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＃from All Music Guide (Go there for major artists)
Reggae is a music unique to Jamiaca, but it ironically has its roots in New Orleans R&B. Reggae's direct forefather is ska, an uptempo, rhythmic variation based on the New Orleans R&B Jamaican musicians heard broadcast from the US on their transistor radios. Relying on skittering guitar and syncopated rhythms, ska was their interpretation of R&B and it was quite popular in the early '60s.
However, during one very hot summer, it was too hot to either play or dance to ska, so the beat was slowed down and reggae was born.
Since then, reggae has proven to be as versatile as the blues, as it lends itself to a number of interpretations, from the melodic rock steady of Alton Ellis and the rock and folk-influenced songwriting of Bob Marley to the trippy, near-psychedelic soundscapes of dub artists like Lee "Scratch" Perry. It has crossed into the mainstream through the
bright, bouncy "reggae sunsplash" festivals and pop-oriented bands like UB40, but more adventurous reggae artists, such as Marley and Perry, have influenced countless reggae, folk, rock and dance artists. Their contributions resonate throughout popular music.
＃from The Origin of Reggae in Bob Marley site
"As far as Jamaican record-buyers are concerned, the word reggae was coined on a 1968
Pyramid dance single, "Do the Reggay (sic)," by Toots and the Maytals. Some believe the
term is derived from Regga, the name of a Bantu-speaking tribe on Lake Tanganyika. Others say it is a corruption of "streggae," Kingston street slang for prostitute.
Bob Marley claimed the word was Spanish in origin, meaning "the king's music." Veteran
Jamaican studio musicians offer the simplest, and probably the most plausible, explanation.
"It's a description of the beat itself," says Hux Brown, lead guitarist on Paul Simon's 1972
reggae-flavored hit, "Mother and Child Reunion," and the man widely credited with inventing
the one-string quiver/trill that kicked off Simon's single as well as many of the top island hits of
the preceeding years.
"It's just a fun, joke kinda word that means the ragged rhythm and the body feelin'. If
it's got a greater meanin', it doesn't matter," Brown said.
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