Category Archives: Concert Reviews

‘Marley, the Maytals, and the Reggae Armageddon’ (LA Times, 1975)

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Today I share with you an interview that Richard Cromelin conducted with Bob Marley in 1975.  The interview, published in Rolling Stone magazine on 11 September 1975, provides insight into Rastafari, the use of ganja as a sacrament, and Babylon.  The article also includes a short piece by Richard Cromelin called “An Herbal Meditation with Bob Marley.”  I have included an audio file of this interview.
The interview was conducted at the Tropicana Hotel in Hollywood,  Los Angeles, CA hotel during Bob Marley and the Wailers‘ U.S. Natty Dread tour.  They are in L.A. to play 5 consecutive shows at the world-famous Roxy on the Sunset Strip in Hollywood.  This tour introduces Bob Marley and the Wailers to a fickle, and mostly skeptical U.S. audience, however it is attended by the who’s who of Hollywood celebrities.
MANY THANKS TO DOC JAH FOR CONTRIBUTING THIS ARTICLE TO THE LIBRARY.  HE HAS ONE OF THE BEST REGGAE WEBSITES ON THE WEB!
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CLICK TO READ ARTICLE IN OUR DIGITAL DOCUMENT LIBRARY

I have also included a review of the opening night concert by Richard Cromelin from the L.A. Times.
 
Concert Review
By Richard Cromelin

Roxy 1975

© Kim Gottlieb-Walker

Roxy 1975

Bob Marley and the Wailers Play the Apollo, Harlem, NY, 1979

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This is a repost.  I updated the original blog post with personal testimony from someone who attended one of the shows.  Also updated to include the NME article.

The U.S. dates of the 1979 Survival tour kick off at Harvard University on July 29, 1979.  In late October 1979, Bob Marley and the Wailers score a seven-show slot at the famed Apollo Theatre in Harlem, NY.  These shows, which run for 4-days straight are very special to the band for several reasons.  This is where Marcus Garvey first reached out to the blacks in Harlem hearkening “look to East Africa, for the crowning of the Black King” – a prophecy which kindles the early flames of the Rastafari Movement.  The shows are also Marley’s first real shot at reaching and teaching the black audience in North America.  In fact, according to Marley biographer Chris Salewicz, it is Bob himself who demands these shows in an effort to deliver a targeted message to this audience.

According to the Black Enterprise magazine issue from September 1983, Bob marley was the very last performer to play the historic Apollo before it went dark for 5 years.  It reopened in 1984.

black enterprise

 

A fan who attended one of the shows during the Apollo run left me this message:
“Concerning the Bob Marley concert at the Apollo….there were three shows, in three days….and I made sure I was present for all three…Each show was different…but each unique. The Apollo Theater has 2 balconies…I was in the first balcony …front row center…best seat in the house…I sooo wish at least one of the concerts were on film….Bob rocked the house…so much so, at one point I actually got frightened…at the end of the third and final show…Bob had everyone on their feet singing “Get up Stand up”…of course everyone got up…but it wasn’t until a few minutes into the song that I realized the whole balcony was shaking….literally moving…I kept still to see if it was movement that I was really feeling…sure enough…it was…that’s when I started to hope that the balcony would hold….the balcony was full…even the isles…the Apollo is an old theater…..After the concert , I left feeling fulfilled and exhausted…Bob had taken all my energy…..any time he played NYC I was there….have never been to a concert that could surpass any Bob Marley concert since…….BLESS.”
Bob Marley & The Wailers
The Apollo Theater
New York, NY
10/26-27/79
This set contains songs recorded on October 26th and 27th, 1979 during the run at the Apollo
1. Positive Vibration
2. I Shot The Sheriff
3. War
4. Exodus
5. Call for Encore
6. No Woman, No Cry
7. Jammin’
DOWNLOAD FLAC AUDIO
Bob Marley & The Wailers
The Apollo Theater
New York, NY
10/28/79
[1] Positive Vibration  [5:00]
[2] Wake Up & Live  [6:11]
[3] The Heathen  [5:08]
[4] One Drop [4:32]
[5] I Shot The Sheriff  [4:39]
[6] Runnin Away  [3:59]
[7] Crazy Baldhead// [1:17]
[8] Zimbabwe  [4:27]
[9] War > [3:24]
[10] No More Trouble [1:47]
[11] Exodus  [7:40]
Encore:
[12] No Woman No Cry [6:49]
[13] Jammin// [4:27]
DOWNLOAD FLAC AUDIO
CLICK TO READ IN OUR DIGITAL DOCUMENT LIBRARY

Untitled

Apollo 1979

Syracuse Post-Standard, December 1979

New Musical Express, November 1979

Apollo Theater 1979
Apollo Theater 1979

Apollo Theater 1979

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Bob Marley and the Wailers Live at the Quiet Knight, Chicago, 1975

