BIGSONG:
Following leader Bob Marley’s death from cancer on May 11, 1981, the Wailers Band struggled for nearly a decade for direction, hampered from releasing their own music by a Gordian knot of legal entanglements. Anchored by world-class bassist Family Man Barrett and his brother, drummer Carlton (who was murdered by gunmen hired by his wife in April 1987), the Wailers Band performed well-received international tours almost constantly throughout the ’80s. Lead guitarist Junior Murvin bravely handled most of the vocal chores, and keyboard stalwart Wya Lindo and percussionist Seeco Patterson (who brought the original Wailers to their first audition in 1963) added credibility, but as the ’90s progressed, despite the title of their first solo offering, they were still struggling to establish their own identity on records like 1994’s Never Ending Wailers and 1996’s Jah Message.
