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Steppin' Razor: The Life of Peter Tosh
The very first biography of Peter Tosh, rude boy, founder member of The Wailers and a compelling recording artist in his own right.
Tosh was Jamaica’s most controversial reggae star. A fiery advocate of Rastafari and African nationalism as well as the legalisation of marijuana, his uncompromising political stance won him a reputation as Jamaica’s Malcolm X.
Now revered second only to Bob Marley among reggae audiences worldwide, Tosh was awarded the Order of Merit, Jamaica’s third highest honour, as the nation celebrated 50 years of Independence.
Based on hundreds of interviews with those who knew Peter Tosh best, including Bunny Wailer and close associates, here are the stories behind hits like ‘Legalise It’, ‘Equal Rights’, ‘Get Up Stand Up’ and ‘Johnny B. Goode’; Tosh’s infamous appearance at the 1978 One Love Peace Concert; and his now legendary adventures with Mick Jagger and Keith Richards.
One of reggae’s most extraordinary stories, the life of Peter Tosh came to an end when he was brutally murdered in 1987 amidst rumours involving the supernatural and Kingston’s criminal underworld. This is his story.
Tosh was Jamaica’s most controversial reggae star. A fiery advocate of Rastafari and African nationalism as well as the legalisation of marijuana, his uncompromising political stance won him a reputation as Jamaica’s Malcolm X.
Now revered second only to Bob Marley among reggae audiences worldwide, Tosh was awarded the Order of Merit, Jamaica’s third highest honour, as the nation celebrated 50 years of Independence.
Based on hundreds of interviews with those who knew Peter Tosh best, including Bunny Wailer and close associates, here are the stories behind hits like ‘Legalise It’, ‘Equal Rights’, ‘Get Up Stand Up’ and ‘Johnny B. Goode’; Tosh’s infamous appearance at the 1978 One Love Peace Concert; and his now legendary adventures with Mick Jagger and Keith Richards.
One of reggae’s most extraordinary stories, the life of Peter Tosh came to an end when he was brutally murdered in 1987 amidst rumours involving the supernatural and Kingston’s criminal underworld. This is his story.
620 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 1, 2013
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
May 16, 2018
This is a brilliantly researched and written in-depth biography of the 'bush doctor' reggae superstar - Peter Tosh. I first discovered Tosh's music back in 2006, after going through a terrible year in 2005, at a time when I was just starting to find a new direction in my life.
Many reggae fans, including myself, start off listening to Bob Marley's records and only later, if they are still interested, graduate towards the music of Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer. There are many other great reggae groups though such as Black Uhuru, who are mentioned in this book, The Abyssinians, and the great Burning Spear himself, among many others.
However, out of all of these musicians and songwriters, I hold Tosh's music on a special pedestal because there is something special about it, and something sharp, which comes as no surprise since one of his songs was called 'Steppin' Razor', a song written by Joe Higgs, but made famous by Tosh.
What is great about this biography is it takes us through every key stage of his life in great detail. The first 1/4 to 1/3 of the book is dedicated to his time recording and touring with the Wailers. Here, we find out many interesting details such as how he and Bob and Bunny would get together and record, how they learned harmonies from Joe Higgs, how they had a falling out with people like Coxsone and Lee Perry, Peter's close and loving relationship with Yvonne (the love of his life who was tragically and permanently maimed after a car crash and Peter was the driver), their poor reception in the UK but good reception elsewhere and finally and most importantly, the big falling out between Marley, Tosh and Wailer due to Chris Blackwell's attempt to make Bob Marley the star and break him away from the others and set him up with his own band. No wonder Peter sometimes referred to him, in his typically playful way of using language, as "Chris Whiteworst." Many years later, as Peter became more deluded and unstable, he would say some pretty harsh things about Marley, partly out of jealousy at his fame I believe and partly out of frustration at how Marley just swamped the whole reggae market, making it hard for other reggae stars to really shine in the wake of his stardom.
For me though - the remaining 2/3 of the book after Peter left the Wailers was for more interesting, even though on albums like Catch A Fire, he and Bob and Bunny put down some sensational tracks. His first record Legalize It, although containing a few songs which would turn out to be classics in the Tosh canon, was a slightly disappointing start to his career, followed up by what many consider to be his very best album, Equal Rights. His second album, Equal Rights, contains so political point-the-finger songs that it's hard not to like it.
After this comes another new and interesting chapter in his life - his relationship with the Rolling Stones, in particular Mick and Keith. As they happened to come to the 'Peace Concert' in Jamaica in the early 1970s, they heard Peter perform and proselytise on stage and were deeply impressed with not only his musicianship and songwriter but also his revolutionary spirit and outspokenness which both won him many admirers but at the same time generated many enemies, some of whom later may have been indirectly responsible for his death.
