The original Rasta Man from Amarillo, TX!

Interview w/ Papa Dreadie

Tell me a little about yourself?:

I guess I would say I’m a simple man with simple tastes. I’m 50 years of age now and in love with life and all that’s it’s given me. The love of Jah in my heart, a wonderful Woman, Liz, who’s been my best friend, lover, confidant,and wife for over twenty years. She’s always been here with and for me. When times have been sweet we’ve eaten the good fruit, laughed, enjoyed our family, our animals, good music and great times. When times got ruff ‘n’ tuff we’ve always been side by side and back to back. If one of us needed support the other was there to be the column.

I would say all things in life have “made” me, the positive and the negative. Since I prefer to think about the positive and not dwell on the negative I have to give thanks to my deceased Mother, Grandmother, and to all my friends thru life. All have given me many gifts, each in their own way. I would have never become ‘Me’ without them and the positive effects they’ve had on me. Give praises!

What about your musical history? What interested you initially?:

I have to laugh a little, it was my “Moms” that first gave me the love for rhythm. I heard her Heart-Beat Riddem’ for nine months before I first bawled on my own. All kidding aside it was my Mom and Grandmother that first instilled in me a love and appreciation for music. Granny always had the radio on. I have very fond memories of setting in her kitchen as a youth, listening to Country music and watching her do her Okie shuffle as she sang with the radio and made me something to eat.

My Mom was a great lover of music. She listened to all sorts of music. She loved Big Band Swing, Jazz, Blues, Latin, Calypso and Country. I can’t think of much that wasn’t in her record collection. Mom was the person that taught me what music could to your soul. She might be listening to some Billie Holiday and start to bawl and I saw the sadness and tears could cleanse her sorrows. Other times she’d be over flowing with joy, laughing, singing, and pulling me to my feet to dance with her.

I think, like many of my generation, what made me really want to play an instrument was Rock ‘n’ Roll . Elvis, then The Beatles and the whole English music scene. My Granny had already bought me an electric guitar and no amp, which was probably good thinking on her part. I had started to pick out a few instrumental tunes. ”Pipeline”, ”Walk Don’t Run” mostly. The Ventures type of tunes. Then along came The Beatles. The first time I heard that “Yeah, Yeah, Yeah,” I was gone. I knew I wanted to sing and be a player of instruments.

Now that you’re a player of instruments, what instruments do you play?:

For the most part I play guitar and harmonica, but I play “at” all sorts of instruments. I say play “at” because I will never be as accomplished on them as I know others are and wish I was. I’ve played guitar, mostly rhythm for many years. It was my first instrument and what I always grab when I want to write a song. In the Bob Dylan folk music days I picked up the harp. Soon after that I heard guys like Little Walter, Jimmy Cotton, Junior Wells, all those old Blues harp men. They changed my whole view on the harp and I saw it as a real instrument that could hold it’s own in any music.

Now that I play mostly Reggae, I play various percussion instruments and “noise makers” as I like to call them. I play Keyboards,which today means I can voice many sounds. Organ, piano, horns, synth, and the list goes on. When it comes to drums, like a drum set, I have to say I’m more of a programmer than a real player. Even though I use drum pads at times, I can’t keep all my extremities going together in sync.

Who are some of the groups you’ve played with?:

I can’t say I’ve ever played in any world famous groups. At least not famous outside their musical genre. No Rolling Stones or anything to boast of. As a youth I played in dozens and dozens of bands like most of us. Playing for teen dances and such all over the area. As I got a little older I played in Rock and Blues Bands. They were all your basic bar bands. You know, playing a High School dance one weekend, the next a Blues club on the north side or little bar in one of the surrounding towns.

Like you, in the early 70’s I left the wind blown flatlands of Amarillo and headed to Austin. While you gained your skills as a Blues Man, I went into the then new and extremely popular Country Music scene. Not that Country Music was new at all, they just called it Progressive Country. What made it new and exciting was that you were playing for a lot of young people. Many were ex-hippy types just getting into C.W. music. A year before they were smoking dope at the park listening to rock music. Now they were in a honky tonk listening to Hank Williams songs and doing the hippie-hop instead of the 2-Step, which they hadn’t learned as yet. They just felt some ‘roots’ stir in their bones when they heard the music.

