Berkshire Theatre Group presents legendary band The Wailers at the Colonial Theatre tonight, December 3 at 7:30pm. On the 30th anniversary of its release in 1984, The Wailers will be touring the US in 2014, performing the iconic album Legend in its entirety. Named by Time Magazine as the "Best Album of the 20th Century" and #46 on Rolling Stone Magazine's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, Legend is also the best-selling reggae album of all-time, with over 30 million copies sold worldwide. Together with Bob Marley, The Wailers have sold over 250 million albums and have played to an estimated 24 million people across the globe. The anchor of the band is Aston "Family Man" Barrett, who was co-producer on many of Bob Marley's records and was responsible for almost all of the bass lines on Marley's hits.
Tickets to
The Wailers are on sale now for $50-$30. Contact the Colonial Ticket Office at 111 South Street, Pittsfield by calling 413-997-4444. Tickets can also be bought online at
www.berkshiretheatregroup.org. The Ticket Office is open Monday-Friday 10am-5pm, Saturdays 10am-2pm or on any performance day from 10am until curtain.
There is no more legendary band in Jamaican music history than The Wailers. Formed in 1969, the band continues its worldwide campaign of promoting peace, love and equality through the message of reggae and Rastafari.
In 1970, Bob, Bunny and Peter joined forces with the Barrett Brothers in the studio of famed producer Lee "Scratch" Perry, the Upsetter, who recorded the first versions of "Kaya," "Duppy Conqueror" and "Trench Town Rock." When they parted company with Perry, the Barrett brothers decided to leave with them. "They were the best vocal group," recalls Family Man, "and we were the best rhythm section, so we just decided to come together and mosh up the world." That they did in a way that none of them could ever have predicted.
To date,
The Wailers have sold over a quarter of a billion albums, including seven top-ten entries on the British pop charts. Widely hailed appearances at major festivals include Lollapalooza, Glastonbury and Rothbury, along with superstars such as Carlos Santana, Stevie Wonder, Sting, the Fugees and Alpha Blondy. More than 24 million fans have seen them performing live. In 2012 alone they played an impressive 180 concerts.
Signed to Island Records in 1972 by Island Records' chief, Chris Blackwell, they released two albums, Catch A Fire and Burnin', that fused rock licks with the sound of modern roots reggae, startling critics and breaking through onto the airwaves of the UK and the U.S. Like the Beatles, each of the three Wailers vocalists was capable of composing and singing lead, and by the end of 1973, the singers split apart to pursue successful solo careers.
Carlton and Family Man decided to stay with Bob and the group now became known as Bob Marley and the Wailers.
Their first album with Bob as the sole front man was its breakthrough, particularly in England, Natty Dread. A debut performance in 1975 at London's Lyceum was captured on the thrilling Live LP, and produced a huge hit with "No Woman No Cry." It also contained Bob's own version of the song he composed, "I Shot the Sheriff," which was then an enormous international smash in a cover version by Eric Clapton. By 1976, Marley and the Wailers were in the top ten of the U.S. charts with their Rastaman Vibration album. They would continue on the hit parade throughout the remainder of Marley's life. Marley's largest audience came in June of 1980 when 110,000 people filled Milan's San Siro stadium. Two months earlier they were the headliners at Zimbabwe's Independence celebrations.
At the millennium, The Wailers' 1977 masterpiece, Exodus, was chosen by Time magazine as the best album of the 20th century. It contained Bob's anthem, "One Love," called the "Song of the Millennium" by the BBC, which played it every hour for 24 hours during its globe-spanning coverage of the turn of the century. The New York Times called Marley the most influential musician of the 20th century, and placed a copy of the video of his performance at London's Rainbow Theater in a time capsule to be opened in the year 3000, calling it among the most significant musical performances of our times. The Grammys bestowed upon him a posthumous "Lifetime Achievement Award" and he received a star on Hollywood Boulevard. During his lifetime he was given Jamaica's highest civilian award, "The Order of Merit" and in 1978 he received the
United Nations "Medal of Peace" on behalf of 500 million Africans.
Marley passed away from melanoma cancer at the age of 36 in 1981, instructing the band to carry on his mission. Family Man, the rock hard foundation of The Wailers' sound, has led the band through various incarnations ever since. Because he was the arranger and co-creator of Marley's finest works throughout the 1970s, hearing him play the Wailers' songs today is the closest one can come to experiencing the excitement of those immortal performances during Bob's lifetime.
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