In 1976, U Roy was the star attraction of Jamaican music. With his first hit Wake the Town released six years earlier, he brought a new style to Kingston’s soundsystems, which involved covering local hits and “toasting” (a kind of lyrical chanting) around the choruses. That particular year, he took Soul Rebel by The Wailers and transformed it into Natty Rebel, which is still his biggest hit to this day. Fifty years later, U Roy - who is approaching 80 - has brought out an album entirely centred around music by The Wailers. The project was instigated by American producer Gary Himelfarb a.k.a. Doctor Dread, who arrived in Jamaica in 1977 and signed the biggest names at that time to his label RAS Records including Black Uhuru, Jimmy Cliff, Bunny Wailer, Inner Circle and Gregory Isaacs.
With Sanctuary Records, who also own reggae re-release giant Trojan Records, Doctor Dread obtained permission to use The Wailers' tracks recorded by Lee Perry in the early 70s. He shut himself away in a Kingston studio with U Roy, recording 14 songs in four hours (!), freestyling like in the good old days. Bunny Wailer, the last survivor of the original trio, was also there to witness this historic recording session, bringing together two icons of Jamaican reggae from the 70s. © Smaël Bouaici/Qobuz