RICKY BYRD'S new video "I COME BACK STRONGER" out NOW! Watch here....

Ricky Byrd recently released his new video “I Come Back Stronger”, which can be viewed below. Continuing Byrd’s journey as a recovery troubadour, “ I Come Back Stronger” (co-written with Richie Supa) spreads a message of hope and resilience to those who struggle with addiction and substance abuse. “It’s about the lessons life puts in front of us at every turn,” he says. “Whether we are willing to learn from them is the big question. I believe we can learn way more from our failures than our successes. So in the words of Mr. Sinatra...pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and start all over again.”

BOB MARLEY AND THE WAILERS "The Capitol Session '73" available now on DVD+CD, CD, Colored 2LP, and Digital Formats

TUFF GONG and MERCURY STUDIOS ANNOUNCE GLOBAL RELEASE OF BOB MARLEY AND THE WAILERS THE CAPITOL SESSION ‘73 RESTORED AND AVAILABLE FOR THE FIRST TIME -- OUT ON DVD+CD, CD, COLORED 2LP, AND DIGITAL FORMATS ~SEPTEMBER 3, 2021~ VIEW “STIR IT UP” VIDEO HERE WATCH THE TRAILER ON FACEBOOK AND INSTAGRAM PRE-ORDER HERE New York, NY (July 16, 2021) —The scene is Hollywood. October 1973. International reggae pioneers Bob Marley and The Wailers were filmed in a closed door session at The Capitol Records Tower on October 24 by famed producer Denny Cordell, who received the blessing from Marley to capture the band recording 12 songs. Shooting with four cameras and mixing “on the fly” to a colorized tape, this footage, has been painstakingly restored, resulting in an incredible presentation of this unseen live session. On September 3, Tuff Gong and Mercury Studios are proud to present this concert (almost 50 years after it was recorded): Bob Marley And The Wailers: The Capitol Session ‘73 on DVD+CD, standalone CD, 2LP pressed on green marble vinyl, 2LP pressed on Rasta swirl vinyl (red, yellow and green – available exclusively at Sound of Vinyl), and digital formats. A track from the set — “Stir It Up” — is available to view here on Youtube. This session at Capitol Studios represented a unique moment in the band’s career. Filmed 10 years after their formation, Bob Marley and the Wailers already had several established hits through the ska and rocksteady eras. Gaining recognition stateside, including a few shows with Bruce Springsteen at Max’s Kansas City in NYC, they then went on to tour with Sly and the Family Stone, before they had been unceremoniously dumped from the tour. This led to the band (Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, Joe Higgs, Aston Barrett, Carlton Barrett, Earl “Wya” Lindo) making their way to Hollywood to do this session. The footage from this session was considered lost until a freelance researcher uncovered a few frames. For over 20 years, archives and storage units from New York and London to San Diego were tracked down and searched to retrieve fragments of the film, until it was fully unearthed, restored, and remastered. Evolving into a politically and socially charged unit after being inspired by the US Civil Rights movement, various African liberation efforts, and Rastafari, which Bob Marley and the Wailers studied from Rasta elders, their music reflected the soul and struggles of the era. Making poignant statements about life, liberty, and social justice, the sentiments are imbued in the songs, which are beautifully brought to life via Bob Marley and The Wailers: The Capitol Session ‘73. About Bob Marley: Bob Marley, a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee, is notable not only as the man who put reggae on the global map, but, as a statesman in his native Jamaica, he famously brought together the country's warring factions. Today, Bob Marley remains one of the 20th century's most important and influential entertainment icons. Marley's lifestyle and music continue to inspire new generations as his legacy lives on through his music. In the digital era, he has the second-highest social media following of any posthumous celebrity, with the official Bob Marley Facebook page drawing more than 70 million fans, ranking it among the Top 20 of all Facebook pages and Top 10 among celebrity pages. Marley's music catalog has sold millions of albums worldwide. His iconic collection LEGEND holds the distinction of being the longest-charting album in the history of Billboard magazine's Catalog Albums chart and remains the world's best-selling reggae album. Marley's accolades include inductions into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (1994) and ASCAP Songwriters Hall of Fame (2010), a GRAMMY® Lifetime Achievement Award (2001), multiple entries in the GRAMMY® Hall Of Fame, and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (2001). For more information, visit: bobmarley.com and facebook.com/bobmarley. About Mercury Studios: Mercury Studios is a multi-faceted content studio established to develop, produce, globally distribute and invest in innovative, music-rooted storytelling across a range of media including film, television, podcasting, publishing and live-streamed performance. Taking its name from the iconic Mercury Records label, Mercury Studios is powered by Universal Music Group and creates an open space for experimentation to unleash and amplify both emerging and established artists. With offices in London and Los Angeles, Mercury Studios harnesses its established relationships with best-in-class talent from music and film, seamlessly bridging the two worlds to create a completely distinctive community of trailblazers driven by original IP, innovation and collaboration. TRACK LISTING You Can’t Blame the Youth Slave Driver Burnin’ and Lootin’ Rastaman Chant Duppy Conqueror Midnight Raver Put it On Stop that Train Kinky Reggae Stir It Up No More Trouble Get Up Stand Up DVD Bonus tracks: Duppy Conqueror Rastaman Chant # # #

