Bob Marley Biography

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The Wailers Get Their First Big Recording Contract

In 1971 Marley was invited to accompany Johnny Nash to concerts in Sweden and London. The rest of the Wailers were flown out to record and promote a single "Reggae on Broadway". The band ran out of money and had no means of returning to Jamaica. Stranded with no obvious means of support, they tracked down the Jamaican born head of Island Records, Chris Blackwell to ask for help. He had already heard of the Wailers and immediately gave them a record contract, giving them £8,000 to fly to Jamaica and record an album.

In 1972 the album "Catch a Fire" was released. The band carried out a 3 month tour of England in 1973 to promote the album, including appearances on the BBC's Radio One and BBC television's Old Grey Whistle Test. Bunny Wailer did not enjoy touring so he returned to Jamaica during the tour and was replaced with the band's former mentor, Joe Higgs. Bunny left the Wailers altogether shortly afterwards. The band then embarked on a tour of the USA, supporting Sly and the Family Stone. However, the 17 date tour was cut short after 4 dates as the Wailers had become more popular than the headline act. Whilst in the USA the Wailers opened several concerts for Bruce Springsteen but once again ran out of money. In order to earn some cash, the band agreed to record some live tracks for the KSAN-FM radio station in San Francisco. By this stage Tosh was feeling frustrated about living in Marley's shadow so he left the Wailers to pursue a solo career.

The band's next album, Burnin', which was recorded when Peter and Bunny were still in the band, was released at the end of 1973

Previous: Bob Marley's First Recordings

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