History of The Wailers
During the 1960s, Jamaica gradually developed a musical sound based on Western pop music fused with African rhythms that began with ska and eventually evolved into reggae. Modern hip-hop owes a great debt to this lineage, and no one band reflected this evolution--and reggae's eventual impact on the mainstream--like the Wailers
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The Beginning
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The Wailers formed in 1963 in Kingston. In the beginning, the band consisted of Peter Tosh, Bunny Wailer, Cherry Smith, Junior Braithwaite, Beverley Kelso and their most famous member, Bob Marley.
The Ska Sound
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The group released their first record, "The Wailing Wailers," in 1965. It's more of a ska album than reggae, with elements of rock steady, a dance genre between reggae and ska.
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The Reggae Sound
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In 1970, the Wailers teamed with legendary producer Lee "Scratch" Perry to record "Soul Rebel," the first album the group would release outside of Jamaica.
Breaking Through the Mainstream
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In 1972, the Wailers began recording "Catch a Fire," its first major label release, for Island Records. The album was released in 1973 to great acclaim and is regarded as a classic.
End of The Wailers
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Also in 1973, the Wailers released "Burnin," which featured the classics "Get Up, Stand Up" and "I Shot the Sheriff." This was the last album to feature Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer, who went on to start their own solo careers. After their departure, the group would be known as "Bob Marley and the Wailers."
Bob Marley and Wailers
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Bob Marley led the remainder of the group through six more studio albums and several live records before Marley succumbed to melanoma in late 1980 and died in 1981 at age 36.
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