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BOB MARLEY AND THE WAILERS
LIVE AT THE QUIET KNIGHT, CHICAGO, IL, JUNE 10, 1975
There are many great live concert bootleg recordings by Bob Marley and the Wailers, many of which have been presented here on this blog over the past year.  However, it is hard to find that rare flawless soundboard recording that showcases an epic performance that is remembered as one of the greatest of an artist’s career.  Luckily, we have that in Bob Marley and the Wailers Live at the Quiet Knight, Chicago, IL, June 10, 1975.  This is the only recording I share twice per year on here because it is THAT GOOD!
There are so many interesting notes about the show: no Marcia Griffiths on the tour; a new guitarist from upstate New York named Al Anderson touring with the band for the first time; Marley’s NYC herb dealer, a white hippie kid named Lee Jaffe, who blows the shit out of the harmonica on “Three O’clock Road Block” and “Talkin’ Blues” (Interestingly, Jaffe would go on to make moves in the industry, producing Peter Tosh’s ‘Legalize It’ album and shooting the iconic cover photo).
But most striking to me is Marley’s performance.  As raw, as gritty, as grimy a performance you will hear from Marley.  Clearly exhausted from touring and playing small cigarette smoke-filled gin and whiskey joints, his voice breaks throughout the show.  The performance is a “soul sacrifice” for Marley, as he surely left a piece of it laying on stage that night.  The crowd is raucous and lively.  Think about this: they had never seen ANYTHING like this before.  This was still entirely new in 1975.  The crowd, and Marley’s interaction with it, bring a whole new element to this performance, primarily because the club is so small, and the crowd so close to him.
The performance is simply hard to believe, and if it were not documented here in superior soundboard quality, we never would have known it occurred.

www.bob-marley.es

The Quiet Knight was a 60′s and 70′s era folk and jazz club owned by Richard Harg that originated on North Wells in Chicago and moved briefly to 953 West Belmont toward the end of its run.  Many musicians got their start here including Bruce Springsteen (as opening act for the Persuasions).  Blues legend Muddy Waters even had a weekly gig at the club.
The club also housed some of the earliest punk and proto punk shows in Chicago. One of Chicago’s earliest known “punk type” shows was The Velvet Underground at the Quiet Knight in 1970. Sometime in the late 70s the Quiet Knight became Tuts, which played more of the traditional punk bands.
Today, the old Quiet Knight is known as Milio’s Hair Salon.  The list of bands that played this little hair salon include Tom Waits, R.E.M., Prince, Run D.M.C., The Cramps, Bauhaus, Echo And The Bunnymen, The Stray Cats, and Psychedelic Furs.
The second Smashing Pumpkins show on August 10, 1988 was there. Legendary Pumpkins drummer Jimmy Chamberlin had not yet joined the band so they played with a drum machine, and they were on the second stage, which was in a back room. They weren’t good enough or ready for a front-room stage.

In late spring/early summer 1975, Bob Marley and the Wailers embark on a tour of small clubs throughout the U.S. in support of the Natty Dread album.  The Wailers play the Quiet Knight club on June 9 and 10, 1975.  The performance is known as one of Marley’s best in a small venue, and the circulating soundboard recording is pristine, although incomplete.  The bootleg recording is routinely included in “best bootleg” lists on blogs and music journals.  The recording has circulated as “Jah Joys and Rainbows”, “Live in Chicago”, and “The Last Club Tour ’75.”

In addition to including the recording of this historic show, I have included a review of the June 9, 1975 performance written by Lynn Van Matre of the Chicago Tribune, published June 10, 1975.

Click to enlarge
Untitled
 
Band Lineup
Bob Marley, vocals, rhythm guitar
Aston Barrett, bass
Carlton Barrett, drums
Al Anderson, lead guitar
Tyrone Downie, keyboards
Alvin Patterson, percussion
The I-Threes, backing vocals (Rita Marley & Judy Mowatt)
Lee Jaffe, harmonica
Setlist
1. “Slave Driver”
2. “Trenchtown Rock”
3. “Concrete Jungle”
4. “Midnight Ravers”
5. “Talkin’ Blues”
6. “Rebel Music (3 O’Clock Roadblock)”
7. “I Shot The Sheriff”
8. “Natty Dread”
DOWNLOAD FLAC AUDIO

Bob_Marley_-_Quiet_Knight_Club,_Chicago_Ill,_USA_-_June_10,_1975

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Bob Marley and the Wailers: Stevie Wonder Dream 1975

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The Wonder Dream Concert held on October 4, 1975 at Kingston’s National Stadium is one of three events on the Holiday Jamaica package scheduled from September 29, 1975 through October 5, 1975.  The concert is a benefit concert for the Jamaican Institute for the Blind and is opened by Third World. Harold Melvin & The Bluenotes are scheduled to play but do not show.

