Volume 2: Issue 1: January 2002

Welcome to the January 2002 update of wailers.co.uk. Each month we plan to bring you news and opinions of the Wailers and associated affairs, with regular contributors offering articles and reports from around the world.

CARL AYTON PASSES
Carl "Bridge" Ayton, the drummer with Bunny Wailers Solomonic Reggastra passed away on Sunday December 23rd following a stroke.

Ayton entered the music business professionally as a 19 year old when he joined the Mighty Titans, after which he progressed to a regular slot in the Caribs Band, performing at the Jonkanoo Lounge between 1978 and 1983.

In 1983 he founded the Bloodfire Posse with guitarist Danny Browne, Paul Blake on vocals, Donovan Belnavis on bass and the late Alden Stewart on keys. The band broke big the following year with their debut single Rub A Dub Soldieron the Studio Worx label. The Posse had follow up hits with Pink Panther and Every Posse Get Flat before topping the reggae charts with their debut album Are You Ready ? in 1985

Carl had also been a regular member of Bunny Wailer's band since 1982, and was the rhythm master for Judy Mowatt's backing group between 1984 and 1985. He was later a member of the legendary Roots Radics, where he had the unenviable task of replacing the great Style Scott. He was perhaps one of the few drummers capable of fulfilling such a task.

As well as remaining an active musician, Carl was also the first Vice President for the Jamaican Federation Of Music Unions, and also a director of Jamaican Association of Composers Authors and Publishers. He also operated his own Aytonbridge Recording Studio.

With Ayton's passing, Jamaican music has lost one of it's greatest assests .He may not have been one of the biggest names to emerge on the scene, but he undoubtedly gave a lifetime of devotion to the music, and will be fondly remembered and forever respected by those "in the know"

Our thoughts are with Carl Ayton's family and friends.


BUNNY WAILER AT ETHIOPIAN CHRISTMAS SHOW
Bunny Wailer was the headline act at the star studded Ethiopian Christmas celebrations held at the refurbished Skateland Entertainment Complex, Halfway Tree on Monday January 7th.

The event, jointly organised by the Bob Marley Foundation and the Maxfield Avenue branch of the Ethiopian Orthadox Church, began at 8.30pm and ran into the early hours of Tuesday morning. Also on the bill were the Abyssinians, Sugar Minott, Junior Reid and the Mighty Diamonds. The Wailers legacy was well represented with performances from Andrew Tosh and Damien "Junior Gong", and an appearance one time Wailers collaborator Carl Dawkins.

The event did draw some criticism due to the slack time schedule, which left many patrons unable to see the later acts that did not appear until the following morning.


THREE MARLEY'S NOMINATED FOR GRAMMY'S
The nominees for this years Grammy's have been announced, and the selection reveals that three members of the Marley family are in contention for an award.

The catergory for best Reggae album places Damien Marley and Ky-Mani Marley head to head, while father Bob is nominated in the Long Form Music Video catergory.

Damien receives his first Grammy nomination for his well received Halfway Tree album, released last August by Motown, while Ky-Mani's Many More Roads gains his debut nomination (press release below).

The nominated Bob Marley documentry Rebel Music, which first aired on Channel 4 in the UK in 2000 and recently released on DVD, was produced by Jeremy Marre, and features some fascinating insights into Bob's personal life as well as previously un-seen snippets of the legend in concert. At last years ceremony, Bob was honoured with a special, posthumous, lifetime achievment award.

KY-MANI MARLEY RECEIVES GRAMMY NOMINATION FOR BEST REGGAE ALBUM ON ARTISTS ONLY! RECORDS

Press Release

January 4, 2002 - (Los Angeles / New York) ARTISTS ONLY! RECORDS is proud to announce the Grammy nomination for Best Reggae Album of the year for its release by KY-MANI MARLEY, MANY MORE ROADS. Released in May 2001, MANY MORE ROADS is KY-MANI MARLEY's second studio album and is both a commercial and critical success internationally. KY-MANI MARLEY and ARTISTS ONLY! continue the albums' prominence on the Billboard Reggae Charts since it's release.

MANY MORE ROADS was produced by MIKE "JAH MIKE" COBURN for REGGAE VIBES PRODUCTIONS with the assistance of CLIFTON "SPECIALIST" DILLON. KY-MANI has established his rightful place in reggae music history, displaying a maturity and sensitivity far beyond his years as a singer/songwriter. His father, BOB MARLEY, has left a tremendous legacy and, like his father, KY-MANI displays the same courage to expose his inner feelings through his music.

