Overview

John Masouri has written extensively on reggae music for over two decades. 'Simmer Down' is the final installment of his trilogy of books about the Wailers. This time he's gone back to the very beginning, and written about the original trio of Bob Marley, Peter Tosh and Bunny Livingston, who made the journey from doo-wop to dreadlocks and changed the face of reggae music before splintering apart amidst growing differences and ultimately betrayal. It's a tale set in the 60s and early 70s against a backdrop of Kingston shantytowns, rude boys, gang wars, political violence, Black Power, police harassment and Rastafari. Insider quotes - many of them previously unpublished - reveal little-known facts about the Wailers' early lives in Trench Town and their adventures with Coxsone Dodd, Rasta elder Mortimo Planno, Lee Scratch Perry, Johnny Nash and Chris Blackwell, among others. New light is also shed on the group's inner dynamics, and how they were tested to the limit by Marley's solo ambitions. This book is an attempt to uncover the real story behind the early Wailers' rise to fame and just as importantly, it's also a celebration of the music that continues to inspire successive generations of reggae fans from around the world. John Masouri's previous books include 'Wailing Blues: The Story Of Bob Marley's Wailers' and 'Steppin' Razor: The Life Of Peter Tosh, ' both published by Omnibus Press.

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9780993375903

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John Masouri is an author, journalist, reviewer, broadcaster and research consultant based in the UK. As a reporter with first Black Echoes and now Echoes Magazine, he's documented reggae music in all of its forms for nearly thirty years, and interviewed many of its greatest and most influential figures. His liner notes have been gracing reggae albums for decades. A key contributor to Riddim Magazine in Germany and Reggae Vibes in France, he's also written for Mojo, Music Week, the Guardian, Observer and NME, as well as magazines in the US, Holland, Italy, Japan (RM) and the Caribbean. His authorised biography of the Wailers - Wailing Blues: The Story of Bob Marley's Wailers - was published by Omnibus Press in 2008. Marley expert Roger Steffens described it as the best book ever written on Bob Marley, and a fan's dream come true. His second book Steppin' Razor: The Life Of Peter Tosh was published in 2013. It was the first-ever biography of reggae singer Peter Tosh, and widely acclaimed. His previous books include two he co-authored - The Guinness Book Of Reggae and Virgin Encyclopedia Of Reggae. In addition to book readings and festival appearances, he's contributed to several radio and television documentaries commissioned by the BBC, Channel 4 and the BBC World Service. He also appears in Menelik Shabazz's documentary film The Story Of Lover's Rock, released in 2011.

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