Joe Higgs

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Joe Higgs singing "There's a reward"

Joe Higgs (June 3, 1940 – December 18, 1999) was a reggae musician from Jamaica. In the 1960s he was part of the duo Higgs and Wilson together with Roy Wilson.

Higgs knew Bob Marley from the early 1960s. In fact, Marley acknowledged later on that he had been an influential figure for him. Most people interested in classical reggae do not recognize his name, however Higgs has been regarded as the "Father of Reggae' by Jimmy Cliff. For a while Higgs toured with Cliff as well as The Wailers when Bunny Wailer refused to go on the tour in mid 1970s while The Wailers were having disputes.

A majority of Higgs' songs were connected to his impoverished life in Trenchtown where he grew up. Higgs considered that it was out of the poverty and violence of Kingston's shantytowns such as Trenchtown and Johnstown that the reggae music had grown. Before reggae hit big on the western music scene with Bob Marley, it was understood as a "ghetto music". Higgs was the very first artist out the ghetto music scene to have lyrics which primarily dealt with every day troubles. In his own words, "the music originated from the confrontation of a struggle... It's not even got to be known as you are from Trenchtown. It is a kind of strength that you have to, really, accumulate. Reggae is a confrontation of sound, man. Reggae has to have a basic vibrant sound which is... to be heard in a ghetto is like playing the bass very loud...and the drum. Those are the basic sounds. A classical reggae should be accepted in any part of the world in the same sense: freedom, that's what it's asking for; acceptance, t'what it needs; and understanding, y'know, that's what reggae say."

"You have a certain love come from hard struggle, long suffering. A certain love that, through pain, girdle yourself with that hope for freedom. Not to give up."

The following lyrics from "There's a Reward" (Life of Contradiction, 1975) reflect this attitude. Higgs commented on this song as being his anthem and biographical song, detailing a life of often being mistreated and overlooked, yet still holding strong and having hope for his future:

Everyday my heart is sore

Seeing that I'm so poor

But I shall not give up so easy

There's a reward for me, there's a reward for me

Though I'm bordered down with shame

There's no one for me to blame

But I shall not give up so easy

There's a reward for me, there's a reward for me

Sometimes I feel like a motherless child

You know no one cares for me

I've never known sympathy

Sometimes I look to this world with a smile

Man you hear what I say...

Quotations from memorial website:

"Joe Higgs was a brother amongst the Wailers for years. He was encouragement, and he inspired us and kept us together." - Peter Tosh (1976)

"We looked up to Joe Higgs. He was something like a musical guardian for us. He was a more professional singer, because he was workin' for years wit' a fella named Roy Wilson as Higgs & Wilson. They had a lotta hits and they had the knowledge of the harmony techniques, so he taught us [The Wailers] them. And he 'elped in the studio, to work out our different parts." - Bunny Wailer (1980's)

"Joe Higgs helped me understand that music. He taught me many tings." - Bob Marley

Higgs died of cancer on December 18, 1999.