I’ve got a real rarity for you guys today. A Seeco interview. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Seeco speak. I know I’ve never seen him interviewed. Give thanks for the genius of Ras RoJah Steffens. He has such extensive Wailers knowledge that he knew Seeco, along with Joe Higgs, was partially responsible for helping mold Bob, Bunny, and Peter into a tight, rhythmic, melody-making machine. Knowing this, he is able to pull the story from Seeco, and land an interview with the Wailers’ enigma.
Long before The Wailers started recording, percussionist Alvin “Seeco” Patterson was one of the primary musical tutors for the vocal group, specializing in rhythm. Seeco, seeing that the trio could be molded into something great, brought the Wailers to the attention of Studio One owner Clement “Coxsone” Dodd. He even played congas for them as they auditioned for Coxsone, who eventually took them on as recording artists. He went on to become a roadie for The Wailers 1973/74 tours before becoming the longtime percussionist for The Wailers. SEECO is sometimes credited as Francisco “Willie” Pep.
Prior to this, Patterson had a career in Jamaica’s “mento” music scene. In Stephen Davis’ biography, “Bob Marley“, it is revealed that Seeco, “played with Lord Flea and various mento-calypso combos”. Davis later describes the music Lord Flea played when Seeco was in the band as “mento jazz”.
The interview, conducted backstage in 1991 at the Universal Amphitheater in Los Angeles, is a real rarity. Roger tells me that this is the first time it is seeing the light of day. In the interview, Seeco tells the story of bringing Marley to his first audition at Coxsone. It’s a little hard to penetrate fully, but I think you will enjoy the challenge.
Enjoy!
I’m also including what is in my opinion the best Bob Marley and the Wailers rehearsal session that circulates. This rehearsal session from May 31, 1978 is an absolute gem. The songs performed on these tapes sound better than most groups’ officially released material. What amazes me the most is how tight the band is during this session. It is common knowledge to most die-hard fans that Marley rehearsed his band like no other lead musician. They spent hours upon hours upon hours in hot, muggy, and smoky rehearsal rooms honing these songs to perfection.
They had just played 2 shows at The Orpheum in Madison, WI a few days earlier. They are back in Miami at Criteria Studios to rehearse for the upcoming tour. The tour will take them to Philadelphia on June 5, 1978 to play the Spectrum. It then continues on through the northeast and Canada before taking off in Europe.
These rehearsal tapes, a virtual “throw away set” for Marley, is one of the best reggae sets that I own.
Bob Marley and the Wailers
Kaya Tour Rehearsals
Miami, FL May 31, 1978
Cd One:
01 Rastaman Chant (take 1)
02 Keep The Faith (take 1)
03 Rastaman Chant (take 2)
04 Keep The Faith (take 2)
05 Keep The Faith (take 3)
06 Keep The Faith (take 4)
07 Burning & Looting (false start)
08 Burning & Looting (take 1)
09 Burning & Looting (take 2)
10 Time Will Tell (take 1)
11 Time Will Tell (take 2)
12 Lively Up Yourself
13 Who The Cap Fit ( Man To Man )
Cd Two:
01 Easy Skanking
02 Want More
03 Jamming
04 Crisis
05 Running Away
06 Crazy Baldhead
07 Running Away (take 2)
08 Positive Vibration
09 Soul Rebel
10 Waiting In Vain
Big, big thanks to Ras RoJah Steffens for sharing this rare interview with us.
LEGENDARY REGGAE 
click photo see Black Uhuru live non Seeco???Hell-A Seeco Rojah 80s inteview exister too
Sorry! password: seeco1991
I apologize for any confusion. The link should now work. Just click on the photo and you will jump to Vimeo to watch the video.
Massive Thanks to Rojah for letting this be viewed on the net. Love Ya for all you have done and do boss. And Michael bless you for your livication to sharing all this stuff recently.
Thanks for the kind words Dub….Forward to you!
IF ALL YOU HAVE OF MY BRETHREN SEECO FROM TRENCH TOWN AS ROGER STEFFENS INTERVIEW, THEN YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT TRENCH TOWN ORIGINAL WAILING WAILERS. I AM RAS CARDO AN ORIGINAL WAILERS AND SEECO IS ALSO ONE OF MY LIFELONG BRETHRENS LIKE JUNIOR BRAITHWAITE, BOB, AND PETER WAS. WELL I KNOW I HAVE THE DEFINITIVE ARCHIVES ON MY REGGAE CREATION. ASK SEECO IF HE REMEMBERS -CARDO? DONT TAKE MY WORD FOR IT. ROGER ALSO KNOWS ABOUT I AND I. I WOULD HOPE THAT HE WOULD TELL SOME OF THE TRUTHS I TOLD HIM. PEACE! THE ORIGINAL WAILERS WERE , JUNIOR BRAITHWAITE, GARTIE DENNIS, AND MYSELF- RAS CARDO. SEEN!
HAVE ANY OF YOU ASKED -SEECO- AS TO WHO WERE THE ORIGINAL WAILING WAILERS- BEFORE BOB CAME INTO TRENCH TOWN.? MIDNIGHT RAVERS, I CHALLENGE YOU ALL TO GET THE TRUTHS AS TO HOW IT ALL BEGAN. YOU SHOULD KNOW THAT ROGER STEFFENS OR ANYONE FROM AMERICA ETC WAS THERE WITH US IN TRENCH TOWN IN – 1962. TIME TO TELL THE PEOPLE THE TRUTH. WISE UP RAVERS- DONT PERPETUATE A LIE- SEEK TRUTH FROM THOSE WHO WERE THERE. I RAS CARDO SENDS PEACE! RASPECT!