I had been playing Harp in small country bands in Amarillo when one night Robin Crow, Alvin’s wife at the time, came in and said I should go check the growing Country scene in Austin. Two or three days later I stuck out my thumb and that night I was setting in with Alvin Crow and The Pleasant Valley Boys. Alvin played Country Swing which brought back the days of listening to Bob Wills on the radio with my grannie. Part of my roots. In those days of progressive country Alvin’s Swing was the Champagne of Regressive Country as he loved to call it. Thanks to my time with Alvin and the Boys I got to meet and play with numerous very talented musicians.

So from Mercy Beat to Blues,Rock,and Country. How did you get into Reggae?:

The first time I heard Reggae Jah was working his magic, even then, but unknown to me at that time. I had moved back to Amarillo. I was tired of the road life, living out of a suit case and waking up in strange beds. I was doing construction work and still playing country on the weekends. One night in ‘76 or so I read an article about Bob Marley, the Rastafarians, and Reggae music. The next day I bought Bob’s “Rasta Man’s Vibration”, Peter Tosh’s “Legalize It” and an LP by U-Roy.

As Bob said “Many shall listen but few shall hear”. Well I heard the words Scream in my heart. Being a child of the 60’s I lived through all the war protests, songs of love and peace. The racial movement and songs of freedom and equality. Well in Mi world nothing no change. Seen! Nations war against Nations, Woman not treated as an equal, Poor still trod pon, Naw playground look like a rainbow.

So to me Reggae was warm and inviting. A refreshing way of voicing your thoughts about the world and at times man’s inability to except and treat others as an equal. Reggae was the perfect format for me to write songs. I could write songs about Love, love for a lady or love of mankind, songs about Spiritual Beliefs, songs of Protest or songs to simply make you wear out your dancin’ shoes and have fun.

Besides the conscious lyrics, I fell in love with the music itself. The simplicity of the chord structures and the depth the off beat rhythms give it. It all came together to make a very natural and pleasing music to my ears.

It was an easy step for me to make and a very fulfilling one. Give thanks and praises to The Most High! Bob and all that made Reggae a great music and a force for positive change. Now that I think back Reverb, you and the Lotions were the first “Live” Reggae music and the first White Bowy Reggae Band I ever heard. It was then I starting to walk the righteous path.

Now you’ve spent a lot of time in Jamaica, right? Tell me about your visits and some more memorable events while you were there:

I could talk all day about my trips to Ja. My first trip of course was a very memorable one. It was the basis for all my future trips and the foundation for most of my beliefs and views today. I saw my first Jamaican Reggae Sun Splash and discovered one of my best Idrens. Yhea the first trip is a good place to start.

I had been listening to Reggae for a number of years. My record collection had grown greatly. Way beyond just Bob, Peter, and a few other well know artists. I was playing music by dozens and dozens of virtually unknown artists or at least unknown in my area I should say. I had seen movies and videos like “The Harder They Come”, “Babylon” and such. I had read books and numerous articles on Reggae, Rasta, and the Jamaican culture. I had met Reggae musicians from all over the U.S. Many from different countries, Cuba, Guyana, Dominica,and Jamaican Yardies. So I felt I had a good grasp on what Jamaica, the music scene and the Jamaican cultrue held in store for me. I was right in some aspects, but so off on others. I now know it was like thinking you know your neighbor by looking over your fence into his backyard.

A friend of mine Bill Pearce, who played Reggae bass with me, and his wife Tammy had made the trip the previous year. They just loved it so we made plans to go and take in SunSplash. It was 85’ or 86’, the last year it was held at Jarrett Park a small soccer stadium in Mo-Bay (Montego Bay). I got there a day or two before them and from the moment the plane landed I was in Love! After getting settled into my hotel I was off to see Elton Willams, a Yardie they had met the previous year.

The taxi ride to the “round about”, near Sam Sharpe Sq. in downtown Mo Bay where Elton made and sold his hammocks was a mind blower! Reggae was blasting from everywhere! From ours and other taxis, from store fronts, higgler (entrepreneurs) stands, boomboxes, the island breezes were simply full of the rockin’ riddem’ of reggae music. If that wasn’t enough to get my blood flowing, to me my drivers skills were in question. I had never got so close to pedestrians, bicyclists, animals, and other automobiles without a mishap. Not to mention the Tuff Gong Carts (hand pushed carts) that came out of nowhere, and at the time to me, showing even less skills and concern than my driver.

