Biography of Wailing Souls

If lead singer Winston "Pipe" Matthews sounds like a slightly higher-pitched version of Bob Marley, it may be because he was tutored by the same teacher (Joe Higgs) in the same yard that produced The Wailers. The Souls have gone through many different lineups, but Pipe and his partner Lloyd "Bread" McDonald have survived as a duo, and currently record for Columbia Records. Through most of their history, however, they were one of reggae's only quartets with shimmering harmonies that gave voice to Jamaican folk-sayings and righteous religious rumblings. ~ Roger Steffens