I&I STORY
As narrated in 2017 by the Hon. Neville O'riley Livingston O.M, O.J, C.D
The tale of my musical history commences with the birth of “The Wailers”. My father Thaddeus Livingston’s history in West Kingston and Nine Miles is the foundation of my relationship with music and the group. Growing up firstly in Kingston, I knew my father as an astute businessman who upon my birth in 1947 fell into a coma and awoke proclaiming a new revivalist faith with a militant dress code. Thaddeus “Shut”, as he was affectionately known, was a major player in the Ganja (marijuana) industry as a trader and cultivator. This lead us to reside in the remote and fertile hills of Nine Miles, St.Ann where my father's beautiful g farmed .
In Nine Miles in 1954, my father met Robbie’s mother Cedella Malcolm Booker leading to the birth of my sister Pearl Livingston, and the foundation of my relationship with my new brother Robert Nesta Marley. Robert and I grew as family and even attended Stepney All-Age school together and was known and loved as brothers in the community. It was in Nine Miles where I gained my first experience on stage as I performed with my self-made bamboo guitar singing folk classics to the delight of the farming community after workdays. Our newly formed family moved to Kingston in our new home together at 19 Second Street in Trench Town
As teenagers at this time, West Kingston was buzzing with musicality and so as a Camperdown H.S student I was often in the music room where The Gaylads rehearsed and passed John Holt rehearsing at Kings Theatre nearby after school. Robbie had a welding apprenticeship with Desmond Dekker which led to him being introduced to Beverly’s/Leslie Kong who produced his first song “Judge Not”. With this experience he started to encourage me to do the same which inspired me to write my first composition “Pass It On”. After being late getting out of school and running errands for my father I subsequently missed my Beverly’s audition.
Robbie and I had a musical urge that wasn’t quenched until a few months later, in 1961 we formed, “The Wailing Wailers” after recruiting Peter Tosh, my gambling partner at the time. One day in the middle of a game a colleague passed by with a guitar missing a string and Peter took the guitar from him and started playing, having seen him handling the guitar I immediately invited him to meet Robbie who was also very impressed and keen on learning himself. We also teamed up with short-lived members Junior Braithwaite and Beverley Kelso which further enhanced the group’s harmonies under the tutelage of Joe Higgs of the established singing duo Higgs & Wilson.
Our vocal harmony was the most distinctive and competitive feature in our music and this bonded with our message of brotherhood and our burgeoning Rastafari faith. We were instant favorites in the community first known as “The Teenagers” and then suggested by our Trench Town community to be called “Wailers” based on our emotional/spiritual “wailing” sound.
In 1963 we auditioned for Coxsone Dodd founder of Studio One whom instantly produced our first #1 hit record Simmer Down which was an effective social commentary urging Jamaica’s “Rudeboys” to calm down and end the violence in our communities. This was followed up with our classic debut album “The Wailing Wailers” in 1965 also produced by Studio One accompanied by the ska supergroup The Skatalites. Our songs became household favorites including the international anthem “One Love” written by myself and Robbie influenced by the gospel and the soul of Curtis Mayfield. Our popularity also grew publicly as a group and individually. Our community bestowed the name “Bunny Wailer” on me instead of “Bunny Livingston” because they saw me as the one carrying the torch.
With Coxsone Dodd we never benefitted monetarily for our works which led to Robbie taking a warehouse job in Delaware with my brother Carl Livingston in 1966. I in his stead vocally led the group with Constantine “Vision” Walker fulfilling the group harmony, recording and singing lead on compositions, such as “Who Feels It Knows It”, “I Stand Predominant” and “Sunday Morning”.
We all loved the musical process and our songwriting was credited and allocated equally, everyone in the band felt valued for their hard work and the interests of the group prevailed over personal agendas.
We started the first artist-owned label ‘Wail N Soul M’ in 1966 on Robbie’s return and later founded the Tuff Gong label to distinguish our export releases. We owned and operated several business establishments and operated joint business accounts until we formed Tuff Gong Records Ltd. in 1972. We believed in ownership and was keen on learning the business. I was wrongfully accused and arrested on charges of possession of cannabis in June 1967 and served a 14-month prison sentence. The case was apparently dismissed yet due to the slack judicial system of Jamaica I still served the time though there was no record of a conviction; I have no prison record. This is where I wrote the song "Battering Down Sentence" and got acquainted with the 1895 bestseller book ‘The Sorrows Of Satan’ that was to mirror “The Wailers” lives predictively with Chris Blackwell/Island Records.
“The Wailers” were stars in the UK by virtue our success in Jamaica since ‘Simmer Down’ and consistent recordings for almost a decade up to and through Catch A Fire/Burnin. When I was released from prison we restarted our grassroots recordings and our record shop, where we linked up with producer Leslie Kong to do an album and with Lee Perry to co-produce aiming for the UK market.
“The Wailers” were introduced by Mortimer Planno to Danny Simms, who's agenda was to push Johnny Nash as the "King Of Reggae". Robbie and Peter were signed as writers and our music become ‘demos’ for Nash with Rita added in and since I had returned from incarceration I followed suit. Robbie had tried an unsuccessful solo run with Johnny Nash and in the midst returned home to regroup and go as ‘The Wailers’ since that was the known brand and the real sound. We were accompanied now by Carlton Barrett and Aston Barrett to open for Johnny Nash, however we were never allowed to perform with some excuse about work permits and our passports being held at the Home Office; an obvious lie. We were then informed about a potential deal with CBS and began laying the tracks that would eventually become ‘Catch A Fire’. In the midst of this, the pressure to have us perform grew on Danny Simms with our fans hearing that we were actually in the UK. He was forced to let us perform on the next show with riot threats and the success of our appearance immediately canceled the tour as Johnny Nash’s ‘King of Reggae’ tag was smashed! Danny and Johnny both abandoned us, leaving us stranded in the UK.
