Natty Wailer?

[Rastabrew]

Hello,

I agree with you both!

Here is the interview in case you are still interested.

True, you need to be a member of Bob Marley Magazine to view it!


Greetings Marco and thanks for getting in touch!

Bob did prophecy in one of his songs titled "Bad card", he said "Them a go tired fe se mi face but them cannot get me out of the race" and everywhere you turn on the Globe, there is a Bob Marley's face if it's even on a T-shirt and his music is still one of the most played. He was a prophet as much as he is a legend. He was topped into a source of higher consciousness of the world around him and this he shared with all who would come in contact with him or his work.

I personally feel blessed to have met him and the team of musicians that worked with him. From this, I have drawn a lot of courage and strength. I was just coming out of high school at the time just at a time when I was still struggling with the question of who I am. After my first experience with the power of Rastafari, I haven't looked back since because I knew then as I know now that I'm a Rasta!

So therefore, there was never a sad moment until Bob's passing in May 1981. Rehearsing, recording and touring was as if an ordained mission of creativity and Rasta consciousness.

Marco Virgona: Some biographers said you replaced Earl Lindo at Bob's last show in Pittsburgh, sept 1980. If so, what do you remember about that sad show?

Natty Wailer: The day I replaced Earl Lindo was not a sad moment, but a joy for me filling the post while I was touring with the Wailers at the time as a standby keyboard player. The organ bubbling, piano bang (skank) and the string fillings was a very intricate part of the
Wailers' music which required two keyboard players to do. Bob and his musicians were visionaries and so they saw the need for a standby keyboard player like me at rehearsals and on tour with them, and then it happened in Pittsburgh! Lindo decided not to play for reasons beyond my knowledge but one thing for certain Bob called me to fill his position that night at his last show in Pittsburgh. On tour I was a standby keyboard player while standing in as an assistant chef.

As you know within a team, there is always things to be trashed out to make way for growth and progress and with that said there was a time when Bob again as a visionary wanted to take the music, thus the musicians to a different level when they did songs like "Could You Be Loved". At this time, the musicians were comfortable with the sound they had but Bob was yearning to take it to the next level. And with this, I can say that yes there were some sad moments in the process of crossing over to a more Roots, Rock Reggae beat, but in the end their versatility shone through when they did songs like "Exodus".

Marco Virgona: You played on Rastaman Vibration album. What do you remember about those sessions?

Natty Wailer: Those Rastaman vibrations' sessions were as the name says positive, the vibes was right, the timing was due for a Roots Rock Reggae album.

Yes as my memory serves, I've played piano on a few of the songs such as Positive Vibration, Want More, War, Rat Race and Jah Live. As a matter of fact, I remember clearly how the song "Positive Vibration" was written. Early one morning before 8 o'clock, there was an argument downstairs between two team members and Bob looked out through the window from upstairs and shouted to them that they should stop their fussing. This camp is about Rastaman Vibration which is positive, you see you can't get up quarreling, this is like saying prayers to the devil. And at the next rehearsal, Bob start jamming it, the Rastaman Vibration is positive, of course he must have had the time to put the words together but as I mentioned he was always topped into a source of creativity because the Rastaman life was a living proof of the songs he sung. I recorded on many more albums such as "Natty Dread", "Kaya", "Survival", "Confrontation" and the list goes on. A song like "Talking Blues", I am the only keyboard player with my piano strum on this song.

Marco Virgona: Please tell me about your relationship with Bob

Natty Wailer: My relationship with Bob was musical and spiritual. He could read me like a book, fresh out of high school with no identity and he saw my ignorance and my eager to live and learn the culture of Rastafari while learning how to express who I am musically and be a part of the music that was happening around me. When all the musicians were busy, if I was not jamming keyboards with Familyman in the home made recording studio, I would be sitting in with Bob while he was playing his acoustic of endless creative songs. I was always there with my acoustic guitar picking lines along the rhythm he was playing and was fascinated by how he put melody to words that rings truth. I remember after one of these sessions again he called me to the rehearsal room and asked me to show the bass player Familyman the line I was picking while he was jamming the song "Could You Be Loved" earlier in the day.

Yeah the phenomenal Bass player Familyman is, by the time I picked a few notes to the main part of the song, he knew where Bob wanted to take it. It's even said among the musicians that I'm Bob Marley's Reggae Vibes Piano player. As he states in one of his interviews, anybody could play Reggae but not everybody has the Reggae feel. I felt blessed that he appreciated my simple contribution to his vision of music. I feel these are the things that I am still feeling driven today to write, sing and play Reggae music.

I listen to artists such as Ottis Redding, Gil Scott Heron, James Brown, I was inspired by their vocal style but by working with Bob and the Wailers, I found mine and still there is so much more to learn and so much more room to grow.

