The genesis of Culture can be found in Joseph Hill's involvement with the Soul Defenders. In the early seventies, this band was working in the Linstead area (north of Spanish Town) and featured Joseph Hill as percussionist and one of their many vocalists. In 1971 the group started to record backing tracks for Coxsone Dodd at Studio One in Kingston. It is from these sessions that you can hear Hill's earliest recorded works (both as a vocalist and percussionist). The following year the group, except guitarist Jah Privy, left Studio One and started to play the hotel circuit on the North Coast.
During the next four years (1972 -76), Hill continued to play at various hotels with a variety of musicians. He is still angered by this lengthy absence from the recording studio and feels that his career was unjustly delayed as a result. In the spring of 1976, Hill's cousin, Albert Walker, approached him with the idea of starting a group. Kenneth Dayes (a cousin of Albert's) was recruited and the trio was formed (with Hill singing lead and Walker and Dayes on harmony vocals). At this time the group was working under the name African Disciples. However, the group's career didn't really take off until they went to work for Joe Gibbs, who ran a successful studio in Kingston at the time. Gibbs, along with engineer Errol Thompson (who were collectively known as 'The Mighty Two') were recording some of the strongest and most enduring reggae ever recorded (Prince Far I, Mighty Diamonds, Dennis Brown, Michael Rose, etc.). The combination of a studio at the top of its form and a vocal trio (now calling themselves Culture) with a batch of excellent songs resulted in the landmark Two Sevens Clash album. The Joe Gibbs studio band (the Professionals) then consisted of such major musicians as Sly Dunbar, Robbie Shakespeare, Lloyd Parks, Franklin "Bubbler" Waul and the late Eric "Bingy Bunny" Lamont. The importance of this album as both music and social commentary cannot be understated. The impact and popularity of the title track alone was felt in both Jamaica and England. At the time, many punks in the U.K. claimed that albums such as Two Sevens Clash shared their sense of alienation and urgency and influenced the work they were doing.
In 1977 Hill, Walker and Dayes recorded a large number of tracks for Joe Gibbs. The leftovers (the songs that were not released on Two Sevens Clash) would later be released as Baldhead Bridge and More Culture. Unfortunately the relationship between Culture and Gibbs was short lived. Later, Hill would say this of the experience: "It was like The Harder They Come movie, the way that guy Gibbs treat us." He stated that the group would never work for Gibbs again and that lawyers were required to wrestle away the group's fair share of income.
On April 22, 1978, Culture played at the famous One Love Peace Concert. The line up for the show included the best of the best: Dennis Brown, Ras Michael, Big Youth, Peter Tosh and Bob Marley and the Wailers. Aside from the stellar groups involved, the concert is probably best known for Bob Marley uniting opposing political party leaders Michael Manley and Edward Seaga on stage.
Unfortunately, Culture's next business experience was not much better than the one they had with Gibbs. The trio recorded a number of songs at Harry J's Studio and apparently failed to get paid for their troubles. These songs turned up on an unauthorized album titled Africa Stand Alone. Undaunted by this experience Culture promptly rerecorded all of these songs and many more for Sonia Pottinger's High Note label.
In 1974 (after Duke Reid's death) Sonia Pottinger had taken over the Treasure Isle catalog and facilities. She had already been heavily involved in the business for many years with her High Note and Gayfeet labels. Mrs. Pottinger had met the members of Culture earlier when she had helped them to obtain passports for some shows in the United States. The Pottinger/Culture relationship proved to be an incredibly fertile and prolific one. Over 1978/79 the group would release three excellent albums (Harder Than The Rest, Cumbolo, and International Herb) and many singles. Culture were regularly recording (and playing live) with the Revolutionaries band around this time. The Revolutionaries (who were playing on all the hits at Channel One studios) were an early Sly & Robbie amalgamation along with many other top musicians of the day. All of Culture's albums from this period were being issued in the U.K. by Virgin Frontline. A dub album showcasing the talents of resident producer Errol Brown would come out from these sessions as well. Mrs. Pottinger also helped the group launch their touring career in the US and U.K. during their time together.
The relationship between High Note and Culture ended sometime around 1980. The balance of the material recorded for Pottinger would not be released in North America until 1993 (Heartbeat CD Trod On). A US tour was mounted late in 1980. In early 1981 Culture rerecorded three of their earlier songs for the Calling Rastafari album (Nighthawk, 1982). Calling Rastafari also featured many of Culture's contemporaries (Mighty Diamonds, Gladiators, Wailing Souls, Itals) and still stands out today as one of the best roots reggae compilations available. For reasons that are unclear to this day, Culture split later that year.
