Live At The Rainbow, 2nd June 1977 (Remastered) Bob Marley & The Wailers

• 1 Rebel Music (3 O'Clock Roadblock) (Live At The Rainbow Theatre, London / June 2, 1977) 05:46
• 2 Burnin' And Lootin' (Live At The Rainbow Theatre, London / June 2, 1977) 05:11
• 3 Them Belly Full (But We Hungry) (Live At The Rainbow Theatre, London / June 2, 1977) 03:29
• 4 The Heathen (Live At The Rainbow Theatre, London / June 2, 1977) 04:58
• 5 I Shot The Sheriff (Live At The Rainbow Theatre, London / June 2, 1977) 04:45
• 6 Crazy Baldhead / Running Away (Medley / Live At The Rainbow Theatre, London / June 2, 1977) 06:05
• 7 War / No More Trouble (Medley / Live At The Rainbow Theatre, London / June 2, 1977) 07:44
• 8 No Woman, No Cry (Live At The Rainbow Theatre, London / June 2, 1977) 07:53
• 9 Lively Up Yourself (Live At The Rainbow Theatre, London / June 2, 1977) 09:37
• 10 Jamming (Live At The Rainbow Theatre, London / June 2, 1977) 07:07
• 11 Get Up, Stand Up (Live At The Rainbow Theatre, London / June 2, 1977) 07:26
• 12 Exodus (Live At The Rainbow Theatre, London / June 2, 1977) 12:55
• Total Runtime 01:22:56

Info for Live At The Rainbow, 2nd June 1977 (Remastered)

Following an assassination attempt in Kingston, Jamaica, in December 1976, Bob Marley and his band moved to London – in “exodus” from their home country – and recorded tracks for what became both the Exodus and Kaya albums. Marley’s Exodus, featuring the timeless tracks “Jamming,” “Three Little Birds,” “One Love/People Get Ready,” and the epic title song, came first, which led to early positive reviews, ten early dates around Western Europe and shows at the Rainbow Theatre in London’s Finsbury Park during release week. But an injury to Bob led to the abrupt cancellation of the rest of the Exodus tour, including expected U.S. breakthrough shows scheduled for late summer, leaving June 1-2-3-4 the final performances by the Wailers that year.

“London was one of Daddy’s favorite places to be; it’s the city where his songwriting and creativity thrived. The Exodus album and his shows at The Rainbow are incredible examples of that. I’m so excited that his fans will finally be able to hear all four shows, in their entirety, the way they were meant to be heard, for generations to come.” - Cedella Marley

A select number of tracks from each of the four nights of the Live at the Rainbow recordings have been included on previously released Deluxe Editions of Exodus, and audio and video of the full concert on June 4 was released during the year-long 75th Birthday Celebration, #Marley75, in 2020. Most of the legendary performances from the previous three nights, however, feature slightly different setlists – as well as alternate arrangements – that have never been heard until now. Bob Marley & The Wailers Live at the Rainbow: 1st June 1977 will debut June 3, the exact 45th anniversary of the original album’s release; Live at the Rainbow: 2nd June 1977 will follow on June 10; and Live at the Rainbow: 3rd June 1977 will conclude the series on June 17. Across the three dates are 29 previously unreleased performances combined – that’s more than ¾ of the shows.

Probably the most popular release of Marley live, this concert has been newly remastered! This June 1977 concert at London's Rainbow Theater captures the recently reconfigured Wailers ending a European tour to promote the Exodus album. The rare performances of "Trenchtown Rock," "Rebel Music," and "Crazy Baldhead" from the earlier Wailers repertoire are the treasures of this collection, but the whole thing is simply a "must-have".

Bob Marley & The Wailers

Digitally remastered

Bob Marley
b. Robert Nesta Marley, 6 February 1945, St. Anns, Jamaica, West Indies, d. 11 May 1981, Miami, Florida, USA. This legendary singer's vocal group, the Wailers, originally comprised six members: Marley, Bunny Wailer, Peter Tosh, Junior Braithwaite, Beverley Kelso and Cherry Smith. Bob Marley And The Wailers are the sole Jamaican group to have achieved global superstar status, together with genuine penetration of world markets. The original group was formed during 1963. After extensive tuition with the great vocalist Joe Higgs, they began their recording career later that year for Coxsone Dodd, although Marley had made two singles for producer Leslie Kong in 1962 - "Judge Not" and "One Cup Of Coffee". Their first record, "Simmer Down", released just before Christmas 1963 under the group name Bob Marley And The Wailers, went to number 1 on the JBC Radio chart in January 1964, holding that position for the ensuing two months and reputedly selling over 80,000 copies. This big local hit was followed by "It Hurts To Be Alone", featuring Junior Braithwaite on lead vocal, and "Lonesome Feeling", with lead vocal by Bunny Wailer. During the period 1963-66, the Wailers made over 70 tracks for Dodd, over 20 of which were local hits, covering a wide stylistic base - from cover versions of US soul and doo-wop with ska backing, to the newer, less frantic "rude-boy" sounds that presaged the development of rocksteady, and including many songs that Marley re-recorded in the 70s.