Marco Virgona: Now you're touring with the Reggae Vibes. Any chance to see you in Italy?

Natty Wailer: To get away from the stereotype of a tribute band, I'm currently preparing to release my new album DESTINY. My first attempt to establish my originality was done in a compilation of the music I've written in an album titled LIFTED which is now featured in MySpace (http://www.myspace.com/nattywailermusic).
The Reggae Vibes is the name and nature of my contribution to the many music lovers and Reggae fans the world over. I'm hoping to tour Europe this year with this new album, Italy will certainly be one of our tops.
My LIFTED album is now being played on the radio in many different countries and the album is also available for sale on the internet.

Marco Virgona: Thank you very much for sharing your memories with us

Natty Wailer: For this new year I wish you and your team progress and prosperity in your mission!


Jah Guide!

Natty Wailer

[Jackie P]

This days he calls himself Natty Wailer and lives in Ireland. What is the big deal?

You might not ask that question if you had heard this Irish based Jamaican being interviewed on a Belfast pirate radio station prior to him playing a gig at
the West Belfast festival around the year 2000.

I can tell you for a fact that Nathaniel knows more now about the runnings of Bob, Family Man & The Wailers than he did back then.

[Jackie P]

His problem might be that he looks too young for his real age????

Rastabrew

The photos posted by Nathaniel cover a range of years (but most notably exclude all the years Ian Wynter spent in the company of The Wailers) so guessing his age depends totally on what photograph (or video footage) you look at.

The photo of Nathaniel in front of the poster of Bob Marley must have looked impressive though to Nathaniel's Bebo posse!

[Jackie P]

The most interesting piece in all the above links was this classic remark from the confused Nathaniel Natty himself!

I've also found one of his interviews given in Australia in 2007 (Reggae News Australia):
http://rastainoz.com/news/index.php?blo ... e=1&page=2
Could this explain this big confusion?

Sistarjulie:
"At one time I thought thru Bunny Wailer?"

Nathaniel Natty Wailer:
"Well, Bunny Wailer is actually Bunny Livingston and that’s how he came to Bunny Wailer, cause he was the original founder of The Wailing Soul at the time, The Wailing Wailers at the time, I think?"

[parkside]

Natty Wailer live at Footscray Arts Centre, Melbourne (04/02/07)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bP6TNLe-sAY

[Wailin' Natty]

Anyone who checked the previous links will be aware of this footage. It's all getting so predictable and boring in this imposters paradise.

[Dadi Digi]

Guess they have a ting for Irish women !! Ha.... Pliers of "Chaka Demus & Pliers" fame is suppossed to be living with an Irish girl in County Clare.

Regarding this Natty Wailer and him being in Ireland, hear say from what I am reading.

[Alexsandro Sacramento]

This new artist... Natty Wailer, years in the making, is from and inspired by the old school Reggae of the legendary Bob Marley and the Wailers. Natty recorded and toured with Bob Marley and the Wailers as a keyboard player for over nine years.Result, he`s learnt the music trade to the extent of adapting the formula for making good music while spreading the importance of history and culture. After leaving the Wailers in 2000, he found his own entourage `Natty Wailer and the Reggae Vibes` with the main purpose of continuing this tradition. Subsequently, this is not just a musical career that he seeks to project but to pursue as the wider purpose of multiculturalism. He feels the need to contribute ultimately to world peace through music and culture. This indigenous music known as Reggae has the ability to bring all cultures and people together in a common way. Natty is currently completing the recording of his new album DESTINY, The band members Errol Mc Donaldson (drummer), Andrew McLean (bass player), Keith Hagliy (keyboard player), Lorna & Jolleen Henry(backup voices) are part of this project.
Natty Wailer met Bob Marley and the Wailers through the bass player Aston Barret known as Familyman in 1972. He then rehearsed, recorded and toured with them as a keyboard player. Natty Wailer recorded numerous albums and compilations wit Bob such as Songs of freedom. During the same period, Natty was also playing and recording with Familyman. You will find his name Ian Wynter (often mispelt Winter) on some of his albums such as `Familyman in Dub`, `Guided Missile` and `Work`. Please see links below for further information.
After Bob`s passing in 1981, he joined the Wailers for two tours in the USA as well as Europe before forming his own band named the Reggae Vibes in New-York in 2000 where he started composing and recorded his own music.
Ian Winter mentioned as keyboard player for Bob Marley`s song `War`:
Interview of Aston Barret (Family Man) mentioning Natty as the keyplayer of the Wailers...

[Wailin' Natty]

More of that same old fiction from that same old poster!

[Ron]

@JP.
It's in fact not quite the same poster, but besides that, it does start to get a little boring. Nothing new after 6 orso pages.