|
Bob Marley and the Wailers have sold over 250 million records worldwide. In the period since Bob Marley's passing, in May 1981, one group has continued to carry the message. Year after year 'The Wailers', lead by Aston "Familyman" Barrett (the bass player and musical leader for the Wailers and was the musical director for Bob Marley), have toured the globe playing their special brand of music, enjoyed around the world by countless millions of fans. "Familyman" is the sole living musician who was with Bob Marley from the beginning of Bob's career to his unfortunate death.
The Wailers now consist of seven (7) original members who recorded and/or toured with 'Bob Marley and the Wailers'. The Wailers "live" show consists of 'Bob Marley and the Wailers' songs such as: "Buffalo Soldier," "Lively up Yourself," "Is This Love," "One Love," "I Shot the Sheriff," "Satisfy My Soul," "Trench Town Rock," "Get Up Stand Up," "Jamming," "Who the Cap Fit," "Exodus," "Roots Rock Reggae," "Kinky Reggae," "War," "Redemption Song," "Stir it Up," "No Woman No Cry," and "Could You Be Loved."
Plus many other old songs, written by members of the Wailers, that were performed live during the 'Bob Marley and the Wailers' tours, as well as new original Wailers songs.
WAILERS BIOGRAPHY
With Bob Marley at their helm, the Wailers sold in excess of 250 million albums worldwide. In England alone, they notched up over twenty chart hits, including seven Top 10 entries. Outside of their groundbreaking work with Marley, the Wailers have also played or performed with international acts like Sting, the Fugees, Stevie Wonder, and Santana, as well as reggae legends such as Peter Tosh, Bunny Wailer, and Burning Spear. As the greatest living exponents of Jamaica’s reggae tradition, the Wailers have completed innumerable other tours, playing to an estimated 24 million people across the globe. They have also been the first reggae band to tour new territories on many occasions, including Africa and the Far East.
Bob Marley, Bunny Wailer, and Peter Tosh formed the original Wailers in 1963. Six years later, after failing to make an impact outside of Jamaica, they recruited members of the Upsetters, including drummer Carlton and bassist Aston “Family Man” Barrett, to play on hits such as Lively Up Yourself, Trenchtown Rock, and Duppy Conqueror. These were the songs that finally put the Wailers on the map, and led to them signing with Island Records in 1972. After the departure of Bunny and Peter a year or so later, the Barrett brothers assumed the title of Wailers and immediately made their influence felt on the group’s international breakthrough album, Natty Dread, and firstever chart success, No Woman No Cry. All subsequent releases were credited to Bob Marley and the Wailers. Spearheaded by the Barretts, the Wailers then partnered Bob Marley on the succession of hit singles and albums that made their lead singer a global icon, winner of several Lifetime Achievement awards and Jamaica’s first-ever musical superstar.
After Bob Marley’s death in 1981, the Wailers toured in support of their phenomenally successful Legend album, and played on sessions with Alpha Blondy, Gilberto Gil, and John Denver, among others, even as battles raged around them for control of their musical legacy. Carlton Barrett was murdered in 1987, leaving his brother as the main beneficiary of the Wailers' mantle, and resolutely carrying out Marley’s dying wish that the group stays together, performing the music which came to define an entire genre.
Replacing Bob Marley wasn’t easy, but the Wailers have now unearthed a major talent in the shape of Yvad – a gifted singer/songwriter from Jamaica, whose youthful good looks and memorable songs complement the Wailers’ own timeless, classic material to stunning effect. Apart from Family Man himself, the current line-up also includes Al Anderson, who played with both Bob Marley & The Wailers and Peter Tosh throughout the seventies. He’s subsequently worked with luminaries such as Lauryn Hill and Ben Harper, whilst remaining an integral member of the Wailers.
Other band members include keyboardist Keith Sterling, and the horn players Nambo Robinson and Junior “Chico” Chin. This trio of highly acclaimed musicians have played on countless reggae hits over the years, including songs by Peter Tosh, Bob Marley, Dennis Brown, Jimmy Cliff, and Bunny Wailer. Heard in unison, they bring a spellbinding authenticity to the present Wailers' sound, helped by backing singers Marie Dominuque Luce and Pascale Kameni Kamga, guitarist Ras Mel, drummer Abongy Balengola and percussionist Ernest “Drummie” Williams.
