Word, Sound and Power

Word, Sound and Power are a Jamaicanreggae band, formed in 1976 as Peter Tosh's backing band after Tosh left The Wailers.

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 Rastafarian concept regarding the power of words.^[1]

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 in Kingston, Jamaica. For this concert, their line-out was Sly and Robbie, Al Anderson, Mikey Chung, Robbie Lyn, Keith Sterling, Uziah Thompson and Noel Simms.^[2]

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 Sly and Robbie, Mikey Chung, Keith Sterling, Robbie Lyn, and male background singers The Tamlins and three 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 such as Rita Marley (Legalize It), Glimmer Twins (The Rolling Stones) and Bunny Wailer (Wailers) trio have joined in to perform in the Word, Sound and Power band occasionally. Keyboardist/pianist Robbie Lyn often did not appear at Tosh's shows and recording sessions.

En 1981, miembros destacados de la banda de Tosh, como Sly y Robbie, dejaron de tocar con él por falta de pago y debido al mal genio de Tosh cuando Sly empezó a tocar la batería durante uno de sus conciertos. Por ello, Sly y Robbie abandonaron la banda en 1981, poco después del inicio de la gira y el lanzamiento del álbum Wanted, Dread and Alive , y se centraron en girar con Black Uhuru. Debido a esto, y teniendo en cuenta las anteriores colaboraciones de Mikey Chung con Black Uhuru y Sly y Robbie, también se unió al dúo y abandonó la banda. Ese mismo año, Tosh tuvo discusiones personales con Keith Richards sobre su casa y dejó los Glimmer Twins, y dejó de colaborar con los Rolling Stones tras abandonar el sello discográfico poco después del lanzamiento del álbum Wanted, Dread and Alive . Darryl Thompson y Al Anderson también dejaron de colaborar con la banda.

Poco después, desde finales de 1981 hasta 1983, y de nuevo poco antes de la muerte de Tosh en 1987, Carlton Davis se unió como baterista principal, junto con Aston Barrett como bajista principal, en la gira Wanted, Dread and Alive , así como en el álbum y la gira de Mama Africa y el álbum No Nuclear War .