VIDEO: "Stir It Up" from BOB MARLEY AND THE WAILERS: The Capitol Session '73

NOVEMBER 12 - Mercury Studios to release ERIC CLAPTON "The Lady In The Balcony: Lockdown Sessions" on multiple formats

MERCURY STUDIOS ANNOUNCE GLOBAL RELEASE
Eric Clapton “The Lady In The Balcony: Lockdown Sessions” ~INTIMATE LIVE PERFORMANCE AVAILABLE ON VARIOUS PHYSICAL FORMATS INCLUDING LIMITED EDITION 2LP YELLOW VINYL, DELUXE DVD+BD+CD PHOTOBOOK, DIGITAL VIDEO AND DIGITAL AUDIO~ ~NOVEMBER 12, 2021~ WATCH THE TRAILER HERE PRE-ORDER HERE New York, NY (September 9, 2021) —Eric Clapton returns with a remarkable new release, Eric Clapton “The Lady In The Balcony: Lockdown Sessions” on November 12. Available via Mercury Studios on multiple formats, the 17 songs find Clapton and longtime bandmates Nathan East (Bass and Vocals), Steve Gadd (Drums) and Chris Stainton (Keyboards) performing acoustic renditions of Clapton standards and an assortment of other numbers encompassing blues, country and rarified originals. Overseen by Clapton’s legendary longtime Grammy-winning producer Russ Titelman (James Taylor, George Harrison, Brian Wilson, Randy Newman, Rickie Lee Jones) and recorded live at Cowdray House in West Sussex, England, the performance finds Clapton and company revisiting such timeless classics as “After Midnight,” “Layla,” “Bell Bottom Blues,” “Tears in Heaven,” “Nobody Knows You When You’re Down And Out” and “Key to the Highway.” In addition to revisiting some of Eric’s best-loved selections from his own extensive repertoire, Clapton and crew also offer their own versions of songs that had a profound effect on his career and those of his contemporaries including the Peter Green-era Fleetwood Mac tracks “Black Magic Woman” and “Man of the World.”
The project was initiated as the result of the forced cancellation of Eric Clapton’s concerts scheduled for May 2021 at the Royal Albert Hall due to the continued disruption caused by the pandemic. Looking for a viable alternative and hoping to keep his options open, he reconvened with his band to the English countryside and staged a concert in the presence of only the participants themselves while letting the cameras roll. (Clapton’s wife Melia, the sole outside observer inspired the Sessions title.) The mostly acoustic set was envisioned to be like an Eric Clapton Unplugged II, but not quite, as three songs are played with electric guitars. The result became far more than simply a sequence of greatest hits. Rather, it’s one of the most intimate and authentic performances of Clapton’s entire career, an offering flush with real insight into the make-up of his indelible catalogue. After his time with the Yardbirds in 1963, Clapton began a career as a professional musician that has seen numerous bands, an abundance of albums, countless worldwide sold out shows, an impressive array of accolades, unwavering critical acclaim and his consistent display of legendary guitar work. Eric Clapton “The Lady In The Balcony: Lockdown Sessions” will be available on DVD+CD, Blu-ray+CD, 4K UHD+Blu-ray, 2 LPs pressed on yellow vinyl, and a Deluxe Edition containing the DVD, Blu-ray & CD packaged in a 40 page 12” x 12” hardback photo book, digital video & digital audio. In addition, a CD-only version will be available exclusively at Target. Track Listing: 1. Nobody Knows You When You’re Down And Out 2. Golden Ring 3. Black Magic Woman 4. Man of the World 5. Kerry 6. After Midnight 7. Bell Bottom Blues 8. Key to the Highway 9. River of Tears 10. Rock Me Baby 11. Believe in Life 12. Going Down Slow 13. Layla 14. Tears in Heaven 15. Long Distance Call 16. Bad Boy 17. Got My Mojo Working About Mercury Studios: Mercury Studios is a multi-faceted content studio established to develop, produce, globally distribute and invest in innovative, music-rooted storytelling across a range of media including film, television, podcasting, publishing and live-streamed performance. Taking its name from the iconic Mercury Records label, Mercury Studios is powered by Universal Music Group and creates an open space for experimentation to unleash and amplify both emerging and established artists. With offices in London and Los Angeles, Mercury Studios harnesses its established relationships with best-in-class talent from music and film, seamlessly bridging the two worlds to create a completely distinctive community of trailblazers driven by original IP, innovation and collaboration.

