
Neville O'Riley Livingston, OM (10 April 1947 - 2 March 2021), best known as Bunny Wailer, was a Jamaican singer songwriter and percussionist and was an original member of reggae group The Wailers along with Bob Marley and Peter Tosh. A three-time Grammy award winner, he was considered one of the longtime standard-bearers of reggae music.
Bunny Wailer toured with the Wailers in England and the United States, but soon became reluctant to leave Jamaica. He and Tosh became more marginalised in the group as the Wailers became an international success, and attention was increasingly focused on Marley. Bunny subsequently left the Wailers in 1973 to pursue a solo career. He had written much of his own material as well as re-recording a number of cuts from the Wailers catalogue.
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Links to Peel[]
Bunny Wailer took part in the landmark first Peel session of Bob Marley & The Wailers in June 1973, although he had left the group by the second Marley session for the progamme, broadcast at Christmas the same year, soon followed by fellow founding Wailer Peter Tosh.
Peel kept tabs on the subsequent solo careers of both departed members of the original trio, with Wailer tending to gain more airtime than Tosh. At the end of 1976, the DJ named the debut Buddy Wailer LP, ‘Blackheart Man’, among his top ten albums of the year in a list that appeared in Sounds.[1] Both Tosh and Marley featured on the LP as backing vocalists.[2]
The DJ continued to play Wailer’s new releases regularly into the following decade, including albums harking back to his time with Marley, such as ‘Sings The Wailers’ (1981) and ‘Tribute’ (1982).
In 2012, ten Bunny Wailer LPs were among the first 100 albums by artists beginning with W, alongside eleven credited simply to the Wailers[1] and several Bob Marley & The Wailers releases also featuring Wailer, when details of Peel’s record collection were initially released via TheSpace website. (See Record Collection: W.)
Festive Fifty Entries[]
- None
Sessions[]
- None under own name.
- One session with Bob Marley & The Wailers (1973).
Other Shows Played[]
- 20 January 1976: Rasta Man (LP - Blackheart Man) Island
- 31 August 1976: Armagideon (Armagedon) (album - Blackheart Man) Island ILPS 9415
- 03 November 1976: Dream Land (7") Island
- 1977
- 26 September 1977: Get Up, Stand Up (12") Island
- 1978
- 01 February 1978: Love Fire (12") Solomonic
- 28 July 1978: Fig Tree / Amagideon (b-sides 'Roots Radics Rockers & Reggae' 12") Island
- 31 July 1978: Roots, Radics, Rockers And Reggae (Island)
- 22 August 1978: Dream Land (Dubd'sco) (album - Dubd'sco Vol. 1) Solomonic 2537
- 28 August 1978: Armagedon (Dubd'sco) (album - Dubd'sco Vol. 1) Solomonic 2537
- 29 August 1978: Roots Raddics (Dubd'sco) (album - Dubd'sco Vol. 1) Solomonic 2537
- 11 September 1978: Rasta Man (Dubd'sco) (album - Dubd'sco Vol. 1) Solomonic 2537
- 22 September 1978: Love Fire (Dubd'sco) (album - Dubd'sco Vol. 1) Solomonic 2537
- 11 October 1978: Dream Land (Dubd'sco) (album - Dubd'sco Vol. 1) Solomonic 2537
- 16 October 1978: Battering Down (Dubd'sco) (LP - Dubd’sco Vol. 1) Solomonic
- 01 November 1978: Call My Dub
- 1979
- 26 May 1979 (BFBS): Free Jah Children (7") Solomonic
- Peel Late May 1979: Free Jah Children (7") Solomonic
- 11 June 1979: Free Jah Children (7") Solomonic (aborted due to warped record!)
