Burning Spear - Marcus Garvey (1975)

Winston Rodney OD (born 1 March 1945), better known by the stage name Burning Spear, is a Jamaican roots reggaevocalist and musician. Burning Spear is a Rastafarian and one of the most influential and long-standing roots artists to emerge from the 1970s


Marcus Garvey is the third album by the reggae group Burning Spear, released in 1975 on Island Records, ILPS 9377. The album is named after the Jamaican National Hero and Rastafari movement prophet Marcus Garvey. A dub version of it was released four months later as Garvey's Ghost.

This was the first album by the group recorded for Island Records, whose founder Chris Blackwell had been instrumental in breaking Jamaican reggae artists Jimmy Cliff, Toots and the Maytals, and Bob Marley to an international audience. It was produced by Lawrence Lindo, better known by his handle taken from the assassin of Lee Harvey Oswald, Jack Ruby. Apparently, upon their first meeting, Lindo and vocalist Winston Rodney realized the opening track to this album, "Marcus Garvey." The backing musicians, whom Lindo named the Black Disciples, had been assembled from the Soul Syndicate and the Wailers.
On July 27, 2010, this album was remastered and released by Universal's Hip-O Records reissue imprint in tandem with the dub version on one compact disc.

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


Track listing

All tracks written by Winston Rodney and Phillip Fullwood except as indicated.
"Marcus Garvey" — 3:27
"Slavery Days" — 3:34
"The Invasion" (W. Rodney, C. Paisley, P. Fullwood) — 3:22
"Live Good" (Marcus Rodney, Mackba Rodney, Winston Rodney) — 3:14
"Give Me" (W. Rodney) — 3:11
"Old Marcus Garvey" — 4:03
"Tradition" (D. Hines, R. Willington, W. Rodney) — 3:30
"Jordan River" (W. Rodney, M. Lawrence, P. Fullwood) — 3:00
"Red, Gold & Green" (A. Folkes, W. Rodney, P. Fullwood) — 3:14
"Resting Place" (W. Rodney) — 3:10

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