Matumbi – Guide Us Jah

29th September 1977 · 1970s, 1977, Music, Reggae, UK Reggae

Matumbi were one of the leading UK Reggae bands of the Seventies, formed by dub master Dennis Bovell, who went on to have a stellar production career.

Formed in South London in 1971, Matumbi were one of the original home-grown British reggae groups and spent their first few years playing as the backing band for visiting Jamaican reggae artists.

One of their earliest gigs was at a charity concert in Edmonton where, according to legend, and much to their embarrassment, they went down better than the headliners – their heroes Bob Marley & the Wailers.

Originally signed to Trojan, with whom they had a couple of hits (After Tonight and a reggaefied cover of Dylan’s Man In Me), they moved to EMI’s Harvest label and wrote and recorded the theme song for the BBC’s ‘black soap opera’ Empire Road.

I saw them on countless occasions, including support slots with Ian Dury, Peter Tosh at the Rainbow, and a gig in High Wycombe where I interviewed them but they got me so discombobulated in the dressing room that I left my notebook on the roof of my car when I drove home.

Matumbi had their biggest success with this undeniably catchy but lightweight tune, Point Of View, which incorporates an element of Glenn Miller-style big band brass that’s not entirely to my taste – unlike the killer dub showcasing the production skills of Dennis Bovell and the toasting prowess of the late great I-Roy.

It crept into the Top 40 pop charts but Bovell had far more success in his own right, originally with his own dub albums (under the nickname Blackbeard) and a long relationship with Linton Kwesi Johnson, as well as writing Janet Kay’s big hit Sillly Games.

He also brought his unique dub-influenced production style to landmark albums by The Slits (Cut) and The Pop Group’s Y, as well as others as diverse as Orange Juice and The Thompson Twins Madness and Fela Kuti – and Bananarama.

This song, Guide Us, is more to my taste and demonstrates their blend of Jamaican-style roots reggae and Rastafarian-themed lyrics, and UK-influenced rock music in the fluid lead guitar lines.