A classic Bob Marley & The Wailers run from 50 years ago will finally be officially released tomorrow via Tuff Gong/Island/UMe. Titled Roots, Rock, Reggae: Live at the Hammersmith Odeon, the previously unissued 18-track live document will capture the reggae pioneers’ June 15-18, 1976, stand at London’s Hammersmith Odeon, which kicked off the second leg of their Rastaman Vibration tour.
According to the album announcement, “The prestigious booking was a risky move, with a ticket count five times of a usual Wailers show. They sold it out, and the group seized the moment with utter fire and precision, leaving reviewers grasping for words to describe what they’d witnessed. Bob’s time had come. The residency proved to be a watershed moment for the group. Two years earlier, within months of Eric Clapton taking ‘I Shot the Sheriff’ to No. 1 in the U.S., Marley had answered with Natty Dread (1974), his first major statement for a widening international audience. Live!, recorded at London’s Lyceum Theatre, delivered the breakthrough in late 1975, aided by the concert version of ‘No Woman, No Cry,’ which reached the U.K. Top 20 in early 1976. This growing momentum carried Marley into his celebrated June run at London’s Hammersmith Odeon. In the weeks that followed, Rastaman Vibration became his first U.S. Top 10 album.”
The set will arrive in multiple configurations, including as a 180-gram 2LP vinyl. It will also be available as an exclusive limited edition 2LP color vinyl and as a standard 2CD set, in addition to being released as digital download and streaming at all DSPs and, where available, an ATMOS mix for the full “you-are-there” concert experience.
Moreover, the album has been packaged with recently uncovered graphics featuring photographs from the famed shows—boasting a unique cover design that appears sideways but folds out to showcase a full-body photo of Marley in his performance trance—custom labels and printed sleeves. It also includes a new essay by Marley’s close confidant and associate Don Letts, a.k.a., The Rebel Dread, who shares his own in-person recollections of the residency. All elements will also be present in the standard 2LP set, which will be available on heavyweight 180-gram vinyl, as well as the 2CD edition. The additional, limited-edition color vinyl release will be offered in transparent “Molten Lava Red” (LP1) and “Peridot Green” (LP2)—they’ll arrive with an exclusive mini-poster of the original Island Records advertisement promoting both the new Rastaman Vibration album and the European leg of Marley’s tour, which officially kicked off during this four-night stand at the Hammersmith Odeon.
Besides an incomplete bootleg, it was previously unknown if the run had even been properly recorded, especially since the dates fell so soon after 1975’s Live!. Remote tapes from the Island archives, separated into different facilities over the years, were only recently said to be “connected into the full experience.”
Roots, Rock, Reggae: Live at the Hammersmith Odeon promises choice selections from each of the four performances. Among the album’s many highlights are the rarity “Bend Down Low,” which was performed only on the final night of the Hammersmith run; an extended, new-to-the-set “Crazy Baldhead;” an improvisatory, deep bass rendition of “Lively Up Yourself” and the finale—a revelatory 30-minute encore punctuated by a chilling “War” and an intense, 12-minute “Get Up, Stand Up,” in which Marley weaves a call to dance into a plea for unity.
Here’s a look at the album’s myriad formats and tracklisting
2LP/2LP D2C
Side A
Introduction (0:28)
Trenchtown Rock (4:08)
Burnin’ and Lootin’ (4:31)
Them Belly Full (But We Hungry) (3:18)
Rebel Music (3 O'Clock Roadblock) (4:58)
I Shot the Sheriff (4:11)
Side B
Crazy Baldhead (6:05)
Bend Down Low (4:10)
Want More (6:38)
No Woman, No Cry (6:09)
Side C
Lively Up Yourself (7:47)
Roots, Rock, Reggae (5:29)
Encore Introduction (0:30)
Positive Vibration (3:35)
Rat Race (6:45)
Side D
War (4:16) /
No More Trouble (2:21)
Get Up, Stand Up (12:15)
2CD
Disc 1
Introduction (0:28)
Trenchtown Rock (4:08)
Burnin’ and Lootin’ (4:31)
Them Belly Full (But We Hungry) (3:18)
Rebel Music (3 O'Clock Roadblock) (4:58)
I Shot the Sheriff (4:11)
Crazy Baldhead (6:05)
Bend Down Low (4:10)
Want More (6:38)
No Woman, No Cry (6:09)
Lively Up Yourself (7:47)
Roots, Rock, Reggae (5:29)
Disc 2
Encore Introduction (0:30)
Positive Vibration (3:35)
Rat Race (6:45)
War (4:16) /
No More Trouble (2:21) /
Get Up, Stand Up (12:15)
DIGITAL
Introduction (0:28)
Trenchtown Rock (4:08)
Burnin’ and Lootin’ (4:31)
Them Belly Full (But We Hungry) (3:18)
Rebel Music (3 O'Clock Roadblock) (4:58)
I Shot the Sheriff (4:11)
Crazy Baldhead (6:05)
Bend Down Low (4:10)
Want More (6:38)
No Woman, No Cry (6:09)
Lively Up Yourself (7:47)
Roots, Rock, Reggae (5:29)
Encore Introduction (0:30)
Positive Vibration (3:35)
Rat Race (6:45)
War (4:16) /
No More Trouble (2:21) /
Get Up, Stand Up (12:15)
