by Jo-Ann GreeneThe consummate roots band, the Wailing Souls may never have gained the international reputation of their compatriots, at least not at the height of the genres popularity, but they did outlive most of them. Their very survival has been their greatest strength, that and their ability to diversify over time. Today they are one of the most popular live acts around and they continue to release provocative and popular albums. A roots band they may well be, but their history actually stretches back long before the birth of that genre, as far back as the heyday of ska. The Wailing Souls story begins with Winston Pipe Matthews. As a youth living in Kingston in the early 60s, Matthews learned to sing at the feet of Joe Higgs. Higgs, although himself barely out of his teens, was already a veteran vocalist with a string of hits to his name, and coached up and coming talent in his tenement yard. His most famous protégés were, of course, th...