In late 1965, Braithwaite left to go to America, and Kelso and Smith also departed that year. On 10 February 1966, Marley married Rita Anderson, at the time a member of the Soulettes, later to become one of the I-Threes and a solo vocalist in her own right. The next day he left to join his mother in Wilmington, Delaware, USA returning to Jamaica in October 1966; the Wailers were now a vocal trio. They recorded the local hit "Bend Down Low" at Studio One late in 1967 (though it was actually self-produced and released on their own label, Wail 'N' Soul "M"). This and other self-produced output of the time is among the rarest, least reissued Wailers music, and catches the group on the brink of a new maturity; for the first time there were overtly Rasta songs. By the end of that year, following Bunny Wailer's release from prison, they were making demos for Danny Sims, the manager of soft-soul singer Johnny Nash, who hit the UK charts in April 1972 with the 1968 Marley composition, "Stir It Up". This association proved incapable of supporting them, and they began recording for producer Leslie Kong, who had already enjoyed international success with Desmond Dekker, the Pioneers and Jimmy Cliff.

Kong released several singles and an album called The Best Of The Wailers in 1970. By the end of 1969, wider commercial success still eluded them. Marley, who had spent the summer of 1969 working at the Chrysler car factory in Wilmington, returned to Jamaica, and the trio began a collaboration with Lee Perry that proved crucially important to their future development. Not only did Perry help to focus more effectively the trio's rebel stance, but they worked with the bass and drum team of brothers, Aston "Familyman" Barrett and Carlton Barrett (b. 17 December 1950, Kingston, Jamaica, d. 1987, Kingston, Jamaica), who became an integral part of the Wailers' sound.

The music Bob Marley And The Wailers made with Perry during 1969-71 represents possibly the height of their collective powers. Combining brilliant new songs such as "Duppy Conqueror", "Small Axe" and "Sun Is Shining' with definitive reworkings of old material, backed by the innovative rhythms of the Upsetters and the equally innovative influence of Perry, this body of work stands as a zenith in Jamaican music. It was also the blueprint for Bob Marley's international success. The group continued to record for their own Tuff Gong label after the Perry sessions and came to the attention of Chris Blackwell, then owner of Island Records. Island had released much of the Wailers' early music from the Studio One period, although the label had concentrated on the rock market since the late 60s. Their first album for the company, 1973's Catch A Fire, was packaged like a rock album, and targeted at the album market in which Island had been very successful. The band arrived in the UK in April 1973 to tour and appear on television. In July 1973 they supported Bruce Springsteen at Max's Kansas City club in New York. Backed by an astute promotional campaign, Catch A Fire sold well enough to warrant the issue of Burnin", adding Earl Lindo to the group, which signalled a return to a militant, rootsy approach, unencumbered by any rock production values.

The rock/blues guitarist Eric Clapton covered "I Shot The Sheriff" from this album, taking the tune to the number 9 position in the UK chart during the autumn of 1974, and reinforcing the impact of the Wailers in the process.

Just as the band was poised on the brink of wider success, internal differences caused Tosh and Bunny Wailer to depart, both embarking on substantial solo careers, and Lindo left to join Taj Mahal. The new Wailers band, formed in mid-1974, included Marley, the Barrett brothers and Bernard "Touter" Harvey on keyboards, with vocal harmonies by the I-Threes, comprising Marcia Griffiths, Rita Marley and Judy Mowatt.

This line-up, with later additions, would come to define the so-called "international" reggae sound that Bob Marley And The Wailers played until Marley's death in 1981. In establishing that form, not only on the series of albums recorded for Island but also by extensive touring, the band moved from the mainstream of Jamaican music into the global market. As the influence of Bob Marley spread, not only as a musician but also as a symbol of success from the so-called "Third World", the music made locally pursued its own distinct course. 1975 was the year in which the group consolidated their position, with the release of the massively successful Natty Dread and rapturously received concerts at the London Lyceum. These concerts attracted both black and white patrons - the crossover had begun. At the end of the year Marley achieved his first UK chart hit, the autobiographical "No Woman No Cry". His first live album, comprising material from the Lyceum concerts, was also released in that year. He continued to release an album a year until his death, at which time a spokesman for Island Records estimated worldwide sales of $190 million. Marley survived an assassination attempt on 3 December 1976, leaving Jamaica for 18 months in early 1977.

In July, following a harmless incident when he stubbed his foot during a game of football, he had an operation in Miami to remove cancer cells from his right toe.

His albums Exodus and Kaya enjoyed massive international sales. In April 1978, he played the One Love Peace Concert in Kingston, bringing the two leaders of the violently warring Jamaican political parties (Michael Manley and Edward Seaga) together in a largely symbolic peacemaking gesture. The band then undertook a huge worldwide tour that took in the USA, Canada, Japan, Australia and New Zealand. His own label, Tuff Gong, was expanding its interests, developing new talent. The album Survival was released to the usual acclaim, being particularly successful in Africa. The song "Zimbabwe" was subsequently covered many times by African artists. In 1980, Marley and the Wailers played a momentous concert in the newly liberated Zimbabwe to an audience of 40,000. In the summer of 1980, his cancer began to spread; he collapsed at Madison Square Garden during a concert. Late in 1980 he began treatment with the controversial cancer specialist Dr. Josef Issels. By 3 May, the doctor had given up. Marley flew to Miami, Florida, where he died on 11 May.

Marley was rightly celebrated in 1992 with the release of an outstanding CD box set chronicling his entire career, although his discography remains cluttered due to the legal ramifications of his estate. His global success had been an inspiration to all Jamaican artists; his name became synonymous with Jamaican music, of which he had been the first authentic superstar. His contribution is thus immense: his career did much to focus the attention of the world on Jamaican music and to establish credibility for it. In addition, he was a charismatic performer, a great singer and superb songwriter - an impossible act to follow for other Jamaican artists.

This album contains no booklet.