ARTISTS ONLY! RECORDS (AO!) is a leading independent music company. In the company's brief five-year history it has received two Grammy nominations for releases on the label. The first for TOOTS & THE MAYTALS' album, SKA FATHER. ARTISTS ONLY! has expanded its operations internationally to encompass the development, manufacturing, marketing, sales and distribution of recorded music throughout the world in the genres of reggae, jazz, pop, dance, and others.

Press Contact: Russell Gerlach at Artists Only! Records
Phone: (562) 948-3008 / E-Mail: rgerlach@artistsonly.com
Web: www.artistsonly.com
Reggae Ambassadors Worldwide Member 1227


JUNGLE DUB PART 2
New from Patate Records, France comes the second installment of the Wailers Jungle Dub. The vinyl only collection compiles tracks from the previously released JAD Complete Wailers box sets, but also contains two acapella cuts of Chances Are and Bend Down Low.

The full track listing:
A side :
Keep On Moving part 3
Kaya (version 2 ? scat mix)
Soul Rebel (version)
Kingston 12 Shuffle (Trench Town Rock version featuring U Roy)
Battle Axe (Small Axe version)
Bend Down Low (a cappella mix)

B side:
Corner Stone (version)
Put It On (version)
Memphis (version)
Black Progress (version)
Rebel s Hop (version)
Satisfay My Soul Jah Jah (version)
Chances Are (a cappella mix)

The album is avalible from Dub Vendor
or more info is available from Patate Records by e-mail: pierre@patate-records.net


MARLEY LIVE TAPES REMASTERED
Universal Music in London have delved into the vaults to recover and preserve deteriorating concert tapes of Bob Marley & the Wailers. The audio and video tapes, featuring performances recorded between 1973 and 1978, were passed on to audio specialists Euphonix in California who "baked" them to stabilise and prevent further loss of the contents before transferring them to digital tape.

Among the performances preserved were three nights at the Hammersmith Odeon from June 1976, and the show at the Leeds Polytechnic later the same month.

No firm plans for release are yet in place, but it has been suggested that as well as CD releases, it is likely that a DVD package in Dolby 5.1 surround sound will appear, and possibly a video featuring footage from various concerts.


FOUNDATION'S TUFF CLAMP DOWN
The Bob Marley Foundation will be taking tougher action this year to clamp down on the market of unlicensed Bob Marley merchandise and products.

Following advertisments in the press, the Foundation has warned that the manufacture of products bearing Bob's name, likeness, image or persona without permission of the Foundation will not be tolerated. The Bob Marley Foundation is a charitable organisation, and the sale of items that do not contribute to it could effect the continuation of some of it's charities, according to Stephanie Marley.

So far two bootleg manufacturers have been closed down and a police checks will be made on mall traders to ensure that they have the required licenses to sell Bob Marley items. The annual registration fee for small operatives is $6, 000, but the Foundation explained that the revenue lost because of bootleg products was "well into the millions".

Stephanie Marley explained that the intention of the action was not only for financial retribution, but also to protect the "value, use and integrity of Bob Marley's name and image". The Foundation do not want Bob to be exploited or used in a manner not fitting with his beliefs and principles.


THE YEAR IN VIEW
2001 was a great year for Wailers fans, with Bob receiving an honourary Grammy, Island's Deluxe editions, and the continuation of new releases from the Peter Tosh archives keeping many of us happy over the 12 months.

26th of March was a date anticipated by many, as Island unvieled possibly their most accomplished re-issue to date, with the 2 CD edition of Catch A Fire. The first disc of this was what so many of us had wanted to hear for many years, the raw Jamaican recording of the album without the English overdubs. Fortunately the record label were sensible enough to hand the project over to Errol Brown, who supplied a sympathetic mix of the original 8 track tapes.

The deluxe edition of Exodus took us somewhat by surprise when it eventually arrived. Early whispers had led us to expect a disappointment, but the 2 disc package treated us to the rare full Jamaican mix of Punky Reggae Party, unreleased mixes of Keep On Moving, an alternative cut of Waiting In Vain plus a 5 track live recording from the Rainbow.

Peter Tosh was also well served by re-issues in 2001. Along with the re-issue of his Honorary Citizen boxset, the archives yielded the Live & Dangerous album, recorded live in 1976 in Boston, and the acoustic/interview CDI Am That I Am. With exciting things happening to Peter's catalogue at this time, it was good to see a fitting tribute to the great man appear on-line at www.petertosh.freeserve.co.uk. One of very few decent Peter sites currently on the web.

