30 April 1976 saw the release of Bob Marley and the Wailers’ eighth studio album Rastaman Vibration. The album was a great success in the US, becoming their first release to reach the top 10 on the Billboard 200 chart peaking at number 8. The single “Roots, Rock, Reggae”, was the only Marley single to reach the Billboard Hot 100 chart, peaking at no. 51.
Although the album’s liner notes list multiple songwriters, including family friends and band members, all songs were written by Marley. He was involved in a contractual dispute at the time with his former publishing company, Cayman music, and did not want his new songs to be associated with them. It was speculated that he had put them in the names of his friends and family members as a means of avoiding the contractual restrictions and to provide lasting help to family and close friends.
Track Listing:
Side One:
– Positive Vibration
– Roots, Rock, Reggae
– Johnny Was
– Cry to Me
– Want More
Side Two:
– Crazy Baldhead
– Who the Cap Fit
– Night Shift
– War
– Rat Race
Rastaman Vibration is one of the original three Wailers solo albums released in 1976, along with Bunny Wailer’s Blackheart Man and Peter Tosh’s Legalize It.
