Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer are gone. This is completely Bob Marley’s show. And is it ever his show, a triumphant concert July 19th, 1975 at London’s Lyceum Theatre. The new format had been introduced on 1974’s Natty Dread album to great effect. But every note on the live album is as alive as Marley’s flying dreadlocks on the cover photo.
Far more modest in its intentions is this document of Bob Marley & the Wailers’ two night stand (July 17th and 18th, 1975), at London’s The Lyceum. When Live! first arrived on vinyl, the edited version with seven cuts — all from the second evening barely broke 40 minutes. This appropriately subtitled “deluxe edition,” oddly only available on vinyl, leaves that in the dust.
The entire, previously unreleased first night is here, (14 tunes) along with more selections from the second show and full versions of those tunes once edited for time constraints have been restored. The result is a 22 track, beautifully and faithfully packaged triple vinyl package including the tour program, that clocks in at a never boring 2 ¼ hours.
But clearly his music was well known by this rowdy UK crowd who often boisterously sings along, and whose sheer energy helped push the already electrifying Marley to new heights. The band reinvigorates early tunes such as “Slave Driver,” “Trenchtown Rock” and “Stir it Up” in versions that make the already sturdy studio ones sound like cardboard cutouts. The closing “Get Up Stand Up,” here presented in its full 10 minute plus unedited glory, is alone worth the price of admission as Marley channels the positive vibrations that informed his best work, into a performance that feels as spiritual now as it did over four decades ago.
Must-hear tracks “No Woman, No Cry”, doubled in length from the ‘Natty Dread’ studio version, vividly brought the streets of Kingston to the stage of London via Memphis soul worthy of Otis himself.
Bob Marley and the Wailers’ 1975 Natty Dread tour began in America, where some 15,000 fans watched the reggae band perform in Central Park. By the time they crossed the Atlantic, the verdict was in: After two sold-out shows at London’s Lyceum, a Melody Maker cover story pronounced Bob Marley “possibly the greatest superstar to visit these shores since the days when Dylan conquered the concert halls of Britain.” Neither of these gigs were intended to be recorded, but when Island Records founder Chris Blackwell witnessed the madness of the first, he made sure that the Rolling Stones’ mobile studio was parked outside the venue for the second. The result was a song collection of pointed lyrics, political chants and funk grooves enlivened by new guitarist Al Anderson. The seven-minute “No Woman, No Cry” reached the U.K. Top 10 and remains the definitive version of the classic song, eventually appearing as track two of the 15-times-platinum Legend set. Even the mic feedback that echoes over the first verse has become imbued with emotion
The professional recording puts the listener in the audience, making this an essential addition to anyone’s collection and manna from heaven to existing Marley fans who had to suffice with dodgy bootlegged copies … until now.
There is plenty of terrific Marley concert material out there, including 1976’s Live at the Roxy, but this particular stand remains tougher, rawer and edgier. Let’s hope 1978’s phenomenal Babylon by Bus gigs get similar treatment too.
The long-planned deluxe edition with a fuller take on Marley’s two-day Lyceum .
The Fat Angel Sings 