Word, Sound and Power are a

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

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

band, formed in 1976 as

Peter Tosh Winston Hubert McIntosh (19 October 1944 – 11 September 1987), professionally known as Peter Tosh, was a Jamaican reggae musician. Along with Bob Marley and Bunny Wailer, he was one of the core members of the band Bob Marley and the Wa ...

's backing band after Tosh left The Wailers.

History

It is believed that each word in the name stood for parts of the ensemble, Word – vocals, Sound – guitars, and Power – percussion. It is also a

Rastafari Rastafari is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic religion that developed in Jamaica during the 1930s. It is classified as both a new religious movement and a social movement by Religious studies, scholars of religion. There is no central authori ...

an concept regarding the power of words. Word, Sound and Power toured with Tosh in America in 1976, Europe in 1978 and 1979, and backed him at the

One Love Peace Concert The One Love Concert (OLPC) was a large concert held on 22 April 1978 at the National Stadium in Kingston, Jamaica. This concert was held during a political civil war in Jamaica between opposing parties Jamaican Labour Party and the People's ...

Kingston, Jamaica Kingston is the Capital (political), capital and largest city of Jamaica, located on the southeastern coast of the island. It faces a natural harbour protected by the Palisadoes, a long spit (landform), sand spit which connects the town of Por ...

. For this concert, their line-out was

Sly and Robbie Sly and Robbie were a prolific Jamaican rhythm section and production duo, associated primarily with the reggae and dub genres. Drummer Sly Dunbar and bassist Robbie Shakespeare teamed up in the mid-1970s after establishing themselves separat ...

, Al Anderson,

Mikey Chung Michael Chung (1950 – 28 December 2021) also known as Mao Chung, was a Jamaican musician who played keyboards, guitar and percussion instruments. He was also an arranger and record producer of Jamaican music, and worked with a wide array of ...

, Robbie Lyn, Keith Sterling,

Uziah Thompson Uzziah "Sticky" Thompson (1 August 1936 – 25 August 2014) was a Jamaican percussionist, vocalist and Deejay (Jamaican), deejay active from the late 1950s. He worked with some of the best known performers of Jamaican music and played on hundre ...

and Noel Simms.Pressure.co.uk
/ref> Carlton "Santa" Davis (drums) and George "Fully" Fullwood (bass) replaced Sly and Robbie, when they began touring with Black Uhuru (Mykal Rose, Duckie Simpson and Puma Jones). Although the band has switched in and out of members fairly consistently throughout the years, the band generally consisted of

, Keith Sterling, Robbie Lyn, and male background singers The Tamlins and 3 other unnamed female background singers. From around 1978 through 1981, the role of the lead guitar would change several times with Darryl_Thompson and Al Anderson. In 1978, Keith Richards took the role during the recording of the 1978 album " Bush Doctor". Although Sly and Robbie had mostly been a duo throughout their career with Peter Tosh, in 1977, Carlton Barrett took the drumming role for the 1977 album " Equal Rights" although Sly had played another album the year before," Legalize It". Notable people like Rita Marley ( Legalize It), Glimmer Twins (

The Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...

) and Bunny Wailer ( Wailers) trio have joined in to perform in the Word, Sound and Power band occasionally. Keyboardist/pianist Robbie Lyn often didn't appear at Peter Tosh's shows and recording sessions. In 1981, notable members of Tosh's band such as

backed out on performing with him after a lack of payments as well as Peter's short temper when Sly began to play the drums during one of Peter Tosh's shows. Due to this, Sly and Robbie left the band in 1981 shortly after the start of the Wanted, Dread And Alive tour and album release, and focused on touring with Black Uhuru. Due to this, regarding Mikey Chung's earlier affiliations with Black Uhuru and Sly and Robbie, he also joined the duo and left the band as well. In the same year, Peter had personal arguments with Keith Richards regarding his house and left the Glimmer Twins and stopped affiliating with the Rolling Stones after leaving the label shortly after the release of the Wanted, Dread and Alive album. Darryl Thompson and Al Anderson also stopped affiliating with the band. Shortly after, from late 1981–1983, and then again shortly before Tosh's death in 1987, Carlton Davis joined the leading drumming role including Aston Barrett as the leading bassist role, on the Wanted, Dread and Alive tour, as well as the album and tour of Mama Africa, and the album No Nuclear War.

References

{{Bob Marley and the Wailers 1976 establishments in Jamaica 1980s disestablishments in Jamaica Jamaican reggae musical groups