- 03 September 1979: Rock In Time (single) Solomonic
- 17 September 1979: Let Him Go (pressed off centre)
- 22 December 1979 (BFBS): Power Struggle (7") Solomonic
- 1980
- 10 April 1980 (BFBS): Got To Move (album - Struggle) Solomonic
- 01 April 1980: Got To Move (LP - Struggle) Solomonic
- 07 April 1980: Let The Children Dance (LP - Struggle) Solomonic
- 15 April 1980: Gamblings (7") Solomonic
- 03 September 1980: Innocent Blood (7")
- 30 October 1980 (BFBS): Cease Fire (7") Solomonic
- 1981
- 05 January 1981: Mellow Mood (album - Sings The Wailers)
- 11 January 1981 (BFBS): Keep On Moving (album - Sings The Wailers) Island ILPS 9629
- 19 January 1981: Keep On Moving (album - Sings The Wailers) Island ILPS 9629
- 25 January 1981 (BFBS): Hypocrite (album - Sings The Wailers) Island ILPS 9629
- 26 January 1981: Keep On Moving (album - Sings The Wailers) Island ILPS 9629
- 28 January 1981: Dreamland (album - Sings The Wailers) Island ILPS 9629
- 10 March 1981: Tug Of War Game () Solomonic
- 15 July 1991 (Radio Bremen): Dance Ha Fi Gwan (7") Solomonic
- 13 August 1981: Another Dance (album - Rock 'N' Groove) Solomonic
- 16 August 1981 (BFBS): Rock 'N' Groove (album - Rock 'N' Groove) Solomonic
- 16 August 1981 (BFBS): Dance Rock (album - Rock 'N' Groove) Solomonic
- 06 October 1981: Lifeline (v/a album - Wiser Dread) Nighthawk
- 11 November 1981: Walk The Proud Land (album - Dubd'sco Vol. 2) Solomonic
- 22 November 1981 (BFBS): I Stand Predominate (album - Dubd'sco Vol. 2) Solomonic
- 06 December 1981 (BFBS): Galong So (12") Solomonic
- 21 December 1981: Collie Man (7") Solomonic
- 1982
- 11 January 1982: Collie Man (7") Solomonic
- 09 February 1982: I Shot The Sheriff (album - Tribute) Solomonic
- 11 February 1982: Crazy Bald Head (album - Tribute) Solomonic S
- 14 February 1982 (BFBS): War (album - Tribute) Solomonic
- 14 February 1982 (BFBS): I Shot The Sheriff (album - Tribute) Solomonic
- 24 February 1982: Soul Rebel (album - Tribute) Solomonic
- 23 June 1982: Galong So (7") Solomonic
- 28 October 1982: Soul Rocking Party (LP-Hook Line N' Sinker) Solomonic (JP: 'I have to confess, I'm not in a frenzy about that. I prefer Bunny Wailer doing what he normally does.')
- 31 October 1982 (BFBS): Trouble Is On The Road Again (7") Solomonic
- 10 November 1982 (BFBS): Trouble Is On The Road Again (7") Solomonic
- 1983
- 29 March 1983: The Conqueror (7") Solomonic
- 06 April 1983 (BFBS): The Conqueror (7") Solomonic
- 17 April 1983 (BFBS): The Conqueror (7") Solomonic
- 12 June 1983 (BFBS): Collie Man (single) Solomonic
- 01 August 1983: Boderation (12") Solomonic
- 29 October 1983 (BFBS): Boderation (single) Solomonic
- 08 November 1983: Bodaration (7")
- 1984 and later
- 29 February 1984 (BFBS): Roots Radics Rockers Reggae
- 07 August 1990: Dancing Shoes (7"-Bunny Wailer Sings The Wailers: Dancing Shoes) Island
- 30 June 1991: Dance Ha Fi Gwan (7") Solomonic
- 01 July 1991 (BBC World Service): Dance Ha Fi Gwan (single) Solomonic
- 25 February 1994: Rasta Man (LP – Dubd’sco Vol 1) Solomonic
- 17 February 2000 (Radio Eins): Dreamland
See Also[]
- 1976 Top Ten Albums
- Record Collection: W
- Reggae: The Story Of Jamaican Music: First programme of three-part BBC series features separate appearances by both Buddy Wailer (from 25.09 of video) and Peel (from 55.52).
- Reggae Sessions
- Cover Versions
External Links[]
References[]
- ↑ These include LPs by the US garage rock band of the same name, aka the Fabulous Wailers.