by RUPERT BOTTENBERG

For some, the greatest name in reggae is Bob Marley, or maybe Jimmy Cliff. There are those of us, though, who will say without hesitation, "Toots!" That's honey-throated Frederick Hibbert, frontman of the long-standing trio Toots & the Maytals and (according to The Guinness Book of World Records) the fellow who coined the term "reggae."

Hibbert's hits from the '60s rock-steady era, like "Bam Bam," "Pressure Drop," "Funky Kingston" and the prison yarn "54-46 Was My Number," established him as a leader in his field, and later cover versions by the Clash, the Specials, Robert Palmer and Reel Big Fish kept the flame alive. Alive, long enough for Hibbert to return with last year's True Love, a review of his fabulous catalogue in the form of inspired jams with Willie Nelson, Eric Clapton, No Doubt, Keith Richards, Shaggy, the Roots and so many more.

Mirror: How's your current tour going?

Frederick Hibbert: We just started, roughly two weeks now, and it's just great and good. Good shows, plenty people, plenty young people, plenty big people.

M: You've been playing in Texas and Florida, where it's warm - but it's cold up here. We need your songs to keep us warm.

FH: I'm coming with all the power. My show always carries a lot of high-profile power!

M: How do you keep your voice so golden? Any advice for young singers who want to keep their instrument in tip-top shape?

FH: Well, I do a lot of exercise, and I hardly eat. I'm a intolerant eatin', although I'm getting little fattish now. When I'm out on the road, I always develop fatness.

M: You gotta dance it off!

FH: Gotta work it off! I have special exercise too, for voices. And I hardly get a good night's rest. I hardly sleep. I'm not a lover for food, I am not a lover for sleep. I exercise and get sleep maybe five hours every night, because I work night and day in the studio, so I hardly get a good rest.

M: Speaking of young artists, I know that you and many other elder statesmen of reggae are often frustrated with dancehall, and with what the youth are doing with the music. Are there any young reggae artists out there today who you would point to and say, that kid, he's doing reggae the right way?

FH: Yeah, I could point to a lot of them, like Fabulous Five in Jamaica, and Morgan Heritage - I'm the one who break them, give them their first tour, actually. You have Luciano, Buju, Capleton, a lot of great people in the dancehall. Beenie Man, Bounty Killer, they are doing good and trying to do better. Reggae music is not any negative verses. Real reggae is positive words, cultural words, words that kids could learn discipline off, y'know? If the reggae don't have all these points, it's not really good reggae.

Zoo love

M: I noticed that you're fond of American country & western music. What do you like about it?

FH: It's got a lot of gospel vibes in it. I start my career from gospel. Country & western have a lot of churchical vibes in it, just like some R&B. I mean, all of these music have soul in them, and every music that have soul in them, I call them good music.

M: Now, about True Love - I want to play a little game. I'll throw a name of one of the superstars you worked with at you and you tell me what animal they'd be. What kind of animal would Willie Nelson be?

FH: He'd be one of the good animals (laughs). The one that do no bad harm, only do good. Like his songs and his writing, is only do good things to the world, to the people. He and I and the rest of them would be one of these kind of animals that do good. Put us together, we're just the same. That's why we have a True Love album. It takes a lot of faith to put together - I didn't think that they would just agree so quickly to do it with me. When I check it out, I realize that they are my friends and I am their friend, so everything have a good combination. They choose their own songs, and nobody ever end up choosing the same song, so it was really amazing.

M: What projects are you working on now?

FH: You can expect some reeeeeal reggae vibes. People lookin' to me for a lot of things, for the real roots reggae music that people lackin' for. And also some uptempo ska! That's why I keep doin' some of this in my live shows. They lookin' from me for some R&B music too, so I'm gonna get some producers from America.

M: Any in particular?

FH: I've been thinking but I'm not sure as yet. Everybody want to produce for me!

With guests at Club Soda on
Wednesday, March 23, 8 p.m., $22.50, all ages

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