 Next Article | Previous Article | |
| Back |
by Seth Rogovoy
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass., June 6, 1996 -- In 1977, guitarist Junior Marvin had to make a choice. Two musical giants wanted him to join their bands: Stevie Wonder and Bob Marley. Marvin had already played for the likes of Ike and Tina Turner, Billy Preston and Steve Winwood. But in the end, there really was no choice.
"I had to make a quick decision," said Marvin in a recent phone interview from somewhere on the road. "I love Stevie Wonder very much, but coming from Jamaica, I had to go with Marley."
And so Marvin became a member of the Wailers, the group that, led by Marley, pioneered and popularized the sound of Jamaican reggae throughout the world.
Marley died in 1981, but the Wailers continued on after at his request, according to Marvin, who along with original members Aston "Family Man" Barrett, Earl "Wia" Lindo, Alvin "Secco" Patterson and Tyrone Downie, comes to Butternut Basin ski area in Great Barrington next Saturday, June 15, when the Wailers Band, as they are now called, headline the sixth annual Massachusetts Rock and Reggae Festival.
This year's version of the event, proceeds of which will benefit the Berkshire County Homeless Children's Fund, will also feature top ska bands Bim Skala Bim and Dion Knibb and the Agitators, both from Boston, and Belizbeha, an acid-jazz outfit from Burlington, Vt. The festival will run from 1 to 8. Early bird tickets are available until June 8 for $12 at Tune Street Records in Great Barrington; tickets after that date will cost $15. For more information or to volunteer call 413-274-6584.
While most people remember them as Bob Marley and the Wailers, historically the Wailers were a self-contained unit. While Marley was unquestionably the front man of the group after co-singers Bunny Wailer and Peter Tosh left, it was bassist Barrett - along with his late brother, drummer Carlton "Carly" Barrett - who as much as anyone was responsible for creating the unique sound that set the standard of international reggae for years to come.
"When Bob was alive we were like a football team," said Marvin, who was born in Jamaica and grew up in England. "We did everything together. We were not only musicians. We were friends. We were like a family. Unfortunately he passed, but the team continues. Before he died he asked us to stay together. Fourteen years later we're still here."
In concert, with Marvin now handling lead vocals as well as guitar, the group maintains the Marley legacy by performing songs identified with him, including "I Shot the Sheriff," "No Woman No Cry," "Rastaman Vibration" and "Exodus."
"If we didn't play any of those songs, we wouldn't be the Wailers," said Marvin. "Bob was a good friend of mine. I learned a lot from him. For me it's an honor to sing Bob Marley songs. It's just a continuation of what Bob started."
Part of that continuing legacy is found in the brand new album by the Wailers Band, "Jah Message" (Ras), featuring 13 blasts of roots-style, conscious reggae.The trademark sound of the Wailers is instantly recognizable from the first track, with Aston Barrett's fat bass leading the group through prayers and invocations to the spirit of Haile Selassie, "King of Kings, conquering lion of the tribe of Judah."
Unlike a lot of new efforts by old bands trying to stay current by jumping on the rap and dancehall bandwagon, the Wailers steer clear of such flavor-of-the-month moves in favor of reggae tradition.
In fact, if anything, songs like "Miracle (The Message)" and "Know Thyself" - with its "shoo-wop" chorus - look back to reggae's own roots in doo-wop and '60s-era black pop and soul. "Many Roads to Zion" is really a soul ballad in reggae disguise, and "Jah Love (Believers)" offers a heavy taste of funk and R&B. The song titles, too, tell as much as anyone needs to know about the lyrical content of the Wailers' new material.
Marvin said the trend in Jamaica today is away from dancehall and rap and back to classic, roots-style reggae. "They've discovered that roots reggae is more spiritual. It teaches you things. It not only entertains you but it also educates you. It's come full circle back to where it started again, and we're still here playing the music."
"Acid-jazz" is a catch-all term that usually describes a musical fusion of danceable jazz and hip-hop. In Belizbeha's hands, the fusion adds elements of R&B with hints of disco, salsa, soul and funk. The seven-piece multi-racial "collective" hailing from the unlikely town of Burlington, Vt., features one male rapper, two female vocalists, and the standard drums, bass, guitar and keyboards. Occasionally the band is augmented by a three-piece horn section and an extra percussionist.
The group's self-released CD, "Charlie's Dream," features a dynamic mixture of rap 'n' roll alongside some cool, Anita Baker- style grooves. A hefty dose of humor, an ineffable dance groove and an unerring sense of swing suggest that Belizbeha (bell-IZ-baha) knows how to get a party rolling. For more on Belizbeha, including sound samples, check out the band's web site
. Belizbeha will be kicking off the show at next Saturday's Rock and Reggae Festival. Also on the bill are Dion Knibb and the Agitators, a new Boston-based ska band (Boston is the center of this Jamaican-based dance music in the U.S.) featuring members of the Skatalites, Steady Earnest and the Allstonians, which makes them sort of a ska supergroup. Jamaican-born Dion Knibb, who fronts the group, is the son of legendary Skatalites drummer Lloyd Knibb, and has sung with them since 1984.
Bim Skala Bim shouldn't need much introduction.Perennial favorites at the Rock and Reggae Festival, the group, known for its incendiary, frenetic live shows, dates back to 1983, and has won the Boston Music Award for Outstanding Ska/Reggae Act six times since 1988.
On her first-ever U.S. tour with a band, Rory Block - the Chatham, N.Y.-based, blues-pop singer/songwriter - stops in at the Iron Horse in Northampton on Saturday night at 7.
From the opening track, "Mississippi Bottom Blues," to the end, Block's most recent album, "Tornado" (Rounder) serves up a stew of her heartrending blues and ballads. Her multi-tracked vocals soar on the love ballad, "Pictures of You," one of nine original compositions, which also include the title track, inspired by last summer's meteorological event in Great Barrington.
Mary Chapin Carpenter lends her harmonies to the country-flavored "You Didn't Mind;" "The Last Leviathan" is a trad-folk-style ballad with Block's multi-tracked harmonies floating over a church organ; the closer, "Bright Spirit," is an intriguingly different piece of Sade-like, contemporary pop-jazz, suggesting a new direction Block may want to explore further in future efforts. In all, "Tornado" is another stormy, emotional soundtrack from Block.
(This column originally appeared in the Berkshire Eagle on June 6, 1996. Copyright Seth Rogovoy 1996. All rights reserved.)
| Next Article | Previous Article | |
| Back |