Now on the Rolling Stones label, he produced a couple of great albums in succession such as Bush Doctor and Mystic Man (which features some sensational production by Robbie Shakespeare and Sly Dunbar). Here we learn that Robbie and Sly were really the KEY behind most of Peter's records at this time - it was Robbie and Sly who would work out the parts, not only the bass and drum parts, sometimes call up session musicians or even interview new ones (when someone quit), and also rehearse the band until perfection. Peter would often some into the studio with nothing more than sketches for his songs, show them to his band, and once his vocals had been recorded and some of his great wah-wah reggae wash, he would sit in the control room and consume enormous amounts of ganja.
At some point though, he has a big falling out with the Rolling Stones - we are not sure why. I had heard about some big 'confrontation' between Tosh and Richards.
Then comes the album Wanted Dread or Alive which features one of the most beautifully recorded songs I have ever heard - called Fools Die. Many compare it to Marley's Redemption Song or No Woman, No Cry in terms of its power, validity and message.
Peter's trip to Africa was also a very interesting part of the book. Although Peter had no idea what kind of an evil dictator he would turn into, Peter met with Mugabe in Zimbabwe, in the early days of what would turn out to be a long and sometimes cruel reign by the dictator and also went to and played concerts in Swaziland. There is a decryption of a beautiful concert at which he performed in Africa, during which the heavens opened, the rain poured down and the air shook with thunder and lightning, something which motivated Tosh to play even further and better. This trip inspired his second-last album, Mama Africa, which I have always found a little over-rated. However, it does feature a ripping and wonderful reggae version of 'Johnnie Be Good.'
Finally we come to the end of his huge and extensive tour, after which he heads back for some well-deserved rest in Jamaica. Here is where the screws start to come undone in his mind and this part was very sad and hard to read about. Many blame his partner, Marlene, who was apparently into something called Obeah, which is a Jamaican form of dark sorcery or voodoo. Peter's behaviour became increasingly more erratic and crazy (at one point he threatened his own son with a machete) and it was very sad and hard for me to read this because I have always been a HUGE fan of not only his music but more importantly a huge ADMIRER of his political and ethical views. To see a man lose his integrity slowly and lose his very health-conscious diet (of fresh fruit and vegetable juices and smoothies, and special African herbs) devastated me.
However, he sometimes does manage to pick himself up and return with one of the most spectacular albums of his career - No Nuclear War, for which he won a grammy. This is currently my favourite album of his, going around in my playlist on repeat endlessly. The album suffers from that typically cheesy 80s snare and drum production but if you look PAST that, past the typical 80s production (like many of Bob Dylan's albums from the same period), you can see that many of the songs have great depth, and contain an extremely important message for Mankind and how he can avoid Armageddon. This album, in particular, also shows an artist at the top of his game. He slowly crafts his songs into masterpieces, which made me respect the man even more.
The last section is about his murder. One of the 3 people involved in his murder, Lebbman or "Leppo" is still in prison, while the two others were most certainly killed in the streets of Kingston.
The book then finishes by focusing on how Peter's relatives, like his cousin Pauline, his mother, Alvera, and his wife, Marlene, worked together to try and preserve Peter's legacy and recordings.
All in all, a GREAT in-depth biography. An easy 5 stars and yet I don't remember seeing a bibliography / reference section at the back of my copy - there should be one in any serious academic venture such as this.
I highly recommend this to Peter Tosh fans (of course), fans of the Wailers and also those who just love the good 'ol traditional reggae, which to me still remains some of the best and most beautifully recorded music in the industry.
Many reggae fans, including myself, start off listening to Bob Marley's records and only later, if they are still interested, graduate towards the music of Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer. There are many other great reggae groups though such as Black Uhuru, who are mentioned in this book, The Abyssinians, and the great Burning Spear himself, among many others.
However, out of all of these musicians and songwriters, I hold Tosh's music on a special pedestal because there is something special about it, and something sharp, which comes as no surprise since one of his songs was called 'Steppin' Razor', a song written by Joe Higgs, but made famous by Tosh.
