There are many official live recordings of Bob Marley and The Wailers, most quite great, from 1975’s Live! to 1978’s Babylon by Bus. Many posthumous archival releases are also very appealing, such as the newly released Roots, Rock, Reggae: Live At The Hammersmith Odeon 2LP set from Tuff Gong/Island Records. This has been freshly mixed from original multitrack tapes culled from Marley’s run at the storied London venue, June 15-18, 1976.
While Marley’s studio albums are generally excellent-sounding, for me, the live recordings deliver a special sense of what he really was about as a performer, especially as I never got to see him back in the day. From these recordings, I can imagine that seeing him live must have been something of a near-religious experience.
Indeed, many fans have referred to Marley as a “messenger” over the years, and it is clear that he had a special, magical connection not only with his music but also with his audiences. Listening back to 1975’s seminal Live! and 1978’s Babylon By Bus, you can hear his audience changing and growing, with crowds already elevating Marley to a deity-like status (and I mean this in the best possible way: think Beatlemania or vintage Springsteen). This was never more apparent than on Roots, Rock, Reggae: Live At The Hammersmith Odeon. Musician/filmmaker Don Letts — co-founder of Big Audio Dynamite with The Clash’s Mick Jones — even addresses this sense of transition in the liner notes (which I just read after writing my above statement!).
Then supporting his hit album Rastaman Vibration, Marley and The Wailers are in incredibly tight form here, and the fidelity of the recording is almost studio-rich, while offering a good sense of the venue’s acoustics and the instrumentation. In 1976, reggae was still a relatively new form (and Marley a rising star), so kudos to the engineer who no doubt paid close attention to capturing the rhythm section’s essential interlocking drum ’n’ bass bedrock.
Roots, Rock, Reggae: Live At The Hammersmith Odeon comes on a 2LP black vinyl set for $37.99 at Amazon, or on two CDs for just $19.95. There is also a fun limited-edition “molten lava red and peridot swirl green” color vinyl edition available direct from the official Bob Marley website for $37.99 which includes a nifty bonus poster. This was the version I reviewed, and I was pleased with how good it sounded, even on colored vinyl.
I was quite taken with this impassioned performance and the audience feedback. Much positive vibration happening here! Roots, Rock, Reggae: Live At The Hammersmith Odeon captures that rare, magical element when artist and audience become one.
Our Ratings
★★★★★★★★★★ Music
★★★★★★★★★★ Sound
★★★★★★★★★★ Packaging
Where to Buy:
Mark Smotroff is a deep music enthusiast / collector who has also worked in entertainment oriented marketing communications for decades supporting the likes of DTS, Sega and many others. He reviews vinyl for Analog Planet and has written for Audiophile Review, Sound+Vision, Mix, EQ, etc. You can learn more about him at LinkedIn.
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