One would be hard-pressed to find a more significant and unheralded figure in reggae than Joe Higgs. Despite a career of over 30 years, the mention of his name usually is generally greeted with responses like: "who?" or "never heard of him." And while he may not have been the proverbial household name when it comes to roots reggae, his fingerprints are on nearly every important recording and band that emerged from Jamaica in the 1960s and '70s.
Born in Kingston in 1940, Higgs' career began as a songwriter for seminal reggae acts such as Toots & the Maytals and Delroy Wilson....