View ERIC CLAPTON "The Lady In The Balcony: Lockdown Sessions" TRAILER here!

View trailer here for THE ROLLING STONES "A Bigger Bang: Live On Copacabana Beach"

VIDEO: "Brown Sugar" from THE ROLLING STONES "A Bigger Bang: Live On Copacabana Beach"

American Songwriter's review of BOB MARLEY AND THE WAILERS "The Capitol Session '73"

August 2021 Bob Marley and the Wailers | The Capitol Session ‘73 | (Tuff Gong/Mercury Studios/UMe)
3 out of 5 stars Previously unreleased audio and video of Bob Marley and Peter Tosh with The Wailers playing live in the studio? Bring it on. It’s hard to criticize the appearance of any hitherto lost, professionally shot and recorded Wailers shows, especially from 1973, long before they were icons. Few music fans had even heard of the group at that stage in their development, even though they had formed almost a decade before. The Jamaican group’s commercially unsuccessful Island label debut, Catch a Fire was released earlier in the year and its follow-up, with the similarly combustible title of Burnin’, was just out when this session was recorded barely six months later in October 1973. The backstory sets the tone. The Wailers had been fired from their opening slot on Sly and the Family Stone’s tour, leaving them in California with no plans. This stripped-down configuration—Marley and Tosh were joined by singer Joe Higgs replacing Bunny Livingston who recently left, bass and drums by the Barrett brothers (Aston and Carlton), and keyboards from the classically trained Earl “Wya” Lindo—were convinced to enter Capitol studios for a closed-door session by Denny Cordell, then head of Shelter Records. Cordell was a friend of Island’s founder Chris Blackwell. From the video portion of this double-disc package (a single audio CD is also available), we see The Wailers (at that point not yet billed as Bob Marley and the Wailers as this set’s title proclaims) meander into the studio, amble around rolling and smoking huge spliffs of ganja, and generally look dispirited. They seem a little uncertain of why they are there and wander for a while before playing. When they do, some songs start, then stop, then restart as the group isn’t really coalescing. Higgs, who had a stint as a solo artist appears particularly lost, vaguely playing percussion while adding almost inaudible vocals. Peter Tosh is more involved as a lead guitarist but since he was also leaving the band shortly afterward, only contributes lead vocals to a few tunes and also seems a little bored. At this early stage, a dreadlock-free Bob Marley hadn’t gotten his frontman act together yet (one hand on his forehead, the other outstretched as seen in many later photos) and also doesn’t look particularly enthusiastic. The music lopes along agreeably without much oomph for the first half, exacerbated by the absence of audience involvement. There weren’t many people invited, after all, reggae music was basically not known in the States at the time nor were The Wailers, and the lack of audible response is disconcerting to both the players and the listener. The dozen song set lifts about equally from Catch a Fire (six tracks) and Burnin’ (five others) with a previously unreleased Tosh song “You Can’t Blame the Youth.” Interestingly, “I Shot the Sheriff,” soon to become the most famous entry on Burnin’ due to Eric Clapton’s cover a year later, is not included. The veteran musicians perform well with the secret weapon being Lindo who, although he looks to be about high school age, works magic playing a variety of keyboards, sometimes simultaneously. Marley and Tosh sound good enough but there is a distinct deficiency of the energy that The Wailers could summon up on better nights even with their ballads. Although the video portion is an important historical document of this short-lived version of the outfit, the hour-long audio disc edits out the false starts and downtime between tracks which makes it more enjoyable. But since there is already a terrific live show from this lineup, recorded a month later at Leeds in the UK, added to the 2004 expanded Burnin’ package which includes most of these songs, it’s hard to recommend this much less fiery performance to all but the Marley faithful. The DVD is interesting but suffers from a lack of editing that nearly derails its best moments like when Marley and Co. rip into a fairly sizzling closing “Get Up Stand Up.” Considering the rarity of this video (although many clips were included in the Classic Album DVD of Catch a Fire, highly recommended to understand The Wailers beginnings), its overdue arrival is worthwhile for an artist of Marley’s iconic status. If you’re a fan, this will fill a hole in your collection nicely. Others have better choices.

