Early music and with the Wailers
Tosh was born in Westmoreland, the westernmost parish of Jamaica. He was abandoned by his parents and "shuffled among relatives". When McIntosh was fifteen, his aunt died and he moved to Trenchtown in Kingston, Jamaica. He first learned guitar after watching a man in the country play a song that captivated him. He watched the man play the same song for half a day, memorizing everything his fingers were doing. He then picked up the guitar and played the song back to the man. The man then asked McIntosh who had taught him to play; McIntosh told him that he had. During the early 1960s, as an aspiring musician, Tosh went to vocal teacher Joe Higgs, who gave free music lessons to young people. Through his contact with Higgs, Tosh met Robert Nesta Marley (Bob Marley) and Neville O'Reilly Livingston (Bunny Wailer). He then changed his name to Peter Tosh and the trio started singing together in 1962. Higgs taught the trio to harmonise and while developing their music, they would often play on the street corners of Trenchtown.
In 1964 Tosh helped organise the band the Wailing Wailers, with Junior Braithwaite, a falsetto singer, and backup singers Beverley Kelso and Cherry Smith. Initially, Tosh was the only one in the group who could play musical instruments. According to Bunny Wailer, Tosh was critical to the band because he was a self-taught guitarist and keyboardist, and thus became an inspiration for the other band members to learn to play. The Wailing Wailers had a major ska hit with their first single, "Simmer Down", and recorded several more successful singles before Braithwaite, Kelso and Smith left the band in late 1965. Marley spent much of 1966 in Delaware in the United States with his mother, Cedella (née Malcolm) Marley-Booker, and for a brief time was working at a nearby Chrysler factory. He returned to Jamaica in early 1967 with a renewed interest in music and a new spirituality. Tosh and Bunny were already Rastafarians when Marley returned from the US, and the three became very involved with the Rastafari faith. Soon afterwards, they renamed the musical group the Wailers. Tosh would explain later that they chose the name Wailers because to "wail" means to mourn or to, as he put it, "...express one's feelings vocally". He also claims that he was the beginning of the group, and that it was he who first taught Bob Marley the guitar. Also according to Bunny Wailer, the early Wailers learned to play instruments from Tosh.
During the mid-1960s Tosh, along with Bob Marley and Bunny Wailer, were introduced to Danny Sims and Johnny Nash who signed the three artists to an exclusive recording contract on Sims' and Nash's JAD Records label as well as an exclusive publishing agreement through Sims' music publishing company, Cayman Music. Rejecting the up-tempo dance of ska, the band slowed their music to a rocksteady pace, and infused their lyrics with political and social messages inspired by their new-found faith. The Wailers composed several songs for the American-born singer Nash before teaming with producer Lee "Scratch" Perry to record some of the earliest well-known reggae songs, including "Soul Rebel", "Duppy Conqueror", and "Small Axe". The collaboration had given birth to reggae music and in 1970 bassist Aston "Family Man" Barrett and his brother, drummer Carlton Barrett, joined the group. They recorded the album The Best of The Wailers, which was produced by Leslie Kong and released in 1971.[citation needed]
In 1972, Danny Sims assigned the balance of the JAD Records recording contract with the band to Chris Blackwell and Island Records company and released their debut, Catch a Fire, in 1973, following it with Burnin' the same year. The Wailers had moved from many producers after 1970 and there were instances where producers would record rehearsal sessions that Tosh did and release them in England under the name "Peter Touch".
In 1973, Tosh was driving home with his girlfriend Evonne when his car was hit by another car driving on the wrong side of the road. The accident killed Evonne and severely fractured Tosh's skull. After Island Records president Chris Blackwell refused to issue his solo album in 1974, Tosh and Bunny Wailer left the Wailers, citing the unfair treatment they received from Blackwell, to whom Tosh often referred with a derogatory play on Blackwell's surname, 'Whiteworst'. Tosh had written many of the Wailers' hit songs such as "Get Up, Stand Up", "400 Years", and "No Sympathy". Tosh began recording and released his solo debut, Legalize It, in 1976 with CBS Records company, and Treasure Isle. The title track soon became popular among endorsers of cannabis legalization, reggae music lovers and Rastafari all over the world, and was a favourite at Tosh's concerts.
That was his last album from the Wailers, Island Records. In 2013, a book co-written by French scholar Dr Jeremie Kroubo Dagnini and American Lee Jaffe, his former associate, says Tosh was part of a smuggling operation that raised money to fund this album.
