Marley 1976
photos by Terry Remick
May 31st, 1976, Bob Marley and the Wailers came to the Santa Barbara County Bowl for the
first time. They were about halfway through the Rastaman Vibration Tour that started on the
east coast in April and ended in Europe in June.
This was a concert tour organized to support their new album Rastaman Vibration.
A college student named Terry Remick was lucky enough to be there that day, and she
brought her camera! These are her never before seen photos from an amazing concert and
a historical event. This was the tour that launched Bob Marley in the United States
and many say it was the pinnacle of Marley as a live performer.
The opening act for this show and the previous day’s show in Oakland is listed as Anthony
and the Imperials, or at least some version of that.
Bob had broken up with the original Wailers in 1974 , but he continued
recording as “Bob Marley & The Wailers”. His new backing band included
brothers Carlton Barrett on drums and Aston “Family Man” Barrett on bass,
Donald Kinsey on lead guitar, Earl “Chinna” Smith on lead guitar, Tyrone
Downie on keyboard, Alvin “Seeco” Patterson on percussion
and the amazing “I Threes” on backing vocals, consisting of
Judy Mowatt, Marcia Griffiths, and Marley’s wife, Rita.
Check out the background. The bowl was so laid back and open back then.
No giant speakers. No concrete walls. So natural.
Gotta wonder whose sweet land yacht that is parked right there on stage!
Terry took some great photos of the crowd at the bowl as well.
One reviewer of this concert tour wrote, ” Marley did more by folding his arms
during ‘No Woman No Cry’ than 40 years of Mick Jagger running around preening.
His voice was so evocative that you literally could cry listening to him sing those
words. When he is joyous, your heart lifts. When he is angry, it is your anger. A true
genius takes you out of yourself and into another plane.
Marley had the ability to make you suspend disbelief.”
This is a interesting crowd shot. A glimpse of Santa Barbara culture in 1976.
Pretty hip looking folks.
Maybe this is one reason he played the Bowl three times….
the atmosphere.
Five days before this show, Bob and the Wailers played at the Roxy in Los Angeles.
That show was recorded by a bootlegger, and later released as “Live at the Roxy”.
That’s what you’re listening to right now.
Rolling Stone magazine ranked it as one of the greatest concerts of all time
and Rastaman Vibration became a Billboard Top 10 Album.
The night before this , they played Oakland, and this was their setlist:
1. “Trenchtown Rock”
2. “Burnin’ And Lootin'”
3. “Them Belly Full (But We Hungry)”
4. “Rebel Music (3 O’Clock Roadblock)”
5. “I Shot The Sheriff”
6. “Want More”
7. “No Woman, No Cry”
8. “Lively Up Yourself”
9. “Roots, Rock, Reggae”
10. “Positive Vibration”
11. “Get Up, Stand Up” -> “No More Trouble” -> “War” -> “No More Trouble” ->
“Get Up, Stand Up”
At this same show was a professional photographer named Scott Price.
If you would like to buy some great prints of his photos of Bob Marley,
you can find Scott at the Santa Barbara Sunday Art show on Cabrillo.
Bob Marley and the Wailers played at the Santa Barbara Bowl two more times after this, in
1978 and 1979. He is revered the world over, both as the defining figure of Jamaican music
and as a spiritual leader. His wife Rita carries on his work as she sees fit, and his sons
Damian “Jr. Gong,” Julian, Ziggy, Stephen, Ky-Mani, as well as his daughters, Cedelia and
Sharon, carry on his musical legacy.
He also acted as a willing cultural ambassador for the Jamaican people and the
Rastafarian religion. He remains revered as a prophet by many,
a religious and cultural figurehead by many more.
Judy Mowatt
Santa Barbara is lucky to have had Bob Marley visit us three times,
Terry Remick was lucky to have been at such a historic concert,
and we are lucky she shared her photos with us!
If you would like to buy one of Terry’s photos
Click Here
Thanks for sharing Terry!
