POP MUSIC REVIEW : The Wailers’ Stage Lineup: Bob Marley Would Approve

SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO —  Important groups from the past that tour without key members are among the most reprehensible manifestations of cynicism in the business that pop music has become.

So what was one to make of the prospect of the Wailers without the musical and spiritual leadership of the late Bob Marley--not to mention the late Peter Tosh and missing-in-action Bunny Livingston--on the road in 1995? On paper, at least, the very idea of using the name stunk of something close to sacrilege, as the original Wailers defined the parameters of what reggae music would be and what to a large extent it remains.

But when the current version of the Wailers appeared at the Coach House on Saturday night, it proved that there is more than a little creative spark left.

Now featuring singer/guitarist Junior Marvin, bassist Aston (Family Man) Barrett and percussionist Alvin Patterson, all veterans of work with Marley, joined by keyboard player Marvin Batista, drummer Michael Richards, guitarist Hiro Fukai and background singers Renee Taylor and Peter Gayle, the Wailers effectively recaptured the sound and, more important, the vibe pioneered by the original group a quarter-century ago. Plus, there were new elements that doubtless had Marley smiling in approval somewhere in the heavens. (No reason was given for the absence of Marley veteran Earl [Wire] Lindo, who Marvin last week said was part of the lineup.)

Marvin in particular is a more than credible keeper of the torch, a major talent in his own right, sharing with Marley a musical and emotional honesty rare among performers of any genre. Though his vocal timbre bears a striking resemblance to Marley’s, his voice also has a soulful component that brought to mind the Funky Kingston sound of Toots Hibbert of Toots and the Maytals. An intense and extremely sensual stage demeanor completes the package, making Marvin a charismatic natural to fill the front-man’s slot.

Dressed in a tie-dyed Marley T-shirt and sporting fringed suede muckalucks, he held sway to an appreciative crowd that doted on his every utterance (even when he chided the very Anglo Orange County assemblage with such Rastamon asides as “You so bad, let me see you light up a spliff right now!”).

Meanwhile, the rhythm section of Barrett, Patterson and Richards (who replaced the late Carlton Barrett) remains second to none in reggae. Carving complex, canyon-deep grooves that had the crowd on its feet the whole time, these riddim masters came off like a Jamaican version of Booker T and the MGs, inducing snakelike gyrations among even the most conservative-looking in attendance.

Still, none could match the frenzy of Taylor and Gayle, whose rather erotic dancing made the show as much a treat for the eyes as for the ears.

While the Wailers concentrated on Marley and Tosh’s classic material--”Get Up, Stand Up,” “Natty Dread” and “This Is Reggae Music” were standouts--they added new flourishes and arrangements. They also performed a number of new originals that stood up quite well. It is something close to criminal that these Wailers remain a group without a record label in the United States while reggae bands with much less to offer are thriving. For instance . . .

*

Following the Wailers was another reggae warhorse, Third World. In stark contrast to the genuine soul, positive vibrations and overall excellence of the Wailers, Third World--currently observing its 22nd anniversary--came off like a bluebeat version of the Commodores, all slick plasticity and middle-of-the-road pandering.

While the members of the group are fine musicians, Third World waters down its reggae with mainstream influences, such contemporary cheesery as James Brown samples and a Vegas-like sense of pomp ultimately at odds with reggae’s creative essence.

A final note: Although delays are to be expected on bills of this nature, the second of two shows Saturday night got underway more than an hour and a half late. Many in the audience were not pleased.