The Natural Mystics: Marley, Tosh, and Wailer
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4.3 • 3 Ratings
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- $15.99
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- $15.99
Publisher Description
The definitive group biography of the Wailers—Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, and Bunny Livingston—chronicling their rise to fame and power.
Over one dramatic decade, a trio of Trenchtown R&B crooners swapped their 1960s Brylcreem hairdos and two-tone suits for 1970s battle fatigues and dreadlocks to become the Wailers—one of the most influential groups in popular music. Colin Grant presents a lively history of this remarkable band from their upbringing in the brutal slums of Kingston to their first recordings and then international superstardom. With energetic prose and stunning, original research, Grant argues that these reggae stars offered three models for black men in the second half of the twentieth century: accommodate and succeed (Marley), fight and die (Tosh), or retreat and live (Livingston). Grant meets with Rastafarian elders, Obeah men (witch doctors), and other folk authorities as he attempts to unravel the mysteries of Jamaica's famously impenetrable culture. Much more than a top-flight music biography, The Natural Mystics offers a sophisticated understanding of Jamaican politics, heritage, race, and religion—a portrait of a seminal group during a period of exuberant cultural evolution.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this well-researched biography, Grant takes a fascinating journey through Jamaican history with a focus on the lives of the three young men who would become the reggae sensation, The Wailers. The story begins with the Frome Rebellion of 1938 and ends with the death of Bob Marley to cancer in 1981 and the murder of Peter Tosh just a few years later. Historic moments in Jamaican history are recounted vividly, including the burial of Marcus Garvey, the focus of Grant's first book (Negro with a Hat) and the man who helped inspire Marley's "Redemption Song," as well as the 1966 visit of Ethiopia's Haile Selassie I. Grant assembles a wide cast of interesting characters, including Mortimo Planno, credited with " the seed of Rastafari in the souls of young men and women," and record producer Chris Blackwell of Island Records. Grant completely captures the personalities of his three main players, both within the group and later as they moved into solo projects. In addition to the many sources consulted, Grant also traveled to Kingston and interviewed important figures like Professor Frederick Hickling and producer Lee "Scratch" Perry. The epilogue features a brief and nearly impossible to procure interview with the only surviving band member, Bunny Wailer.