Solo career
Tosh started to make his own albums with Rolling Stones Records and CBS Records Equal Rights followed in 1977, featuring his recording of a song co-written with Marley, "Get Up, Stand Up", and a cover of "Stepping Razor" that would also appear on the soundtrack to the film Rockers.
Tosh organised a backing band, Word, Sound and Power, who were to accompany him on tour for the next few years, and many of whom performed on his albums of this period. In 1978, the Rolling Stones record label Rolling Stones Records contracted with Tosh, on which the album Bush Doctor was released, introducing Tosh to a larger audience. The album featured Rolling Stones frontmen Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, and the lead single – a cover version of The Temptations song "Don't Look Back" – was performed as a duet with Jagger.
During Bob Marley's free One Love Peace Concert of 1978, Tosh lit a marijuana spliff and lectured about legalising cannabis, lambasting attending dignitaries Michael Manley and Edward Seaga for their failure to enact such legislation. Several months later he was apprehended by police as he left Skateland dance hall in Kingston and was beaten severely while in police custody.
Mystic Man (1979), and Wanted Dread and Alive (1981) followed, both released on Rolling Stones Records. Tosh tried to gain some mainstream success while keeping his militant views, but was only moderately successful, especially when compared to Marley's achievements.
In 1984, after the release of 1983's album Mama Africa, Tosh went into self-imposed exile, seeking the spiritual advice of traditional medicine men in Africa, and trying to free himself from recording agreements that distributed his records in South Africa. Tosh had been at odds for several years with his label, EMI, over a perceived lack of promotion for his music.
Tosh also participated in the international opposition to South African apartheid by appearing at anti-apartheid concerts and by conveying his opinion in various songs like "Apartheid" (1977, re-recorded 1987), "Equal Rights" (1977), "Fight On" (1979), and "Not Gonna Give It Up" (1983). In 1987, Peter Tosh seemed to be having a career revival. He was awarded a Grammy Award for Best Reggae Performance in 1987 for No Nuclear War, his last record.
Death
On 11 September 1987, just after Tosh had returned to his home in Jamaica, a three-man gang came to his house on motorcycles demanding money. Tosh replied that he did not have any with him but the gang did not believe him. They stayed at his residence for several hours and tortured Tosh in an attempt to extort money from him. Over the hours, as various associates of Tosh arrived to visit him, they were also taken hostage by the gunmen. The gunmen became more and more frustrated, especially the chief thug, Dennis "Leppo" Lobban, a man whom Tosh had previously befriended and tried to help find work after a long jail sentence. Tosh said he did not have any money in the house, after which Lobban and the fellow gunmen began opening fire in a reckless manner. Tosh was shot twice in the head and killed. Herbalist Wilton "Doc" Brown and disc jockey Jeff 'Free I' Dixon also died as a result of wounds sustained during the robbery. Several others in the house were wounded, including Tosh's common law wife Andrea Marlene Brown, Free I's wife Yvonne ("Joy"); Tosh's drummer Carlton "Santa" Davis, and musician Michael Robinson.
According to Police Commissioner Herman Ricketts, Dennis "Leppo" Lobban surrendered and two other men were interrogated but not publicly named. Lobban went on to plead innocent during his trial, telling the court he had been drinking with friends. The trial was held in a closed court due to the involvement of illegal firearms. Lobban was ultimately found guilty by a jury of eight women and four men and sentenced to death by hanging. His sentence was commuted in 1995 and Lobban remains in jail. Another suspect was acquitted due to insufficient evidence. The other two gunmen were never identified by name.
Discography
Legalize It (1976)
Equal Rights (1977)
Bush Doctor (1978)
Mystic Man (1979)
Wanted Dread & Alive (1981)
Mama Africa (1983)
No Nuclear War (1987)
Wanted Dread & Alive
Peter Tosh Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
By the evil forces
Said I'm wanted, dread & alive
Nowhere to hide
They are trying to find me
CHORUS
Babylon charge I for ganja
How could one man Gang Jah
Must be an ape from the zoo
CHORUS
I've been accused for a shootin'
Which I know never do
Who dem in prison that willing dey
So I've got to pull my way through
CHORUS
Yesterday was court day
And I-Man forget to go
Today my name is in my papers
And next warrant they will show
CHORUS
Now I've got to
Judge two guns
To protect myself from men
'Cause I've never done nothin' wrong
And I hate traveling scared
CHORUS
In "Wanted Dread & Alive," Peter Tosh addresses the injustices of the system and the persecution of Rastafarians in Jamaica. The lyrics suggest that the government and law enforcement are unfairly targeting him and falsely accusing him of crimes he did not commit. The chorus serves as a reminder that he is constantly being sought after by these "evil forces" and has nowhere to hide.
