INTERVIEW
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The Original Wailers Unplugged Concert, featuring Al Anderson, produced for the Sugarshack Sessions YouTube channel, perfectly embodies this balance of familiarity and freshness.
In the new live unplugged recording of “Redemption Song” by The Original Wailers, guitarist Al Anderson begins with a solo guitar intro that is more Jimmy Page than roots reggae. With virtuoso arpeggios and a complex classical melody resolving in a ringing major chord, his playing captures the audience’s attention while building on Bob Marley’s original intro to the song.
This melding of rock and reggae is natural for Al Anderson. After all, he is the guitarist who first alerted rock fans to the music of Bob Marley with his lead guitar work on classics like “No Woman, No Cry,” and “Rebel Music (3 O’Clock Road Block).”
From 1973 to 1980, Al Anderson performed and recorded with Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, and Bunny Wailer, playing a key role in shaping the sound of roots rock reggae. Since 2006, he has led The Original Wailers, a group with a devoted international audience spanning the U.S., Europe, Brazil, and the South Pacific. The band features singer/guitarist Chet Samuel, bassist Omar Lopes, keyboardist Ras Klamps, and drummer Papa Nyarkoh. Their latest live EP reflects both their reverence for reggae’s legacy and their drive to evolve, balancing classic Wailers material with improvisation and original compositions.
This is more than a greatest-hits act. The Original Wailers seek to honor the musicians who came before them – not imitate them. This philosophy was instilled in Anderson by Marley himself, who, shortly before his passing, told him, “Be yourself, don’t copy me.”
“There's a lot of imitators that are doing direct imitations of Bob's catalog,” Anderson says. “We don't do that. We improvise and salute all three of them – Bob, Peter, and Bunny – and not only one."
The Original Wailers Unplugged Concert, featuring Al Anderson, produced for the Sugarshack Sessions YouTube channel, perfectly embodies this balance of familiarity and freshness. The eight-song setlist blends well-loved classics by Marley, Tosh, and Bunny Wailer – like “Three Little Birds”, “Legalize It” and “Rootsman Skanking”, including two original compositions, “Song for the Divine” and “Empress Omega.”
In the same way that Bob Marley was both musician and spiritual leader, the music of The Original Wailers shares a message of transcendence. Rastafarianism is the base for their vision and direction, but Anderson notes that music has a spiritual element transcending religion, evoking memory, emotion, and connection.
These ideas appear in the lyrics of the band’s original “Song of the Divine”:
Words of divinity inspire strength and unity
We burn a fire, songs of long ago
Telling the truth / Teach the youth
With a song of the Divine to inspire a way today
The music video for the song was filmed on Bali. It features a blistering guitar solo by Anderson that is reminiscent of Carlos Santana (one of his past collaborators). Fans won’t want to miss the stripped-down version of this song included in the Sugarshack Sessions Unplugged Concert.
Looking ahead, The Original Wailers are working on a new album, Mirror of Heaven. The title was inspired by a moment the band witnessed while performing on Réunion Island, when the setting sun burned a fiery gold cross in the ocean. Anderson captured the image in a photograph which will be the album cover. The album is expected to be completed later this year.
