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| With his friend Neville Livingston a.k.a. Bunny, they enrolled in a music class tutored by a famous Jamaican singer, Joe Higgs. There they met Peter Mac Intosh and the three became close friends. At the age of 16, he was introduced to a local record producer Leslie Kong and he recorded his first single "Judge Not" which was not successful. After this failure Bob and Bunny came together with other friends to form the group The Wailing Wailers. Then in partnership with producer Clemet Dodd of the record company Tuff Gong, their first song, "Simmer Down" was recorded. This became a hit in Jamaica largely due to the popularity of Ska music at that time. | -+ |
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The place in the picture up above the is the place were the Wailing Wailers produced there first song which is mentioned in the passage above. | |
| On February 10, 1966, Bob married his longtime love, Rita Anderson and later went to the United States to earn some money to finance his music. When he returned, the Wailing Wailers made a transition from Ska music to Rock Steady. This created conflicts with the Tuff Gong label and so the Wailing Wailers formed their own label, Wail 'N' Soul and changed their name to just The Wailers. | |
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By 1970, the Wailers became very popular throughout the Caribbean and a second and even more successful Tuff Gong label was formed. Their international career was launched when they met Johnny Nash and accompanied him to London and Sweden. While in London, they were strapped for cash and so Bob contacted Mr. Chris Blackwell of Island Records for a possible record deal. But, his fame had preceded him and the group was signed on the spot. They recorded their first album "Catch a Fire" for Island Records, which was one of the first Reggae albums. This was the first of many successful albums to be recorded by Bob and the Wailers. | |
| In 1973 the Wailers went on a tour to the US and again their fame preceded them. They were fired from their opening spot after four shows when it was realized that they were more popular with the audience than the band they opened for. However, they were able to do a live concert broadcast for the radio station KSAN-FM. Later that year they released there second album "Burnin" which featured songs such as "I Shot the Sheriff" which was later recorded by Eric Clapton and "Get up, Stand up". |
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From then on The Wailers were a very popular group. The soon turned reggae and spread the reggae music throughout America. | |