By Stephen Weir
It’s only becoming that town of Toronto is getting a sneak preview of a documentary about one in every of its favourite sons—Jay Douglas. Play It Loud! – How Toronto Bought Soul is coming to The Royal Theatre with a particular advance 6:30 p.m. screening on October 23.
Given his lengthy historical past performing in Toronto, maybe this new film, made for tv, needs to be referred to as Play it Lengthy and Loud as a result of the Jamaican-Canadian performer has been taking the stage because the late Nineteen Sixties. He’s nonetheless very a lot part of the reggae scene, having carried out a significant live performance in late August on the CNE.
Throughout the late Nineteen Sixties and early Seventies, Toronto’s Caribbean, Jamaican, and reggae music scene was virtually unrivalled in North America by way of high quality and expertise. Jay Douglas, the lead singer of The Cougars and one of many largest and brightest stars of that period, is the topic of this new TVO Authentic documentary. Produced by Clement Virgo (Brother, The Wire), the documentary could have a particular advance preview forward of its official TV launch subsequent yr. There are a restricted variety of tickets ($14) obtainable for the general public on the 6:30 p.m. displaying at The Royal Theatre (608 School Avenue).
“Sure, in fact Jay goes to be on the screening,” stated his PR supervisor, Eric Alper. “He and his spouse shall be there to fulfill his followers!”
Play It Loud! – How Toronto Bought Soul traces Douglas’s life from his childhood in Jamaica to his immigration to Canada throughout his teenage years. He settled in Toronto alongside a number of different Jamaica-born artists corresponding to Jackie Mittoo, Leroy Sibbles, and Wayne McGhie. With Toronto turning into a hotbed of Jamaican music, Douglas established himself because the lead singer of The Cougars, a wonderful group that carried out a mix of genres (reggae, Caribbean, soul, ska, funk) every time and wherever they may.
Whether or not it was within the golf equipment on Toronto’s Yonge Avenue throughout that period or in smaller cities in Northern Ontario or Quebec, the group dazzled followers regardless of receiving little airplay or label assist, other than showing on one album, Caribana ’67.
Douglas (born Clive Pinnock), described by legendary reggae producer Sly Dunbar as “the Lou Rawls of Jamaican music,” continued his music profession acting on cruise ships, at banquets, and in golf equipment lengthy after The Cougars’ heyday. In 2006, after influential hip-hop artists found a drum break from McGhie’s music “Soiled Funk,” that point and place in Canadian musical historical past was resurrected, due to Jamaica to Toronto: Soul Funk & Reggae 1967-1974, a now-legendary compilation issued by Seattle label Mild In The Attic. The gathering shone a highlight on the blazing Jamaican music scene, Douglas (a three-time Juno Award nominee), and this magical period.
That includes interviews with Sly Dunbar, vocalist Jackie Richardson, Cadence Weapon (Rollie Pemberton), former MuchMusic host Michael Williams, and lots of others, together with the music of Bob Marley, Bo Diddley, James Brown, The Cougars, and Wayne McGhie, Play It Loud! – How Toronto Bought Soul makes its broadcast and digital premiere in February 2025 on TVO and British Columbia’s Data Community.
