Wailing Souls sing Fire House Rock, a fine example of one of the greatest, but least appreciated, of Jamaica’s vocal harmony reggae groups.

Such were the riches in vocal harmony groups in Seventies Jamaica that some, like The Wailing Souls, never fully received the same international recognition as others. Yet the consistency of their repertoire, and their sheer longevity – 54 years and counting – mark them out as one of the greatest in the tradition.

Perhaps it’s their name, confusing slow readers with Bob Marley’s boys, who backed them on a few tunes in the early Seventies, and with whom lead singers Winston Matthews (‘Pipe’) and Lloyd McDonald (‘Bread’) shared a vocal coach, the legendary Joe Higgs, who would train aspiring singers beneath a tree in his Kingston tenement yard.

Or perhaps it was their numerous name changes and changes of membership n the early years, switching between a trio and a quartet. Or maybe their habit of re-recording their old songs under new titles later in their career; probably a bit of everything.

It certainly wasn’t for lack of material, as this classic tune demonstrates, with its firecracker riddim, mellow groove and infectious hook. Once heard, you’ll be singing it all day.

Recorded at Channel One in 1980 with producer Junjo Lawes and the great studio band Roots Radics, anchored by that rhythm section of Flabba Holt and Style Scott, the icing on its cake is the earthshaking mix by Scientist, at King Tubby’s studio, best heard on the dub version.

Now based in Southern California, still with the nucleus of Matthews and Lloyd McDonald that dates back to 1966 in Joe Higgs’s tenement yard, Wailing Souls have received multiple Grammy nominations and outlived nearly all their peers as a working band.

Footnote: The Wailing Souls sing the backing vocals on Trench Town Rock, the song by Bob Marley & the Wailers.