RIP Tyrone Downie

[Outkaster]

Reggae Keyboard playing doesn't often get the respect it deserves but Tyrone Downie was a pioneer in the field.  Here he is live in 1975:

 

 

[yannis D]

They made a great pair of keys men in the Wailers along with Earl Lindo and their parts are iconic - and not just in reggae history 

RIP 

 

 

 

 

[MAJUSCULE]

RIP legend.

[zxcvbnm098]

Damn..only 66. Gone way too soon.

 

The Hammond (and then Clav at the end) parts in this live version are absolutely fantastic. Clearly either influenced or a past history in the church, those parts on NWNC are text book Hammond playing; soulful, mastery of the instrument, prominent, and yet not in the way. Everytime I hear that track I just melt. 

 

Godspeed brother. Your soulful playing lives on.....

[LX 88]

Wow../ no idea he was that young when he joined The Wailers

 

And how did they even have Hammonds in Jamaica during those years? I caught a later version of the Wailers live in around 2000 and the guy they had then was playing an M-3.

 

There was a recording from about 1973 0r 1974 of Bob and the Wailers recorded in the Bay Area from a radio broadcast.... I believe it was released under the title Talking Blues. Would that be Tyrone? The Hammond was heavily featured on tracks such as Concrete Jungle, Burning and Looting, Kinky Reggae etc. The keyboards are given more space on live Wailers recordings IMO.

 

I assume Family Man and Al Anderson are still around but many Wailers are gone including Bob, Bunny and Peter.

 

Weeping and Waiing tonight.....

[zxcvbnm098]

https://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/entertainment/20221107/tributes-tyrone-downie-ex-wailers-musician-dies-jamaica

[Outkaster]

1 hour ago, LX 88 said:

Wow../ no idea he was that young when he joined The Wailers

 

And how did they even have Hammonds in Jamaica during those years? I caught a later version of the Wailers live in around 2000 and the guy they had then was playing an M-3.

 

There was a recording from about 1973 0r 1974 of Bob and the Wailers recorded in the Bay Area from a radio broadcast.... I believe it was released under the title Talking Blues. Would that be Tyrone? The Hammond was heavily featured on tracks such as Concrete Jungle, Burning and Looting, Kinky Reggae etc. The keyboards are given more space on live Wailers recordings IMO.

 

I assume Family Man and Al Anderson are still around but many Wailers are gone including Bob, Bunny and Peter.

 

Weeping and Waiing tonight.....

 

 

Tyrone wasn't 20 even when he joined for Rastaman Vibration. Earl Lindo played the best bubble though and passed a few years ago.  Tyrone was good at it also but handled other keyboard duties.  They carried a C3 most of the time with now back panels.  The original band toured in the UK first  The most frustrating thing about all of those guys is there is little footage of them playing or techniques.  It was always on Bob or the rest of the band. I used to scour the web looking for it?  In my circle I had hear that when Bob died these musicians were given very little, in some ways their life ended up being hard.  Marcia Griffiths, Al Anderson and Junior Marvin did OK.  Right now their are 3 versions of the Wailers out there.

[Outkaster]

Here he is in 1999.  You can see him in the back playing a B3.   He was laughing at Darius Rucker but check out the organ licks in the end:

 

 

[NewImprov]

RIP. I've played in a Marley tribute band for the last 12 years or so, and have spent a lot of time working out his and Lindo's parts. There was a brief version of the band I'm in that had 2 keys players, and the other guy handled most of the piano/synth parts while I did Hammond and Clav, but for most of the run, I've been the only keys player. Downie had so many iconic parts, it's been a joy to take a deep dive into his work. Marley was a great songwriter and a huge presence, but his band was terrific, and deserve more credit.

 

I saw a post-Bob Wailers show with Downie on Keys in 1989/90, and it remains one of the best concerts I've ever attended.

