Artist

Bob Marley & The Wailers

Kingston, Jamaica • 1970 – 1981

Bob Marley & The Wailers is a music group from Kingston, Jamaica, active 1970–1981. Their discography on Gatefold includes 24 records.

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Albums tracked

880

In collections

1970

Since

Biography

Bob Marley and the Wailers (previously known as The Wailers, and prior to that The Wailing Rudeboys, The Wailing Wailers and The Teenagers) were a Jamaican ska, rocksteady and reggae band. The founding members, in 1963, were Bob Marley (Robert Nesta Marley), Peter Tosh (Hubert Winston McIntosh), and Bunny Wailer (Neville Livingston). During 1970 and 1971, Wailer, Marley and Tosh worked with renowned reggae producers Leslie Kong and Lee "Scratch" Perry.

The Arc of Bob Marley & The Wailers

The pivots — what forced Bob Marley & The Wailers to reinvent.

The Black Ark Sessions
Before the stadium tours, the group spent 1970 to 1972 locked in with Lee 'Scratch' Perry, who stripped their sound down to a skeletal, haunted version of reggae. Perry brought in the Barrett brothers from the Upsetters, effectively building the engine that would define the band’s groove for the next decade. You hear this period in the murky, reverb-heavy tracks on African Herbsman, where the music feels dangerous and claustrophobic compared to the hi-fi sheen that followed. It was the moment they stopped being a vocal group and became a heavy rhythm machine.
The Island Pivot
When Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer bailed in '74, the dynamic shifted from a democratic trio to a solo act backed by the I-Threes and a rotating door of guitarists. Chris Blackwell brought in Al Anderson and later Junior Marvin to add blues-rock solos that gave albums like Natty Dread and Rastaman Vibration a familiar entry point for American listeners. This era saw the tempos slow down into a heavy, hypnotic 'one drop' beat that favored stadium acoustics over dancehall sweat. The Barrett brothers remained the anchor, but the focus was now squarely on Bob’s messianic charisma and polished production values.

Influences

The Impressions — The Wailers essentially modeled their early vocal harmonies on Curtis Mayfield’s group, even covering 'People Get Ready' multiple times. You can hear the Chicago soul influence in the tight, three-part arrangements on those early Studio One singles. It’s the blueprint for the 'One Love' melody.
Ray Charles — Bob Marley often cited Ray Charles as a primary vocal influence, specifically the way he injected gospel phrasing into secular music. That soulful, raspy delivery on tracks like 'Soul Rebel' is a direct line from Brother Ray's Atlantic years. It gave the group a grit that separated them from the sweeter rocksteady singers.
Fats Domino — The off-beat shuffle of New Orleans R&B was the foundational DNA for the birth of ska in Jamaica. The Wailers grew up listening to Domino’s radio hits, which dictated the emphasis on the 'and' beat that eventually slowed down into reggae. Without that boogie-woogie piano backbeat, the skank doesn't exist.
The Drifters — Atlantic-era Drifters records were staples in the Jamaican sound system circuit where the band cut their teeth. The structural simplicity and focus on a charismatic lead over a harmonizing backing section provided the template for their transition into the Island Records era. You hear it in the pop-leaning hooks of their middle-period work.
The Moonglows — Harvey Fuqua’s vocal arrangements were a obsession for a young Bob Marley, who practiced the group's doo-wop techniques to perfect his pitch. This vocal discipline is what allowed The Wailers to stay in key while the backing tracks were often recorded on drifting, out-of-tune equipment. It’s the reason those early sessions still sound professional despite the primitive tech.