With all the excitment surrounding these releases from the major players, it was a pleasant surprise to come across the Dub Marley album from French label Tabou1. Recorded by members of the Wailers and guitarist Lloyd "Guitsy" Willis in 1975, the CD offers 10 guitar versions of Marley classics complete with their raw dubs. This release is so good it stayed in our CD players for weeks!

Sadly, not everything was rosy in the Wailers garden last year. In April Aston "Familyman" Barrett was impelled to file a legal action against the estate of the late Bob Marley to "prevent the continuous and systematic degradation of his and the Wailers role in the Bob Marley legend."

Barrett stated through his attorney that he and his late brother Carlton were partners with Bob Marley and that they had not been paid the income for several songs written on various Bob Marley & the Wailers albums.

It was also reported that Bunny Wailer had filed a writ against Studio One producer Clement "Coxson" Dodd. Bunny claimed that Dodd had "failed over the years to respond to the agreements the Wailers signed with him."

On April 19th 2001, Olive "Senya" Grant, a protege of Familyman Barret's, who recorded with the Wailers in the 1970's was stabbed to death in Kingston. Senya, who had performed admistritive duties for the Reggae Sunsplash organisation as well as being involved in local charity work, was planning new recordings at the time of her tragic death.

The year ended with another sad loss when Carl Ayton, the drummer with Bunny Wailers backing band passed away suddenly on December 23rd 2001. Ayton had complained of feeling ill the previous evening, and suffered a seizure shortly after retiring to sleep. He was taken to the University Hospital in St. Andrew where he passed away while undergoing treatment.

The year ahead promises much for Wailers fans. As well as the continued re-issue programme of Bob's back catalogue - including deluxe editions of Live! and Legend - it has been rumoured that a boxset of live recordings will possibly emerge from Tuff Gong, along with a DVD release. JAD Records continue their Peter Tosh campaign with the release of another live album on January 22nd, while there has also been talk of a live DVD release from the current Wailers Band.
Time will tell.

TOP 5 RELEASES OF 2001:
.1. The Wailers: Catch A Fire: deluxe edition (Island Records)
.2. Peter Tosh: I Am That I Am (JAD Records)
.3. Bob Marley & the Wailers: Exodus: deluxe edition (Island Records)
.4. Peter Tosh: Live & Dangerous, Boston 1976 (Columbia Records)
.5. The Wailers: Dub Marley (Tabou1 Records)


BUSH TELEDOCTOR RADIO
Remember, our good friend and website contributor Alvaro Gaynicotche now broadcasts a show dedicated to Bob & the Wailers every Saturday on X FM -100.3 Montevideo,Uruguay.

X FM is broadcoast on the Internet, so you can hear it from all over the world. The Uruguay time for the show is : Saturday, 7:00 PM to 9:00PM.

People can contact Alvaro at : robertovive@portalx.com.uy
And you can hear by clicking "X FM"" on this site:
www.todoradio.com/uruguay.html
¡Roberto Vive!


REMEMBERING...
January 1975: Bob's first solo album Natty Dread is released on Island Records. It eventually becomes his first charting album in the UK.

January 4th 1980: Bob Marley & the Wailers give their first performance on African soil, in Libreville, Gabon.

January 1984: Trojan release the compilation In The Beginning, featuring some obscure (at the time) productions from Ted Pounder among the selection.

January 2000: Funkstar Deluxe releases a dance remix of Rainbow Country. Meanwhile Joe Boy records jump on the bandwagon and remix Put It On. Wailers fans groan with disapproval.

January 2001: www.wailers.co.uk is launched!


Previous Updates:
Number 12, December 2001     Number 11, November 2001
Number 10, October 2001     Number 9, September 2001
Number 8, August 2001    Number 7, July 2001
Number 6, June 2001     Number 5, May 2001
Number 4, April 2001    Number 3, March 2001
Number 2, February 2001    Number 1, January 2001


Please visit these Wailers/reggae sites:

The OFFICIAL Wailers website: www.wailers.com

www.petertosh.freeserve.co.uk

www.bobmarley.freeserve.co.uk     Django! Ska, Rocksteady & Reggae

http://robertnestamarley.free.fr     The Wailers News

www.melodymakers.de     bobmarleyshop.com

Bob Marley Magazine     http://go.to/bobmarleyshows


Contact: jahlight@wailers.co.uk