Reggae stalwarts Toots and the Maytals stopped by Spotifys studios in New York to record a session that included their clever interpretation of John Denvers classic, Take Me Home, Country Roads, as well as their new song, A Song Call Marley.
Toots and the Maytals slid into Take Me Home which they originally covered on their 1973 album In the Dark with a robust, gospel-tinged intro that ended with frontman Frederick Nathaniel Toots Hibbert unleashing a stunning vocal run. The Maytals then kicked out a groove that mixed a reggae backbeat with country flourishes while Toots sang the songs iconic chorus with the perfect little lyric tweak: Country road, take me home/To the place, I belong/West Jamaica, my oh my/Take me home, country road.
The band also breezed through A Song Call Marley, an understated reggae gem that doubles as an effusive tribute to the titular reggae legend.
Toots and the Maytals premiered A Song Call Marley on The Tonight Show last July before releasing the studio version a month later. At the time, it marked the first piece of new music from band in six years.
Toots and the Maytals recently kicked off a lengthy summer tour. The groups next show is tonight, June 7th, in South Kingstown, Rhode Island, while the run wraps September 15th with a set at Kaabooo Festival in Del Mar, California.