Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)The most extraordinary musical group after the Beatles has to be the original Wailers--Bob Marley, Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer. When they were joined with the Upsetter band--basically the Barrett brothers--they formed the greatest musical aggregation in reggae history.
This relatively short book covers the life and times of these three, with particular emphasis on their early years. Both Marley and Tosh died relatively young, and Wailer has become a bit of a recluse, so the book covers mainly the 1960s and early 1970s.
Colin Grant is the son of Jamaican immigrants to Great Britain and a perfectly acceptable writer. The book reads like an extended magazine article, and Grant has a good sense of pacing. Returning to the land of his ancestors, he traces the parallel history of the Wailers and of Jamaican culture. Reading the book helps place many aspects of reggae music in historical and cultural context. I was disappointed however at the general lack of interest in the music--which is, after all, why many of us are interested in the Wailers. Grant seems more interested in them as crucial figures in Jamacian history, which is legitimate; however, I would not be bothering with the book if it was not for the music.
He does do an excellent job of placing the Wailers in the context of their time and creating sharp interesting portraits of crucial moments in their lifes. I valued the book for this. A fervant reggae nut case (hmmmm...we do exist you know, we are like the trainspotters of popular music) will be disappointed in the book for the lack of any in depth discussion of the music and even more disappointing, no attempt at a discography.
It is a fine book for all my caveats and a general reader with no particular interest in reggae or Jamaica would find this a diverting and entertaining read--and a reggae nut will learn a lot before he throws the book against the wall ranting about some obscure single that goes unmentioned.
Click Here to see more reviews about: The Natural Mystics: Marley, Tosh, and Wailer
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. 8 pages of four-color and 8 pages of black-and-white illustrations
Click here for more information about The Natural Mystics: Marley, Tosh, and Wailer
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