Everyone knows Bob Marley’s name, but not everyone knows the Wailers were originally Bob, Peter Tosh, and Bunny Wailer. Tosh and Bunny left the group before Bob achieved his staggering success, spreading reggae music all over the globe.

But before all that, the Wailers were a struggling trio. I knew they had a history before the Island Records albums, but I had no idea they had recorded over 250 songs before the first proper album, Catch A Fire, was released.

I love the Wailers music, and I’m a completist and a nerd, so over several years, I gathered up as much of that early work as I could. But it was spread across several albums and dozens of compilations, and I could never get a handle on the chronology – which songs came when.

So I approached it the way I approach everything I want to understand. I built a database. It was only meant for my use, but eventually, I thought it was good enough to make public, and here it is.

It looks like the work of an obsessive nut because it is the work of an obsessive nut. 🙂 But when you’re working on a subject you love, it’s very satisfying to be able to present something that can be useful or entertaining to others when you’re finished.

WRITTEN BY A HUMAN