The Wailing Wailers

The Wailing Wailers is the 1965 eponymous debut studio album by the Wailers, later known as Bob Marley and the Wailers. Released on the Studio One label, the album is a compilation of various recordings made between 1964 and 1965 by Neville “Bunny” Livingston (Bunny Wailer), Robert Nesta Marley (Bob Marley) and Peter McIntosh (Peter Tosh). It compiles what Clement Coxsone Dodd considered the best Wailers recordings from this period. They were accompanied by the Studio One backing band, The Soul Brothers.^[1]

The Wailing Wailers
Studio album by the Wailing Wailers
Released	1965
Recorded	1964–1965
Studio	Jamaica Recording Studio, Brentford Road, Kingston, Jamaica
Genre	Ska
Length	36:01
Label	Studio One S1001
Producer	Clement Dodd
The Wailing Wailers chronology
The Wailing Wailers (1965) Soul Rebels (1970)
1971 reissue cover

It is not a studio album in the conventional sense but was the first full-length LP released of the band's work. The album has remained in print since its release, but after the first release (which has a different cover) each release of the album was newly overdubbed to fit with musical trends of the time. The album had never been released on CD with the original track listing or cover until May 2016.

Music

The songs "Simmer Down" and "Rude Boy", recorded in 1964 and 1965, were youth anthems which established the Wailers as the leaders of the new movement.^[2][3]

Influence

The band photo from the front cover of the 1971 re-issue (also used on various subsequent re-issues), with Bunny Wailer standing on the left, Bob Marley standing in the middle and Peter Tosh standing on the right, was also an inspiration for Walt Jabsco, the logo for 2 Tone Records; the drawing was created by Jerry Dammers and Horace Panter and is based on Peter Tosh.

Track listing

All songs written by Bob Marley, except where noted.

Side one

1. "(I'm Gonna) Put It On" (Marley, Clement Coxsone Dodd) – 3:06
2. "I Need You" (1964 version) – 2:48
3. "Lonesome Feeling" (Marley, Bunny Livingston, Peter Tosh) – 2:50
4. "What's New Pussycat?" (Burt Bacharach, Hal David) – 3:02
5. "One Love" – 3:20
6. "When the Well Runs Dry" (William Bell) – 2:35

Side two

1. "Ten Commandments of Love" (The Moonglows) – 4:16
2. "Rude Boy" – 2:20
3. "It Hurts to Be Alone" (Junior Braithwaite) – 2:42
4. "Love and Affection" – 2:42
5. "I'm Still Waiting" – 3:31
6. "Simmer Down" (Marley, Dodd) – 2:49

References

1. "The Wailing Wailers* - The Wailing Wailers (Vinyl, LP)". Discogs.com. Retrieved 20 July 2017.
2. David Vlado Moskowitz The Words and Music of Bob Marley - 2007 Page 13 "The Wailing Wailers' song "Rude Boy," recorded in 1965, was a ghetto youth anthem and established the group as the leaders of the movement, both musically and in the ghetto."
3. Dick Hebdige -Cut 'n' Mix: Culture, Identity, and Caribbean Music - 1987 Page 57 "And Roland Alphonso released an early ska record in 1962 which dealt with the rude boys. However, it wasn't until 1966, when the Wailers produced Rude Boy for Clement Dodd, that the cult really took off inside Jamaican pop music."