Bob Marley Rastaman Vibration CD

RASTAMAN VIBRATION's burlap-esque jacket design couldn't be more appropriate packaging-this is a load of Natty knowledge delivered in simple, raw fashion. And there's a real beauty in the weave. This 1976 release finds Bob dropping ever more lyrics on human entanglements both local and global, his transcendent voice threading wisdom through it all.

"Positive Vibration" and "Roots, Rock, Reggae" are anthemic in character, inviting all listeners to quit their negativity and start a-dancin'. "Want More" is a promise of bad karma for back-biters everywhere, leadened fearfully by solemn bass lines and seamless production. Perhaps most compelling here is "War," a musical setting of a 1968 speech on global justice by the Emperor Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia. Bob's echoing fade with the words, "Good Over Evil" is positively haunting. While Peter Tosh's voice is absent, the classic exchange between Marley and the I-Threes (backing vocal divas, for those not in the know) shines all the more brightly in the spotlight. Funky organs are everywhere. Every track on RASTAMAN VIBRATION is an excellent piece of vintage roots reggae, proving just how powerful and tight Bob's studio sessions could be.

For Bob Marley, 1975 was a triumphant year. The singer's Natty Dread album featured one of his strongest batches of original material (the first compiled after the departure of Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer) and delivered Top 40 hit "No Woman No Cry." The follow-up Live set, a document of Marley's appearance at London's Lyceum, found the singer conquering England as well. Upon completing the tour, Marley and his band returned to Jamaica, laying down the tracks for Rastaman Vibration (1976) at legendary studios run by Harry Johnson and Joe Gibbs. At the mixing board for the sessions were Sylvan Morris and Errol Thompson, Jamaican engineers of the highest caliber. Though none of these cuts would show up on Legend, Marley's massively popular, posthumous best-of, some of the finest reality numbers would surface on the compilation's more militant equivalent, 1986's Rebel Music set. "War," for one, remains one of the most stunning statements of the singer's career. Though it is essentially a straight reading of one of Haile Selassie's speeches, Marley phrases the text exquisitely to fit a musical setting, a quiet intensity lying just below the surface. Equally strong are the likes of "Rat Race," "Crazy Baldhead," and "Want More." These songs are tempered by buoyant, lighthearted material like "Cry to Me," "Night Shift," and "Positive Vibration." Not quite as strong as some of the love songs Marley would score hits with on subsequent albums, "Cry to Me" still seems like an obvious choice for a single and remains underrated. Though record buyers m

All tracks have been digitally remastered.

Additional Tracks

Recorded at Harry J Studios and Joe Gibbs Studio, Kingston, Jamaica. Originally released on Island (59383).

Bob Marley & The Wailers: Bob Marley (vocals, acoustic & electric guitars, percussion); Aston "Family Man" Barrett (guitar, bass, percussion); Earl "Chinna" Smith (guitar, percussion); Al Anderson, Donald Kinsey (guitar); Tyrone Downie (keyboards, bass, percussion, background vocals); Carlton Barrett (drums, percussion); Alvin "Seeco" Patterson (percussion).

Reissue producers: Bill Levenson, Maxine Stone.

Personnel: Bob Marley (vocals, acoustic guitar, percussion); Aston Barrett (guitar, electric bass, percussion); Earl "Chinna" Smith (guitar, percussion); Donald Kinsey, Al Yasha Anderson (guitar); Tyrone Downie (keyboards, percussion, background vocals); Carlton "Carlie" Barrett (drums, percussion); Alvin "Seeco" Patterson (percussion); I-Threes (background vocals).

Audio Mixer: Aston Barrett.

Recording information: Harry J Studios (1975-1976); Harry J. Studios (1975-1976); Joe Gibbs Studio, Kingston, Jamaica (1975-1976); Joe Gibbs Studios, Kingston, Jamaica (1975-1976).

Photographer: Neville Garrick.

Additional personnel: The I Threes (Q (9/01, p.135) - 4 stars out of 5 - "...Marley as superstar..."
Mojo (Publisher) (8/02, p.85) - "...The most complete and uncompromised studio album that The Wailers made..."