GET THE FACTS RAVERS AND TELL THE PEOPLE THE TRUTHS WHAT I RAS CARDO FROM TRENCH TOWN JUST TOLD YOU ALL. SEECO, WILL TELL YOU THE TRUTHS.
I know of you Ras. You should hear my interview with Garth Dennis where he tells of this story you speak. Bless
It is a shame that after so many years of me giving Roger Steffens the truths of this seeco connection he still has not openly told the world as to who gave this vital part of our history to him so that he could pull this seeco and now publish this connected part. as if he was the one with the insight and the facts.
Everyone knows that Roger was never in trench town with us, so the logical question one should ask is this- How did he get what he got to report?
Well, I Ras Cardo knows , and I have nothting personally against Roger, but I wish he would come clean and speak the truth as far as it involved me telling him certain truths.
Joe Higgs asked me to meet with him, and so i did for the love of Joe. The full extent of my meeting with Roger has never been released, but I have my detailed evidence as per that time.
I feel that by now Roger should have told the truth and not claiming certain things to be his own original intellectual properties. My works are under my copyrights including my meetings with Roger. He should be aware of that. His repeated failures to tell the truths as far as it includes my works will result in my public release of the facts and truths as herein stated.
I know, I was the one who first told him about Seeco connection with Joe Higgs in helping us with the music
He also knows that I was the one whose book he used to find- Cherry Green, Beverly Kelso .etc. – Scotts Official history of reggae and the original wailers published in 1993.
COME CLEAN ROGER, AND LET THE WORLD KNOW JUST WHO AND FROM WHERE YOU GOT YOUR MATERIALS AS TO OUR TRENCH TOWN HISTORY.
ANYONE WITH THE FACTS CAN PUT THE PUZZLE TOGETHER, BUT THEY WOULD HAVE TO GET THE PIECES FIRST.
DONT THINK THIS WILL GO AWAY. I AM RAS CARDO AND I CREATED THIS REGGAE AS YOU ALL KNOW.
LET THE PEOPLE KNOW FROM WHOM YOU GOT THE WORKS. I KNOW MINE AND MINE KNOW ME.
I WILL HOPE THAT YOU COME CLEAN WITHOUT MALICE. I HAVE NO PREJUDICE OR MALICE TOWARDS YOU. DONT USE MY WORKS TO YOUR CREDITS WITHOUT MY PERMISSION.(c) RAS CARDO SPEAKS
Cardo. You have posted here before. Putting forth your negative vibes when all we do is push positivity to the people. Marley’s own estate enjoys what we do here. I know Garth Dennis very well and I have spoken to him about you because I wanted to give you the opportunity to tell your story. So before you come to MY site to spew your negativity, know this: I KNOW the truth. The TRUTH told to me by someone who lived it. If you want to come correct and respectful we can always talk. But don’t come to this positive space and start spew your negativity. And as for Roger, I consider Roger to be a very dear friend and someone who spent his life trying to reveal the truth to the world. Dedicated his life to this reggae thing and never asked anyone for anything. He doesn’t want credit for anything. He’s one of the most righteous people I’ve come across and you know what this is all about. It’s not about Roger, or this site, or Bob, or Bunny or Peter or Junior. Raver
SAD TO KNOW THAT THE TRUTH FROM THE TRENCH TOWN PEOPLE CAUSES YOU TO FEEL SUCH NEGATIVE VIBES., BUT THOSE WHO MUST TELL IT KNOWS THIS REACTION.
RAS CARDO HAS NO NEGATIVITY TOWARDS ROGER, YOURSELF OR ANY OTHER. HE HAS THE TRUTH BECAUSE HE GREW UP IN THE EXPERIENCE.. YOU KNOW OF GARTH, WELL GARTH KNOWS THE TRUTH OF WHAT RAS CARDO IS SPEAKING. CARDO ALSO GREW UP WITH THEM. IT WOULD BE TOO LATE NOW FOR GARTH TO CHANGE THE HISTORICAL TRUTH OF HIS LIVITY. YOU SPEAK AS IF GARTH IS SAYING SOMETHING FROM RAS CARDO. WELL, IF THAT BE THE CASE, THEN THERE ARE A HOST OF TRENCH TOWN PEOPLE WHO WILLBE MORE THAN WILLING TO OPENLY SHOW YOU ALL THE TRUTH. RAS CARDO STILL LIVES WITH THEM AND HELPS THEM TO LIVE TO ANOTHER DAY. DID GARTH TELL YOU THAT RAS CARDO WAS NOT IN TRENCH TOWN?
WELL, WHO LIVES IT, KNOWS IT.
I ANSWER THIS FROM THE RAS CARDO TRENCH TOWN FOUNDATIONAL CREW. HE HAS NO TIME TO WASTE ON IDLE CHATTER IN THE ADVANCEMENT OF LIES AND DECEIT. I AM RAS NEGUS I. RESPECT IS DUE.
Flac link not working š¦ im very eager to hear Crisis performed live š
I will re-up. Check tomorrow