Israelites (2:48)

“Israelites” is a song written by Desmond Dekker and Leslie Kong that became a hit for Dekker’s group, Desmond Dekker & The Aces. Although few could understand all the lyrics, the single was the first UK reggae number one and the first to crack the United States Top Ten. Lyrically paralleling ancient travails with the overwhelming toil of modern-day poverty, Dekker composed a “timeless masterpiece that knew no boundaries”.

Song

It was one of the first reggae songs to become an international hit, despite Dekker’s strong Jamaican accent which made his lyrics difficult to understand for audiences outside Jamaica. In 1969 it reached the Top Ten in the United States, peaking at #9 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. It hit number one in the United Kingdom,[4] Netherlands, Jamaica, South Africa, Canada, Sweden and West Germany. The song came almost two years after Dekker first made his mark with the rude boy song, “007 (Shanty Town)”.

“Israelites” brought a Jamaican beat to the British pop fans for the first time since Millie’s number two hit “My Boy Lollipop”. But 1969 was the right time for reggae to make a breakthrough in the United Kingdom. The Beatles, as always the trendsetters back then, had recorded their own reggae-influenced song, “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da”, which the pop group Marmalade subsequently took to number one. The disc was released in the UK in March 1969 and was number one for two weeks, selling over 250,000 copies. A global million sales was reported in June 1969.