Billboard.com discusses BOB MARLEY AND THE WAILERS "The Capitol Session '73" with filmmaker / archivist Martin Disney....PLUS exclusive clip "Duppy Conqueror"

September 1, 2021 In 1989, British filmmaker, archivist and historian Martin Disney was asked by Polygram -- who had recently purchased Island Records -- to sift through extensive footage of Bob Marley and The Wailers in preparation for the Marley documentary Time Will Tell. While combing through piles of footage in various formats, Disney was especially intrigued by a three-minute segment of 16mm black and white film, without sound or labeling, featuring an early '70s performance by The Wailers. No one seemed to know where or when this performance was taped or if additional footage existed, so Disney embarked on a fact-finding mission that spanned over two decades. He learned that British producer Denny Cordell -- who co-founded Shelter Records with Leon Russell in 1969 and owned a state-of-the-art mobile broadcast unit -- was involved. Cordell passed away in 1995, so Disney tracked down his son Barney, who remembered The Wailers being around his father in Los Angeles. His son recalled a session his father filmed with The Wailers at the Capitol Records' Tower, but Barney had never seen the footage. Disney continued his search, traveling to New York and California, eventually retrieving seven and a half hours of film from the four-camera shoot Cordell had organized. Disney and editor Tim Dollimore spent several months collaborating over Zoom, painstakingly repairing, syncing and condensing seven hours of material shot from two cameras and a live mix from four cameras into a cohesive 60-minute presentation. Their diligence has unearthed a momentous artifact: Bob Marley and The Wailers' The Capitol Session '73, which will be released on Sept. 3, via Tuff Gong and Mercury Studios, on CD/DVD, CD, 2 LP colored vinyl and digital audio formats; it will stream exclusively via the Amazon Prime hosted music documentary channel, The Coda Collection. "For over two decades I have been tending, researching and gently waving the banner for prepping the seven hours of Capitol footage for the release it so richly deserves," said Disney, who has worked on almost every film made about Marley as a researcher, producer, or consultant. "As we were editing, we felt like no time had passed, it sounds so fresh. In a way the film made itself, we just pushed it, to get that feeling right and show how raw, ad hoc, and relaxed it all was." The year 1973 marked a turning point in The Wailers' trajectory: they released their first albums for Chris Blackwell's Island Records, Catch A Fire (April 13) and Burnin' (Oct. 19), which were essential in expanding the international fanbase for reggae after the landmark Jamaican film The Harder They Come and its soundtrack, released the previous year. Two of The Wailers' three founding members exited the group in 1973, Bunny Livingston (later Wailer) in April and Peter Tosh in December. The Wailers were booked for 17 dates opening for Sly and The Family Stone beginning in October 1973, but they only performed on four shows before they were fired because they didn't connect with Sly's audience. Stranded in Las Vegas, The Wailers called Jamaican attorney Gus Brown who brought them to San Francisco, where they performed a pair of shows before reaching out to Cordell and traveling to Los Angeles. Shelter Records had released The Wailers' first U.S. single, "Duppy Conqueror" (misspelled as "Doppy Conquer"), one of the songs they performed on Capitol Session '73, highlighted by Bob's mesmeric vocals and the band's indelible reggae beat, as seen in this exclusive clip. The Wailers closed-door shoot at L.A.'s Capitol Tower took place on Oct. 24, 1973. The lineup consisted of Bob Marley and Peter Tosh on lead vocals and guitars; The Wailers' mentor Joe Higgs on percussion and backing vocals; Earl "Wya" Lindo on keyboards; and brothers Carlton Barrett and Aston "Family Man" Barrett on drum and bass, respectively. The Barrett brothers played with Bob until his death in 1981. Family Man, now 74, who stopped touring with The Wailers after suffering a series of strokes in 2017, is the only surviving member of this extraordinary ensemble. The Wailers were still a vocal trio at the time (with Island's release of Natty Dread in 1974, Marley received top billing and from thereon, The Wailers referred to his backing band) but Marley is undeniably the film's focal point. He takes commanding lead on nine of the twelve songs selected from Catch A Fire and Burnin', conveying a range of moods: playful on "Stir It Up", anguished on "Burnin and Lootin" and meditative on "Rasta Man Chant," with all three Wailers seated, playing conga drums, delivering inspired, soulful harmonies; Marley and Tosh share lead on "Get Up Stand Up," the enduring protest anthem they co-wrote. "This film is like a master class with Bob in charge. Bunny left The Wailers in England, Peter was already plotting to leave, so Chris Blackwell identified Bob as being the right front man, the driving force," comments Disney, who is also film's executive producer, alongside Barney Cordell. "Denny created a wonderful session, with a small, appreciative audience enjoying a private performance from six of Jamaica's greatest musicians and the sound at Capitol is just fabulous." "One of the most fascinating things for me was gaining insight into these human beings who were at a pivotal point in their lives," adds Dollimore. "Everyone in that configuration of the band went on to do amazing things musically, but there were also many tragedies. [Marley succumbed to cancer in 1981 at 36; Peter Tosh and Carlton Barrett were murdered five months apart in 1987.] It's fascinating to see them when they weren't ginormous, but they knew that they were on to something."

