[15 giugno 2026 – Los Angeles] – Fifty years ago Bob Marley & The Wailers were the protagonists of four evenings at Hammersmith Odeon of London, England, from 15 to 18 June 1976, to kick off the second stage of the their Rastaman Vibration tour. The concerts were all sold out and the turning point came for the group and Marley.
For the first time everyou can finally experience the magic of these historic concerts, with the release of the new live album Roots, Rock, Reggae: Live at the Hammersmith OdeonFor Tuff Gong/Island/UMe.
The 18 tracks of the album mixed from the original multitracks, will be published in multiple versions, 2LP 180gincluding an exclusive limited edition on colored vinyl, 2CD in addition to digital formats.
Unmissable for both Marley fans and those wishing to discover his artistic legacy, the album boasts graphics enriched with photographs from the shows, a cover that unfolds to reveal a full-length photo of Bob in the midst of his artistic trance. New notes edited by Don Lettsaka “The Rebel Dread”, further enrich the edition.
Two years earlier, a few months after Eric Clapton had taken “I Shot the Sheriff” to number 1 in the United States, Marley had responded with Natty Dread (1974), his first major statement to an ever-widening international audience. Live!recorded at the Lyceum Theater in London, brought success in late 1975, aided by the live version of “No Woman, No Cry,” which reached the UK Top 20 in early 1976. It was this growing momentum that brought Marley to London's Hammersmith Odeon. And in the following weeks, Rastaman Vibration it became his first US Top 10 album.
However, except for an incomplete bootleg, it could not be determined whether any recordings of that moment had ever existed, until today. The tapes found in the archives were linked to those concerts. Roots, Rock, Reggae: Live at the Hammersmith Odeon selects the best interpretation of each song in four shows recorded between 16 and 18 June 1976.
Among the album's many highlights is the rare one “Bend Down Low”, performed only on the last night of the Hammersmith tour; a long and new “Crazy Baldhead”; an improvised version characterized by a pulsating bass and great depth of “Live Up Yourself” – and then the finale, a 30-minute encore with the songs “War” and the intense interpretation of “Get Up, Stand Up” lasting 12 minutes.
In the liner notes, Letts describes it as “a theater packed with spectators who suddenly share the same heartbeat cardiac“.
In Roots, Rock, Reggae: Live at the Hammersmith OdeoBob Marley & The Wailers definitively consolidate their status and unrivaled and undisputed force in reggae music.
Daniel D`Amico for SANREMO.FM