Hopes are high that visiting tourists will travel home with grand stories about a new and emerging genre of music that must be seen and heard to be believed.  The concert also allows Marley to play in front of his hometown crowd for the first time since his recent breakthrough in America.

The concert is sometimes known as the Wailers Reunion Show, as it is the first time the original Wailers perform together since 1974 and the last time they ever will.

For Stevie Wonder‘s encore, Stevie calls for Bob to join him on stage and they play “I Shot The Sheriff“ and “Superstition” together. Another notable moment is the last performance of the original Wailers’ hit “Simmer Down”, originally from 1964.

Marley meets Wonder.  A ‘Dream‘ Concert.

I have included four articles from the Jamaica Gleaner, the islands leading newspaper.  These articles profile the Wonder Dream Concert over several weeks leading up to the show on October 4, 1975.

I have also included live performance recordings of the show for download.

September 8, 1975

Click image to read on Issuu

September 12, 1975

Click image to read on Issuu

September 28, 1975

Click image to read on Issuu

September 31, 1975

Click image to read on Issuu

For the show audio I have two sources.  From the info.txt file:

There are apparently two versions of this: one with only The Wailers’ set and the two encores (I Shot The Sheriff & Superstition), and one with the complete Stevie Wonder set with the two encores.

The audio presented are audience recordings.  All files are in lossless (FLAC) format.  Keep lossless.  Do not convert to mp3.

Wonder Dream Concert
Source 1 (Wailers’ Set plus Encore)

Set I

Rastaman Chant > Keep The Faith,
Nice Time,
Simmer Down > One Love,
Dreamland,
Fight Against Conviction,
Mark of The Beast,
Can’t Blame The Youth,
Legalize It,
So Jah Seh,
No Woman No Cry,
Jah Live

Set II

I Shot The Sheriff,
Superstition

DOWNLOAD FLAC FILES

Wonder Dream Concert
Source 2 (Stevie Wonder’s Set)

CD 1:

01. Golden Lady / Too High
02. You And I
03. Too Shy To Say / As
04. All In Love Is Fair
05. Don’t You Worry ‘Bout A Thing
06. Drum Solo
07. Boogie On Reggae Woman
08. I Was Made To Love Her
09. Earth Angel
10. Ain’t Too Proud to Beg / I Heard It Through the Grapevine / Uptight (Everything’s Alright) / Respect / What’d I Say
11. My Cherie Amour
12. Fingertips

CD 2:

01. You Haven’t Done Nothin’
02. Living For The City
03. You Are The Sunshine Of My Life
04. Encore: I Shot The Sheriff (With Bob Marley)
05. Encore: Superstition (With Bob Marley)

DOWNLOAD FLAC FILES

Stevie Wonder 1975

Stevie Wonder 1975

Bob Marley with photographer and son, 1975

© Kim Gottlieb-Walker, www.lenswoman.com, all rights reserved. From her book “Bob Marley and the Golden Age of Reggae, 1975-76, the Photographs of Kim Gottlieb-Walker

Bob and Stevie Wonder Dream 1975

Marley Wonder Dream Concert 1975

© Kim Gottlieb-Walker, www.lenswoman.com, all rights reserved. From her book “Bob Marley and the Golden Age of Reggae, 1975-76, the Photographs of Kim Gottlieb-Walker”

Wonder Dream Concert 1975

© Kim Gottlieb-Walker, www.lenswoman.com, all rights reserved. From her book “Bob Marley and the Golden Age of Reggae, 1975-76, the Photographs of Kim Gottlieb-Walker”

Wonder Dream Concert 1975

Album Review: Ziggy Marley Live in Concert

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While I was pleasantly surprised with the quality of conscious reggae album releases in 2012, even stunned by Midnite’s Children of Jah (an album I picked as the best of the year, I must say that it is Ziggy Marley’s Live in Concert that I was anticipating the most.  I have been a fan of Ziggy’s ever since he jumped upon the international scene with Play The Game Right and Hey World in the mid-1980s.  Of course redemption came early for Ziggy and his Melody Makers when 1987′s Conscious Party won over the radio-listening “tuff crowd” to become one of the year’s best albums, even capturing the reggae Grammy in Los Angeles.  However, when Ziggy broke from the Melody Makers in 2000, something drastically changed and his music started to meander down a folksy road, picking up a little Ben Harper and Jack Johnson on the ride.  That said, I hear from many fans whose opinions I respect on reggae, who tell me that my pallette is not refined enough to grasp what he is doing.  Fair point.  I apologize for being stuck on ‘Wise & Foolish’  while the rest of the world was discovering ‘Labour of Love.’
Please go to World-A-Reggae to finish reading….

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