Small Axe

after forming the wailers in the early sixties, bob marley, peter tosh and bunny 'wailer' livingston became one of jamaica's leading acts, pummelling the local charts with a catalogue of driving ska hits for studio one records. the late sixties saw a dip in the fortunes, but their spell out of the spotlight came to a spectacular end in 1970 when the trio began working with the enigmatic lee 'scratch' perry. over the next two years, the union spawned a series of sublime sides that are still widely regarded as reggae classics. 'small axe' highlights all of these recordings that saw issue in the uk on both 7" and 12" during the early seventies. included are original versions of numerous songs that would famously be re-cut for island records, plus instrumental versions and collaborations with carl 'ras' dawkins and dave 'double barrel' barker, with the latter featuring on 'all over', a duet with bunny wailer that makes its cd debut with this release. acclaimed by many as bob marley and the wailers' finest work ever, this is the music that made the legend.