- … Read Full Bio ↴There are or have been - at least - two bands named The Wailers:
- The legendary Jamaican reggae band (founded as a ska group 1963, and became a Rastafarian reggae band in 1968), renamed Bob Marley & The Wailers in 1974, which are still active led by bassist Aston Barrett after Marley's death in 1981.
- The Fabulous Wailers, a rock and roll and garage band from the USA, active 1958-1969, first led by John Greek, replaced in 1960 by Rockin' Robin Roberts.
1) Bob Marley & The Wailers have together sold in excess of 255 million albums worldwide. Since they are extraordinary popular also in poor countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America with big markets for pirate copies the total amounts of albums sold has been estimated to over 1 billion. In England alone, they've notched up over 20 chart hits, including seven Top 10 entries. In USA on the other hand, Bob Marley & The Wailers reached superstar status only after Marley's death, with the album Legend , focusing on the person Bob Marley but not on the band. Outside of their groundbreaking work with Marley, the Wailers have also played or performed with international acts like Sting, the Fugees, Stevie Wonder, Carlos Santana, and Alpha Blondy, 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.
Their nucleus formed in 1969, when the vocalist group "The Wailers" (formed 1963 by Bob Marley, Bunny Wailer, and Peter Tosh) requited the talented Barrett brothers: bassist Aston "Family Man" and drummer Carlton (writer of well-known Marley songs like "War" and "Talking Blues", 'sound-maker' of more Marley songs, developer of the one drop style in reggae music) played on hits such as Lively Up Yourself, Trenchtown Rock, Duppy Conqueror, and many more besides. Inspired by Rastafari and their ambitions of reaching an international audience, this is the line-up that pioneered roots rock reggae, and signed to Island Records in 1971. Bunny and Peter left two years later. It was at this point that the in-demand Barrett brothers - whose rhythms also underpinned innumerable seventies' reggae hits by other acts - assumed the title of Wailers, and backed Marley on the group's international breakthrough album, Natty Dread. Under Family Man's musical leadership, they then partnered Bob Marley on the succession of hit singles and albums that made him a global icon, winner of several Lifetime Achievement awards, and Jamaica's best-loved musical superstar.
Drummer Carlton "Carlie" Barrett was murdered 1987, leaving his brother as the main beneficiary of the Wailers' mantle. Subsequent line-ups have revolved around Family Man, who is widely regarded as one of the world's greatest bass players. Modest and unassuming, he was present on all of those unforgettable performances by Bob Marley & The Wailers from the seventies. Family Man continues to be the main axis of the current Wailers - a group that's one of the last, great reggae institutions, yet which refuses to live off past glories. That's because Family Man represents tried and trusted roots authenticity and, along with the Wailers, injects fresh excitement into a show that continues to attract enthusiastic audiences from around the world.
2) The Fabulous Wailers were an American rock band from Tacoma, Washington. Formed around 1958, they are often considered the first garage rock group. They performed a hybrid of saxophone-driven rhythm and blues and Chuck Berry rock and roll.
Five 45s (four released in 1959, including Tall Cool One, and one in 1960) and an LP release, The Fabulous Wailers (released December 1959 on Golden Crest Records), put the Wailers on the national scene. Their 1961 cover of Louie Louie, which they recorded as a backing band for singer Rockin' Roberts, was the first to use the trademark 1-2-3, 1-2, 1-2-3 riff. Their version inspired other groups from the Seattle area, most notably the The Kingsmen of Portland, Oregon, to record the same song. The Fabulous Wailers' influence established the Pacific Northwest area as a center for musical innovation and the home of a long string of regional favorites playing a kind of raunchy, amateur, yet passionate, form of rock and roll, such as The Sonics, with whom they exchanged various band members and who recorded on The Wailers own Etiquette Records label.
They became popular around the United States Pacific Northwest around the late 1950s and the start of the 1960s, performing saxophone-driven R&B and Chuck Berry rock and roll. Their biggest hit was "Tall Cool One", first released in 1959, and they have been credited as being "one of the very first, if not the first, of the American garage bands."
The group was formed – originally as The Nitecaps – in 1958, by five high school friends:
John Greek (27 October 1940 – 6 October 2006) – rhythm guitar, trumpet
Richard Dangel (1 December 1942 – 2 December 2002) – lead guitar
Kent Morrill (2 April 1941 – 15 April 2011) – keyboards, vocals
Mark Marush (15 August 1940 – 9 August 2007) – tenor sax
Mike Burk (b. 1942) – drums
In late 1958, the group recorded a demo of an instrumental written by Dangel, Morrill and Greek, which found its way to Clark Galehouse of New York based Golden Crest Records. He liked the track and had it re-recorded by the band in Lakewood in February 1959; its title "Tall Cool One" was apparently suggested by Morrill's mother. Released as a single, it reached # 36 on the Billboard Hot 100 and # 24 on the R&B chart. The band made the cross-country trip to New York to record an LP, The Fabulous Wailers, which was released in December 1959 and featured two vocals by Morrill as well as instrumentals. They also appeared on Dick Clark's nationally televised American Bandstand, and toured the east coast. A second instrumental from their first recording session, "Mau-Mau", made # 68 on the Billboard pop chart, but their third single, "Wailin'", failed to make the chart.
