by Howard Campbell
[SOUTH FLORIDA] – After three albums for Island Records, Bob Marley and The Wailers were still in the critically-acclaimed box in 1976. They needed a commercial breakthrough, and they got it that year with Rastaman Vibration.
Today marks 45 years since the release of that album by Island Records. It was Marley’s second studio album without Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer, who left the group just before the impressive Natty Dread came out in 1974.
Live at Lyceum Theatre
In 1975, Island released Live! Which captured Marley and The Wailers in concert at the Lyceum Theatre in London. It set the pace for Rastaman Vibration which was cut at Harry J Studio in Kingston; one of the musicians who worked on it was keyboardist Bernard “Touter” Harvey.
Now in his mid-60’s, Harvey is a longstanding member of Inner Circle. He had recently joined that band at the time he was recruited to join Marley and his band to record Rastaman Vibration.
“It’s a classic, a classic,” is how he describes Rastaman Vibration.
Though his name is not on the album credits, Harvey played on all 10 songs including the title song, Rat Race, Johnny Was, Roots, Rock, Reggae and Crazy Baldhead.
Harvey also played on Natty Dread and said his growth as a musician during the time between albums was “phenomenal”.
“I had got calls from people like Garland Jeffries, people I never even heard about, to record with them,” he recalled.
Marley had also grown. The muscle of Island Records allowed him and his band the opportunity to record with limitless studio time and experiment with different sounds.
Classic Recording Sessions
Prior to the sessions, Harvey said The Wailers rehearsed at Marley’s Hope Road home in Kingston. He believes those meticulous jams are responsible for making Rastaman Vibration such a force.
“By the time we entered the studio we knew the songs back and front. Family Man saw to it that the sessions were smooth,” he recalled.
Family Man is Aston Barrett, the bass guitarist who was Marley’s righthand man. His brother Carlton on drums ensured a well-oiled rhythm section; two of the guitarists were African-Americans Al Anderson and Donald Kinsey.
Earl “Chinna” Smith, with whom Harvey played in the Soul Syndicate Band, played rhythm guitar.
Marley and The Wailers toured for almost one year in promotion of Rastaman Vibration which peaked at number eight on the Billboard Top 200 Albums Chart. Roots, Rock, Reggae also did well in the United States, a market Island was keen to break in.
The tour was a success but by December, 1976, Marley, his wife Rita, manager Don Taylor and a friend were shot while rehearsing for the Smile Jamaica peace concert in Kingston. Despite being wounded, he performed at the show in Kingston’s National Heroes Park, then left for The Bahamas and London shortly after.
It would be 18 months before he returned to Jamaica, for the One Love Peace Concert in April, 1978. Marley died from cancer in Miami on May 11, 1981 at age 36.
Bernard “Touter” Harvey has enjoyed considerable success with Inner Circle. He played on all of the band’s massive hit songs. Including Sweat and Bad Boys, and won a Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album with Bad Boys in 1994.