What is great about this biography is it takes us through every key stage of his life in great detail. The first 1/4 to 1/3 of the book is dedicated to his time recording and touring with the Wailers. Here, we find out many interesting details such as how he and Bob and Bunny would get together and record, how they learned harmonies from Joe Higgs, how they had a falling out with people like Coxsone and Lee Perry, Peter's close and loving relationship with Yvonne (the love of his life who was tragically and permanently maimed after a car crash and Peter was the driver), their poor reception in the UK but good reception elsewhere and finally and most importantly, the big falling out between Marley, Tosh and Wailer due to Chris Blackwell's attempt to make Bob Marley the star and break him away from the others and set him up with his own band. No wonder Peter sometimes referred to him, in his typically playful way of using language, as "Chris Whiteworst." Many years later, as Peter became more deluded and unstable, he would say some pretty harsh things about Marley, partly out of jealousy at his fame I believe and partly out of frustration at how Marley just swamped the whole reggae market, making it hard for other reggae stars to really shine in the wake of his stardom.
For me though - the remaining 2/3 of the book after Peter left the Wailers was for more interesting, even though on albums like Catch A Fire, he and Bob and Bunny put down some sensational tracks. His first record Legalize It, although containing a few songs which would turn out to be classics in the Tosh canon, was a slightly disappointing start to his career, followed up by what many consider to be his very best album, Equal Rights. His second album, Equal Rights, contains so political point-the-finger songs that it's hard not to like it.
After this comes another new and interesting chapter in his life - his relationship with the Rolling Stones, in particular Mick and Keith. As they happened to come to the 'Peace Concert' in Jamaica in the early 1970s, they heard Peter perform and proselytise on stage and were deeply impressed with not only his musicianship and songwriter but also his revolutionary spirit and outspokenness which both won him many admirers but at the same time generated many enemies, some of whom later may have been indirectly responsible for his death.
Now on the Rolling Stones label, he produced a couple of great albums in succession such as Bush Doctor and Mystic Man (which features some sensational production by Robbie Shakespeare and Sly Dunbar). Here we learn that Robbie and Sly were really the KEY behind most of Peter's records at this time - it was Robbie and Sly who would work out the parts, not only the bass and drum parts, sometimes call up session musicians or even interview new ones (when someone quit), and also rehearse the band until perfection. Peter would often some into the studio with nothing more than sketches for his songs, show them to his band, and once his vocals had been recorded and some of his great wah-wah reggae wash, he would sit in the control room and consume enormous amounts of ganja.
At some point though, he has a big falling out with the Rolling Stones - we are not sure why. I had heard about some big 'confrontation' between Tosh and Richards.
Then comes the album Wanted Dread or Alive which features one of the most beautifully recorded songs I have ever heard - called Fools Die. Many compare it to Marley's Redemption Song or No Woman, No Cry in terms of its power, validity and message.
Peter's trip to Africa was also a very interesting part of the book. Although Peter had no idea what kind of an evil dictator he would turn into, Peter met with Mugabe in Zimbabwe, in the early days of what would turn out to be a long and sometimes cruel reign by the dictator and also went to and played concerts in Swaziland. There is a decryption of a beautiful concert at which he performed in Africa, during which the heavens opened, the rain poured down and the air shook with thunder and lightning, something which motivated Tosh to play even further and better. This trip inspired his second-last album, Mama Africa, which I have always found a little over-rated. However, it does feature a ripping and wonderful reggae version of 'Johnnie Be Good.'
Finally we come to the end of his huge and extensive tour, after which he heads back for some well-deserved rest in Jamaica. Here is where the screws start to come undone in his mind and this part was very sad and hard to read about. Many blame his partner, Marlene, who was apparently into something called Obeah, which is a Jamaican form of dark sorcery or voodoo. Peter's behaviour became increasingly more erratic and crazy (at one point he threatened his own son with a machete) and it was very sad and hard for me to read this because I have always been a HUGE fan of not only his music but more importantly a huge ADMIRER of his political and ethical views. To see a man lose his integrity slowly and lose his very health-conscious diet (of fresh fruit and vegetable juices and smoothies, and special African herbs) devastated me.
However, he sometimes does manage to pick himself up and return with one of the most spectacular albums of his career - No Nuclear War, for which he won a grammy. This is currently my favourite album of his, going around in my playlist on repeat endlessly. The album suffers from that typically cheesy 80s snare and drum production but if you look PAST that, past the typical 80s production (like many of Bob Dylan's albums from the same period), you can see that many of the songs have great depth, and contain an extremely important message for Mankind and how he can avoid Armageddon. This album, in particular, also shows an artist at the top of his game. He slowly crafts his songs into masterpieces, which made me respect the man even more.
The last section is about his murder. One of the 3 people involved in his murder, Lebbman or "Leppo" is still in prison, while the two others were most certainly killed in the streets of Kingston.
The book then finishes by focusing on how Peter's relatives, like his cousin Pauline, his mother, Alvera, and his wife, Marlene, worked together to try and preserve Peter's legacy and recordings.