[Outkaster]

15 hours ago, NewImprov said:

RIP. I've played in a Marley tribute band for the last 12 years or so, and have spent a lot of time working out his and Lindo's parts. There was a brief version of the band I'm in that had 2 keys players, and the other guy handled most of the piano/synth parts while I did Hammond and Clav, but for most of the run, I've been the only keys player. Downie had so many iconic parts, it's been a joy to take a deep dive into his work. Marley was a great songwriter and a huge presence, but his band was terrific, and deserve more credit.

 

I saw a post-Bob Wailers show with Downie on Keys in 1989/90, and it remains one of the best concerts I've ever attended.

Part of it is how he recorded parts.  Most people don't know that Waiting In Vein, for example has tons of keyboard parts; Clav, Piano, Organ, Synth.  A lot of Reggae Musicians always tell me they hear new stuff every time they listen to Marley, even now.  It happens a lot because every February we do a tribute show and we are listening to songs that we might have not played before.  It's interesting stuff.  

[CraigT]

On 11/9/2022 at 9:37 AM, Outkaster said:

Part of it is how he recorded parts.  Most people don't know that Waiting In Vein, for example has tons of keyboard parts; Clav, Piano, Organ, Synth.  A lot of Reggae Musicians always tell me they hear new stuff every time they listen to Marley, even now.  It happens a lot because every February we do a tribute show and we are listening to songs that we might have not played before.  It's interesting stuff.  

Are there any good resources that document the players and keyboard instruments in the Wailers?  I honestly never paid much attention until trying to learn a few Marley tunes and then realized how much is going on and how incredible the band is.  There is a complexity in this music I never gave it credit for.  Would love to learn more.

 

PS I have watched some documentaries on Bob but they, of course, are primarily about him, Rastafarianism, and Jamaica.  Not so much about the band and the actual music.

[Outkaster]

None,  I have been playing Reggae for thirty years and your lucky to catch him sometimes when the camera pans by him.  Here is wya Lindo:

 

 

 

Here they both are playing but other than that I have looked for years.   I was taught by Jamaicans and know people that knew these guys but it's kind of a passed down art.  I can help you has much as I can.

[NewImprov]

4 hours ago, Outkaster said:

None,  I have been playing Reggae for thirty years and your lucky to catch him sometimes when the camera pans by him.  Here is wya Lindo:

 

 

 

Here they both are playing but other than that I have looked for years.   I was taught by Jamaicans and know people that knew these guys but it's kind of a passed down art.  I can help you has much as I can.

The band I play in bases our arrangement of Stir it Up on this version, I love Lindo's clav solo, and have transcribed it. It's really annoying in the video that the camera doesn't even focus on Lindo until the end of the solo! 

[yannis D]

10 hours ago, NewImprov said:

It's really annoying in the video that the camera doesn't even focus on Lindo until the end of the solo! 

I was ready to say it. Cameraman or director were apparently sports guys. Thankfully today cameramen in concerts know their job and the directors can tell a solo form another...

[bachsteady]

[analogika]

On 11/11/2022 at 1:30 AM, NewImprov said:

The band I play in bases our arrangement of Stir it Up on this version, I love Lindo's clav solo, and have transcribed it. It's really annoying in the video that the camera doesn't even focus on Lindo until the end of the solo! 

 

That's because Peter Tosh is faking the solo on his guitar. The Clavinet isn't even plugged in. 

 

The audio is from the album recording sessions - the synth you hear isn't a minimoog, either, btw. 

 

The clav solo at 2:45 is the exact cut from the album. 

They edited the album version for this playback performance — on the version you hear on "Legend", the solo starts at 3:33.

 

[Edit: It wasn't Tyrone. He hadn't joined yet. Duh.]

[Outkaster]

4 hours ago, analogika said:

 

That's because Peter Tosh is faking the solo on his guitar. The Clavinet isn't even plugged in. 

 

The audio is from the album recording sessions - the synth you hear isn't a minimoog, either, btw. 

 

The clav solo at 2:45 is Tyrone, and it's the exact cut from the album. 

They edited the album version for this playback performance — on the version you hear on "Legend", the solo starts at 3:33.

 Yes and people always think this is the definitive version but truthfully there isn't a lot of early Wailers footage.  None of those guys were getting paid.  Tosh left because of it.