The surprising, but consistent, appreciation of reggae and ska music in the British Ilses created a sizable market for the music during the late '60s. And as the '70s progressed, the spread of the genre made the music a viable career for some.There might not have been a vacuum in the UK prompting more and more groups to crop up, but it was inevitable that a British based group would eventually arise. That group is the Cimarons. Occasionally referred to as the first all Brit reggae outfit, which I suppose is a pretty inane banner to trump, the Cimarons would make a series of discs, that while adhered to what JA music was and is supposed to be, found reception, on occasion, to be a bit chilly.

 

Made up of Jamaican immigrants, the group couldn't be considred outsiders in the genre, but they did possess at least a bit more pop sensibility than some of the other JA roots acts from the period. The group's first recorded effort my have been a bit problematic to traditional reggae peoples and even if the Cimaron's second album - On the Rock released through Vulcan - attempted to ratchet up the roots angle to it all. Some still found the disc too Anglocentric and chart ready to lend ample creedence to the effort and its music.

 

Despite the fact that the On the Rock never gained any footing in the charts, by the time that it was released in 1976, there was a tremendous and growing market - including those early British punkers - for the kind of roots music that the Cimarons trafficked in. Partially because of this, as well as the political and social climate of the time, the Cimarons were eventually absorbed into the Rock Against Racism movement.

 

RAR was a direct response to the growing power that the National Front began tossing around. And considering that the NF and Skrewdriver were in the process of developing their own musical packaging - Rock Against Communism (RAC) - the choice to assoacite with RAR seemed an easy one for the Cimarons.

 

Playing alongside of some highly politicized punk bands, the Cimarons began cranking out more vital reggae music. And while much of the melodicism and ease was maintained from that first disc, On the Rock sports such tracks as "Hear Talk of Inflation" and "Rooting for a Cause." That latter song mentions the shifting ideals and assumed understanding of the past and present generations. Winston Reed, the group's vocalist, felt that it was a new time and that the wishes of the down trodden were going to be soon realized. It's a nice sentiment, even if a bit detatched from what then was going on. In certain ways the lyrical fervor related here and elsewhere on the album was simple youth culture enthusiasm. But sometimes the best music - or political thought, art, etc. - comes from just that place. On the Rock isn't the greatest exponent of British reggae, but it surely deserves the respect that punkers afforded it upon its release.