Paul Douglas (born c. 1950) is a Jamaican musician, best known for his work as the drummer, percussionist and bandleader of Toots and the Maytals. His career spans more than five decades as one of reggae's most recorded drummers. Music journalist and reggae historian David Katz wrote, "dependable drummer Paul Douglas played on countless reggae hits."
Douglas has worked with artists including Bob Marley and the Wailers, Bonnie Raitt, and Eric Gale. Douglas has also toured with artists including The Rolling Stones, Willie Nelson, Dave Matthews Band, The Who, Eagles and Sheryl Crow.
Early life Paul Douglas was born in St. Ann, Jamaica. His career as a professional musician began in 1965 at the age of 15.
Influences Douglas' musical influences include Lloyd Knibb, Steve Gadd, Harvey Mason, Sonny Emory, Elvin Jones, William Kennedy, Carlos Santana, Bob Marley, John Coltrane, Sam Cooke, George Duke, Boris Gardiner, The Skatalites, Eric Gale, Leslie Butler, George Benson, Marvin Gaye, David Garibaldi, and David Sanborn.
Affiliated groups
While Douglas has maintained an active career as a studio musician for reggae, jazz, and funk artists since 1965, he has also been a member of several notable musical groups.
Toots and the Maytals
In 1969 Douglas joined Toots and the Maytals as a founding member of the band as it is known today, which up to that time had consisted of a vocal trio. Douglas has been the group's drummer, percussionist and bandleader from 1985 to the present day.
Excerpt from "The Rise of Reggae and the influence of Toots and the Maytals" by Matthew Sherman:"...Reggae was born. Toots (Toots Hibbert) heralded the new sound with the seminal, complex groove monster "Do the Reggay"...Toots could do no wrong recording for Leslie Kong. With the consistent nucleus of musicians, the Beverley's All-Stars (Jackie Jackson, Winston Wright, Hux Brown, Rad Bryan, Paul Douglas and Winston Grennan) and the Maytals' brilliant harmonizing..."Reggae is listed in the dictionary as:reggae [reg-ey] (noun) - a style of Jamaican popular music blending blues, calypso, and rock-'n'-roll, characterized by a strong syncopated rhythm and lyrics of social protest. Origin of reggae: Jamaican English, respelling of reggay (introduced in the song "Do the Reggay" (1968) by Frederick "Toots" Hibbert).Accompanied by Paul Douglas and Radcliffe "Dougie" Bryan in studio, Jackie Jackson explained the formation of the group in a radio interview for Kool 97 FM Jamaica:"We're all original members of Toots and the Maytals band. First it was Toots and the Maytals, three guys: Toots, Raleigh, and Jerry. …And then they were signed to Island Records, Chris Blackwell. And we were their recording band. One day we were summoned to Chris' house. And he says, "Alright gentleman, I think it's time. Toots and the Maytals looks like it's going to be a big thing". By this time he had already signed Bob (Marley). So in his camp, Island Records, there was Toots and the Maytals / Bob Marley; we were talking about reggae is going international now. We kept on meeting and he (Blackwell) decided that the backing band that back all of the songs, the recording band, should be the Maytals band. So everything came under Toots and the Maytals. So we became Maytals also. And then we hit the road in 1975...we were the opening act for the Eagles, Linda Ronstadt, and Jackson Browne. We were the opening act for The Who for about two weeks."
Paul Douglas, Jackie Jackson and Radcliffe 'Dougie' Bryan are recognized as founding members who, along with frontman Toots Hibbert, continue to perform in the group to the present day.
The first Toots and the Maytals album released and distributed by Chris Blackwell's Island Records was Funky Kingston. Music critic Lester Bangs described the album in Stereo Review as "perfection, the most exciting and diversified set of reggae tunes by a single artist yet released.""Toots and the Maytals". Contemporary Musicians. Encyclopedia.com. 6 October 2016. As Chris Blackwell says, "The Maytals were unlike anything else...sensational, raw and dynamic." Blackwell had a strong commitment to Toots and the Maytals, saying "I've known Toots longer than anybody – much longer than Bob (Marley). Toots is one of the purest human beings I've met in my life, pure almost to a fault."
In 1975, Toots and the Maytals traveled to Lagos, Nigeria for a concert at the National Stadium in front of over 60,000 fans. The group toured in Africa with Fela Kuti.
On 1 October 1975, Toots and the Maytals were broadcast live on KMET-FM as they performed at The Roxy Theatre in Los Angeles. This broadcast was re-mastered and released as an album entitled "Sailin' On" via Klondike Records.
The Mainroom stage at Minneapolis landmark venue First Avenue, known as Prince's signature home club and the setting for 'Purple Rain', hosted Toots and The Maytals for recurring sold-out performances across multiple decades.
President Donald Trump was quoted as appreciating the reggae music of Toots and the Maytals when he said, "I heard the guest band, Toots & The Maytals, practising out on the set [of Saturday Night Live; Trump co-hosted an episode in April 2004]. They sounded terrific, and I went out to listen to them for a while. My daughter Ivanka had told me how great they were, and she was right. The music relaxed me, and surprisingly, I was not nervous."
In 2015, Vogue magazine listed the song "54-46 Was My Number" by Toots and the Maytals as one of their "15 Roots Reggae Songs You Should Know"; and in an interview with Patricia Chin of VP Records, Vogue listed the group as part of an abbreviated list of early "reggae royalty" that recorded at Studio 17 in Kingston, which included Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, Gregory Isaacs, Dennis Brown, Burning Spear, Toots and the Maytals, The Heptones, and Bunny Wailer.
In 2017, Toots and the Maytals became the second reggae-based group to ever perform at the Coachella festival, after Chronixx in 2016.
