Everything's Gonna Be Alright

Fancy a coffee? Take a seat and relax whilst I put some music on.

For someone who was born and grew up in Bristol, I've seen relatively few reggae acts live in concert and the vast majority of these will have been at either the St. Pauls Carnival or Ashton Court Festival in the 1980s and 1990s, the latter now sadly long gone. The former thankfully returned in 2023 as a bi-annual event and fundraising for 2025 is underway; you can donate here.

Over the years, I've amassed a modest collection of live concerts, some officially released, others bootleg recordings of variable quality but made more accessible via t'internet. Here's a 45-minute selection featuring some of my favourite performances.

Misty In Roots are first up with Ghetto Of The City from their debut album, Live At The Counter Eurovision 79. As the title suggests, this was a recording of a show in Belgium and is quite rightly lauded as not just one of the greatest live reggae albums of all time, but one of the greatest live albums, full stop. You'll see this happening a few times in this brief Dubhed selection and I will not be arguing to the contrary.

 

Talisman are from my birthplace, so it's very likely that I saw them at one of the aforementioned live events. Unfortunately, as I was generally under the influence and these happenings were ticketless, I have no idea if I did or not. A shame as they were clearly on fire, as this extract from 1981 shows. I picked up the excellent 2011 compilation The Bristol Reggae Explosion 1978-1983 on CD which features Wicked Dem. It's now available on Bandcamp and is highly recommended, as is pretty much everything on Bristol Archive Records, to be honest.

What can I say about Bob Marley & The Wailers that hasn't already been said and more eloquently? One of the greatest songs of all time from one of the greatest artists of all time from one of the greatest albums of all time, Bob Marley & The Wailers Live! (or Live! At The Lyceum, if you're scrutinising the vinyl label). 

 

No Woman No Cry is credited to Bob's friend Vincent Ford, but is believed to be a pseudonym that Bob used in order to evade his publishing company at the time. Clearly, the courts agreed as Marley's estate gained control of these compositions in 1987 and successfully resisted a counter claim by the label in 2014.

Speaking of Bob, the Performing Arts Center in Montego Bay, Jamaica was dedicated to him and 18 months after his death, Black Uhuru performed there as part of the Jamaica World Music Festival. The quality of this 1982 bootleg recording is a bit ropey to say the least but the quality of the music shines through.

Another bootleg of slightly better quality is UB40 with a 'short' version of Madam Medusa, their damning indictment of Margaret Thatcher and a reminder of how very good they were in their early years. This was originally featured in the seminal music film, Urgh! A Music War. The version here is a rip from the VHS release that I found online. Incredibly, UB40 didn't make the cut for the vinyl album release, itself a must-have in any record collection.

Staying with another legendary reggae band from Birmingham, Steel Pulse are up next with Makka Splaff. The song originally featured (as Macka Splaff) on their debut Handsworth Revolution. The version here appeared on the legendary Short Circuit: Live At The Electric Circus album, released on 10" vinyl with a limited edition bonus 7". A copy on Discogs will set you back (I think a rather reasonable) £29.00, less if you're not bothered about the 7".

Another contender for greatest (live) album of all time is Aswad with 1983's Live And Direct, recorded at that summer's Notting Hill Carnival in London. I remember seeing a full-page ad in Smash Hits at the time, priced as a mini-album at £2.99. At 9 tracks (10 if you split the 2-song Rockers Melody) and 45 minutes in length, there's no 'mini' about it and the sound is as fresh and crisp now as it was three decades ago.

Closing today's selection is Matumbi, whose theme tune to the BBC TV series Empire Road was also included on the 1978 compilation Don't Walk, Boogie nestled in my parent's record collection. Both the TV show and the song made a big impression on me and - unknown to me at the time - introduced me to the genius of Dennis Bovell.

After Tonight is another classic from the Matumbi catalogue, which Dennis has revisited and re-recorded several times throughout his career, most recently in 2022 with Winston Reedy. This live version was recorded on day 2 of the Concerts For The People Of Kampuchea in December 1979. A fund-raiser for victims of the conflict in Cambodia, it was a mammoth 4-day event at the Hammersmith Odeon, kicking off with Queen, ending with Paul McCartney and Wings and featuring The Pretenders, The Specials, The Who and Elvis Costello & The Attractions.

The day 2 line-up was Ian Dury & The Blockheads and Matumbi, Dennis and other bandmates bolstering the former's line-up, followed by The Clash. What a night that must have been. You needn't wonder: with another name check for the Albums That Should Exist blog, you can find collated selections from all four days posted last summer. Zip file links are still live, though I had to close down multiple pop-ups and revisit the initial link page to eventually get the download. Well worth the effort though, as all three acts are on top form.

All that yakking and I need another brew! Let me just stick this selection on repeat...

 

1) Ghetto Of The City: Misty In Roots (1979)

2) Wicked Dem: Talisman (1981)

3) No Woman No Cry: Bob Marley & The Wailers (1975)

4) Guess Who's Coming To Dinner: Black Uhuru (1982)

5) Madame Medusa: UB40 (1980)

6) Makka Splaff (The Colly Man): Steel Pulse (1977)

7) African Children: Aswad (1983)

8) After Tonight: Matumbi (1979)

 

18 July 1975: The Lyceum, London, England: 3

02 October 1977: Electric Circus, Manchester, England: 6

31 March 1979: Cirque Royal/Koninklijk Circus, Brussels, Belgium: 1

27 December 1979: Concerts For The People Of Kampuchea, Hammersmith Odeon, London, England: 8

28 August 1980: Arènes De Frejus, Fréjus, France: 5

28 July 1981: Bath Pavilion, Bath, England: 2

26 November 1982: Jamaica World Music Festival, Bob Marley Performing Arts Center, Montego Bay, Jamaica: 4

26 August 1983: Meanwhile Gardens, Notting Hill Carnival, London, England: 7

 

Everything's Gonna Be Alright (45:08) (KF) (Mega)