The band decided to return to the Northwest, rather than staying in New York as their record label wished, and they were dropped from their contract. Around the same time, they added lead vocalist "Rockin' Robin" Roberts (Lawrence Fewell Roberts II), a charismatic frontman who had previously been the singer with rival Tacoma band the Bluenotes. John Greek left the group in acrimonious circumstances, and was replaced by bassist John "Buck" Ormsby (Seattle, October 29, 1941 - October 29, 2016). Ormsby, Morrill and Roberts then formed Etiquette Records and, in 1961, the label released its first single, a cover version of Richard Berry's "Louie Louie". For contractual reasons the single was credited to Roberts, but was performed by the whole band. Their recording became a local hit and was distributed nationally by Imperial Records, but did not make the national chart. However, its style, with its trademark 1-2-3, 1-2, 1-2-3 riff, inspired other groups from the Seattle area, most notably the Kingsmen of Portland, Oregon, to record the same song.
The Wailers continued to perform locally and, according to Morrill, one of their biggest fans was the young Jimi Hendrix, then starting to perform guitar. The band performed both with and without Roberts, who studied at the University of Washington, the University of Puget Sound, and Oregon State University, eventually achieving a masters degree in biochemistry. They also occasionally featured teenage girl singer Gail Harris, notably on the live album The Fabulous Wailers at the Castle, recorded in 1961, which has been described as "undoubtedly one of the most influential albums in Seattle rock & roll history." In all, the band recorded and released four albums on their own Etiquette label between 1962 and 1966, as well as a succession of singles. They also helped instigate the recording career of The Sonics, whose first two albums were issued by the label, and helped begin Jini Dellaccio's career as a rock'n'roll photographer when they hired her to shoot cover photos for their album Wailers, Wailers, Everywhere.
Mark Marush left The Wailers in 1962 and was replaced by Ron Gardner, who also handled lead vocals; Dangel and Burk left in 1964 and were replaced by guitarist Neil Andersson and drummer Dave Roland respectively. Continuing to perform live as well as recording, the band added a trio of girl backing singers, known as the Marshans. Also in 1964, "Tall Cool One" was re-promoted by the Golden Crest label, and again made the Billboard pop chart, this time peaking at # 38. In 1965 Roberts made his final recordings with the group, and, in 1967, guitarist Neil Andersson was replaced by Denny Weaver. Roberts was killed, aged 27, in a car crash in late 1967.
The band split up in 1969, by which time Kent Morrill was the only remaining original member. Morrill, Dangel and Ormsby, with other musicians, reunited as The Wailers for occasional concerts from the 1970s onwards. In 1979, they joined with Burk, Gardner, and Gail Harris to play a reunion show.
Later activities
Ormsby re-established the Etiquette label in the mid-1980s, and issued a Wailers compilation, The Boys from Tacoma, in 1993. The Wailers' song, "Out of Our Tree", was featured in the 1998 CD version of the Nuggets: Original Artyfacts From the First Psychedelic Era collection. Several of the Wailers' tunes were also covered by The Ventures, and the two bands released an album together, Two Car Garage, in 2009 to celebrate their 50 years in existence.
Ron Gardner died in 1992. Richard Dangel died of an aneurysm in 2002. John Greek died in 2006, Mark Marush in 2007, and Kent Morrill died of cancer on 15 April 2011. Buck Ormsby died in 2016.
Kinky Reggae
The Wailers Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I saw Miss Brown (said, I saw Miss Brown)
She had brown sugar (had brown sugar)
All over her booga-wooga (over her booga-wooga)
I think I might join the fun, (I might join the fun)
But I had to hit and run (had to hit and run)
See, I just can't settle down (just can't settle down)
Ride on
Don't you know I've got to ride on
Ride on, see I just can't settle down, ride on
I'm a-leavin' town (kinky reggae)
All I've got to say (kinky reggae)
Take it or leave (kinky reggae)
Decieve it
Kinky reggae now
Yeah, kinky reggae
Kinky reggae yeah
Oh, kinky reggae, give it up
Kinky reggae now
Would you ride on?
Ride on
Ride on
Ride on
Ride on
Hey, I went down to Piccadilly Circus
Down there I saw Marcus
He had a candy tar
All over his chocolate bar
I think I might join the fun (think I might join the fun)
But I had to hit and run (but I had to hit and run)
See I just can't settle down (just can't settle down)
In a kinky, kinky part of town
Nice one, that's what they say
Nice one, but I'm leavin' you today
Nice one, oh mama please don't play
Nice one, ah-mama say, mama say
Kinky reggae
Kinky reggae, now
Kinky reggae, give it up
Kinky reggae, now
Oh, kinky reggae
All I've got to say is kinky reggae, now, yeah
Kinky reggae
Kinky reggae, now
Would you ride on?
