Happy Birthday Peter Tosh: Performing With Bob Marley & The Wailers In 1973

Today would have been pioneering reggae musician Peter Tosh’s 72nd birthday. The native Jamaican was senselessly murdered at his home on September 11, 1987 at the young age of only 42. Tosh rose to fame in the mid-1960s with The Wailing Wailers, helping to evolve ska and rocksteady music into reggae alongside the likes of Bob Marley and Bunny Wailer.

Though he would go on to have a successful solo career following his departure from what became known as Bob Marley & The Wailers, Tosh’s time with the legendary group remains a high-point of his all-too-short career. For his birthday today, here’s a look back at Tosh and Marley and the rest of The Wailers performing together on October 24, 1973.

Tosh and Marley played guitar and shared vocals alongside percussionist Joe Higgs, bassist Aston Barrett, drummer Carlton Barrett and keyboardist Earl ‘Wya’ Lindo, keyboards in footage of a rehearsal held at the renowned Capitol Records facilities in Hollywood. Here’s how Bob Marley’s website describes the performance:

It’s October 1973, Bob Marley and the Wailers are making their way to California from Las Vegas. They’ve been touring since April in London, Edmonton, Leicester, Southampton, Boston, New York City, Florida, Kentucky, Denver, then back to Jamaica for a short break going on to Philadelphia and San Francisco.

To prepare for their upcoming show at “The Matrix” in San Francisco they rehearsed at the world-famous Capitol Records studios in Hollywood, California.

The footage includes Tosh leading the group on “You Can’t Blame The Youth” and sharing vocals with Marley on “Get Up Stand Up.” There’s also a rendition of “Rastaman Chant” between those tracks. The complete, nearly three-hour-long rehearsal can be viewed via this link and the three-song excerpt featuring Tosh can be seen below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYhpBZ05DSE

Here’s a clip Peter leading the group on “Stop That Train” from the same rehearsals:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQxLCoAoBjQ