The musician who formed The Wailers with Bob Marley
Bunny Wailer 1947-2021
Bunny Wailer, who has died aged 73, was the last surviving founder member of The Wailers – the group that propelled Bob Marley to superstardom, and helped popularise reggae worldwide. Formed when its three principals (the other being Peter Tosh) were in their teens, The Wailers started as a vocal group in the ska era: for their early records, they wore suits and their hair cropped, and sang in “smooth harmony”, said The New York Times. By the early 1970s, however, they had adopted loose garb and dreadlocks, and the slower, “muskier” tones of the new sound being developed in Jamaica. They were described as the Jamaican Beatles, and like the Fab Four, they had distinct identities and pursued distinctive solo careers. If Tosh was reggae’s “militant conscience”, said The Guardian, and Marley its global evangelist, Bunny Wailer was its “spiritual ambassador”. His debut solo album, Blackheart Man (1976), is “widely felt to be one of reggae’s highest peaks”.
Neville Livingston was born in Kingston in 1947 and brought up by his father, Thaddeus – aka “Toddy”. When he was about seven, they moved to the village of Nine Mile, where Thaddeus started dating Marley’s mother. The two future stars were raised as stepbrothers, said The Times; they also went to the same school, where they made music together. When they moved to the housing project of Trench Town in Kingston, the activities of the local “rude boy” gangs gave them material for their songs. They had no money, but Livingston crafted a guitar from “a bamboo staff, the fine wires from an electric cable and a large sardine can”, and the singer Joe Higgs gave them lessons. He also introduced them to Winston Mcintosh (Peter Tosh) and, in 1963, they became The Wailing Wailers; Livingston took the name Bunny then, and later added Wailer. In 1964, their single
Simmer Down went to the top of the Jamaican charts. More local hits followed, but in 1967, he was arrested for cannabis possession and sentenced to 18 months’ hard labour. On his release, they worked for various producers in the late 1960s before collaborating with Lee “Scratch” Perry, who teamed them up with the drummer and bassist brothers Carlton and Aston “Family Man” Barrett, and encouraged them to develop a deeper reggae sound.
After two albums with Perry – Soul Rebels and Soul Revolution – problems arose. Wailer didn’t trust Perry, and following a row about money, they were signed to Chris Blackwell’s Island Records label, finally achieving financial stability, owing to the success that year of their first two Island albums, Catch a Fire and Burnin’ (both 1973). The latter contains such classics as Get Up, Stand Up and Small
Axe. The Wailers became internationally famous; but Wailer didn’t enjoy the touring, and he resented the way Blackwell was promoting Marley as the star. He left in 1974, and Tosh soon followed. His solo career reached its peak with Blackheart Man, but he continued to make music for the rest of his life. A devout Rastafarian, he lived on a farm outside Kingston he’d bought with his settlement from Island, where he grew food and smoked herb. He was married for 50 years to Jean Watt. She vanished from the family home last May while suffering from dementia. Weeks later, he experienced a severe stroke. His children survive him.