CNN highlights BOB MARLEY AND THE WAILERS "The Capitol Session '73"

View video here: https://www.wfmz.com/news/cnn/us-national/hollywood-minute-gal-gadot-ryan-and-the-rock/video_9307adcb-c7b4-513d-8eac-b14eb0710c99.html

"Slave Driver" from BOB MARLEY AND THE WAILERS "The Capitol Session '73" featured on RollingStone.com

August 18, 2021 Bob Marley and the Wailers Perform ‘Slave Driver’ in Clip From Rare 1973 Capitol Session Recently unearthed footage will be available to stream on the Coda Collection on September 3rd Bob Marley and the Wailers perform “Slave Driver” in a new clip from a recently unearthed session at the Capitol Records Tower in Los Angeles in 1973. The clip comes from the upcoming release, The Capitol Session ’73, which will be released in audio and video formats on September 3rd; that same day it will also be available to stream on the Coda Collection. The reggae legends recorded the session on October 24th, 1973, working with producer Denny Cordell, who received Marley’s permission to document the performance. The “Slave Driver” clip finds Marley and the Wailers in pitch-perfect form, and the session interestingly took place not long after the group was infamously dropped from a tour with Sly and the Family Stone. Despite Cordell’s recording efforts, the footage from the Capitol session was believed to be long-lost for decades until a freelance researcher discovered a few frames. That kicked off a 20-year search through archives in New York, London and San Diego that finally led to the full film being unearthed, restored and remastered. “What makes the ‘Capitol Session ’73’ stand out is that Bob Marley and the Wailers can really relax,” said Martin Disney, the Marley historian and archivist who directed The Capitol Session ’73 film. “They’ve got great sound. They’ve got the equipment that they know if anything goes wrong, it’s fine. It’s going to be fixed. They’ve got a really lovely, appreciative, little audience. All the ingredients for just a great afternoon doing what they loved. And it shows. I mean, it isn’t like anything else.” Cordell’s son, Barney Cordell, who produced the film, added, “From seeing a lot and playing (as in football and sandcastles!) a lot with Bob Marley and the Wailers as an 8-year-old boy at Dad’s house in Malibu — not knowing who (or caring who!) these exotic guys with cool hats were — to eventually, 30 years later, discovering why they were there and finding and bringing this incredible footage to the world has been an extraordinary, challenging and ultimately unbelievably fulfilling journey. When I started working in A&R at Island my father always said to me, ‘film and photograph EVERYTHING.’ I know it’s different now, but I guess he had the right idea!”

