The Morwells

Formed in 1973, in Kingston, Jamaica, West Indies, this group featured Maurice ‘Blacka’ Wellington (b. 19 August 1950, d. 12 October 2000; vocals, percussion) and Bingi Bunny (b. Eric Lamont, c.1956, Kingston, Jamaica, West Indies, d. January 1994; vocals, guitar). Prior to forming the group (the group’s name is a contraction of Maurice Wellington), Wellington had been a record salesman, and Lamont had recorded with Bongo Herman for Derrick Harriott. In 1974, they released ‘Mafia Boss’ and ‘You Got To Be Holy’ on their own Morwell Esquire label, and followed these with their debut, Presenting The Morwells, in 1975. The album was a blend of strong original songs and cover versions of hits by the Melodians and Delroy Wilson. A dub version of the album, Dub Me, was also released, and proved even more popular than the vocal album. In 1976, Wellington became an engineer and producer for Joe Gibbs, and Lamont became the rhythm guitarist with the Revolutionaries, Channel One’s house band. This gave them considerable access to the island’s top musicians and studios, and in this period they reached peak form. Singles on Morwell Esquire included ‘Proverb’ (1976) and ‘Crab In A Bag’ (1977), and eight tracks from their first album plus four singles were released in the UK as Crab Race. Bass player Errol Holt joined the group on a permanent basis, and further singles in 1977 included ‘’77 Festival’ for Joe Gibbs, ‘Mix-up’ for Winston ‘Niney’ Holness and ‘Africa We Want To Go’ for Tony Robinson. Excellent albums followed with Cool Runnings, Kingston 12 Toughie and The Best Of The Morwells. The group then broke up, with Maurice Wellington contined with the Morwell label, and Eric Lamont and Errol Holt formed the Roots Radics. In 2000, at the age of 50, Wellington died from adenocarcinoma.