An Interview with Donald Manning of the Abyssinians

"There is a land far far away; Where there's no night, there's only day; Look into the Book of Life, and you will see; That there's a land far far away."

-"Satta Massagana," The Abyssinians

The Abyssinians, known for their spiritual anthem "Satta Massagana," are one of the most influential reggae bands of this time. The roots-heavy trio was formed in 1969 by Donald Manning, Linford Manning (his younger brother) and Bernard Collins in Kingston, Jamaica.

In the 60s and 70s, The Abyssinians sang of protest, spirituality and devotion, mixing patois and Amheric to create a new cultural awareness. Their first album, Satta Massagana [Heartbeat 120], included "Declaration Of Rights" and "African Race." In 1982 they released their second album Forward [Alligator U.S.] which featured "Mabrak" and "Forward Onto Zion."

However, for the last two decades, not much has been heard from this legendary band. It has only been recently that they have returned to music. During their long hiatus, Linford and Donald moved to Florida (1984), holding non-musical careers. In Jamaica, Bernard Collins continued to play music and, to Donald Manning's dismay, took on two new singers to form The New Abyssinians. During this time, Linford became a born-again Christian and now will sing only in the church. In the early 90s there was a resurgent interest in their music and in 1994 The Best of the Abyssinians [Musidisc 111922] was released in France. This album included their music from 1969-1976. Since then, they have reunited for seven tracks on the Reunion album [Artists Only Records AOR5, 1998] which was released in 1996 as $19.95 + Tax [Abyssinians USA].

The Abyssinians, which currently includes Donald Manning, Carlton Manning (Donald's older brother) and Star David recently toured the United States and performed at Maritime Hall in San Francisco and Palookaville in Santa Cruz in November.

I had an opportunity to interview Donald Manning on Nov. 16, 1998, while he and the group were staying in Berkeley for their Bay Area performances.

Laura Gardner: Let's start from the inception of The Abyssinians-how did you and your brother, Linford, and Bernard Collins start singing?

Donald Manning: I got some inspiration from Carlton, my older brother. He used to play the guitar-he taught me to play the guitar and I taught Bernard. Carlton and Linford used to sing together and I used to sing and Bernard joined me, so we moved on from there. After Carlton did "Love Me Forever" (1968), we did "Satta Massagana" (1969). Linford started to sing with The Abyssinians and he never sang much with Carlton & the Shoes anymore. He stayed with the Abyssinians.

LG: When you first started, who were you listening to? What were your influences back then?

DM: Nat King Cole, Billy Eckstine, Bing Crosby, Chubby Checker, Chuck Berry, Smokey Robinson, all those legendary musicians.

LG: When did you first get money for playing? And how did it feel?

DM: When I get money for playing? Well, start with recording. We take our money and do the recording, so generally we always have money to do recording. But, money for playing, no. When I got money for playing was when we were dealing with Virgin Records ... Even though we're not getting the right money for playing, we're still satisfied and give thanks for what we get.

LG: Hopefully, you enjoy it. I understand you had to work outside the music industry for your survival. What sort of jobs did you do?

DM: When I was a kid, I grew up on the racehorse-track. I was always around the horses and I did different things. My main goal was the music, but racehorse was my first trade.

LG: What did you do at the racetrack?

DM: I was learning to ride. And after a while I become big, so what I did, I leave the racehorses alone. But in 1991, I went to Calder Racetrack, in Florida where I was living and working for four years, and I made two songs for this album [Reunion]: "Holy Man" and "In A Kalda," in Calder racetrack.

LG: Was there ever tension in the group about who was getting the most attention from the fans and the press while you were working together?

DM: Generally, we worked in England and the work was just the same for everyone, but after a while, my bredren in Jamaica [Bernard Collins], him try to get attention of other people. Me and my smaller brother were in America and he went to Jamaica and got two men, and they called themselves the New Abyssinians and one of the guys sang on one of the songs that we did. All of those songs that we did were Bernard Collins, Linford Manning and Donald Manning. And right now, him don't want to deal with me. …Him never know nothing at all about the African literature because I taught Bernard Collins and my smaller brother, Linford Manning, about African culture and those things. I was the older among the three of us so I showed them what I learned and I used to go to some Rastaman… I get knowledge and I imparted it with my brothers…

LG: Did you ever perform in front of an audience who you felt just didn't understand where you were coming from or didn't understand what you were about?

DM: No, everywhere I go, people sing my songs: Belgium, Germany, France, England, all over I go. And everywhere I go, from song start playing, the people, even in France, sing the song also.

LG: What are the differences between the audiences in all those places-in Japan or in Jamaica?

DM: We've never gone to Japan, but the audience in Jamaica, it's limited because when we go there, white people support the music more than black people. I'm not putting down black people, but on the whole, white people follow reggae music more. Black people sing the music, but white people promote it. Them have the money to spend. …The culture, the Rastaman, the black people them been through the struggle and them have the culture. …[this racial awareness] is a part of life, and God made everyone, black and white, so we just have to live and do the right thing. I'm not discriminating against white people. There are good and bad in every nation.

LG: Where does the inspiration come for writing your songs?

DM: I read the Bible and I get a lot of inspiration by reading the Bible. When I'm around the horses, I get a lot of inspiration also. God just put it in you and it come. If you just think about positive things, positive things will come.

LG: What is the songwriting process for you?

DM: I play the piano and I play the guitar, so when I start, get some inspiration, I just go toward my piano and find some key and start to play. And if what I play don't suit at that time, I try to get something that at first instance is what comes to you, and keep doing that until further on. If it's not what you're really looking for, you can change it, but you have the idea of what you were looking for before. So, I have keyboard and I have instruments. And I play... I have a computer that has music and it has 64 tracks on it, so music and my sons play and my brother. I got three musicians in my sons: drum, bass and keyboard.