The first verse references Tosh's arrest for possession of Marijuana, which he claims he did not do. He suggests that those in power are using this as an excuse to imprison him and others like him. The second verse denies allegations of a shooting and suggests that those who are imprisoned are not necessarily guilty. The third verse references Tosh's court appearance and suggests that he is continually being targeted despite his innocence. The final verse suggests that Tosh is forced to carry guns and protect himself from those who are after him.
Overall, the song speaks to the broader issues of systemic oppression and the criminalization of black people in Jamaica. It highlights the ways in which Rastafarians, in particular, are targeted by those in power and how Tosh himself is constantly in fear of being hunted down.
Line by Line Meaning
Said I'm wanted, dread & alive
The singer is being pursued, and is valuable to his pursuers either for his dreadlocks or perhaps for his knowledge of certain information, but they want him alive.
By the evil forces
The singer feels like he's being hunted by people or entities that mean to do him harm.
Nowhere to hide
The singer feels trapped and threatened, with no way out.
They are trying to find me
The artist's pursuers are actively searching for him, and he is aware of this fact.
Babylon charge I for ganja
The artist has been arrested and charged with possession of marijuana.
Which I know couldn't do
The singer knows that the charges against him are unjust, and he is innocent of the crime.
How could one man Gang Jah
The singer questions how one person could betray his faith and principles for the sake of being a snitch.
Must be an ape from the zoo
The artist believes that someone who would betray his people and principles must lack intelligence and basic humanity.
I've been accused for a shootin'
The artist has been falsely accused of a shooting crime.
Which I know never do
The artist is innocent of the crime, and he knows it.
Who dem in prison that willing dey
The singer is questioning why someone would willingly stay in prison, knowing full well that he didn't commit any crimes.
So I've got to pull my way through
The artist has to find a way to overcome his current situation and prove his innocence.
Yesterday was court day
The singer had a court date the day before.
And I-Man forget to go
The singer missed his court date due to forgetfulness or perhaps other issues.
Today my name is in my papers
The news of the singer's missed court date has been published in the papers, which will likely lead to negative consequences.
And next warrant they will show
The authorities will likely issue a warrant for the artist's arrest due to his missed court date.
Now I've got to
The artist is forced to take action to protect himself.
Judge two guns
The singer must make a decision to arm himself with two guns for self-protection and defense.
To protect myself from men
The singer needs to protect himself from his pursuers or those who seek to do him harm.
'Cause I've never done nothin' wrong
The artist knows that he is innocent of the crimes he is being accused of, and he should not have to live in fear of harm or persecution.
And I hate traveling scared
The artist is tired of living in fear and being constantly worried about his safety and well-being.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@mastershake2073
Yes the song was in Pineapple Express, however Tosh deserves way more recognition than that. The Wailers would not have existed without him. He taught Bob Marley how to play the guitar despite what most people think. There would have been no “Get Up Stand Up,” either. Rip Peter Tosh
@ivanmessias1753
it is not a competition reality , peter is peter, bob is bob, they are great...they both had their worth....
@baydonclarke6036
@@ivanmessias1753 not a comp is a recognition remembrance and respectful statement much love
@divinusv
He really does, righteous man Peter Tosh was.
@brycetaylor8481
I utterly agree.
It made me feel joy and innocence and protected from a time of wonderful naivety.
@brycetaylor8481
Marley and Tosh alone had albums and imagine they could have worked together on acoustics.
The wonders of creativity and pure energy, a rush of love and balance to the ear and soul experiencing it all 🖤 🎤 🇯🇲
@bqrre
When Saul & Dale is walking around in different neighbourhoods, just laughing in the sun on pineapple express. So much good vibes...
@drahood9076
Man took me back so much that I brought tears to my eyes
@bqrre
@@drahood9076Ey man thank you for sharing. I feel you there..
@alexscalper
2020 and still blazing with this one 😁who’s in?