'Who dem man deh sound like The Wailers?' said Robert Nesta Marley when he first heard The Meditations singing in 1978. Having been introduced to Marley through Lee Perry, The Meditations were already in their rootical prime. Three-part harmony vocals were popular at the time, modern household names such as The Heptones, Israel Vibration, The Abyssinians and The Wailers are all indicative of how popular this style was and still is.
The Meditations fairy tale started in 1974. Ansel Cridland and Danny Clarke were waiting to audition for JoJo Hookim, (Channel One founder). Winston Watson happens to be there when the third vocalist conveniently fails to show. Having heard them sing Shadow, Watson joins in with a falsetto voice that was just the 'Wailers' sound that Ansel Cridland had been looking for. And the group that were to become famous as 'The Meditations' were born.
The group were releasing under the names 'Danny Clarke' or 'Ansel Cridland & The Meditations' until 1976 when, according to Ansel Cridland:
'Danny ... came to me just before JoJo released Woman is Like a Shadow. Danny looked at me and said, 'Why don't we just call the group The Meditations?' And done! So we just went to Jojo and told him to put out the song as The Meditations. That's when the group really came together.'
The tune was a hit. A whopping 45,000 copies were sold in the first month after being released. From there, The Meditations also recorded at Lee Perry's Black Ark studio and Federal Studios, released on Tuff Gong, Island, Greensleeves, Jah Guidance and Liberty among others.
After the original release deal for their second album Guidance with Island failed to happen, it ended up being released on New York label TAD's and Gorgon in Jamaica. The album was subsequently banned by the group who were unhappy with the result, making remaining copies rather valuable.
The Meditations also were in high demand to arrange and record backing vocals for artist such as Gregory Isaacs, Lee Perry, The Congos and Jimmy Cliff. They sang back-up with the Wailers for some of Bob Marley's big hits such as Punky Reggae Party.
Although they haven't toured Europe in a while, The Meditations are still playing in and around the US, where they are currently based. Some of their latest notable recordings have been with Easy Star Label's Dub Side of the Moon ( on Eclipse) and Radiodread's, No Surprises.
I first heard the Woman Is Like a Shadow dub version on the Maxfield Avenue Breakdown (Channel One Dubs & Instrumentals 1974-1979) album (released in 2007) and was instantly in love with the descending progression on the bass and the stunning vocal cut. When I found the original version I wasn't disappointed - this is soulful roots for irie lovers when the weather is sweet.
But what are they singing about? 'A woman is like a shadow and a man is like an arrow' sounds nuff chauvinist. Tracey Nguma from Cleveland Reggae managed to ask Ansel Cridland in a 2006 interview, who responded:
'Every where mi go people ask 'bout that song. You see a man is like an arrow and you shoot it and it go straight,' gesturing as if shooting a bow and arrow. 'And a woman is like a shadow,' Ansel turned as if to look for a shadow then continued, 'You can never catch her.'
More info:
The Meditations website
Lady Acroline
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