Maps of Music

Rastaman Vibration (1976)

Where the lyrics of Rastaman Vibration take you, and where it was really made.

Marley wrote every song on this album, yet several of its songs are credited to friends and family.

Key places

Recording studios in Kingston (1976)

Recording site Dynamic Sounds — The source lists Harry J Studios and Joe Gibbs Studio in Kingston as the recording studios. The pin sits at the city centre, so it does not mark a specific building. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Mixing at Criteria Studios, Miami (1976)

Recording site Criteria Studios — The album was mixed at Criteria Studios in Miami, Florida, according to the source. The pin uses the studio’s exact location. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Rastaman Vibration: eighth studio album by Jamaican reggae band Bob Marley and the Wailers
• Released April 1976
• Liner notes list several songwriters, but all songs were written by Marley
• Personnel includes Earl “Chinna” Smith, Al Anderson, Carlton Barrett, Aston Barrett, Tyrone Downie, and I Threes on backing vocals

Background

• At the time, Marley was in a contract dispute with his former publishing company, Cayman Music
• Marley did not want his new songs to be associated with Cayman
• Speculation, including in his obituary in The Independent, held that he put the songs in the names of friends and family to avoid contractual restrictions and to help them long term
• Vincent Ford, a childhood friend from Jamaica, is credited as songwriter for “Crazy Baldhead” (with Marley’s wife Rita), “Positive Vibration” and “Roots Rock Reggae” from this album
• This is one of three Wailers solo albums released in 1976, along with Blackheart Man by Bunny Wailer and Legalize It by Peter Tosh

Recording

• The album was mixed at Criteria Studios in Miami, Florida
• The recording studios are listed as Harry J Studios and Joe Gibbs Studio in Kingston
• Synthesizers are featured prominently, adding a breezy embellishment to hard-driving songs with strong rock guitar elements
• Jean Alain Roussel plays Hammond organ on “Positive Vibrations”, “No Woman, No Cry” and “Roots, Rock, Reggae”
• Tommy McCook plays saxophone on “Roots, Rock, Reggae”
• Donald Kinsey adds guitar overdubs on “Johnny Was” and “Roots, Rock, Reggae”

Cover

• Neville Garrick is credited for art direction

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• Formed in 1963 in Jamaica around Peter Tosh, Bunny Wailer and Bob Marley, initially as the Teenagers before becoming the Wailers.
• The band had a ska and rocksteady origin and their 1964 hit "Simmer Down" recorded at Studio One shifted Jamaican music toward its own voice.

Members

• Founding members were Bob Marley, Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer; Tosh and Wailer left in 1974.
• Marley continued with a new lineup including Aston and Carlton Barrett and the female backing trio the I-Threes.

Career

• Signed to Island Records in 1972; albums Catch a Fire and Burnin' followed in 1973.
• Released Exodus (1977) and Uprising (1980), and Marley died of cancer in 1981, after which the group disbanded.
• Legend (1984) became the biggest-selling reggae album ever.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Rolling Stone (1976): Robert Palmer said Marley performs a dual role as spokesman for the Third World’s disadvantaged and as an avatar of a highly commercial brand of popular music
• Palmer: the album lacks the forceful, intricate quality of the earlier Wailers line-up
• Palmer: a careful listener will learn the pain, rage and determination of Shantytown, Jamaica, and perhaps the community’s political and cultural fragmentation
• The Village Voice: Robert Christgau found the first side makes reggae sound like a rasta word for boogie
• The Village Voice: Christgau found the calm of most of side two reads as reflective distance, and said some of it is even better

Records

• Billboard 200 (US): first Bob Marley release to reach the top 10, peaking at number 8
• “Roots, Rock, Reggae”: Marley’s most popular US single and the only Marley single on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number 51
• The album was a great success in the US

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• Vincent Ford, a childhood friend from Jamaica, is credited as songwriter for “Crazy Baldhead” (with Marley’s wife Rita), “Positive Vibration” and “Roots Rock Reggae” on this album.
• Danny Sims and Marley’s widow sued for royalty and ownership rights, claiming Marley had written the songs but assigned credit to Ford; a 1987 court decision favored the Marley estate, which took full control of the songs.
• Released in 1976, the album is one of three Wailers solo albums that year, alongside Blackheart Man by Bunny Wailer and Legalize It by Peter Tosh.
• Synthesizers play a prominent role on the album, unusual for the band’s reggae sound at the time.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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