''Blackheart Man'' is the debut album by

Bunny Wailer Neville O'Riley Livingston (10 April 1947 – 2 March 2021), known professionally as Bunny Wailer, was a Jamaican singer-songwriter and percussionist. He 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 is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded in 1959 by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall, and Leslie Kong in Jamaica, and was eventually sold to PolyGram in 1989. Island and A&M Records, anoth ...

Overview

The songs on the album are regarded as the finest written by Bunny Wailer, and explore themes such as

repatriation Repatriation is the process of returning a thing or a person to its country of origin or citizenship. The term may refer to non-human entities, such as converting a foreign currency into the currency of one's own country, as well as to the pro ...

("Dreamland"), and his arrest for

marijuana Cannabis, also known as marijuana among other names, is a psychoactive drug from the cannabis plant. Native to Central or South Asia, the cannabis plant has been used as a drug for both recreational and entheogenic purposes and in various tra ...

possession ("Fighting Against Conviction", originally titled "Battering Down Sentence").Barrow, Steve & Dalton, Peter (1999) ''Reggae: 100 Essential CDs'', Rough Guides, "This Train" is very loosely based on the American gospel standard of the same name. The album features some of Jamaica's leading musicians and also contributions from

Bob Marley Robert Nesta Marley (6 February 1945 – 11 May 1981; baptised in 1980 as Berhane Selassie) was a Jamaican singer, musician, and songwriter. Considered one of the pioneers of reggae, his musical career was marked by fusing elements o ...

and

Peter Tosh Winston Hubert McIntosh, OM (19 October 1944 – 11 September 1987), professionally known as Peter Tosh, was a Jamaican reggae musician. Along with Bob Marley and Bunny Wailer, he was one of the core members of the band the Wailers (1963� ...

The Wailers ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

on backing vocals, and the Wailers rhythm section of

Carlton Carlton may refer to: People * Carlton (name), a list of those with the given name or surname * Carlton (singer), English soul singer Carlton McCarthy * Carlton, a pen name used by Joseph Caldwell (1773–1835), American educator, Presbyterian ...

and

Aston Barrett Aston is an area of inner Birmingham, England. Located immediately to the north-east of Central Birmingham, Aston constitutes a ward within the metropolitan authority. It is approximately 1.5 miles from Birmingham City Centre. History Aston wa ...

on some of the tracks. The origins of the album title goes back to Wailer's childhood in the Jamaican countryside, where he grew up in the same 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 ''The Daily Gleaner'' is a morning daily newspaper serving the city of Fredericton, New Brunswick, and the upper Saint John River Valley. The paper is published Monday through Saturday and began operating in 1880. In April 2006, the paper switch ...

'' in June 2009: This is one of the three Wailers solo albums released in 1976, along with

's album ''

Legalize It ''Legalize It'' is the debut studio album by Jamaican singer-songwriter and former Wailer Peter Tosh, released in June 1976. It was recorded at Treasure Isle and Randy's, Kingston. ''Legalize It'' is one of the two solo albums released in 1976 ...

'' and

's ''

Rastaman Vibration ''Rastaman Vibration'' is the eighth studio album by the reggae band Bob Marley and the Wailers, released in April 1976. Critical reception Reviewing for ''Rolling Stone'' in 1976, Robert Palmer said that on the album Marley consummately perfo ...

''. The album was listed in the 1999 book ''The Rough Guide: Reggae: 100 Essential CDs''.

Release history

The original LP release of the album was released in two different mixes. The international mix is what is most widely available and has appeared on CD. The Jamaican mix has longer versions of songs and different overdubs. In particular, the Jamaican mix of "This Train" lasts a full minute longer. Although the Jamaican mix has not appeared on CD, it remains a favorite amongst reggae aficionados. The album has been released on

compact disc The compact disc (CD) is a Digital media, digital optical disc data storage format that was co-developed by Philips and Sony to store and play digital audio recordings. In August 1982, the first compact disc was manufactured. It was then rele ...

several times; first in 1989 on

Mango Records Island Records is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded in 1959 by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall, and Leslie Kong in Jamaica, and was eventually sold to PolyGram in 1989. Island and A&M Records, anoth ...

, 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.