BOB MARLEY AND THE WAILERS featured on Music Connection

July 30, 2021 KUBERNIK: BOB MARLEY AND THE WAILERS: THE CAPITOL SESSION ‘73 The scene is Hollywood. October 1973. International reggae pioneers The Wailers were filmed in a closed door session at The Capitol Records Tower on October 24 by famed record producer Denny Cordell, who captured the band recording 12 songs. Shooting with four cameras and mixing “on the fly” to a colorized tape, this footage, has been painstakingly restored, resulting in an incredible presentation of this unseen live session. On September 3, Tuff Gong and Mercury Studios are proud to present this concert (almost 50 years after it was recorded): Bob Marley And The Wailers: The Capitol Session ‘73 on DVD+CD, standalone CD, 2LP pressed on green marble vinyl, 2LP pressed on Rasta swirl vinyl (red, yellow and green – available exclusively at Sound of Vinyl), and digital formats. This session at Capitol Studios represented a unique moment in the band’s career. Filmed 10 years after their formation, the Wailers already had several established hits through the ska and rocksteady eras. Gaining recognition stateside, including a few shows with Bruce Springsteen at Max’s Kansas City in New York City, they then went on to tour with Sly and the Family Stone, before they had been unceremoniously dumped from the tour. This led to the band (Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, Joe Higgs, Aston Barrett, Carlton Barrett, Earl “Wya” Lindo) making their way to Hollywood to do this session. The footage from this session was considered lost until a freelance researcher uncovered a few frames. For over 20 years, archives and storage units from New York and London to San Diego were tracked down and searched to retrieve fragments of the film, until it was fully unearthed, restored, and remastered. Evolving into a politically and socially charged unit after being inspired by the US Civil Rights movement, various African liberation efforts, and Rastafari, which Bob Marley and the Wailers studied from Rasta elders, their music reflected the soul and struggles of the era. Track Listings: “You Can't Blame the Youth,” “Slave Driver,” “Burnin' and Lootin',” “Rastaman Chant,” “Duppy Conqueror,” “Midnight Raver,” “Put It On,” “Stop that Train,” “Kinky Reggae,” “Stir It Up,” “No More Trouble,” and “Get Up Stand Up.” DVD Bonus Tracks: “Duppy Conqueror” and “Rastaman Chant. “In 1969, Jimmy Cliff “Wonderful World, Beautiful People,” ‘Israelites,’ from Desmond Dekker & The Aces, and earlier in the ‘60s, and Johnny Nash’s ‘Hold Me Tight’ had received lots of radio airplay and sold records in the Los Angeles market and Stateside areas,” remembered reggae scholar, author/deejay Roger Steffens. “Nash had hired Bob Marley as a songwriter for his label and also a performer for JAD. So a lot of Marley songs had come out without anyone knowing who Bob Marley was. Nash struck later with ‘I Can See Clearly Now.’” “Near the end of October, 1973 the Wailers came to Hollywood and rehearsed at Capitol Records,” specified Steffens. “In the fall of 1973, Bob Marley and the Wailers were in inner turmoil. A few months earlier, co-founder Bunny Wailer, who had been raised as Bob's brother since his father moved in with Bob's mother in 1966, left the group. He was upset that Island Records' chief, Chris Blackwell, told the group he had signed in late 1972, that he wanted them to tour ‘freak clubs.’ “As I outlined in my recent book, So Much Things to Say: The Oral History of Bob Marley, Bunny's response to that suggestion was to ask Blackwell what he meant by freak clubs. ‘He said, well, you know, clubs where gay guys and gals, gals meet gals and guys meet guys and freak out. Drug business, all kind of stuff - freak. I said, how you want to take us all in that direction? Why you want draw us down in dem kind of things? We is Rasta, we no stand for dem things.’ And Bunny quit the group on the spot. “Coming off the critical success of their international debut on Island, Catch A Fire, Blackwell wanted them to tour America for their follow up Burnin' which would prove to be the trio's final work together. “To replace Bunny, Bob invited the group's initial teacher, the great Joe Higgs, known as the father of reggae music because of his early tutoring of many of the music's initial stars. Higgs knew the harmonies and could play percussion, so he fit in perfectly as he rehearsed at the Capitol Records Tower in Hollywood that October. The taping was October 23, 1973. “Outside the famous tower sat a mobile mixing studio, wherein sat a white American, harmonica player and fine artist, Lee Jaffe, who experimented with a brand-new special effects board while the rehearsal went on. Bootleg tapes of the event have circulated since the '70s in collectors' circles. But legal difficulties remained for decades. “Ownership was claimed by Denny Cordell, who founded Shelter Records, and was championed throughout this period by a tireless British entrepreneur Martin Disney, who was largely responsible for its ultimate release,” reinforced Roger. “Peter Tosh, who would leave the group too a few weeks