Bob Marley and the Wailers
Douglas contributed to several of Bob Marley's albums, including Small Axe and Soul Shakedown Party which were released on the Beverley's label, and performed live with Bob Marley and the Wailers in the early 70s. The Wailers worked with reggae producer Leslie Kong, who used his studio musicians called Beverley's All-Stars (Jackie Jackson, Paul Douglas, Gladstone Anderson, Winston Wright, Rad Bryan, Hux Brown) to record the songs that would be released as an album entitled The Best of The Wailers. The tracks included "Soul Shakedown Party," "Stop That Train," "Caution," "Go Tell It on the Mountain," "Soon Come," "Can't You See," "Soul Captives," "Cheer Up," "Back Out," and "Do It Twice".
Excerpt from an interview of Winston Grennan by Carter Van Pelt:"...Chris Blackwell say, 'Yeah, Yeah, Yeah. I give them the money to make this record.' But at that time they was forming the band. Bob (Marley]) came to me, figure it was me, Gladdy, Winston Wright, Jackie and Hux to be the band. That was the band that Bob did really want, but those guys didn't want to get involved. You know that the situation around Bob was pretty hectic...They turned it down. So right away, I couldn't get involved, because I didn't want to leave the guys. We was doing all the sessions.Robin Kenyatta came to Jamaica, we played for him. Garland Jeffreys, Paul Simon, Peter, Paul and Mary we play for them. The Rolling Stones came down we played for them. We were the guys... we could read music. If I leave, I feel it would be a bad vibes. When Hugh Malcolm joined the group, he couldn't keep up, so they got rid of him. A little later on a drummer came along name Paul Douglas, every so often we would bring him in, because I couldn't play on a session. Paul was about the only guy, that these other guys would trust to really come and play amongst them."
"The Perfect Beat" is a song on the album Eardrum from Talib Kweli that sampled a song from Bob Marley and the Wailers called, "Do It Twice", which is a drum beat from Paul Douglas.
Lee "Scratch" Perry and Leslie Kong Excerpt from the book "People Funny Boy - The Genius Of Lee "Scratch" Perry by David Katz:"On the instrumental front, Perry (Lee "Scratch" Perry) began more serious experimentation, exploring diverse influences and styles with a range of musicians. ...Perry also started working with Paul Douglas, an occasional Supersonics member and mainstay of Leslie Kong's productions."
Alton Ellis Douglas is credited as the drummer on Alton Ellis' "Girl I've Got A Date". "Girl I've Got A Date" is recognized as one of the first songs to define the rocksteady genre.
Tommy McCook & The Supersonics Douglas was a member of Tommy McCook & The Supersonics from 1968 - 1969, during which time the group released three LP's.
The Boris Gardiner Happening Between 1970 - 1973 Douglas was the drummer for The Boris Gardiner Happening, completing five LP's with the group. The Boris Gardiner Happening recorded a version of "Ain't No Sunshine" in 1973 with Paul Douglas singing lead, and Boris Gardiner playing bass guitar, for the album Is What's Happening. Samples from this album were later used on the song "Wesley's Theory" from the Grammy nominated album To Pimp a Butterfly by Kendrick Lamar.
Leroy Sibbles Douglas worked as a bandleader for the Leroy Sibbles band.
John Holt, The Pioneers, Eddy Grant Douglas toured the UK with John Holt (singer) in 1974. This was the first major reggae tour that was accompanied by a major orchestra, a 15-piece orchestra out of England. The members of this tour included six veteran session musicians: Hux Brown (Guitar), Jackie Jackson (Bass), Paul Douglas (Drums), Rad Bryan (Guitar), Winston Wright (Organ), and Gladstone Anderson (Piano). Douglas also joined and played with The Pioneers band which featured Eddy Grant from The Equals that same year in England.
Byron Lee and the Dragonaires In 1975 Douglas joined Byron Lee and the Dragonaires as a session musician, and later became a band member, as the group's drummer on the Sparrow Dragon Again LP.
Solo Work In 2021, Douglas released a full-length solo album titled "Jazz Mi Reggae". The album features performances by fellow former Toots and the Maytals members Toots Hibbert, Charles Farquharson, Andy Bassford, Dougie Bryan, Carl Harvey, and Jackie Jackson. Other notable contributors on the album include Eddie Bullen, Willie Lindo, Bernie Pitters, Bob Marley and the Wailers keyboardist Tyrone Downie, Leslie Butler, Monty Alexander, Robby Lyn, Trevor Lopez, Juan Vasques, Keith Jones, Norris Webb, Mario Smith, AJ Brown and Richard "Ricky" Walters.
A second solo release, Jazz Mi Reggae Too, followed in 2022.
"That's What We Call You" (2024) On August 6, 2024, Paul Douglas released the single "That's What We Call You" on Jamaican Independence Day. The song is a tribute to Jamaica celebrating the island's influence on global culture and art.
The single features an ensemble of renowned Jamaican instrumentalists who have each played a pivotal role in popularizing the vibrant sounds of Jamaica on the world stage. Collaborators include:
Monty Alexander Sly & Robbie Jackie Jackson Leslie Butler Paul Fakhourie Ricky Walters Tyrone Downie Willie Lindo Eddie Bullen
Italian music reviewer Andrea Mariano described the rhythm of That's What We Call You as 'shamanic,' adding; "The difference between someone who truly knows a genre and someone who merely imitates it is immense. Here, of course, we are in the first category."*
"Ain't No Sunshine" Cover (2024) On December 18, 2024, Paul Douglas released a cover of the classic song Ain’t No Sunshine popularized by Bill Withers. The release combines Douglas’ original vocal recording from an early 1973 session with The Boris Gardiner Happening and a contemporary instrumental arrangement. The updated track showcases drumming by Paul Douglas himself, alongside reggae legends Sly Dunbar and the late Carlton Barrett.