The Cables are a Jamaican
rocksteady
Rocksteady is a music genre that originated in Jamaica around 1966. A successor of ska and a precursor to reggae, rocksteady was the dominant style of music in Jamaica for nearly two years, performed by many of the artists who helped establish ...
/
reggae
Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...
vocal trio led by Keble Drummond, who recorded for
Studio One in the late 1960s.
History
The group was led by Keble Drummond (sometimes spelled Keeble), whose first name led to the name of the group.
[Peter I (2004)]
Interview With The Cables
, ''Reggae Vibes'' Drummond explained "Now, I look at something with a cable and wires, and I say, well, 'Cables' would be a good name because you could send a message across the world, and that's how I came up with the name".
He was backed by harmony singers Elbert Stewart (baritone) and Vince Stoddart (tenor).
[Larkin, Colin (1998) "The Virgin Encyclopedia of Reggae", Virgin Books, ] Drummond was taught the basics of guitar by Peter Austin of
The Clarendonians and write his first songs after attending a songwriting course.
Drummond had previously been a member of The Sylastians, along with Barry Llewellyn and Earl Morgan of
The Heptones
The Heptones are a Jamaican rocksteady and reggae vocal trio most active in the 1960s and early 1970s. They were one of the more significant trios of that era, and played a major role in the gradual transition between ska and rocksteady into ...
, and Clive Campbell of The Aces, and the Cables were first formed in 1962.
[Thompson, Dave (2002) "Reggae & Caribbean Music", Backbeat Books, ] After recording a single for
Sonia Pottinger around 1966, they recorded a string of singles for Studio One, and these were later collected on the album ''What Kind of World'' in 1970. "What Kind of World" has been described as "a classic...a low-key showcase for some of the most under-rated vocals of the age".
Studio One boss
Clement "Coxsone" Dodd built up demand for the "Baby Why" single by limiting it to
sound system plays for four months before releasing it.
The rhythm tracks were later employed by Dodd on several tracks by other artists. Unsatisfied with the lack of money received from Dodd, The Cables recorded for
Harry J while they were still under contract to Studio One, with Drummond altering his voice and the single released under the name "Herbie Carter" (a real singer who recorded for Harry J) to avoid Dodd finding out.
By 1970, The Cables had left Studio One. "(Everybody) Feel Alright" was entered into the
Festival Song Contest in 1971, losing out to
Eric Donaldson's "Cherry Oh Baby".
They recorded a few more singles for producers such as J.J. Johnson,
Harry J, and
Bunny Lee ("Come On", recorded with
Slim Smith), but failed to repeat their Studio One success. Drummond left the group to embark on an unsuccessful solo career in 1972, and briefly formed a new group, True Experience, with Trevor Shields and Bobby Ellis, releasing "My Girl" in 1974.
"Baby Why" formed the basis of
deejay tracks from both
Dennis Alcapone and
Prince Jazzbo
Linval Roy Carter (3 September 1951 – 11 September 2013), better known as Prince Jazzbo, was a Jamaican reggae and dancehall deejay and producer.
Career
Born in Clarendon Parish, Jamaica, and raised in Kingston, Linval Roy Carter (who woul ...
, and the rhythm was used by
The Gladiators for their 1974 track "Rearrange".
[Barrow, Steve & Dalton, Peter (1999) "Reggae: 100 Essential CDs", Rough Guides, ]
A second album, ''Baby Why'', produced by Harry J, was recorded in 1977, where they were backed by musicians from
The in Crowd and
Third World
The term "Third World" arose during the Cold War to define countries that remained non-aligned with either NATO or the Warsaw Pact. The United States, Canada, Japan, South Korea, Western European nations and their allies represented the " First ...
.
The Cables have reformed several times in the years that followed. Drummond earned a living working in a shoe factory during The Cables' peak and moved to the United States in 1979, later working for
American Airlines
American Airlines is a major US-based airline headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It is the largest airline in the world when measured by fleet size, scheduled passengers carried, and revenue passeng ...
.
A third album, also titles ''Baby Why'' and credited to "Cables and friends" was issued in 1993, and led to The Cables performing at the 1994 ''
Reggae Sunsplash
Reggae Sunsplash is a reggae music festival first staged in 1978 in the northern part of Jamaica. In 1985 it expanded with the addition of an international touring festival. The festival ran annually until 1996, with a final event in 1998, befo ...
'' festival.
The three original members, along with tenor Owen "Bobby" Dockery, reunited in 2011 to perform at the
Sierra Nevada World Music Festival
The Sierra Nevada World Music Festival is an annual music festival held every June on the weekend of (or the weekend following) the summer solstice. It is currently held at the Mendocino County Fairgrounds in Boonville, California.
History
The fes ...
in California.
Drummond released a solo album, ''Mellow Moods of Music'', in August 2013.
[Campbell, Howard (2013)]
Keble Drummond's Mellow Moods
, ''Jamaica Observer
''Jamaica Observer'' is a daily newspaper published in Kingston, Jamaica. The publication is owned by Butch Stewart, who chartered the paper in January 1993 as a competitor to Jamaica's oldest daily paper, ''The Gleaner
''The Gleaner'' is an ...
'', 7 October 2013. Retrieved 12 October 2013
Discography
Albums
*''
What Kind of World'' (1970) Studio One
*''Baby Why'' (1977) Harry J
*''Baby Why'' (2002)
VP (Cables and friends)
;Keble Drummond:
*''Mellow Moods of Music'' (2013)
Singles
;The Cables:
*"Happy End" SEP
*"I've Made Up My Mind" aka "Good Luck to You" (1966) Gay Disc
*"You Betrayed Me" (1967) SEP
*"What Kind of World" (1968) Studio One/Coxsone
*"Baby Why" (1968) Studio One
*"Love Is a Pleasure" (1968) Studio One
*"Cheer Up" (1968) Studio One
*"So Long" (1969) Bamboo
*"Got to Find Someone" (1969) Studio One
*"Happy Time" (1969) Harry J (credited to Herbie Carter)
*"How Can I Trust You" (1970) Studio One/Bamboo
*"Didn't I" (1970) Harry J
*"Feel All Right" (1970) Harry J
*"Salt of the Earth" (1970) Harry J
*"Come On" (1970) Jackpot
*"A Sometime Girl" (1971) Big Shot/Electro
*"Mixing" (1971) Electro
*"Be Wise" (1971) Panther
*"Everybody's Got a Song to Sing" (1976)
Trojan/Horse
*"Jamaica" Afrik (1977)
*"I've Got to Go Back Home" Harry J
*"Baby I Love You" (197?) World Wide/Money Disc
*"Fast Mouth" Gaydisc
*"How Do You Think I Feel?" Gaydisc
*"Rich Man Poor Man" Dynamic
*"Too Much Talking" Bright Star
;Keble Drummond:
*"Dangerous" (1972) Mud/
Pama (b-side of the Phil Pratt All Stars' "Feel Good All Over")
*"Your Pretty Face" (1973) Jackpot
*"Praise Jah" (1976) Mummy
*"Keep on Dancing" Mummy
*"Imagine Now" Starlight
*"The Twinkle is Gone" Harry J (credited to "Eric Fater")
*"If Only Love Could Last"
;Keble Drummond and The Cables:
*"Poor People" High Note
*"What Kind of World" (1977)
Island
An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An isla ...
/Black Swan
References
External links
The Cablesat ''Roots Archives''
*Leggett, Steve "
The Cables Biography, ''Allmusic'', Macrovision Corporation
The Cables Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cables, The
Jamaican reggae musical groups