Track listing

All songs written by Bunny Wailer except where noted

Side one

# "Blackheart Man" – 6:17 # "Fighting Against Conviction" – 5:11 # "The Oppressed Song" – 3:22 # "Fig Tree" – 3:07 # "Dream Land" (Al "Bunk" Johnson, Wailer) – 2:47

Side two

# "Rastaman" – 3:51 # "Reincarnated Souls" – 3:43 # "Amagideon (Armagedon)" – 6:46 # "Bide Up" – 2:33 # "This Train" (Wailer, Guthrie) – 8:28

Personnel

Musicians

* Bunny Wailer – lead vocals, backing vocals, percussion, acoustic guitar, bass guitar, jaw harp * Carlton "Carly" Barrett – drums * Aston "Family Man" Barrett – bass, lead guitar,

rhythm guitar In music performances, rhythm guitar is a technique and role that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with other instruments from the rhythm section (e.g., drum kit, bass guitar ...

, keyboards *

Robbie Shakespeare Robert Warren Dale Shakespeare (27 September 1953 – 8 December 2021) was a Jamaican bass guitarist and record producer, best known as half of the reggae rhythm section and production duo Sly and Robbie, with drummer Sly Dunbar. Regarded as ...

– bass * Tyrone "Organ D" Downie – keyboards *

– rhythm guitar, lead guitar, backing vocals,

melodica The melodica is a handheld free-reed instrument similar to a pump organ or harmonica. It features 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. The keyboard usual ...

, harmonica *

Earl "Chinna" Smith Earl "Chinna" Smith (born 6 August 1955), a.k.a. Earl Flute and Melchezidek the High Priest,Johnson, Richard (2013)The Melchizedek way, ''Jamaica Observer'', 6 October 2013. Retrieved 12 October 2013 is a Jamaican guitarist active since the late ...

– lead guitar *

Tommy McCook Tommy McCook (3 March 1927 – 5 May 1998) 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 S ...

– flute, saxophone * "Dirty" Harry Hall – horns *

Bobby Ellis Bobby Ellis OD (2 July 1932 – 18 October 2016) was a Jamaican trumpet player. He worked with many reggae artists including Peter Tosh, Burning Spear and The Revolutionaries. Biography Born in Kingston on 2 October 1932, Bobby Ellis attended ...

– horns *

Herman Marquis Herman 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.Barrow, Steve ...

– horns * Mark West – horns * Harold Butler – keyboards * Bernard "Touter" Harvey – keyboards *

Winston Wright Winston Wright (19431993) was a Jamaican keyboardist. He was a member of Tommy McCook's Supersonics, and acknowledged as Jamaica's master of the Hammond organ. Winston was born in May Pen, Jamaica on September 5, 1943 and died in Kingston, Jamaica ...

– keyboards *

Karl Pitterson Karl Pitterson is a Jamaican record producer and sound engineer. Pitterson began his career in the early 1970s as house engineer with Jamaican studios such as Dynamics, Federal, Randy's, Studio One, Treasure Isle and Aquarius. Over the course of ...

– acoustic guitar * Michael Murray – rhythm guitar * Eric Frater – lead guitar *

– backing vocals, rhythm guitar * Franscisco Willie Pep –

conga The conga, also known as tumbadora, is a tall, narrow, single-headed drum from Cuba. Congas are staved like barrels and classified into three types: quinto (lead drum, highest), tres dos or tres golpes (middle), and tumba or salidor (lowest). ...

s *

Larry McDonald Lawrence Patton McDonald (April 1, 1935 – September 1, 1983) was an American politician and a member of the United States House of Representatives, representing Georgia's 7th congressional district as a Democrat from 1975 until he was killed ...

– congas *

Neville Garrick Neville Garrick is a Jamaican-born Los Angeles-based graphic artist, and photographer. He is a graduate of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Garrick attended UCLA where he played for the football team, reaching the National Collegia ...

– percussion

Production

* Bunny Wailer – producer, cover design * Karl Pitterson –

sound engineer An audio engineer (also known as a sound engineer or recording engineer) helps to produce a recording or a live performance, balancing and adjusting sound sources using equalization, dynamics processing and audio effects, mixing, reproduction, ...

mix engineer A mixing engineer (or simply mix engineer) is responsible for combining ("mixing") different sonic elements of an auditory piece into a complete rendition (also known as "final mix" or "mixdown"), whether in music, film, or any other content of a ...

Chris Blackwell Christopher Percy Gordon Blackwell (born 22 June 1937) is an English businessman and former record producer, and the founder of Island Records, which has been called "one of Britain's great independent labels". According to the Rock and Roll ...

– mix engineer *

– cover artwork, cover design, photography

References

{{Authority control 1976 debut albums Bunny Wailer albums Island Records albums Mango Records albums