Upon arrival to the round about I found a stadium shaped park like area. It was full of higglers doing business, people selling T-shirts, Sky Juice (snowcones), fruit, and assorted hand crafted items like jewelry and wood carvings of every imaginable subject. I checked a few hammock weavers and found Ras Elton Willams. A slim dreadlock with an infectious smile. From our first reasonings (talks) I knew Elton was a man of great wisdom and well respected in the area. We became the best of friends in a very short period that day. I owe Ras Elton much. He showed me what was up street wise, sort of Jah - 101. From those skills I’ve been able to travel the Island and be at home anywhere. Ras Elton also helped me greatly in my spirituality, a better over-standing of myself and the effects we all have on our world. I have become a family member and when I go to Jah I stay with Ras Elton and daughter Michelle. Every time it’s so nice to be reunited with my Idren and family.

You have hosted some traveling Reggae musicians. Tell me about them and your relationship with them:

Amarillo’s not much of a center for Reggae music. In our area we hear very little Reggae. Not on the radio and very little live in the Clubs. Country and Rock still rains supreme as the most popular types of music.

Amarillo’s centerd on the map of the U.S., I-40 (Route 66) splits the states East to West, Highway 287 runs from the far south of Texas, thru Amarillo on up to Denver. It would seem a few major acts like Steel Pulse, Luciano, or some other larger act would have stopped, but as of yet that’s not the case. So I feel extremely lucky to have heard, met, and become friends with many of the Reggae Bands that have performed in Amarillo over the years. Thru the years we’ve been host to many very talented bands.

A few of the bands that come to mind in a hurry are Tony Bell and Kutchie.The Killer Bee’s, Route 1, World Tribe, and Tribal Nation. All of those bands or at least a few members in some cases carry a specail spot with me.They’ve become close friends of mine and have given to me greatly. All of us have ate and jammed together. Numerous have taught me licks and such, others were kind enough to play on tunes I’ve recorded. Give praises for each of them!

Many of the guys stop in on their way across the country even when not playing here. Sometimes it’s a short stop for tea or coffee and to just say hello and rest a little. Other times they’ll call ahead and I’ll cook Nuff Nice food fe eat. Those times are fun, we get to eat, shoot the breeze, and Jam. I guess I’m Papa Dreadie’s All Night Dinner and Dance Hall.

You are an excellent cook, especially in Caribbean style. How did you get into that? Did anyone inspire you and help you with recipes?:

Yeah, I love to cook and eat. I love spicy foods espically in the Caribbean styles. It was Tony Bell that really got me into the cooking thing. Tony and Kutchie were coming back through from Houston, Tex. They stopped at a Bicycle Shop I owned then and wanted to know if they could borrow my kitchen. In Tony’s words “Roots, we can’t take the Big Mac attack again, Seen! Let we use de kitchen.”

I was already in love with Jamaican cuisine so I was more than game. Off we went to the supermarket to score all the needed supplies. That was a trip! I laughed my butt off! It was a gas to watch workers as they were asked for Cho Cho(Choyote), Scotch Bonnet Peppers (Habanero, a Latin cousin, is easier found here), Yams (not sweet potato), Pumpkin (a hard squash). Not only did I need to translate the names of produce I needed to translate Patio, when the worker would say “What’d he say?!?”

After getting home and turning the sound system up to “Blow Them Full Watts Tonight”, Tony was off to kitchen. In those days nobody in Kutchie was stricky Ital (vegetarian) so Tony was making fried chicken. This dish you would call a Chicken Fricassee, Jamaican style. In with the chicken he added all sorts of veggies. Onions, scallions, sweet patato, habanero peppers, thyme, carrots. It all cooked together to make the most tastey dish, served along with Rice ‘n’ Peas.

When dinner was done I told Tony I wished he lived here so I could eat Yardie style more often. I’ve never forgot his reply! “If ya’ want fe eat good food, learn fe cook yuh-self”. Every trip after that back to Jamaica I payed close attention. You could always find me with Ole’ Granny, Gibbs, Elton, anyone who was cooking at the time. Thanks to them and others I gained a great knowlege of Caribbean cooking.