I am a big fan of Linton Kwesi Johnson. His Dread Beat and Blood was one of the most played piece of vinyl on my turntable back in the mid 80′s. This show from Stockholm captures Linton in his prime with the Dennis Bovell Dub Band. It was broadcast on the radio and I give thanks to those document and share rare unreleased roots like this show.
Steel Pulse w/ Al Anderson The Ritz Theatre, New York. 1982-xx-xx. 3rd Night. WBAI broadcast 99.5 FM
Another special treat for reggae fans. 2 Steel Pulse rare unreleased shows and a killer jam with Al Anderson of Bob Marley and the Wailers. So much rare roots reggae to share with the fans, just takes a little time and positive vibes for all to enjoy.
01 Drug Squad 5:37
02 Blues Dance Raid 7:25
03 Ku Klux Klan 5:08
04 Man No Sober 6:53
05 Ravers 9:15
Al Anderson photo by Jim Crowley. Thanks to TheLibrarian for sharing. Al plays lead on a smokin version of Drug Squad.
You can download the lossless FLAC files below or this MP3 File
Also included is another rare Steel Pulse show from the The Catalyst, Santa Cruz, CA on July 10th 1982
Two of Bob Marley’s most famous live shows were performed in London. The 1975 shows from the Lyceum used to make the “Live” release and the
June 4th 1977 show from the Rainbow used for the “Live at the Rainbow” release. Here is a rare recording from a different night in the historic run of shows at the Lyceum.
This show is almost a instrumental only set. Bob’s vocals are so low in the mix you can’t really hear him.
* the SBD version sounds good, but the vocals are almost turned off, so it’s almost only instrumental.
* rare 1977 performance of “Concrete Jungle”.
* the date is not confirmed, but the show usually circulates by this date.
* the show was most likely filmed on video, as probably were all Rainbow 1977 dates.
transfer done 2006-08-03 by.T.Jones ( thanks Tim) right click and save as to download, left click on a track to play it.
Below is an article by Vivien Goldman from Sounds June 11th, 1977 with her account of one of the nights in this historic run at the Rainbow
11 June 1977
Bob Marley & The Wailers: Rainbow Theatre, London
Vivien Goldman, Sounds, 11 June 1977
THE TENSION in the Rainbow was almost painful, the only relief the appearance of the Wallers.
And the curtain rises on a scene of splendour: two columns on either side of the stage soar the full height of the Rainbow, lions rampant on each one. The backdrop, painted by Tony Wright, is more atmospheric than I’d imagined it could be, warm reds and golds evoking Kingston at night, palms etched behind shantytown, lights blur in the distance.
It’s the first time the band’s played an Exodus-based set, (the European dates featured a range of classics) and there are a couple of loose edges in key and tempo. But any slight roughness is over-shadowed by the passion of Bob’s singing.
Tonight is a crucial night, the first presentation of his new material to the capital of reggae outside Jamaica itself. Each song builds and builds to heights of concentrated power. As ‘Natural Mystic’ opens the set, a tide of pure, high energy sings through the theatre.
It’s so satisfying, watching the Wailers. I love the way Family Man plays bass, planted firm, like a tree growing from sturdy roots – just the stolid set of his shoulders shouts that he’ll never give up the fight. Carly drums in crisp clockwork chops, every limb alert. Seeco calmly shifts through percussion parts, always adding oblique, unexpected emphasis. New guitarist Junior Marvin delights in showmanship, tantalising the audience with wheeling seagull swoops at his guitar, dancing vigorously back and forth, while Tyrone behind the banked keyboards bobs in smiling counterpoint. The I Three dip and sway, looking very exotic tonight in off-theshoulder white-ruffles, red gold and green turbans imperiously swathing their heads.
‘So Much Thing To Say’, merges into ‘Guiltiness’, my favourite track on the album, a disturbingly precise blend of remorselessness towards the guilty and remorse at the very existence of the downpressor… Bob shudders with passion while he sings, emotion squeezes through his voice as wine squeezes from grapes.
One of my favourite moments of the set is ‘Rastaman Vibration’, with a new keyboards part from Tyrone, a subtle alteration in the pulse that delicately flings the song into a new light. Tyrone stuns now, and Seeco performs amazing rhythm runs that flicker round the Carly/Famlly Man unit in a quicksilver outline. Positive.’No Woman No Cry’ moves you. It has to be that way.
‘Lively Up Yourself’ suddenly swirls into a new near-Latin texture, just like the title suggests, it shakes the audience into a more physical mood – revitalises the veins, brightens the bones, and boosts the blood. ‘Jamming’ is exuberant: exultant: joyous, again, just as it should be. Somewhere around that time, Junior delivered some sparse and bouncily imaginative guitar breaks, provocative and visual, and received extravagantly enthusiastic applause (Birth Of New Guitar Hero?)
Of course, there has to be an encore. ‘Get Up Stand Up’ is so perfect it seems unavoidable. That’s when Family Man’s bass seemed to roar, after a night of solid rumbling thunder. Now it’s an army of marching feet again, an imperturable onslaught on your whole body, battering you into submission. I discover that when my head droops in a parallel line to the floor, the bass bounces upwards and directly through the frontal lobes, controlling the pulse-rate, I’m certain, and the heart beat.
I am a big fan of Linton Kwesi Johnson. His Dread Beat and Blood was one of the most played piece of vinyl on my turntable back in the mid 80′s. This show from Stockholm captures Linton in his prime with the Dennis Bovell Dub Band. It was broadcast on the radio and I give thanks to those document and share rare unreleased roots like this show.