In 1982 Joseph Hill emerged as a solo artist still using the Culture name. He teamed up with some of his former bandmates from the Soul Defenders to record and tour. Two recordings were released around this time. Both the Lion Rock album and the Peel Sessions EP proved that Hill was more than capable of surviving on his own. Unfortunately these recordings were followed by a lengthy dormant period.
After four years of inactivity Culture resurfaced with the original trio of Hill, Walker and Dayes. They were less than forthcoming with details about their split but seemed to have put it behind them. The first record to show up was Culture in Culture produced by Joseph Hill and Alvin 'GG' Ranglin. Ranglin's GG label had been active for quite a while, and he was best known for producing some of Gregory Isaac's best material. The single released was "Capture Rasta," a song that proved that relevant lyrics could be married with then current dancehall rhythms. Hill claims that the experience was less that satisfactory and that Ranglin mixed some of the album in his absence. This album did not become widely available in the US until Heartbeat reissued it in 1991.
Culture in Culture proved to be one of two LPs to materialize in 1986. Culture at Work was issued by Blue Mountain Records around the same time. The record was a very high quality recording co-produced by Sly & Robbie with Blackbeard. The single released was "Money Girl" and in spite of its slightly cynical lyrics, it proved to be a fairly large hit. The record also contained the Culture classic "I'm Worried," which the group continued to play live for many years. This record also marked the beginning of a distribution deal with Shanachie records in New Jersey. Shanachie would go on to reissue Two Sevens Clash the following year and later, all three original High Note albums.
During 1987 and 1988 Culture launched their fist US reunion tour. An excellent video (see discography) is available from this period. At the same time, the group was already working on its next album. Nuff Crisis was released in 1988 on Blue Mountain (slightly later on Shanachie) and showed the group to be in excellent form. The anti-cocaine song "Crack in N.Y." was chosen as the single. Surprisingly, within a few weeks of Nuff Crisis another record on the Washington D.C. label RAS Records arrived. Good Things was recorded with Culture's touring musicians from the period. It had a very forward sound and the CD included four notable dub tracks.
In 1989/90 the group was out vigorously touring North America promoting Nuff Crisis and Good Things. Almost every tour seemed to feature a different group of backing musicians. Unlike artists such as Burning Spear, Culture never settled on any consistent group of musicians for touring. Late '90 early '91 saw yet another tour, but Albert Walker and Kenneth Dayes were absent. The rumor at the time was that they had customs problems. Also in 1991, Shanachie released a new, very modern sounding Culture album. Three Sides To My Story proved to be another successful blend of contemporary dancehall music and strong lyrics. Most of these songs could be heard on earlier albums, but these new recordings were very fresh. On the song "Selector," Walker and Dayes sang some lead vocals for the first time.
1992 was another year of extensive touring. A lengthy stay in Europe was highlighted by an appearance in Germany at the Loreli Festival. As well as Culture, the concert featured Burning Spear and Freddie McGregor. The group also returned to play Sunsplash, and Wings of a Dove was issued by Shanachie. At the time it seemed to be a return to a more traditional sounding roots album. It did not have the same dancehall pulse of Three Sides To My Story. The title track appeared briefly on a 45 from the Volcano label.
By the year's end, Culture seemed burned out and dissension had set in. Both Albert Walker and Kenneth Dayes were discontent with their role in the background of the group. They wanted to continue on in a more dancehall vein, and were working on an album titled Hunting For Survival without Hill. In early 1993 Kenneth Dayes left the group to work on a solo album, but Albert Walker continued to work with Hill. They played Sunsplash with various members of the Soul Defenders singing along. Later in the year Hill and Walker went out on tour (this time promoting the recently reissued material on Trod On) with a backing band from North Carolina called Dub Mystic. Dub Mystic had opened for many reggae acts including Culture. With Kenneth gone, Dub Mystic's vocalist Ire'Lano Malomo (pronounced E-ray) was recruited to complete the trio. Culture toured the US again in the summer of 1994 with the same line-up. This tour was highlighted by a headlining appearance at the Vermont Reggae Festival.
1995 found the group hitting the road again. They made a couple of long treks through the US and Canada plus a few shows in Brazil. In November they took Dub Mystic to the Mixing Lab in Kingston and recorded the songs that would become One Stone.
Early 1996 was marked by two large concerts in Los Angeles for the Bob Marley Day Festival. In April RAS Records released One Stone and Culture hit the road touring Canada and the US with plans to return to Europe later in the year. Other plans include making a video and releasing "Mr. Sluggard" on a Jamaican 45.
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