Bob Marley & the Wailers were at the peak of their artistic powers when they arrived at the Lyceum London for two shows on July 17 and 18, 1975, having just released Natty Dread the year before and about to unleash Rastaman Vibration on the world. The Rolling Stones mobile studio was on hand to record both shows, with seven songs from the second released as Live!, in December of that same year. The recording was subsequently broadcast as part of the syndicated radio program King Biscuit Flower Hour in 1976.
The Marley Family will now release for the first time the complete sets from both shows, Bob Marley & the Wailers-Live!, as a three-LP set in 180-gram black vinyl and as a digital package on December 16 in a tri-gatefold package that also includes a reproduction of the tour program from the band’s historic ’75 U.K. tour. In addition, on the same day, a seven-inch live vinyl disc, will also be made available as an exclusive at UDiscover and the Bob Marley Museum in Kingston, Jamaica.
Marley and the Wailers’ classic line-up included bassist Aston “Family Man” Barrett, drummer Carlton “Carly” Barrett, guitarist Al Anderson, keyboardist Tyrone Downie, percussionist Alvin “Seeco” Patterson and the I-Three — backing vocalists Rita Marley, Judy Mowatt and Marcia Griffiths. The group was fresh off its legendary five-night stint at the Roxy Theatre in Los Angles from July 9 through July 13, when they stepped on the stage at London’s Lyceum Theatre for an abbreviated U.K. tour which would also include dates at The Odeon in Birmingham on July 19 and The Hard Rock in Manchester on July 20. Marley was in top form during the two Lyceum shows, animatedly interacting with the crowd, who sang along to what most consider the definitive version of “No Woman, No Cry.”
The BBC’s Chris Jones wrote about the album in 2009: “This seminal live document captures almost exactly the point where both roots reggae and Rastafarianism finally entered popular culture… Capturing the band at the peak of their powers with a set list that held absolutely no low points… this was a Wailers that could more than handle the lusher, fuller rock reggae that transformed Marley’s Rastaman diatribes into pop gold. No one before this had combined both roots and R&B in this way… uniting both working and middle classes with his songs of universal struggle and religious metaphor.”
Bob Marley & the Wailers-Live! (three-LP vinyl)
+ previously unreleased performance / ++ previously unreleased full length version
Live at The Lyceum, London, July 17, 1975
Side One
- TRENCHTOWN ROCK 5.10 +
- BURNING AND LOOTING 5.09 +
- THEM BELLY FULL (BUT WE HUNGRY) 4.35 +
- REBEL MUSIC (3 O’CLOCK ROADBLOCK) 5.25 +
Side Two
- STIR IT UP 5.14 +
- NO WOMAN, NO CRY 7.37 +
- NATTY DREAD 5.27 +
- KINKY REGGAE 7.55 +
Side Three
- I SHOT THE SHERIFF 5.15 +
- GET UP STAND UP 10.18 +
Live at The Lyceum, London, July 18, 1975
Side Four
- TRENCHTOWN ROCK 4.23
- SLAVE DRIVER 4.02 +
- BURNING AND LOOTING 4.56
- THEM BELLY FULL (BUT WE HUNGRY) 3.53
- REBEL MUSIC (3 O’CLOCK ROADBLOCK) 5.16 +
Side Five
- NO WOMAN, NO CRY 7.06
- KINKY REGGAE 6.42
- NATTY DREAD 4.33 +
- STIR IT UP 4.43 +
Side Six
- LIVELY UP YOURSELF 7.49 ++
- I SHOT THE SHERIFF 7.08
- GET UP STAND UP 10.17 ++
