Blackheart Man
Encyclopedia
Blackheart Man is the first solo album by Bunny Wailer
, originally released on 8 September 1976, in Jamaica on Solomonic Records and internationally on Island Records
.
and Peter Tosh
of The Wailers on backing vocals, and the Wailers rhythm section of Carlton
and Aston Barrett
on some of the tracks. The high quality of the songs and musicians makes Blackheart Man one of the greatest reggae albums of all time.
The origins of the album title goes back to Wailer's childhood in the Jamaican countryside, where he grew up in the same little village as his friend Bob Marley.
Wailer said:
Bunny Wailer himself considers Blackheart Man to be his best solo album. As he told Jamaican newspaper the Daily Gleaner in June 2009:
The album was listed in the 1999 book The Rough Guide: Reggae: 100 Essential CDs.
several times; first in 1989 on Mango Records, then in 2002 on Island in a remastered edition. A new remastering was released on iTunes in 2009, with some of the songs in newly extended and dub versions.
Bunny Wailer
Bunny Wailer, , also known as Bunny Livingston and affectionately as Jah B, is a singer songwriter and percussionist and was an original member of reggae group The Wailers along with Bob Marley and Peter Tosh...
, originally released on 8 September 1976, in Jamaica on Solomonic Records and internationally on Island Records
Island Records
Island Records is a record label that was founded by Chris Blackwell in Jamaica. It was based in the United Kingdom for many years and is now owned by Universal Music Group...
.
Overview
The songs on the album are regarded as the finest written by Bunny Wailer, and explore themes such as repatriation ("Dreamland"), and his arrest for marijuana possession ("Fighting Against Conviction", originally titled "Battering Down Sentence"). The album features some of Jamaica's leading musicians and also contributions from Bob MarleyBob Marley
Robert Nesta "Bob" Marley, OM was a Jamaican singer-songwriter and musician. He was the rhythm guitarist and lead singer for the ska, rocksteady and reggae band Bob Marley & The Wailers...
and Peter Tosh
Peter Tosh
Peter Tosh, born Winston Hubert McIntosh , was a Jamaican reggae musician who was a core member of the band The Wailers , and who afterward had a successful solo career as well as being a promoter of Rastafari.Peter Tosh was born in Grange Hill, Jamaica, an illegitimate child to a mother too young...
of The Wailers on backing vocals, and the Wailers rhythm section of Carlton
Carlton Barrett
Carlton "Carly" Barrett was an influential reggae drummer and percussion player. His musical development in the early years were with his brother Aston "Family Man" Barrett as a member of Lee "Scratch" Perry's "house band" The Upsetters. The brothers joined Bob Marley and The Wailers around 1970...
and Aston Barrett
Aston Barrett
Aston Barrett , often called "Family Man" or "Fams" for short, is a Jamaican bass player and Rastafarian.-Biography:...
on some of the tracks. The high quality of the songs and musicians makes Blackheart Man one of the greatest reggae albums of all time.
The origins of the album title goes back to Wailer's childhood in the Jamaican countryside, where he grew up in the same little village as his friend Bob Marley.
Wailer said:
Bunny Wailer himself considers Blackheart Man to be his best solo album. As he told Jamaican newspaper the Daily Gleaner in June 2009:
The album was listed in the 1999 book The Rough Guide: Reggae: 100 Essential CDs.
Release history
The album has been released on compact discCompact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
several times; first in 1989 on Mango Records, then in 2002 on Island in a remastered edition. A new remastering was released on iTunes in 2009, with some of the songs in newly extended and dub versions.
Side one
- "Blackheart Man" – 6:17
- "Fighting Against Conviction" – 5:11
- "The Oppressed Song" – 3:22
- "Fig Tree" – 3:07
- "Dream Land" – 2:47
Side two
- "Rasta Man" – 3:51
- "Reincarnated Souls" – 3:43
- "Amagideon (Armagedon)" – 6:46
- "Bide Up" – 2:33
- "This Train" – 8:28
Musicians
- Bunny WailerBunny WailerBunny Wailer, , also known as Bunny Livingston and affectionately as Jah B, is a singer songwriter and percussionist and was an original member of reggae group The Wailers along with Bob Marley and Peter Tosh...
– lead vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
, backing vocalsBacking vocalistA backing vocalist or backing singer is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists...
, percussionPercussion instrumentA percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
, acoustic guitarAcoustic guitarAn acoustic guitar is a guitar that uses only an acoustic sound board. The air in this cavity resonates with the vibrational modes of the string and at low frequencies, which depend on the size of the box, the chamber acts like a Helmholtz resonator, increasing or decreasing the volume of the sound...
, bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, jaw harpJew's harpThe Jew's harp, jaw harp, mouth harp, Ozark harp, trump or juice harp, is thought to be one of the oldest musical instruments in the world; a musician apparently playing it can be seen in a Chinese drawing from the 4th century BC... - Carlton "Carly" BarrettCarlton BarrettCarlton "Carly" Barrett was an influential reggae drummer and percussion player. His musical development in the early years were with his brother Aston "Family Man" Barrett as a member of Lee "Scratch" Perry's "house band" The Upsetters. The brothers joined Bob Marley and The Wailers around 1970...
– drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person .... - Aston "Family Man" Barrett – bass, lead guitarLead guitarLead guitar is a guitar part which plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs within a song structure...
, rhythm guitarRhythm guitarRhythm guitar is a technique and rôle that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with singers or other instruments; and to provide all or part of the harmony, ie. the chords, where a chord is a group of notes played together...
, keyboardsKeyboard instrumentA keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments... - Robbie Shakespeare – bass
- Tyrone "Organ D" DownieTyrone DownieTyrone Downie is a Jamaican keyboardist/pianist who is most known for his involvement as a member of Bob Marley and The Wailers. He studied at Kingston College and joined the wailers in the mid-1970s, making his recording début with the band on Rastaman Vibration, having previously been a member of...
– keyboards - Peter ToshPeter ToshPeter Tosh, born Winston Hubert McIntosh , was a Jamaican reggae musician who was a core member of the band The Wailers , and who afterward had a successful solo career as well as being a promoter of Rastafari.Peter Tosh was born in Grange Hill, Jamaica, an illegitimate child to a mother too young...
– rhythm guitar, lead guitar, backing vocals, melodicaMelodicaThe melodica, also known as the "blow-organ" or "key-flute", is a free-reed instrument similar to the melodeon and harmonica. It has a musical keyboard on top, and is played by blowing air through a mouthpiece that fits into a hole in the side of the instrument. Pressing a key opens a hole,...
, harmonicaHarmonicaThe harmonica, also called harp, French harp, blues harp, and mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used primarily in blues and American folk music, jazz, country, and rock and roll. It is played by blowing air into it or drawing air out by placing lips over individual holes or multiple holes... - Earl "Chinna" Smith – lead guitar
- Tommy McCookTommy McCookTommy McCook was a Jamaican saxophonist. A founding member of The Skatalites, he also directed The Supersonics for Duke Reid, and backed many sessions for Bunny Lee or with The Revolutionaries at Channel One Studios in the 1970s.-Biography:McCook was born in Havana, Cuba, and moved to Jamaica in...
– fluteFluteThe flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
, saxophoneSaxophoneThe saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846... - "Dirty" Harry Hall – hornsHorn (instrument)The horn is a brass instrument consisting of about of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. A musician who plays the horn is called a horn player ....
- Bobby EllisBobby EllisBobby Ellis born 2 July 1932, is a Jamaican trumpet player. He has worked with many reggae artists including Peter Tosh, Burning Spear, and The Revolutionaries.-Biography:...
– horns - Herman MarquisHerman MarquisHerman Marquis is a Jamaican saxophone musician who has played with many reggae artists including Burning Spear. He recorded for Arthur "Duke" Reid in the 1960s and was a member of The Revolutionaries and The Upsetters in the 1970s...
– horns - Mark West – horns
- Harold Butler – keyboards
- Bernard Harvey – keyboards
- Winston Wright – keyboards
- Karl PittersonKarl PittersonKarl Pitterson is a Jamaican record producer and sound engineer.Pitterson began his career in the early 1970s as house engineer with such legendary Jamaican studios as Dynamics, Federal, Randy's, Studio One, Treasure Isle and Aquarius...
– acoustic guitar - Michael Murray – rhythm guitar
- Eric Frater – lead guitar
- Bob MarleyBob MarleyRobert Nesta "Bob" Marley, OM was a Jamaican singer-songwriter and musician. He was the rhythm guitarist and lead singer for the ska, rocksteady and reggae band Bob Marley & The Wailers...
– backing vocals - Willy Pep – congaCongaThe conga, or more properly the tumbadora, is a tall, narrow, single-headed Cuban drum with African antecedents. It is thought to be derived from the Makuta drums or similar drums associated with Afro-Cubans of Central African descent. A person who plays conga is called a conguero...
s - Larry McDonald – congas
- Nevile Garrick – percussion
Production
- Bunny Wailer – producerRecord producerA record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
, coverAlbum coverAn album cover is the front of the packaging of a commercially released audio recording product, or album. The term can refer to either the printed cardboard covers typically used to package sets of 10" and 12" 78 rpm records, single and sets of 12" LPs, sets of 45 rpm records , or the front-facing...
design - Karl Pitterson – sound engineer, mix engineerMix engineerA mix engineer, also referred to as "mixing engineer", is a person who, once all instruments, voices, and sounds, etc., have been recorded, creates what is called the final version of a song, hence the term "mix engineer"...
- Chris BlackwellChris BlackwellChristopher Percy Gordon "Chris" Blackwell is a British record producer and businessman, who was the founder of Island Records, acknowledged as the most successful and groundbreaking independent record company in history. Blackwell has been a music industry mogul for over fifty years...
– mix engineer - Nevile Garrick – cover artwork, cover design, photography