Jackie Jackson, Bassist Behind Reggae's Biggest Hits, Dies at 79

Jackie Jackson, the bass player whose melodic lines drove some of the biggest reggae hits of the 1960s and 70s, has died aged 79.

Jackson was one of the cornerstones of Jamaican popular music. He served as bassist in Toots and the Maytals for more than 50 years. Beyond that role, he provided substantial and melodic bass lines underpinning some of the most important reggae records of the 1960s and 70s.

His playing helped carry three records into the UK Top 10 in 1969 alone: Desmond Dekker's "The Israelites," the Harry J Allstars' "The Liquidator" and the Upsetters' "Return of Django." Each track rested on Jackson's bass work.

His influences drew from two distinct traditions. Jackson drew equally on the pumping approach Lloyd Brevett used on his acoustic upright bass in the Skatalites and on the electric hooks of James Jamerson at Motown. That fusion of Jamaican ska roots and American soul made Jackson an important part of the rock steady craze that swept Jamaica in the mid-60s.

Jackson was a mainstay of the Supersonics, the house band at Duke Reid's Treasure Isle studio. His first recording session there produced Alton Ellis's smash "I Have Got a Date" (1966), later re-released as "Girl I've Got a Date." Jackson's buoyant bass served as a propulsive engine on the record, helping make it one of the defining releases of the rock steady era.

The range of that catalog — from Ellis's vocal soul to Dekker's crossover hit to the instrumental groove of "Return of Django" — places Jackson at the center of the decade in which Jamaican music conquered the British charts.