Satta Massa Gana:
The making of an anthem
HOWARD
CAMPBELL, Observer writer
Sunday, March 09,
2003

The
original Abyssinians (from left): Donald Manning, Lynford Manning and Bernard
Collins. (Photo: Heartbeat
Records)
Contrary to popular belief, One
Love, the calling card for the Jamaica Tourist Board and the British
Broadcasting Corporation's (BBC) Song of the 20th Century, is not reggae's
anthem. Pride of place goes to a less heralded song, The Abyssinians' Satta
Massa Gana, a song with roots steeped in inner-city Trench Town where
roots-reggae had its genesis during the
1960s.
Satta Massa Gana was first
recorded as Far, Far Land by the roots trio in 1969 at producer Clement Dodd's
Studio One. Because Dodd believed it would never be a commercial success, the
song was never released until two years later when The Abyssinians put it out on
their Clinch label. Its vision of a paradise for persons of African descent had
a bearing on many youth in Jamaica, who had embraced the Black Power movement
that was then sweeping the United States and other Caribbean
territories.

Bernard
Collins (right) and his version of The Abyssinians (file
photo)
Written by Bernard Collins and
Donald Manning, Satta Massa Gana is recognised by most as reggae's unofficial
anthem. It is one of the most covered songs in Jamaican popular music, and has
been sampled by many of contemporary reggae's
producers.
The stories about Satta Massa
Gana's origins vary. But one thing is for sure, it was co-written by Collins and
Manning, two men who had found Rastafari in Trench Town, an expanse of shacks
that was home to mostly migrants from rural
Jamaica.

Leroy
Sibbles
It was where Donald Manning first
met Collins. Born in 1940, Manning had been a groom at the racetrack in the
1950s while Collins, eight years his junior, was an amateur cyclist who competed
in events at Race Course (now National Heroes
Park).
In the liner notes to Satta
Massagana, the 1993 Heartbeat Records album, Manning said he and Collins were
introduced by a mutual friend in the early 1960s. He recalled that they shared
an interest in spirituality and music, and attended many Rasta meetings in
Trench Town and Rockfort where they jammed on drums with elders like Mortimo
Planno and Count Ossie.
At the time,
Manning and his three brothers were regulars at the Ethiopian Orthodox Church;
through friends in Ethiopia, Manning studied books on that country's culture and
Amharic language, the base of the song that would make him
famous.
"One night I start play my guitar
and I hear Bernard sing, 'there is a land, far, far away'. I start sing with him
too, I ran up to my house and got a pen and wrote the words to the song and
Satta Massa Gana (Amharic for 'give thanks') came about that same night,"
Manning told Heartbeat's Chris
Wilson.
With song written, Manning and
Collins sought a third member for the group they formed and called The
Abyssinians. Their first choice was another Trench Town resident, a student, but
because of studies he was unable to attend rehearsals; Manning then enlisted his
younger brother Lynford and The Abyssinians was
born.
Lynford Manning was no stranger to
success. He was formerly a member of Carlton and The Shoes, a group headed by
another Manning brother, Carlton. They had a massive hit at Studio One with Love
Me Forever in 1968.
In a July, 1997
interview with the Observer, Collins said the trio went to Studio One where they
paid for studio time and recorded Far, Far Land, the original version of Satta
Massa Gana. "The song came out as Far, Far Land but it neva mek no headway until
wi version the song in 1970-71 and mi gi it name Satta Massa Gana...the song tek
off from dey so."
Re-released in 1971
with a new title on the Clinch label, Satta Massa Gana, built around Collins'
piercing vocal and the Manning brothers' haunting harmonies, was a
sensation.
Once it took off, Dodd
reportedly jumped on the bandwagon and released instrumental versions of the
song by saxophonist Tommy McCook (Cool It) and keyboardist Jackie Mittoo (Night
in Ethiopia). The Abyssinians countered with a deejay edition, the powerful I
Pray Thee, by Big Youth, which became a dance
favourite.
In 1973, while still enjoying
the fruits of the follow-up hit, Declaration of Rights, The Abyssinians recorded
two more "Satta" songs: Mabrak, which heard members reading from the Old
Testament, and Satta Me Born Yah featuring
Collins.
Satta Massa Gana was never a
radio-friendly song but it reached the ears of youth fascinated with Rastafari,
including a band of middle-class youth who called themselves Third World. The
group covered the song for its self-titled debut album in
1976.
Unlike the rush of roots-reggae
groups from the 1970s which had, and continue to enjoy success as touring acts
throughout Europe, The Abyssinians' career never really left the ground. They
recorded the amazing Satta Massagana album (produced by Clive Hunt) in 1976 and
Arise for Tuff Gong two years later, but the original group only toured once, in
1988.
The group split the following year
shortly after performing at Reggae Sunsplash, differences between Collins and
Manning have kept them apart since. Collins has had hits as a solo performer
with This Land, recorded in 1978, and in 1999 the Paris-based Tabou Records
released his solo album, Last Days, in
Europe.
In recent years, Collins has
performed with George Henry and Melvin Trusty as The Abyssinians at the popular
Heineken Startime shows while Donald Manning has toured with his own version of
the band with older brother Carlton as lead singer. Lynford Manning gave up
secular music for Christianity shortly after the group's Sunsplash gig in 1989;
like Donald, he lives in Miami.