The Complete Wailers released

The Complete Wailers The Wailers

Released: March 17, 1998 Recorded: 1967-1970 Charted: -- Peak: -- US, -- UK, -- CN, -- AU Sales (in millions): -- US, -- UK, -- world (includes US and UK) Genre: reggae

Disc 1: Rock to the Rock (1968): * Song Title (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to singles charts. Rock to the Rock Steady How Many Times Touch Me Mellow Mood There She Goes Rebel Put It On Chances Are Love Bend Down Low The World Is Changing Nice Time (1967, --) Treat You Right What Goes Around Comes Around (6/8/96, 42 UK) Total Running Time: 48:35 Disc 2: Selassie Is the Chapel (1968-1970): * Song Title (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to singles charts. Don’t Rock My Boat The Lord Will Make a Way Somehow Chances Are Selassie Is the Chapel Tread Oh Alright Rhythum Rocking Steady Adam and Eve Wisdom This Train Thank You Lord (6/81, --) Give Me a Ticket On the Road Again Black Progress Total Running Time: 46:20 Disc 3: The Best of the Wailers (1969-1970): * Song Title (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to singles charts. Sugar, Sugar Stop the Train Cheer Up Soon Come Soul Captive Go Tell It on the Mountain Can't You See (alternate) Give Me a Ticket (alternate) Hold on to This Feeling Chatterbox (alternate) Soul Shakedown Party (9/70, --) Total Running Time: 36:33 The Players: Bob Marley Peter Tosh Bunny Wailer Other vocalists: Junior Braithwaite, Cherry Smith, Beverley Kelso, Constantine “Vision” Walker, Rita Marley, Marcia Griffiths, Judy Mowatt Musicians: Aston “Family Man” Barrett, Carlton Barrett, Earl Lindo, Tyrone Downie, Alvin “Seeco” Patterson, Al Anderson, Earl “Chinna” Smith, Donald Kinsey, Junior Marvin

Rating: 4.00 out of 5.00 (average of 11 ratings) Quotable: A “living testament to the birth of the legend.” – Vibe magazine

About the Album: Marley’s pre-major-label work has been repackaged and regurgitated to the point of market suffocation. While it isn’t complete, as the title suggests, this three-disc collection, along with two other Jad/Koch box sets released in 1998-99, is is fairly definitive in covering “Marley’s first important signing outside the local scene,” VB< the span between Studio One (1963-66) and the Wailers’ major label debut in 1973. It “may be as close as we ever get to that elusive portrait of the world’s greatest reggae band.” AZ “Compiled by Marley-ologist Roger Steffens, this exhaustive archive is the culmination of many years' work trying to get at Marley tunes which lay dormant in record company vaults around the world.” AMG The set includes “copious” VB but “hard-to-follow” AZ “liner notes by reggae historians Bruno Blum and Roger Steffens, rare photos, and unheard instrumental ‘versions.’” VB Amazon.com says the collection is “hampered by clumsy packaging,” AZ while AllMusic.com calls it “impeccable.” AMG In any event, “these recordings sound light-years better than most of the scratchy, poorly recorded early Wailers material previously available.” AZ This is “a necessary addition to any Marley collection.” AMG Vibe calls it a “living testament to the birth of the legend.” VB The first installment, covered on this page, consisted of a 3-CD box set “of 47 tracks, 28 of which were previously unreleased outside Jamaica.” VB “We discover… a band reaching to find its own voice.” AZ “The collection brims with the influence of old American soul, gospel, and R&B hits that were popular in Jamaica at the time.” VB The Wailers “only begin to hint at the soul power they would find in reggae.” AZ “Also included are early versions of original tunes that eventually became big hits.” VB “Despite the tentative feel on many of these songs, the undeniable talent of the ‘proto’ Wailers is unmistakable. Rita Marley appears as the rock solid force supporting the platform from which Peter Tosh and Bob Marley sprung. Tosh, for his part, is the real surprise here, already showing the jaunty, take-no-prisoners delivery that made him so unique. Marley is all over the stylistic map – trying on pop, love songs, standards, anything to try to capture the sense of urgency that would later become the band’s hallmark. An interesting historical marker.” AZ “Alternate versions and dub versions of well-known classics, plus a few previously unreleased tracks, make this a must-have for fans of this most fertile period for Jamaica's greatest trio. Previously hard-to-find gems like The Lord Will Make a Way, Tread Oh, Feel Alright and Rhythm are all included, plus many more. There’s even a cover of Sugar Sugar.” AMG “Perhaps of greatest interest to longtime Marley fans is the release of Selassie Is the Chapel, which was first printed in 1968 on a tiny edition of only 26.” AMG Notes: This was the first box set in a set of three covering the years 1967-1972 over 11 discs. The three discs in this collection (Rock to the Rock, Selassie Is the Chapel, and Best of the Wailers were also released individually. The latter, originally released in 1970, also included “Back Out and “Do It Twice,” which are not on this box set. Also – this collection included alternate versions of songs which are not covered in the track listings on this page.

Resources and Related Links: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Bob Marley AMG All Music Guide review by Matthew Hilburn AZ Amazon review by S. Dudo VB Vibe review as posted on Amazon.com Last updated 5/6/2021.