Joe Higgs' 1960 debut hit 'Manny-O' with Higgs and Wilson was one of the first records ever pressed and sold in Jamaica, selling 50,000 copies — a remarkable figure for the era.
Where this was said
At 32:58 · chapter starts 31:15
Before anyone had heard of the Wailers, there was Joe Higgs. A Kingston musician whose 1960 debut 'Manny-O' (with Higgs and Wilson) was one of the first records ever pressed in Jamaica and sold 50,000 copies, Higgs was already an established figure when a group of teenagers started hanging around him. [1] — Josh "Joe Higgs is reggae's great unsung hero. This Kingston musician took teenage Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, and Bunny Wailer under his wing and ta…" 31:40 Those teenagers were Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, and Bunny Wailer. Rather than protecting his competitive edge, Higgs taught them everything — how to sing, how to write songs, how to perform. Josh and Chuck are clearly moved by this act of mentorship: the argument is made plainly that the Wailers as a world-historical musical force probably would not exist without Joe Higgs. The early Wailers songs, like the 1963 'Simmer Down,' sound recognisably like Bob Marley's voice — but the music is pure American R&B. The transformation into reggae would take nearly a decade.
Joe Higgs is reggae's great unsung hero. This Kingston musician took teenage Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, and Bunny Wailer under his wing and taught them how to sing, write songs, and make music — at a time when most artists would have focused on their own careers. Without him, the Wailers probably just would have sucked.
Bob Marley's father Norval Sinclair Marley was a white Jamaican plantation overseer in his 60s who married Marley's mother when she was 18. He provided some financial support but was largely absent. Marley grew up split between rural Jamaica with his mystic herbalist grandfather and Trenchtown.
The Frozen soundtrack was the best-selling album of 2014, selling 10 million copies including streaming equivalents — beating Taylor Swift's 1989.
Most music historians point to 1968 as the year reggae was definitively born, marked by songs like Desmond Dekker's 'The Israelites' and the first use of the word 'reggae' by Toots and the Maytals.
Mento, the earliest predecessor to reggae from the 1940s–50s, blended African work songs with European musical influences and featured instruments like banjo, guitar, and the rumba box.
Transistor radios allowed Jamaicans to tune into Miami R&B stations for the first time in the 1950s–60s, directly inspiring ska and setting the stage for reggae.
Rocksteady, the slower, vocal-heavy predecessor to reggae, was popular for just about two years but produced major hits including the original 'Tide Is High' and 'Ain't No Sunshine.'
Two days after being shot in the chest and shoulder at his home in 1976, Bob Marley still performed the Smile Jamaica anti-violence concert, showing extraordinary commitment to peace.
Catch a Fire (1972) is considered the Wailers' first full-blown reggae album, despite the group having released approximately four albums prior that were more R&B in style.
DJ Kool Herc, widely credited as a founding father of hip-hop, was born in Kingston, Jamaica, and brought Jamaican toasting traditions with him when he moved to the Bronx at age 12.
Reggae archivist Roger Steffens compared Bob Marley to Martin Luther King Jr. and Peter Tosh to Malcolm X, capturing their contrasting but complementary political approaches within the Wailers.
We use essential and analytics cookies to run Vuci. To understand how the site is used: Privacy Policy.
Install Vuci on your phone
Add it to your home screen for a faster, app-like experience.
Install Vuci on your phone
Tap the Share button, then “Add to Home Screen”.
A new version is available
Reload to get the latest Vuci.