Right on
Ride on
Ride on, see, I just can't settle down
Ride on
Oi, well
Only once the man about to say
Ragga is the thing to lead you all the day
Oh, yeah-yeah-yeah-yeah-yeah
Kinky reggae, yeah
Up, kinky reggae
Kinky reggae now
Kinky reggae
Kinky reggae, now
It's such a nice one
Nice one
(Nice one) nice, nice, nice, nice, nice one
Nice one
Yeah now, ah-well a nice one, nice one, nice one, ah
The lyrics of The Wailers' Kinky Reggae tell the story of a man who goes out to a part of town known for its wild and hedonistic scene. He meets Miss Brown and is tempted to join in the fun, but ultimately decides to leave town instead. The song reflects the tension between the desire for pleasure and the need for escape.
In the first verse, the singer describes Miss Brown, who has "brown sugar all over her booga-wooga." The term "booga-wooga" is a slang term that likely refers to a form of dance popular in Jamaica at the time. The chorus repeats the idea that the singer can't settle down in this "kinky" part of town and that he needs to "ride on." The second verse introduces the character of Marcus and his "candy tar" (a Jamaican term for a motorcycle) with "all over his chocolate bar," suggesting a more explicit sexual connotation. The song ends with the repeated refrain of "kinky reggae," emphasizing the hedonistic nature of the scene.
Overall, the lyrics of Kinky Reggae offer an insightful commentary on the tension between pleasure and escape, and the push and pull of desire and self-control.
Line by Line Meaning
I went downtown (said I went downtown)
I went into the city where the action is happening
I saw Miss Brown (said, I saw Miss Brown)
I saw a woman named Miss Brown
She had brown sugar (had brown sugar)
Her skin was dark and beautiful
All over her booga-wooga (over her booga-wooga)
Her entire body was captivating
I think I might join the fun, (I might join the fun)
I am considering joining the party she is attending
But I had to hit and run (had to hit and run)
I cannot stay long
See, I just can't settle down (just can't settle down)
I am not ready to commit to a relationship or a particular lifestyle
In a kinky part of town
In a place with unconventional or taboo practices
Ride on
Keep moving forward
Don't you know I've got to ride on
I must continue to journey forward
Ride on, see I just can't settle down, ride on
I cannot stay in one place for too long, so I must keep moving forward
I'm a-leavin' town (kinky reggae)
I am leaving this location where I feel uncomfortable or unable to commit
All I've got to say (kinky reggae)
This song is about the kinky reggae scene I experienced
Take it or leave (kinky reggae)
You can embrace or reject this lifestyle
Decieve it
Deceive what you want about this way of life
Kinky reggae now
This type of music and scene is happening now
Yeah, kinky reggae
I am enjoying the kinky reggae music and scene
Kinky reggae yeah
I really love this style of music and being around people living this way
Oh, kinky reggae, give it up
This lifestyle and music is worthy of recognition and celebration
Kinky reggae now
Again, this scene is currently occurring
Would you ride on?
Will you continue to move forward with me and embrace this lifestyle?
Hey, I went down to Piccadilly Circus
I went to another location in search of this scene
Down there I saw Marcus
I saw an acquaintance named Marcus
He had a candy tar
He had dark skin like a candy tar
All over his chocolate bar
His body was covered in sweet features
Nice one, that's what they say
Others approve of or enjoy this scene also
Nice one, but I'm leavin' you today
Although nice, I do not wish to continue with this lifestyle or relationship
Nice one, oh mama please don't play
I do not wish to engage in this lifestyle any longer, and I request for others to respect that
Nice one, ah-mama say, mama say
Again, I am asking for others to accept my decision to leave this lifestyle
Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: BOB MARLEY
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@sassy1j102
I hear the message in this. Temptations are all around but Marley is giving the ✌sign and high tailing it out of there. Nice one.
@hulkjam2888
all yhe drugs gona make y slow-Burnin n looting
See😉
@mapopperoozio
I think you misinterpreted the "message"😂😂😂
It's the total opposite of what you think.
@damienmccarty3795
For the past 15 years I've only heard this song live from the gold album. I finally heard the studio version.
@chisflanagan5498
The CD Catch a Fire also has Stir it Up. If you don't know the song, take a few minutes and play it. Guaranteed to like it.
@localafh
The undisputed King of Reggae! He started the modern day Reggae Revolution. A true pioneer. ‘Love Always’ Acts 20:35
@82CJB
I like this version bc it's smoother n lil slower. Love the background harmony is on point. Riiidde on!! Long live Bob Marley Rastafari mon!
@kadosmusic5030
This song make me don’t be afraid about the future and be more positive. Thanx for all bob and the wailers
@deemann1976
The bass line is so sick
@markthompson4953
Reggae music has never been the same since Bob and Peter left us.