Peter Simon. - Photo courtesy of Roy Sweetland

PETER SIMON and Roger Steffens were big-time lovers of Jamaican pop culture when they first met in 1981. Last year, the two Americans pooled their knowledge and produced The Reggae Scrapbook which has been getting strong reviews since it was released in November.

On Saturday, Simon and Steffens will get together for the first time since the book was launched, for a promotional signing at the Babylon Falling bookstore in San Francisco.

The Reggae Scrapbook is a 124-page coffee table book which has over 200 colour and black and white photographs of the reggae scene taken by Simon over the past 30 years. Steffens donated facsimile copies of concert flyers, tickets and album covers.

CONTRIBUTIONS

Steffens, a respected reggae archivist, also contributed several interviews done on his L A Reggae Show to a DVD included in The Reggae Scrapbook. The Wailers, Peter Tosh, Joseph Hill of Culture, Alton Ellis and Luciano are some of the artistes he interviewed.

Simon, younger brother of singer Carly Simon, was in Jamaica early last year to photograph top dancehall acts who have made inroads in the North American pop scene. It was an update of sorts to Reggae Bloodlines, the 1977 book he co-produced with author Stephen Davis.

Simon was amazed at how much the reception to reggae has changed since he first came here 30 years ago.

"It's a much bigger industry so the music is much more accepted now and the kids really love it," he told The Gleaner. "My son, he's 20, and his group of friends likes reggae more than anything."

A hit with critics

Reggae archivist Roger Steffens. - Nagra Plunkett photo

The Reggae Scrapbook has been a hit with critics. Writing in Buzz Magazine, Ryan Hohn described it as a 'fabulous coffee table book on steroids or weed'.

It is distributed by Palace Press International/Insight Editions.

Write on! Best of reggae pages

Reggae Bloodlines: Writer Stephen Davis and photographer Peter Simon collaborated on this project which not only looked at the music and its main characters including Bob Marley, but the political turmoil in Jamaica during the 1970s.

Wake The Town and Tell The People: American anthropologist Norman Stolzoff wrote this fascinating book about the everyday runnings of dancehall music.

People Funny Boy: The biography of eccentric producer Lee 'Scratch' Perry written by American David Katz.

One Love - Life with Bob Marley and The Wailers: Lee Jaffe was an unknown photographer/musician when he came to Jamaica in the early 1970s and hung with The Wailers. His compelling photos tell the story of his time here with Marley, Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer.