With the Wailers
In the early 1960s Tosh met Bob Marley and Bunny Wailer through his vocal teacher, Joe Higgs, and after perfecting his harmonies with Bob and Bunny, he taught Bob to play the guitar. Joe Higgs, remembers the band's earliest days:"Peter came from the country when we were living in Trench Town. He had some family that were cabinet makers and they used to sell syrup, that's how I first saw him. He was introduced to me by Bob Marley, because they wanted to form a new group.
They practiced and became perfect (Steffens, The Peter Tosh Biography 44)."According to Tosh, the three began singing together in 1962, and formed the Wailing Wailers around 1964-65. Peter asserts that he was the beginning of the group, as he was the only one who played an instrument, and that he was the one who taught Bob Marley to play the guitar. In 1962, he was the driving force behind the trio's formation of The Wailing Wailers with Junior Braithwaite and backup singers Beverley Kelso and Cherry Smith.
The Wailing Wailers had a huge ska hit with their first single, "Simmer Down," produced by Clement (Coxone) Dodd's Studio One label, and recorded several more successful singles before Braithwaite, Kelso and Smith left the band in late 1965. Marley spent much of 1966 in America with his mother, but he returned to Jamaica in early 1967 with a renewed interest in music and a new spirituality. McIntosh and Bunny were already Rastafarians when Bob returned from the USA, and the three became heavily involved in the Rastafari movement. Soon afterwards, they renamed the group The Wailers.
Around 1970 the Wailers decided to leave Studio One, and signed on to work with perhaps the most famous Jamaican producer of all, Lee 'Scratch' Perry to record some of reggae's earliest hits including "Soul Rebel," "Duppy Conqueror" and "Small Axe." With the addition of bassist Aston "Family Man" Barrett and his brother, drummer Carlton in 1970, The Wailers became Caribbean superstars. This deal proved no better for the Wailers, though, as they released three albums in the United Kingdom under the Trojan label, none of which they received payment for.
Veering away from the up-tempo dance of ska, the band slowed down to a rocksteady pace, and infused their lyrics with political and social messages. The Wailers penned several songs for American singer Johnny Nash prior to teaming up with Lee Perry. The band signed a recording contract with Chris Blackwell and Island Records and released their debut, Catch a Fire, in 1973, following it up with Burnin' the same year.
In 1973, Tosh accidentally drove his car off a tower, killing his girlfriend at the time and severely fracturing his own skull. He survived, but became even harder to deal with. After Island Records president Chris Blackwell refused to issue his solo album in 1974, the volatile Tosh and Bunny Wailer left the Wailers, citing the unfair treatment they received from Blackwell, whom Tosh often referred to as 'Whiteworst'.
