Hi Eve,

interesting how the I-IV thing is much more prevalent in reggae than North American country or blues music.

Also interesting, it was only a big thing during those few years of the late 60s, mainly. My suspicion is that this vamp was a fad originally borrowed from some U.S. soul records, although exactly which ones were the influence I cannot say. Though it would be too tough to prove, I also suspect that the 'Amen' sounds of church hymns had some bearing on this preference.

Often it boils down to just one or two musicians who had an experience or inclination, and it can't be generalized to say "Jamaican music" or "Jamaican musicians" did such-n-such. I am fascinated by the idea of what individuals may have contributed to ~folk~ music and what we often presume to be the product of a community.

Gibb

P.S. Irrelevant, but...in the couple years preceding that era in Jamaican music, recording musicians were obsessed with alternating between I and ii chords.