The Naturalites - Marvellous (1987)

After the massive interest we received from our first post on The Naturalites, "Picture On The Wall", we have decided to follow up with the groups second album, the even rarer, "Marvellous" of 1987.

The Naturalites were formed in Nottingham, England in 1982 by the vocal trio of Ossie 'Gad' Samms, Percy 'Jah P' McLeod and Neil Foster.

The group were musically backed by The Realistics, a massive twelve piece out-fit consisting of Alton 'Issachar' Rickets and Chester Marzink on drums, Lenroy 'Bassie' Guiste on bass guitar, Paul 'Bimmus I' Prince on lead guitar, Marcus 'Naphtali' Hodges and Winnie Williams on keys, and Wilford Fearon and Johnny White on percussion.

The amazing horn section were made up of Albert 'Eitiko' Barnes on trumpet, Vic Middleton on Tenor/Alto Sax, Hughie 'Joseph' Duffus on Alto Sax and Junior Lindo on Tenor Sax.

The group arrived on the scene as Britain was enjoying a run of successful homegrown Reggae groups such as Aswad, Steel Pulse, UB40 and Black Roots.

In 1983 The Naturalites released, what would become their biggest and most remembered song, "Picture On The Wall" which hit the top spot in the UK Reggae chart.

The song was released on the bands own 'Realistic Records' label but it wasn't long before the band signed with major label CSA.

The band received extensive coverage on deejay Mikey Dread's popular Rockers Road Show and appeared twice on John Peel's BBC Radio One show in the UK.

In 1984 the band began recording songs for their debut album "Picture On The Wall" which CSA Records released in 1985.

The album combines the styles of Roots Reggae with Lover's Rock, both of which were popular in the UK during the early 1980's and the album sold well.

Additional singles were issued to promote the album including "Lion Inna Jungle" and "Love and Understanding" which continued to sell well and The Naturalites extensive touring helped establish the group as one of the biggest UK Reggae bands.

"Picture On The Wall" was produced by Johnny White. The recording was done predominantly at the groups local Sin City studio in Nottingham with some other tracks being cut at Easy Street studios and Mark Angelos studios in London. The album was sent off to be mixed in Jamaica at the famous Aquarius Studio in Kingston.

The Naturalites went on to record two more albums in their short career including "Marvellous" released in 1987 and their final album "Naturalites In Ites" which came out in 1989.

It is the second album that we have on showcase right here, "Marvellous", released in 1987 on CSA Records. It also can be found on the groups own Realistic label.

A brilliant follow up containing the songs "Rasta Youth", "Sweeter Than Wine", "Cry For You" and "What About The Africans?".

Produced by Fitzroy "Wizard" Blake, Wilfred Fearon and Johnny White, Mixed by Chris Daley it was recorded at The Marcus Garvey Studio in Nottingham and once again mixed in Jamaica at Aquarius Studios.

By the time of recording "Marvellous" the Naturalites line-up had changed slightly. Neil Foster had left the group leaving Percy McLeod and Ossie Gad as lead vocalists alongside the Realistics band which now included Dennis Cole on drums and Wilfred Fearon adding percussion.

The album almost picks up exactly where "Picture On The Wall" ended, once again mixing excellent roots rockers material with the laid back lover's style, the band sound awesome and the horn section give it that authentic Naturalites / Realistics sound that made them so popular on their debut.

The group would continue with their third album release "Naturalites In Ites" which came out in 1989 but it never achieved the success of the groups first two albums and signs began to show that the group was coming to an end.

By 1990 the band decided to go their seperate ways with lead singers Ossie 'Gad' Samms and Percy 'Jah P' McLeod both going on to enjoy solo careers.

The Naturalites "Marvellous" is a wonderful album, it is ... in a word ... MARVELLOUS! and definitely worth a second listen.

Enjoy!

The Naturalites - Marvellous (1987)

1) The Way I Feel
2) Back To Lovers
3) Cry For You
4) Last Days
5) Rasta Youth
6) Jah Is Marvellous
7) Lately
8) Sweeter Than Wine
9) Someone Else
10) I Love Jah
11) What About The Africans?

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