Simmer Down: The Early Wailers' Story

by John Masouri

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 Insider quotes – many of them previously unpublished – reveal little-known facts about the Wailers’ early lives in Trench Town and their adventures with Coxsone Dodd, Rasta elder Mortimo Planno, Lee “Scratch”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 The Story Of Bob Marley’s Wailers’ and ‘Steppin’ The Life Of Peter Tosh,’ both published by Omnibus Press.

460 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 6, 2015