after this film was made, is seen in an amazing duet with Bob on ‘Get Up Stand Up,’ where he sings some different lyrics as if to trip Bob up. But this final alignment, after ten years together, shows the tightness of their arrangements and how Bob was desperate to keep the Wailers' sound alive. It was Bob who wrote the song, but he gave a verse to Peter to create so that he could share in the writers' royalties. It was Tosh who wrote about being sick of the ‘bullshit game,’ and the mythology surrounding Jesus' name,” added Steffens. “All in all, this refreshing new look at the Wailers' final days together will shed a welcome light on the power of their creations. I was angry for a long time that Chris almost took joy in the fact that he helped break up the group. Over the years I've begun to think differently - imagine the world without Bunny's Blackheart Man or Peter's Equal Rights. We got three times the music we would have had if the group had not broken up. The Sheltervision session shows what we lost.” Photo by Roger Steffens I’ve been waiting almost 50 years to hear and own an official retail copy of these landmark recordings of the Wailers first visit to Hollywood.
A publicist, Michael Ochs, who I knew from his 1969-1972 PR department tenure at Columbia Records in Hollywood, was hired by record producer and talent scout Denny Cordell to introduce the The Harder they Come Perry Henzell-directed movie starring Jimmy Cliff and the movie’s soundtrack album. Michael wrote for Melody Maker in 1972. We both attended a handful of regional June 1972 concerts by the Rolling Stones after the release of Exile on Main Street. Ochs mailed a copy of The Harder They Come LP, a press kit and a mango fruit, all contained in a burlap bag that arrived to my college dormitory at Zura Hall at San Diego State University. I seem to recall the mailing sticker came from Mango/Capitol Records. In 1972 I had only written a couple of record reviews at the time for The Hollywood Press. I attempted to generate a review in The Daily Aztec and was rejected. The hypnotic pulse of the sound of reggae on this vinyl was captivating. I needed to see this movie. In November 1972 I saw The Harder They Come debut in Hollywood at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre, where it screened as part of Filmex, the Los Angeles International Film Exposition. The place was packed and the audience loved it. I have a faint memory of Roger Corman securing domestic distribution via his company New World Pictures. The landscape and musical climate of the United States was altered by the December 26th -December 31, 1972 local premiere of the movie The Harder They Come when it was booked at the Nu-Art Theater in Westwood, California. “Denny Cordell called me in 1972 and wanted me to do the publicity for the soundtrack,” explained Michael Ochs to me in a July 2021 interview. “I saw it at Filmex, and loved the soundtrack album. I fell in love with reggae. Denny and Leon Russell were partners in Shelter Records and Leon spent a lot of money on a remote recording truck. I was at the Wailers taping in October at the Capitol studio which was fun. It was like a big rehearsal leading to a real performance. “The rock press loved the movie and the soundtrack. It was too unique for AM and FM radio. Black radio programmers were not receptive at all. At the time there was a dirth of originality. When this happens the media tend to go to roots music, like blues. Reggae was the light at the end of the tunnel. It was important to promote it. At that time I wasn’t sure if Toots [Hibbert] and the Maytals or Bob Marley was going to be the leader of the movement. “Denny then hired me for the Shelter label. He agreed to pay a salary, an office and a secretary. J.J. Cale and Phoebe Snow were two of the artists I worked with. Denny agreed to fly me down to Kingston if I could get a story in Rolling Stone so I called my friend Michael Thomas and he sold it to Stone. So RS paid for Michael to come from London to do the story. Chris Blackwell loaned us one of his houses for us to stay in - Me, Michael and photographer Arthur Gorson. Robert Christgau didn't stay there but came at the same time to do a 5-part story for Newsday, a Long Island paper. Michael and Arthur went into Trenchtown to interview Marley but they were the only 2 that were allowed in. For the rest of the time we were down there, different reggae artists, including Toots were sent to the house to talk to Michael for the story.” There was also a young college student in 1973 named James Cushing newly enrolled at U.C. Santa Cruz who emerged as the Pied Piper of reggae in Northern California. I first met Cushing in 1968 in Westwood at Senator Eugene McCarthy’s headquarters for his 1968 United States presidential run. During 1972, Cushing, my brother Kenneth and I attended the debut of the Mahavishnu Orchestra at the Whisky a Go Go. “April 1973. All US troops are ‘fully withdrawn’ from Vietnam, abortion is legal, the trial of the Watergate burglars is front-page news, and in New York, the 110-story World Trade Center has just opened,” Dr. James Cushing emailed me in