Bob Marley’s unheard 1976 live album has finally been released

Fifty years after Bob Marley & The Wailers delivered their performances at London’s Hammersmith Odeon, Island Records revisits those historic nights with a digital release, double CD and 180-gram double vinyl set. The release features 18 tracks newly mixed from the original multitrack tapes.

When Marley and the band arrived in London in 1976 during the Rastaman Vibration tour, they were already becoming a worldwide force. And the Hammersmith performances showed exactly why. This was Bob Marley & The Wailers at full strength, combining spiritual depth, political fire and irresistible reggae riddims.

At the heart of it all was the Barrett brothers. Aston “Family Man” Barrett laid down those deep, melodic basslines while Carlton Barrett drove the music with his masterful one-drop drumming. Together, they created the pulse that gave the band its unmistakable sound. And then there were The I-Threes. Rita Marley, Marcia Griffiths and Judy Mowatt brought beautiful gospel-flavoured harmonies that added another powerful dimension to the music.

The setlist included heavyweights such as Trenchtown Rock, Burnin’ And Lootin’, Them Belly Full (But We Hungry), Rebel Music (3 O’Clock Roadblock) and War. These weren’t simply crowd-pleasers. Marley delivered songs of resistance, liberation and spiritual strength to an audience that was ready to listen. The song Roots, Rock, Reggae felt especially fitting. Marley wasn’t just singing about reggae going worldwide. By 1976, he and the band were helping make it happen.

The Hammersmith audience reflected Marley’s growing reach. Rastas stood alongside punks and rock fans, all responding to the same powerful music. Marley, Gibson Les Paul in hand, moved across the stage with the confidence of an artist who could bring very different people together.

Five decades later, the passion and spiritual power of those London nights still come through. They remain essential listening, not only for reggae collectors but for anyone who wants to hear one of music’s greatest live bands in full flight.

Naturally, Roots, Rock, Reggae: Live At The Hammersmith Odeon invites comparison with the classic 1975 Live! album, recorded at the Lyceum Theatre. Both capture the same band, but they reveal two different moments in its evolution.

The Lyceum was raw, urgent and intimate. Marley and The Wailers played with the hunger of a group still fighting for wider recognition, and the performances have a special kind of tension. Family Man’s bass and Carlton Barrett’s drums roll slowly and heavily beneath Marley, giving the music an almost hypnotic feeling.

Hammersmith, recorded a year later, is the sound of a band that had grown into its international role. Following the huge success of Rastaman Vibration in the US, Marley returned to London with a bigger reputation and an even stronger band. The sound is fuller, the performances more polished and the arrangements more expansive. The lyrics also carry the weight of the growing political turmoil in Jamaica.

The Lyceum captures Bob Marley & The Wailers breaking through. Hammersmith captures them at the height of their power. Both are essential, but each tells a different chapter in the remarkable story of the world’s greatest reggae band.