YVAD BIOGRAPHY
Yvad made his breakthrough after recording his debut album, Young, Gifted & Dread, for the Tuff Gong label in 1996. Real name Kevin Davy, he was born in Kingston, but grew up in Spalding, on the border of Clarendon and Mandeville. He sang and played guitar with the local church choir before forming a band with friends, and heading for Montego Bay, where he learnt stagecraft, and developed his growing talent as a songwriter. Inspired by musicians like Bob Marley and the Wailers, he also embraced Rastafari. “At the time I was in search of something deep inside of me,” he explains. “Music inspired me, and I found myself.”
After a spell back in Spalding, he sold his bicycle and bought a bus ticket to Kingston, journeying alone with his acoustic guitar on his back. He then signed to Tuff Gong after impressing Bob’s sons Ziggy and Stephen with his songs, which deal with universal themes such as love, peace, and reality. Tuff Gong CEO Cedella Marley wasn’t alone in declaring that he was an artist “sure to touch each listener in a special way,” and that debut album proved a revelation on account of its originality, and Yvad’s special gifts as both singer and songwriter. The single We Need Love won a JAMI (Jamaica Music Industry) award, and its success led to him appearing on MTV Europe and BET before his relationship with Tuff Gong came to an end, leaving him to concentrate on writing and recording new material in New York.
His presence in the Wailers has brought a freshness and vitality to an already celebrated line-up, since his own songs have international appeal, just like those of Marley.
“I write with that same vibration,” he says, “because I’m also looking to make songs for the world, and which let people know we’re all one, no matter where they’re from. As Wailers, we make songs for everybody, and we’ve definitely turned a new page now, because I give thanks for being able to work with such legendary musicians, and to reach these great levels…”
ASTON “FAMILY MAN” BARRETT BIOGRAPHY
Aston "Family" Man Barrett is one of the most successful reggae musicians of all time. He is also the most venerated, after having orchestrated the roots reggae sound that made Bob Marley an international superstar.
Born in Kingston, Jamaica in November 1946 and self-taught, his first-ever recording session yielded a notable Jamaican hit for the Uniques with Watch This Sound in 1968. He also played sessions for Treasure Isle, Bunny Lee, and many other legendary JA producers during this early stage of his career, notching up innumerable local hits in the process. He and his brother Carlton had started out playing live gigs as a member of the Hippy Boys alongside Max Romeo, whose UK Top 10 hit Wet Dream also featured Family Man’s distinctive bass playing. The Hippy Boys' own debut hit was Dr No Go in 1969. That same year, the Barrett brothers cemented their reputation as Jamaica's foremost rhythm section by playing on two other memorable international chart hits; the Upsetters' Return Of Django, and Harry J All- Stars' Liquidator – a track that inspired the Staple Singers' 1972 No. 1 hit, I'll Take You There.
By then, the Barretts had become Jamaica’s most in-demand session musicians. Lee "Scratch" Perry built his own reputation upon their tight, innovative skills, and Bob Marley too, spotted them from early, having first enlisted their services in 1968. The first successful collaborations between he and the Barretts were produced the following year by Perry, and would change the face of Jamaican music forever as songs like Duppy Conqueror, Small Axe, and Soul Rebel helped redefine reggae by slowing down the beat and introducing cultural messages into what had once been considered a novelty music by non-Caribbean audiences. What happened next is well known, and as the Wailers' musical director, Family Man’s contribution to the success of Bob Marley and the Wailers is incalculable.
In addition to his work with Marley, Family Man continued to play bass, piano, organ and rhythm guitar on a vast number of undisputed roots reggae classics of the seventies. Artists such as Peter Tosh, Bunny Wailer, Augustus Pablo, Burning Spear, Big Youth, Horace Andy, John Holt, Dennis Brown, the Abyssinians, Jacob Miller, Yabby You, and many others profited from his talents, including production skills, during this era. This was before he decided to channel his genius into helping Marley and the Wailers achieve superstar status on the world stage, and lay the foundations of today’s Tuff Gong empire.