July 2021. “In ultra-mellow Santa Cruz, CA, serial murderer Ed Kemper, who has killed and mutilated three people known to me personally, has just turned himself in to police, and the sense of relief on campus is as tangible as the bark on the redwood trees. I’m a sophomore at College V (now Porter College), living with my girlfriend in B-dorm, where pot is $15 an ounce, LSD is $2 a hit, and everyone’s young and sexually active. “You can tell, because everyone’s stereo is playing something new and provocative like last month’s Pink Floyd release, Dark Side of the Moon, or the brand-new one by this new English guy David Bowie, Alladin Sane. I’m writing record and concert reviews for the campus paper The City on a Hill Press, and Capitol has been generous enough to put me on their rock mailing list, so I get all their new releases, like Pink Floyd, and people come to my dorm room to check them out. “Well, Dark Side of the Moon was cool, but Capitol was distributing Chris Blackwell’s Island imprint, and sent campus critics another record that season by a new group called The Wailers — Catch a Fire, it was called, with a clever hinged cover resembling a Zippo lighter, and music that nobody in that building had ever heard before. “The players were all black, but their sound wasn’t ‘soul’ or ‘funk’ in the Motown / Stax / James Brown / Aretha sense, and it wasn’t anything like Jimi or Sly & the Family Stone. The bass and guitars and drums were all plenty loud, but it wasn’t “rock” either.
“The word ‘reggae’ was used in Capitol promotional material, but I didn’t know how to pronounce it — soft ‘g’ or hard? — and at the level that mattered most, that was all right. “Marley’s sound was just the thing we needed after weeks of local terror and political uncertainty: something sexy and relaxing, thoughtful and physical, totally new and totally cool. “For most of that quarter, mid-April to mid-June 1973, Catch a Fire was the #1 party album in my part of B-dorm, with ‘Kinky Reggae’ the one that got everyone moving (‘a candy tar / all over his chocolate bar,’ ‘she had brown sugar / all over her booga-wooga’). “I believe that place on the time-line qualifies us as the first reggae-heads in Santa Cruz. Residents of that floor in that building that quarter will likely remember these parties well. Stir it up, midnight ravers!” “Then Michael Thomas’s wrote an article in June 1973 in Rolling Stone on the Wailer’s album Catch a Fire,” emphasized Roger Steffens. “It was six months after the movie had been released and there was a buzz with the movie playing every weekend on the midnight movie circuit. It was a seismic event that further changed the complexion of music in Los Angeles.” And everybody I knew in Hollywood had a copy of the debut Wailers’ Catch a Fire. On the day Duke Ellington died, May 24, 1974, I encountered Johnny Nash in the lobby of Columbia Records on Sunset Blvd. Johnny was enjoying success stemming from his 1972 hit single, “I Can See Clearly Now.” We had a very brief chat. He nodded when I mentioned he had co-written a song, “Some of You Love,” with record producer Phil Spector in 1961 when he was inked to ABC-Paramount Records. Spector first met Nash, and songwriter Tommy Boyce, during their Army physical examination. As Johnny and I left the elevator ride I wished I would have reminded myself to tell Nash how much I loved his song “What Kind of Love Is This?” Joey Dee and the Starliters had cut the tune in 1962 for the Columbia picture Two Tickets to Paris. I eventually saw/witnessed Bob Marley & the Wailers eight times during 1975-1979. First time was July 13, 1975 at the Roxy Theater in West Hollywood. I interviewed the group once in 1976 for Melody Maker. Our conversation was held in such a smoke-filled room in West Hollywood at the Island Records office in California on Sunset Blvd., I forgot to turn the tape machine on! John Lennon and Yoko Ono attended a Wailers’ May 16, 1976 Roxy show. While waiting for their car to arrive in the parking lot of the adjacent Rainbow Bar & Grill, I thanked John for introducing me to reggae and blue beat music that he touted in music weeklies and radio interviews. On July 22, 1978 I went to see the Wailers at The Starlight Bowl Ampitheatre in Burbank. A few reporters were given tickets and backstage passes. At the time press coverage in the US was important for the Wailers and Marley’s reggae mission. I watched the concert from the wings standing the whole evening with Mick Jagger, holding daughter Jade in his arms. Mick still happily managed to pass some ganja to our circle that included Peter Tosh, who was opening the next day for the Rolling Stones at Anaheim Stadium. Before the awe-inspiring evening concluded, a sweaty Bob Marley ran to our area of the venue, brushing up against me on his way to talk to Peter, who then joined him for a surprise appearance during “Get Up, Stand Up.” Tosh later told Roger Steffens, ‘Mi slap Bob’s hand and him say, ‘Bwoi, de Pope feel dat one.’ And three days later the Pope died. Bob Marley has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (1994) and ASCAP Songwriters Hall of Fame (2010). SOURCE