to Reggaedoc’s more restrained comment.

To be honest, in my view it was an interesting discussion that resulted from a simple celebratory thread-starter by ‘Doc.

[Exile]

Thanks.

[Historian]

A Question

but how could bell's outlook on everything NOT be affected by the fact that he grew up in a jamaican household and he says as much when he says that he looked at thigs differently including music ....... SMDH

The question here is this: Thom Bell spent years studying classical music, and he in fact had hoped to become a classical music conductor! Does not this immersion into classical music count as anything?

Listen to some of his arrangements!

[Gamma]

it does, who is discounting that? does that make my statement any less true? what i am debunking is your TOTAL rejection of mosiah claiming him as jamaican and what influence if any that might have had on him.

i heard him mention chopin, so the poles can claim him too, right? i think you are missing the larger point, he is an amalgam of everything INCLUDING his jamaican heritage as from his parents, grandparents and upbringing ..... thinking and feeling different in his neigbourhood etc ...

btw did you LISTEN to the interview?

[Jangle]

I love this forum!!! Mosiah this is one of your best ever post since I have been here. I actually sat down and listened to the entire 45:55 of this interview. Excellent!!! Your head looks a little smaller in my eyes now.

[Mosiah]

LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL!

You are stoopid!!!



Oh, thanks! Fassy!

[Mosiah]

Thom had older brothers. We don't know at what point they came up to live in Philly, but, according to some articles, the family members all seemed to have come up at the same time.

So, did his older brothers have any influence on their little brother?

How can we just discount the Jamaican influence just because he came to Philly at 3 or 4 years of age? We all know hundreds of Jamaicans in the USA whose US-born children are heavily influenced by their parents, yet Thom would not have had such an influence. Really?!?!

It would be interesting to know where in Kingston he was from. Did he listen to sound systems blasting all night long? Could that have made him say to himself, hey, this classical shyte is nice and stuff but is this what I really want to do? Or was it Gamble and Huff who told him to stop being a white boy and come help us make popular music?

We don't know!

[Islandman]

True, we do not know. In the cases such as this where the evidence in his work is not obvious, should it be anything more than a curiosity that he has Jamaican connections though?

Take a Maxi Priest, born in the UK. It is clear that his Jamaican roots have a lot to do with his success. He lives it! He was a DJ on a sound system, his early recordings were reggae or heavily reggae influenced. We have EVERY reason as a community to feel proud of any success he had hitting the UK and Billboard charts and all that.

I just don't see that in the case of a Thom. I don't see it in the case of the shoe-bomber either, who I understand had some Jamaican connection via his father.

[Don1]

I just don't see that in the case of a Thom. I don't see it in the case of the shoe-bomber either, who I understand had some Jamaican connection via his father

If is one Clarks dat did ah wear mi nuh si ow wi cyaan accept im

[Mosiah]

Glad you mentioned Maxi Priest.

Maxi Priest was born in Lewisham, London. His parents moved to England from Jamaica to provide more opportunity for their family and he grew up listening to gospel, reggae, R&B, and pop music. His music is sometimes closer to R&B, and pop, than to reggae music itself.

What kind of music did Thom Bell's parents/grandparents listen to? Despite their desire to send him to classical music classes, maybe his other influences may have played a part in the music he created.

Possible? Likely? Quite, in my opinion!

I did piano lessons myself, btw, and was quite talented at it, ascording to my teacher, Mrs. Strudwick. Then I found football and tennis.