Remembering Wailing Souls member who sang on ‘Trench Town Rock’

Norman Davis, also known as ‘Fats D’, an original member of reggae group, the Wailing Souls, passed away peacefully at the Winter Haven Hospital in south Florida on November 8. He was 79.

Davis sang background vocals on the 1971 mega hit, TrenchTown Rock, by The Wailers with Reggae King Bob Marley, Bunny Wailer and Peter Tosh.

“A Trench Town the whole a wi come from,” Lloyd ‘Bread’ McDonald, a founding member of Wailing Souls told The Gleaner.

Davis, who began his music career in the 1960s as a member of the Tenors, eventually joined the Wailing Souls. The group made their mark with seminal hits Ride yuh Donkey, Harbour Shark and Pressure & Slide.

“My husband loved music,” Davis’ widow Dorothy said. “He lived beside Bob Marley and Bunny Wailer in Trench Town. When yuh talk about the Wailing Souls and Wailing Wailers, both groups rehearsed together in the same house, same place at First Street. At one point the Wailing Souls sang on the Tuff Gong label.”

Davis also worked at Marley’s record shop in Kingston.

“My husband used to manage Bob’s record shop. The little record shop downtown. My husband and Rita [Marley] ran it. They knew each other even before Bob came on the scene,” Dorothy shared. “Not much was going on financially for the Wailing Souls, so he drifted from music.”

Bread acknowledged that “Fats would have gotten much more recognition as a singer after the initial success of Harbour Shark and Ride Yuh Donkey, but he had left the group when the songs hit, although he voiced those tracks.”

Davis also voiced on the group’s first two albums – Wailing Souls and Soul & Power – that were released by Clement Coxone’s Studio One, and included songs Gold Digger, Row Fisherman Row, and Mister Fire Coal Man.

“We could not find him so his picture was not included on the album cover,” Bread confessed.

Bread said he made sure Davis got royalties from those early recordings.

Davis eventually found gainful employment at Ardenne High School where he worked as a caretaker for six years.

“The days at Ardenne were beautiful,” his widow gushed. “We met some of the best students ... Paul Chapman, Helene Coley, Canute Savage, Philip Greenland, Roger ‘Bulvo’ Andrews, Dr Maynard McIntosh and Frederick Bolton,” she said.

Businessman and former Manning Cup player, Ewart ‘Gilly’ Gilzean was one of the students the Davises met at Ardenne.

“We did not know of Mr. Davis being a part of the Wailing Souls” Gilzean exclaimed!

“I noticed however he would have frequent and deep conversations with Errol Thompson (JBC radio), a past student of great fame who took particular interest in the Manning Cup teams of 1978 and 1979. Shortly after leaving school I realised that was the cultural space they shared. I remember him being a very involved caretaker ... he always encouraged us to make the best use of our opportunity at a place like Ardenne. He believed in gratitude. Most of all he was proud of his job,” Gilzean opined.

Davis left Ardenne in 1983, eventually finding employment on a ship after he migrated to The Cayman Islands and then to the USA 13 years ago.

In 2021 he contracted COVID-19 and suffered medical complications which he never fully recovered from.

“He lived for two years after that, so we are thankful for each day that he lived,” Dorothy shared.

His body will be cremated. A memorial service to honour his life and legacy will be organised by his children who are living in The Cayman Islands.

“He did a lot of work in the Christian community in Cayman,” Dorothy said.

Davis is survived by his widow, 11 children and numerous grand and great-grandchildren.

entertainment@gleanerjm.com