A colleague of Lord Christopher Blackwell of Island Records approached us about arranging a meeting, declaring that Chris was an actual fan of our music. We had already heard of Chris Blackwell through our business relations with Coxsone Dodd/Studio One, when he never payed us he always mentioned Chris as the person in England who was holding out on payment. We accepted the meeting and I immediately confronted Blackwell about our earlier works and he replied “I gave Coxsone Millions!”. We entered into a album production agreement with Island Records in which we received £4000 to make an album which was not nearly enough to cover production costs.
However due to our status and connections in Jamaica, we produced “Catch A Fire”. After some over dubbing sessions with guitarist Wayne Perkins in the UK ”Catch A Fire” was released in 1973 to international acclaim. While doing the “Catch A Fire” Tour we recorded our sixth studio album “Burnin” released in October 1973. It was certified Gold and later added to the National Recording Registry, with the Library of Congress deeming it historically and culturally significant. A few of the songs were my writing and original composition namely “Pass It on” and “Hallelujah Time”. I also wrote and performed “Reincarnated Souls” and “The Oppressed Song” but these were later reworked to feature on my debut solo album.
After our successful 1st tour of England we were now in discussion with Blackwell about our upcoming “Burning” Tour. Due to my refusal to play "freak clubs" as I believed it was in violation of mi Rastafari faith, I decided to not do the “Burning Tour” and in my stead we used our musical teacher Joe Higgs. After that tour Peter also decided to halt which people now viewed as The Wailers “breaking up” or “disbanded”.
The Wailers never broke, to show our continued unity we headlined a 1975 concert together alongside The Jackson5. We as “The Wailers” decided to continue our works as solo artists while promoting our Tuff Gong Label. Robbie’s stardom was “The Wailers” so Blackwell and his label begun the appropriation of ‘The Wailers’ name, title, image, likeness and utilized the marketing of “Bob Marley and The Wailers” as a strategically familiar brand. I conceptualized the H.I.M. Intel Diplo and Solomonic labels and asked Peter which one he wanted and he chose. I still remained producing music released by Island Records as I never left my brother Robbie often assisting him with business advice. I released my debut album “Blackheart Man” to international acclaim in 1976. The album features some of Jamaica's leading musicians and also contributions from fellow Wailers Robert Marley on backing vocals and Peter Tosh’s backing vocals and guitar. Aston and Carlton Barrett played an instrumental role in the production, showing that the family was still together.
I remained on Island until Robbie’s passing in 1981, with my last album being ‘” Wailer Sings The Wailers”. My last memory of Robert is our last conversation while he was ill in Germany when I said “if you don’t feel its working out, come home and let’s do what our livity requires” and he said when he gets better we are going to be “The Wailers” again. After Robbie died, Blackwell stole and redesigned Tuff Gong logo from our ‘three fisted’ partnership to Robbie’s solo image and attempted to fraudulently convert our company Tuff Gong Records into Tuff Gong International.
Due to my taking to the courts all this was attempted to be settled in a 1999 Tuff Gong Settlement Agreement between “The Wailers”, but Blackwell’s continued ownership interest and machinations have prevented this. It is a factual impossibility for any of us to leave
“The Wailers” as the catalog of our work is our living testimony, like all other great artists and groups in popular music so I vow to preserve our history and experiences as the namesake; Bunny Wailer.
After leaving Island Records I went fully into starting up the Solomonic Productions machine. I vowed to chart my own path and own my material which although I never got the polarization of the major label promotion machine, I have the value of my archive . I did team up with labels such as RAS Records, Shanachie, Castle Hendring on some projects but kept most productions in-house. My musical message is always focused on my spiritual faith, I wrote new spiritually charged material that reflected the teaching of His Imperial Majesty Emperor Haile Selassie and the Pan African leader; Marcus Mosiah Garvey. I do believe in dancing and making people dance and having a “nice time” as commonly reflected in my productions. Albums such as Rock N Groove, Dubd’sco, Rock and Groove, Hook Line & Sinker, Rule Dancehall, and Rootsman Skanking not to mention writing and producing the internationally celebrated hit "Electric Boogie".
I am an ultimate music lover and during my long career in the music industry I have experimented with all The album Blackheart Man is a good example of my roots reggae style, while Bunny Wailer Sings the Wailers successfully reworks many of “The Wailers” songs. I toured extensively with Jamaica’s greatest musicians including but not limited to: Sly and Robbie, Roots Radics, Dean Fraser, Earl Chinna Smith, Johnny “Dizzy” Moore, Bopee, Dwight Pickney, and Danny Axeman to name a few. Some of my known classics over the years include Ballroom Floor, Rise and Shine, Cool Runnings, Ram Dancehall, Rock and Groove, Crucial, Mellow Mood, Back to School, and not to mention Dreamland.
I’ve been blessed to receive 3 Grammy Awards for Best Reggae Album in 1991 for the album “Time Will Tell: A Tribute to Bob Marley”, 1995 for “Crucial! Roots Classics”, and 1997 for “Hall of Fame: A Tribute to Bob Marley ‘s 50th Anniversary (RAS)”. I was also featured on the album True Love by Toots and the Maytals, which won the Grammy Award in 2004 for Best Reggae Album. In August 2012 I received Jamaica’s fifth highest honor the Order of Jamaica in my honour. I recently received in 2017 Jamaica’s fourth highest honor, the Order of Merit.