As the Wailers' bandleader, he’s continued to keep the group together and promote their music to an international audience in the years since Marley’s death. This has resulted in several albums of new material, innumerable world tours, and high-profile appearances with contemporary headliners such as the Fugees, UB40, 311, and others, including a prestigious date in Monaco at the request of their royal family. Family Man also helped launch, or relaunch the careers of several Marley family members, including Rita, Julian, the Melody Makers, and Bob’s mother, Cedella Booker.
AL ANDERSON BIOGRAPHY
Al Anderson hails from Newark, New Jersey, and was born into a musical family, since his father played bass with James Brown, whilst his mother schooled him in the local hotel and club circuit. Inspired equally by soul, jazz, and rock, he was playing with the Detroit Emeralds when members of Maynard Ferguson’s band invited him to London during the early seventies. It was there he befriended members of Traffic, Free, and Shataku, with whom he played African, hi-life music before joining the Wailers in 1974. His first mission was to overdub fluid lead guitar on the band’s Natty Dread album. Thereafter, he divided his time between playing and recording with both Marley and Peter Tosh, contributing to such legendary reggae albums as Marley and the Wailers’ Live At The Lyceum, Babylon By Bus and Uprising, and Peter Tosh’s Legalise It and Equal Rights.
More recently, he performed alongside James Brown as the Berlin Wall came down; played with the German band Bass Culture, and spent two years with Markie Mark. He’s also guested with jazz/funk bassist Stanley Clarke, Inner Circle, and Ben Harper, in addition to recording and touring with Lauryn Hill around the time of her Grammy-winning Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill set. Inbetween producing tracks on a Phish tribute album, and of course touring with the Wailers, Al also serves as Hollywood actor Stephen Seagal’s musical director, as heard on the album Crystal Cave.
AGENCY NOTES
Famed for co-starring with Bob Marley on all of his hit records and stage shows during the seventies, the Wailers are still the most celebrated reggae outfit of all time. No other reggae group has so many well-known hits to draw upon, or performs to such widespread, global audiences, and as with all genuine musical legends, their appeal remains undiminished over time, as each succeeding generation discovers them afresh.
Outside of their groundbreaking work with Marley, the Wailers have also played with international acts like Sting, the Fugees, Stevie Wonder, Alpha Blondy, Gilberto Gil, and Taj Mahal, yet it’s as a live act that they’ve upheld their reputation in recent years. Whilst performing to an estimated 24 million people around the world, they’ve been the first reggae band to tour new territories on many occasions, including Africa and the Far East.
At the heart of the current Wailers, you’ll find original members Aston "Family Man" Barrett on bass, and guitarist Al Anderson, whose recordings with Bob Marley have sold in excess of 250 million albums worldwide. Bandleader Family Man is one of the world’s foremost bass players. He and his late brother Carly were members of Lee Perry’s Upsetters, and playing countless sessions when first recruited into the Wailers by Marley during 1969. Al Anderson is another iconic figure with a rich musical history, after performing alongside Peter Tosh, Lauryn Hill, Ben Harper, and James Brown, as well as Marley.
Anchored by such familiar names, the present line-up is the band’s most impressive in years. Lead singer Yvad was once signed to Tuff Gong by Bob’s daughter Cedella Marley among a blaze of publicity, whilst keyboard player Keith Sterling has toured with Peter Tosh and Black Uhuru, as well as Jimmy Cliff and the Wailers. Horn players Nambo Robinson and Junior “Chico” Chin have also backed most of reggae’s leading acts, including Dennis Brown and Bunny Wailer, ensuring the Wailers retain the same, authentic sound they did whilst backing the Reggae King all those years ago. Backing singers Marie Dominuque Luce and Pascale Kameni Kamga complete the present line-up, together with drummer Abongy Balengola and percussionist Ernest “Drummie” Williams.
|
