INTERVIEW : IJAHMAN
Interview by : Benoit Georges
Pictures by : Ludovic Perrin - www.ludovicperrin.com
on Tuesday, June 20th 2006 - 14 028 views
The name of Ijahman Levi rings out as a safe bet for any roots reggae fan. An artist of the golden era when reggae was going international thanks to Island, he joined Chris Blackwell's label for a brief relationship before going it alone through his own label, Tree Roots Records. With some thirty albums since 1978, the man with the velvet voice has kept his course to this day. He looks back with us over his long journey, strewn with obstacles.
Reggaefrance / We don't know much about you before the Island period. You were born in Jamaica but left quite early for England. Can you go back over that period?
Ijahman / Respect to your readers, first of all. My whole family emigrated from Jamaica in 1962 and I arrived in England in 1963. I lived in Trenchtown like many roots artists. Joe Higgs was my idol and I learned a lot from him while he was alive. I'm proud to say that I made my first record in Jamaica in 1962 at Duke Reid's, with the help of Stranger Cole, who got me in to record. That song was called Red eyes people and I have never heard it.
It never came out?
No, the only time I heard it was after recording it in the studio. It was ska. So I arrived in England and that's where my career as an artist began. I sang under the name The Yout with a partner called Rudie. Otis Redding is my idol and I loved singing his songs. Then my partner left for the United States. I carried on singing alone and I needed to find my identity as a solo artist. I didn't manage to find that identity until I got out of prison, when I took the name Ijahman Levi. During my time inside, I reflected, I read my Bible, a chapter a day.
When I came out, Denis Harris, the founder of Deep Recording, met me and told me he'd like to record me. He recorded three songs in his studio: Jah heavy load, I'm a Levi, Chariot of love. Fortunately, Jah heavy load was played to Chris Blackwell and he signed me to Island to make four singles. I signed the contract stipulating that I wanted to record those singles in Jamaica. I went to Jamaica and met Geoffrey Chung, who was my co-producer. We made 11 tracks. From those 11 tracks, Island made two albums: “Haile I Hymn”, which has four tracks, and “Are We a Warrior”, which has five. That makes nine tracks, so two tracks remained unreleased. But I'm happy to have made those two albums for Island and I thank Chris Blackwell for what he has done for my career. Of course, he had his own interests and I knew nothing about them.
So you were signed for two albums with Island?
It's a bit complicated. As I said, I had recorded 11 tracks in Jamaica which I thought were for a single album. So I never had the chance to make two real albums. But I regard it as Jah's work. At that time my music might have seemed strange, and people still tell me today, and have done since 1979, that I was ahead of my time. I only now understand what that means. The fact is that many people regard those two albums as some of the best reggae records ever made. It's historic and those albums still sell today. But I have to say that Island never paid the royalties for those albums, which amounts to some 3 million euros over the last 25 years. We are now in proceedings in France and I hope I will be paid for the work I did. I'll soon be 60 and I know I will be paid before I die. I don't know how long I will go on living, but I know Jah won't let me leave the earth until I have been paid.
Thanks to those two albums, you were able to perform all over the world. Was that a result of Island's work?
No, it's solely down to my own work. Island never booked me on a tour at that time. I was young and a little naive and I only realised later what the plan should have been: obviously, those two albums should have been better promoted, there should have been singles, tours. But Island didn't see it that way. As I said, Chris Blackwell had his own interests. He told me he had made a mistake with Bob Marley and that he wouldn't make that mistake again: he signed Bob Marley but not the publishing of the songs. That's exactly what I did with him and that's where our dispute comes from: I signed with him but I always refused to sign over the publishing.
So even though I wasn't paid for those two albums, I didn't let that hold me back. I made my first album for myself, Tell it to the children. I now have 32 albums in my catalogue and I hold nothing against Chris Blackwell. He made it possible for my first two albums to be available all over the world, which I couldn't have done on my own. I respect him and thank him for that.
This experience with Island turned out to be a life lesson, since you then decided to self-produce.
Yes, of course. It was my decision, even though at the time Black Echoes (an English magazine, ed.) was surprised by it. I didn't even know what publishing was at that point. But intuitively, I knew I had written those songs and that they belonged to me. Only money could have made me change my mind. But that wasn't the case and I kept my publishing. Now, after 30 years, I know what publishing is and I tell myself I was right.
How did you choose your collaborators for your projects after Island?
First of all, I like recording in Jamaica. Apart from two or three tracks I recorded in England, I have always recorded everything in Jamaica. I carried on working with what they call the cream of the musicians: Sly & Robbie, Bobby Ellis… But little by little, a new generation took over. I think new blood brings new vibrations. So I worked with other musicians I chose myself. Some have no names, but I appreciate their vibrations. That's why I have to mention Steven Wright, who plays lead guitar on a few of my albums. I met him at Jack Ruby's, he was young and talented, so I brought him to London with me.
I have always wanted to follow my own ideas in my music. Some professional musicians are so professional that they don't bother to listen to what you have to say. No: I have my influences, my ideas, my bass lines… I'm not saying they are the best, but they are mine.
You could say you freed yourself from the song format by making very long tracks, far from the single format…
It's true that I'm known for having made some of the longest tracks in reggae. “Haile I Hymn” is proof of that. On my new album, “Versatile Life”, I have the song Busy body, which is also very long.
Can you tell us about your new album, in fact?
It’s an album recorded in Jamaica. Some tracks are old, like Busy body, which is 10 or 15 years old. There’s even a song called In the night that was recorded at Channel One with Dean Fraser on sax. I saw Dean Fraser last week in Jamaica. I gave him a copy of the album and I’m sure he’ll be very surprised to hear himself 25 years ago, when he was young. And then there are tracks that date from a few months ago. This album is coming out thanks to Michel of Médiacom, who is my agent. I really want to name him in this interview because I appreciate him a lot.
In the past, many people asked me to release an acoustic album. Today, I can tell those people that there are two acoustic songs on my new album: Bongo Hermann played percussion, I play guitar and I sing.
You are on stage in France again, and you have a rather special relationship with France.
Yes, I come to France every year because the French audience appreciates me. Simon is the first person who opened the doors of France to me. I then worked with other promoters before teaming up with Michel. I was also supposed to perform in Tunisia last year, but I had problems at the American border while I was in transit. In 2002, the police officer asked me if I smoked ganja: I told him the truth. I said I smoked because I’m a rasta and an artist and because I suffer from asthma. They searched me and found nothing, but I had to sign a statement which they used against me to ban me from American territory. I have never travelled with ganja, not once!
So I went to Scotland Yard, to make a new application and check that I no longer had a criminal record, and I am ‘‘ clean ’’. I will never forget that episode, all the more so as last year I was arrested again in transit and spent the night in prison. It didn’t work out so well for them, because both times they arrested me, a hurricane devastated the south of the United States at the same time! Fortunately, the world is big enough for my message. I don’t need to concentrate solely on the United States: I have France, Europe… My only regret is that I haven’t yet been to Africa, but I hope Africa will call me.
Otherwise I like France very much, and even if I realise that English is a bit difficult for you, my music will still make hearts beat.
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