The Wailers only toured outside of the Americas once.Then they split.
Both Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer expressed distaste; Wailer spat, "I felt like I was in a zoo".
Thank goodness Auntie put a comforting arm around them as soon as they reached ol' Blighty, introducing the weary travellers to the great British viewing public via the PSB funded Old Grey Whistle Test.
Classic!
The Beeb also captured them for radio, setting up a concert at their Paris Theatre, recording them for broadcast and for posterity (although it has never been officially released).
Before the hyperbole and majesty of Marley's later performances, The Wailers, in their early form, were a tight and mean little combo, relying on intimate harmonizing and clever vocal counterpoints to deliver their message.
The harmonies within the Peter Tosh songs are particularly awesome: Marley and Wailer sublimely homogeneous.
O to have been among those lucky 400 or so - mind you, I would only have been nine; may have found the whole thing a little disconcerting.
A time machine would do better....
Until then, here's the next best thing:
The Wailers - Live. Paris Theatre, London. April, 1973.
Rastaman Chant
Slave Driver
Stop That Train
No More Troubles
400 Years
Midnight Ravers
Stir It Up
Concrete Jungle
Get Up Stand Up
Kinky Reggae
CD rip. Excellent quality.
Weeping & a Wailing here
The last Wailers' boot I posted got removed quite quickly.
Be swift.
