Culture (band): Difference between revisions

{{Infobox musical artist <!-- See Wikipedia:WikiProject_Musicians -->

| name = Culture

| image = WAÏPA JOSEPH HILL = CULTURE.JPG

| caption = Waipa Saberty and =Joseph Hill

| image_size =

| backgroundalias = group_or_band=

| aliasorigin = [[Kingston, Jamaica|Kingston]], =Jamaica

| instrumentgenre = [[Roots reggae]], [[Dub music|dub]]

| genre occupation = [[Roots reggae]]

| occupation years_active = 1976–present

| associated_actswebsite = =

| current_members past_members = Kenyatta[[Joseph Hill (musician)|Joseph Hill]]<br />AlbertRoy "Kenneth" Dayes (aka Kenneth WalkerPaley)<br />TelfordReginald NelsonTaylor

'''Culture''' are a Jamaican [[roots reggae]] group founded in 1976. Originally they were known as the '''African Disciples'''. The one constant member until his death in 2006 was [[Joseph Hill (musician)|Joseph Hill]].

The group formed in 1976 as the vocal trio of Joseph Hill (formerly a percussionist in [[Studio One (record label)|Studio One]] house band the [[Soul Defenders]]), his cousin Albert "Ralph" Walker, and Roy "Kenneth" Dayes, initially using the name The African Disciples.<ref name="Thompson">Thompson, Dave (2002) ''Reggae & Caribbean Music'', Backbeat Books, {{ISBN|0-87930-655-6}}, p. 83-85</ref> Roy Dayes also used the name "Kenneth Paley", which is the name that appears on the Culture records released by Virgin Records.{{cncitation needed|date=March 2019}} The African Disciples soon changed their name to Culture, and auditioned successfully for the "Mighty Two"&nbsp;–: producer [[Joe Gibbs (record producer)|Joe Gibbs]] and engineer [[Errol Thompson (audio engineer)|Errol Thompson]].<ref name="Thompson" /> While at Gibbs' studio, they recorded a series of powerful singles, starting with "See Dem a Come" and including the hugely successful "Two Sevens Clash" (which predicted the apocalypse on 7 July 1977), many of which ended up on their debut album ''Two Sevens Clash''.<ref name="Barrow">Barrow, Steve & Dalton, Peter (2004). ''The Rough Guide to Reggae'', third ed. Rough Guides. {{ISBN|1-84353-329-4}}. p. 163.</ref><ref name="Wash">"Joseph Hill and Culture: Age-Defying Reggae", ''[[The Washington Post]]'', 8 May 2006, p. C04</ref><ref name="Porter">Porter, Christopher (2006) "[https://web.archive.org/web/20150328175807/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-130098.html Joseph Hill and Culture: Age-Defying Reggae]", ''[[The Washington Post]]'', 8 May 2006, retrieved 15 September 2012 {{HighBeam}}</ref> The song was sufficiently influential that many in Kingston stayed indoors on 7 July, fearing that the prophecy would come true.<ref name="Norris">Norris, Michele (2007) "[https://web.archive.org/web/20150328175810/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-141529893.html Birth of a Phenomenon: 'Two Sevens Clash']", [[NPR]], 12 July 2007, retrieved 15 September 2012 {{HighBeam}}</ref> A second Gibbs-produced album, ''Baldhead Bridge'', followed in 1978, by which time the group had moved on to record for producer [[Sonia Pottinger]].<ref name="Barrow" /> The group entered into a long-running dispute with Gibbs over royalties to the first album.

''Two Sevens Clash'' meanwhile had become a big seller in the United Kingdom, popular with [[punk rock]] fans as well as reggae fans and boosted by the support of [[John Peel]] on his [[BBC Radio 1]] show, and reached number 60 on the [[UK Albums Chart]] in April 1978.<ref name="Norris" /><ref name="Post">"[https://www.questia.com/read/1G1-149818821 Obituary: Joseph Hill]{{Dead link|date=December 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}", ''[[Liverpool Daily Post]]'', 22 August 2006, retrieved 15 September 2012 {{HighBeam}}</ref><ref>"[http://www.theofficialcharts.com/artist/_/culture Culture<small>(Link redirected to OCC website)</small>]", Chart Archive, retrieved 15 September 2012</ref> This prompted [[Virgin Records]] to sign the group to its [[Front Line (record label)|Front Line]] label, releasing ''Harder than the Rest'' (1978) and ''International Herb'' (1979).<ref name="Thompson" /> Culture also released records on other labels in Jamaica, including a [[Dub music|dub]] version of ''Harder than the Rest'', ''Culture in Dub'' (1978, High Note), and an album of different recordings of the same album, ''Africa Stand Alone'' (April 1978).<ref name="Thompson" /> An album recorded for Pottinger in 1979 with a working title of ''Black Rose'' remained unreleased until tracks emerged in 1993 on ''Trod On''.<ref name="Thompson" />