All in all, a GREAT in-depth biography. An easy 5 stars and yet I don't remember seeing a bibliography / reference section at the back of my copy - there should be one in any serious academic venture such as this.
I highly recommend this to Peter Tosh fans (of course), fans of the Wailers and also those who just love the good 'ol traditional reggae, which to me still remains some of the best and most beautifully recorded music in the industry.
February 14, 2014
A long overdue account of the artist alternately known as Wolde Semayat, the Mystic Man, the Bush Doctor, Peter Touch and (by birth certificate) Winston Hubert Macintosh. Although I understand the need to reconcile the fantastical image (that many maintain with respect to this constantly evolving musician and songwriter) and the factual and anecdotal evidence presented herein, I feel that the author does a disservice to his subject by deferring to the judgment implicit in the characterization of Peter as the antithesis of Bob Marley. This book illuminated "dark" corners left untended by Catch a Fire: The Life of Bob Marley author Timothy White. That Peter Tosh's legacy has only recently emerged from the obscurity by the forced comparison with his more iconic (and commercial) fellow Wailer is both a testament to the frustration endured by those that express personal (and professional) discontent commensurate with the explicit nature of their oppression and an opportunity to critically reevaluate the persistence and continuing relevance of his message in the context of the ongoing campaigns for social and economic progress around the world. The lively intellect and playful nature of the public Peter Tosh comes through in the interviews conducted with interrogators both sympathetic and antagonistic/uncomprehending. It is clear that John Masouri has invested time and energy in producing a balanced portrayal that, though not exhaustive, introduces a challenge to the prevailing notion that Peter was a petty holder-of-grudges.
January 17, 2014
An extremely detailed account of the rise and fall of this great musician. The depth and detail is pretty impressive.
This book introduced me to a lot of history behind the Man, and his music.
The account of his murder was very detailed, and presented in a way I have not seen anywhere else.
Peter will always be an enigma to those who don't understand what made the Man, but this book goes a long way towards that understanding.
Did Danny Baker (the old has-been music critic/journalist) describe Peter as “the third best voice of a heavenly harmony trio”, and a man whose talents amounted to “a Kalashnikov-shaped guitar, a decidedly scary personality and a degree of skill on the unicycle”? If so, he's gone down in my estimation (not that he had very far to go in the first place!)
This book introduced me to a lot of history behind the Man, and his music.
The account of his murder was very detailed, and presented in a way I have not seen anywhere else.
Peter will always be an enigma to those who don't understand what made the Man, but this book goes a long way towards that understanding.
Did Danny Baker (the old has-been music critic/journalist) describe Peter as “the third best voice of a heavenly harmony trio”, and a man whose talents amounted to “a Kalashnikov-shaped guitar, a decidedly scary personality and a degree of skill on the unicycle”? If so, he's gone down in my estimation (not that he had very far to go in the first place!)
March 29, 2018
I have always loved Peter Tosh and his love for our people. His rebel nature drew me into him and I respect him a lot of any musician. We both share huge similarities as people. I love how John Masouri went into good detail about him. I would recommend this book to anyone who loves and raspect his journey.
October 24, 2019
This book is fact-dense such that it was like reading an encyclopedia. I enjoyed it for the most part, but it was not my favorite musician's biography. If you have a thorough knowledge of reggae you will enjoy all of the references throughout.
June 2, 2021
A very comprehensive biography of a reggae legend.
August 30, 2015
A devoted work, compiled of hundreds of interviews. That means there is unresolved contradictions but Tosh was a complicated man and the author does an excellent job of exploring the roots and consequences. I wish there had been a discography and more chronology as I sometimes got lost about what year it was. He also chose to use present tense which gave it a narrative drive but it was sometimes hard to maintain. I thought the last chapter on Tosh's legacy was well written. Tosh is given a full and fair account here.
December 16, 2014
I have several albums by Peter Tosh so when I saw this book in the library I decided to read it. The author has done a lot of research and this is a readable book however at the end of it I felt I did not know Peter Tosh at all. Despite the author quoting from the transcripts of the trial of the man accused of murdering Peter Tosh I did not even understand why he was murdered. Maybe Peter Tosh was really an enigma.
May 16, 2015
This is a moving story of a life misunderstood. Yes Tosh had a way about him but tragedies in his life maimed and changed him greatly. Police brutality was and still is for some a reality of life in Jamaica. There's still much mystery over who killed him.
I most enjoyed John's writing style. This is the first biography that I've read, preferring to stick with fantasy. Well researched and all written. Than you
I most enjoyed John's writing style. This is the first biography that I've read, preferring to stick with fantasy. Well researched and all written. Than you
January 4, 2014
The Information was great but the production and narrator had serious issues that almost made me quit listening.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews