The Morwells aka Morwell Unlimited were a

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...

band formed in 1973 by Maurice Wellington and

Eric "Bingy Bunny" Lamont Eric Lamont (23 September 1955 - 31 December 1993), better known as Bingy Bunny, was a Jamaican guitarist and singer who recorded with the Roots Radics and The Morwells as well as recording solo material. He is regarded as one of Jamaica's most ...

. They disbanded in the early 1980s with members going on to form the

Roots Radics The Roots Radics Band was formed in 1978 by bass player Errol "Flabba" Holt, guitarist Eric "Bingy Bunny" Lamont and drummer Lincoln "Style" Scott. They were joined by many musicians, including guitarist Noel "Sowell" Bailey, Dwight Pinkn ...

History

The band formed in 1973 and comprised

and Maurice "Blacka" Wellington, childhood friends from Kingston's Trenchtown area.Moskowitz, David V. (2006) ''Caribbean Popular Music: an Encyclopedia of Reggae, Mento, Ska, Rock Steady, and Dancehall'', Greenwood Press, , p. 215-6Foster, Chuck (1999) ''Roots Rock Reggae: an Oral History of Reggae Music from Ska to Dancehall'', Billboard Books, , p. 288 Prior to forming the band, Lamont had previously recorded with Bongo Herman for producer

Derrick Harriott Derrick Clifton Harriott OD (born 10 February 1942) is a Jamaican singer and record producer. He was a member of the Jiving Juniors with Herman Sang before embarking on a solo career. He has produced recordings by Big Youth, Chariot Riders, ...

, while Wellington had worked as a record salesman and freelance producer.Larkin, Colin (1998) ''The Virgin Encyclopedia of Reggae'', Virgin Books, , p. 203-4 They initially released their recordings on their own Morwell Esquire label. The band expanded to a trio in 1974 with the addition of Louis Davis, formerly of The Versatiles alongside

Junior Byles Kenneth Byles (born 2 February 1948 in Kingston, Jamaica), also known as "Junior Byles", "Chubby", or "King Chubby", is a Jamaican reggae singer.Thompson, Dave (2002), ''Reggae & Caribbean Music'', Backbeat Books, Biography The Versatiles Nam ...

. Davis was a talented arranger and also taught Lamont to play guitar. They had a series of successful singles in the mid-1970s, and received sufficient interest in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

to establish a distribution deal. Their first two albums, ''Presenting The Morwells'' and its

King Tubby Osbourne Ruddock (28 January 1941 – 6 February 1989), better known as King Tubby, was a Jamaican sound engineer who greatly influenced the development of dub in the 1960s and 1970s. Tubby's innovative studio work, which saw him elevate the ...

-mixed dub counterpart ''Dub Me'', were issued in 1975. Wellington began working as a studio engineer and producer for

Joe Gibbs Joe Jackson Gibbs (born November 25, 1940) is an American auto racing team owner and former professional football coach. In football, he was head coach for the Washington Redskins of the National Football League (NFL) from 1981 to 1992, and ...

in 1976, working on the early recordings by

Culture Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups ...

, while Lamont joined

The Revolutionaries The Revolutionaries (sometimes known as "Revolutionaires") was a Jamaican reggae band. Career Set up in 1975 as the house band of the Channel One Studios owned by Joseph Hoo Kim, The Revolutionaries with Sly Dunbar on drums and Bertram "Ranc ...

as rhythm guitarist, although they continued to work as The Morwells. Their new connections gave them access to much of Jamaica's musical talent of the era, and in 1977 they were joined by bassist

Errol Holt Errol Holt (born 19 July 1950), also known as Errol Carter and by his nickname Flabba, is a Jamaican bass guitar player and a singer who was a member of The Morwells and the Roots Radics and has played on hundreds of Jamaican albums. Biography ...

. Further albums followed in the late 1970s and early 1980s, although the group had stopped working together in 1980. Holt and Lamont continued with the

, the band that they had formed in 1978, while Wellington concentrated on production (including several records by his brother, the

deejay A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at a nightclub or music festival), mobile D ...

Nicodemus Nicodemus (; grc-gre, Νικόδημος, Nikódēmos) was a Pharisee and a member of the Sanhedrin mentioned in three places in the Gospel of John: * He first visits Jesus one night to discuss Jesus' teachings (). * The second time Nicodemu ...

) and continued to run the Morwell label, later moving to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

.Barrow, Steve & Dalton, Peter (2004) ''The Rough Guide to Reggae, 3rd edn.'', Rough Guides, , p. 205 Lamont died of prostate cancer in December 1993, and Wellington, after returning to Jamaica in 1998, died in October 2000 from adenocarcinoma.In Memory: Maurice Blacka Morwell Wellington
, Reggae-Vibes.com, retrieved 28 November 2009Katz, David (2000)
Obituaries: Maurice Wellington
, ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', 24 November 2000, retrieved 28 November 2009

Discography

;Albums *''Presenting the Morwells'' (1975), Morwell Esq. *''Dub Me'' (1975), Morwell Esq. *''Crab Race'' (1977), Burning Sounds *''Cool Runnings'' (1979), Bushranger *''A1 Dub'' (1980),

Trojan Trojan or Trojans may refer to: * Of or from the ancient city of Troy * Trojan language, the language of the historical Trojans Arts and entertainment Music * ''Les Troyens'' ('The Trojans'), an opera by Berlioz, premiered part 1863, part 189 ...

*''Kingston 12 Toughie'' (1980), Carib Gems *''Bingy Bunny and the Morwells'' (1981) *''Best of the Morwells'' (1981), Nighthawk *''Bingy Bunny & Morwells'' (1982), Park Heights *''Kingston 12 Toughie (A Tribute To Bingy Bunny)'' (1996),

RAS Ras or RAS may refer to: Arts and media * RAS Records Real Authentic Sound, a reggae record label * Rundfunk Anstalt Südtirol, a south Tyrolese public broadcasting service * Rás 1, an Icelandic radio station * Rás 2, an Icelandic radio stati ...

;Contributing artists *''

The Rough Guide to Dub ''The Rough Guide to Dub'' is a world music compilation album originally released in 2005. Part of the World Music Network Rough Guides series, the release covers the roots of dub music, focusing on the period 1973-1980. Curation was performed ...

'' (2005),

World Music Network World Music Network is a UK-based record label specializing in world music. The World Music Network website features news, reviews, live music listings, and guide sections on world music. It also features an online "Battle of the Bands" competit ...

References

External links

The Morwells
at Roots Archives {{DEFAULTSORT:Morwells, The Jamaican reggae musical groups Trojan Records artists