The Hippy Boys were a Jamaican reggae band formed in 1968 by Lloyd Charmers.

The band included guitarist Alva "Reggie" Lewis, organist Glen "Capo" Adams and brothers Aston "Family Man" Barrett and Carlton "Carly" Barrett on bass and drums respectively.

The Hippy Boys are usually confused with The Upsetters. For a reason. When The Upsetters' instrumental Return Of Django became a hit in England, Lee "Scratch" Perry and his crew were invited on a six week tour of Britain - a first for a reggae band. However, in a spectacular case of bad timing, the original Upsetters (aka Gladdys All Stars) couldn't make the trip, so Perry had to hustle together a new crew. The young group named the Hippy Boys became the new Upsetters.

They remained the studio band that is most associated with the name, going on to eventually form the nucleus of Bob Marley's backing band The Wailers when Perry and Marley went seperate ways around 1972.

Some of their many studio session instrumentals have been released on compilation albums titled "Reggae With The Hippy Boys", "House In Session" or "Psychedelic Reggae".


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