An accomplished organ player with the Wailers and Taj Mahal, among many others,
Earl "Wire" Lindo (or Wya) began his musical tuition at the Excelsior High School playing classical piano and bass; he also listened to jazz and R&B from
Lee Dorsey to
Jimmy Smith. His initial foray into the reggae industry came when he played keyboards for Tommy McCook & the Supersonics; a notable hit from the period was "The Ball," credited to Lindo with the Supersonics. He then performed in the Meters alongside
Bobbie Kalphat and Bobbie Denton. During their brief existence, the group supported
Bob Andy,
Peter Tosh, and
Dennis Brown. Following the dissolution of the Meters,
Lindo joined the Now Generation, supporting
Sharon Forrester through her association with
Geoffrey Chung.
Lindo's earlier association with
Peter Tosh resulted in him being recruited on keyboards on a U.S. tour alongside brothers Carlton and Aston "Familyman" Barrett.
Lindo was later recruited to join
the Wailers for
Burnin'; although not actually credited, his image is clearly featured on the original artwork. By 1974,
Lindo had left the band to perform on keyboards with blues artist
Taj Mahal. They recorded, among others, "Black Man Brown Man," which was later recorded and released by
Judy Mowatt. In 1977,
Lindo returned to Jamaica where he recorded with
Big Youth,
Culture,
I Roy, and
Al Brown. During his respite from
the Wailers, he also released two solo hits, "No Soul Today" and "Who Done It."
Lindo rejoined
the Wailers in 1978, and his playing skills were featured on
Babylon by Bus,
Survival, and
Uprising.
Lindo also appeared on the famed JBC film of
Bob Marley's solo acoustic performance of "Redemption Song." Following
Marley's death in 1981, the band continued to perform as
the Wailers Band, performing
Bob Marley hits alongside the group's own compositions. He remained with the group into the 1990s while also pursuing solo projects. ~ TiVo Staff