In 1981 the three singers went their own ways.<ref name="Pareles">Pareles, Jon (1988) "[https://www.nytimes.com/1988/01/16/arts/pop-culture-rockers-reggae-band.html Pop: Culture, Rockers Reggae Band]", ''[[The New York Times]]'', 16 January 1988, retrieved 15 September 2012</ref> Hill carried on using the Culture name, and recorded the ''Lion Rock'' album, which was reissued in the United States by [[Heartbeat Records]].<ref name="Thompson" /> Hill and his new band recorded a session for long time supporter [[John Peel]] in December 1982, and the group went on to record further studio sessions for Peel in 1998 and 2002, and their performance at the [[Royal Festival Hall]] in July 1998 was broadcast on his show.<ref name="KIP">"[http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/johnpeel/artists/c/culture/ Culture]", ''Keeping It Peel'', [[BBC]], retrieved 15 September 2012</ref> For their part, Walker and Dayes recorded a handful of songs on their own&nbsp;– a few of which turned up on an album titled ''Roots & Culture''. Hill performed at the ''[[Reggae Sunsplash]]'' festival in 1985 and in 1986 the original line-up reformed to record two highly regarded albums&nbsp;– ''Culture in Culture'' and ''Culture at Work''.<ref name="Thompson" />

Several albums followed in the 1990s on [[Shanachie Records]] and [[Ras Records]], often recorded with [[Sly and Robbie]], with Dayes leaving the group again around 1994, with Reginald Taylor replacing him.<ref name="Thompson" /><ref name="Quillen">Quillen, Shay (1990) "[https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=sn8fAAAAIBAJ&sjid=9GkEAAAAIBAJ&pg=3166,4159022&dq=culture+joseph-hill&hl=en Culture adds synthesized sounds to 'Nuff Crisis']", ''[[The Cavalier Daily]]'', 1 February 1990, p. 4, retrieved 15 September 2012</ref><ref name="Stoute">Stoute, Lenny (1994) "Reggaeman pounds Culture message home", ''[[Toronto Star]]'', 28 July 1994, p. E5</ref> Dayes subsequently worked as a solo artist under the name Kenneth Culture.<ref>Campbell, Howard (2016) "[http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/entertainment/Kenneth-Culture-continues-journey_62000 Kenneth Culture continues journey] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211008174318/https://www.jamaicaobserver.com/entertainment/Kenneth-Culture-continues-journey_62000 |date=8 October 2021 }}", ''[[Jamaica Observer]]'', 27 May 2016. Retrieved 5 June 2016</ref>

By 2001 Telford Nelson had replaced Taylor.<ref name="Cooke">Cooke, Mel (2003) "[http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20030913/ent/ent1.html Culture remains humble] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110811154021/http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20030913/ent/ent1.html |date=11 August 2011 }}", ''[[Jamaica Gleaner]]'', 13 September 2003, retrieved 15 September 2012</ref><ref name="Heim">Heim, Joe (2001) "[https://web.archive.org/web/20150924193929/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-415154.html Culture, Partying On In Rastafarian Harmony]", ''[[The Washington Post]]'', 26 March 2001, retrieved 15 September 2012 {{HighBeam}}</ref>

Joseph Hill, who came to symbolise the face of Culture, died in Berlin, Germany on 19 August 2006 while the group was on tour, after collapsing following a performance.<ref name="Francis">Francis, Petrina (2006) "[http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20060820/news/news5.html Reggae Icon, Joseph Hill, Dies] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120902083117/http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20060820/news/news5.html |date=2 September 2012 }}", ''[[Jamaica Gleaner]]'', 20 August 2006, retrieved 15 September 2012</ref> His son, Kenyatta Hill, who had acted as the group's sound engineer on tour, performed with his father's band at the Western Consciousness show in 2007, which was dedicated to Joseph Hill, and became the lead singer of Culture; Walker and Nelson continue to provide backing vocals.<ref name="Cooke2">Cooke, Mel (2007) "[http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20070413/ent/ent4.html Culture tribute for Western Consciousness 2007] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080610000922/http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20070413/ent/ent4.html |date=10 June 2008 }}", ''[[Jamaica Gleaner]]'', 13 April 2007, retrieved 15 September 2012</ref><ref name="Frater">Frater, Adrian (2007) "[http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20070121/ent/ent6.html Kenyatta Hill keeps the voice of Culture alive] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120902083353/http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20070121/ent/ent6.html |date=2 September 2012 }}", ''[[Jamaica Gleaner]]'', 21 January 2007, retrieved 15 September 2012</ref><ref name="GleanerW">"[https://web.archive.org/web/20150924203719/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P3-2476418811.html Joseph 'Culture' Hill lives on]", ''The Weekly Gleaner'', 1 September 2011, retrieved 15 September 2012 {{HighBeam}}</ref>

* ''Culture[[Nuff in CultureCrisis!]]'' (19861988), MusicBlue TrackMountain

* ''Pass the Torch'' (Tafari Records) (2007) (Seven versions of old tunes by Joseph Hill, and seven tunes by his son Kenyatta Hill)<ref name="Steckles">Steckles, Gary (2008) "[https://web.archive.org/web/20150924171740/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1N1-11E7161A202314D0.html Spin Control]", ''[[Chicago Sun-Times]]'', 27 January 2008, retrieved 15 September 2012 {{HighBeam}}</ref>