The Wailing Wailers

The Wailing Wailers
Studio album by Bob Marley and The Wailers
Released 1965
Recorded 1964–1965
Genre Ska
Length 36:01
Label Studio One
Producer Clement Dodd
Bob Marley and The Wailers chronology
The Wailing Wailers
Soul Rebels

The Wailing Wailers is the debut album by The Wailers published on the Studio One label. Originally released in very late 1965 and compiled from various recordings made over the years 1964-1965 by Neville “Bunny” Livingston, Robert “Bob” Nesta Marley, and Peter “Tosh” McIntosh, it compiles what Clement Coxsone Dodd considered the best Wailers recordings from this period. It is not a studio album in the conventional sense but was the first full-length LP released of the band's work. The album has remained in print since its release, but after the first release (which has a different cover) each release of the album was newly overdubbed to fit with musical trends of the time. The album had never been released on CD with the original track listing or cover until May 2016.


The song Rude Boy recorded in 1965, was a youth anthem which established the Wailers as the leaders of the new reggae movement.[1][2]

The Wailers "One Love/People Get Ready"
20 seconds of "One Love/People Get Ready" by The Wailers

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Track listing

All songs written by Bob Marley, except where noted.

  1. "(I'm Gonna) Put It On" (Marley, Clement Coxsone Dodd) - 3:06
  2. "I Need You (1964 version)" - 2:48
  3. "Lonesome Feeling" (Marley, Bunny Livingston, Peter Tosh) - 2:50
  4. "What's New Pussycat?" (Burt Bacharach, Hal David) - 3:02
  5. "One Love" - 3:20
  6. "When the Well Runs Dry" (William Bell) - 2:35
  7. "Ten Commandments of Love" - 4:16
  8. "Rude Boy" - 2:20
  9. "It Hurts to Be Alone" (Jr. Braithwaite) - 2:42
  10. "Love and Affection" - 2:42
  11. "I'm Still Waiting" - 3:31
  12. "Simmer Down" (Marley, Dodd) - 2:49
The Wailing Wailers
Studio album by Bob Marley and The Wailers


The band photo from the front cover of the 1971 re-issue (also used on various subsequent re-issues), with Bunny Wailer standing on the left, Bob Marley standing in the middle and Peter Tosh standing on the right, was also an inspiration for Walt Jabsco, the unofficial logo for 2 Tone Records; the drawing was created by Jerry Dammers and Horace Panter and is based on Peter Tosh (right).


  1. David Vlado Moskowitz The Words and Music of Bob Marley - 2007 Page 13 "The Wailing Wailers' song "Rude Boy," recorded in 1965, was a ghetto-youth anthem and established the group as the leaders of the movement, both musically and in the ghetto."
  2. Dick Hebdige -Cut 'n' Mix: Culture, Identity, and Caribbean Music - 1987 Page 57 "And Roland Alphonso released an early ska record in 1962 which dealt with the rude boys. However, it wasn't until 1966, when the Wailers produced Rude Boy for Clement Dodd, that the cult really took off inside Jamaican pop music."
