My back is all tweaky but I'm here with the promised anniversary goodies.
We've got an acute case of the Iries today, with a two-hours-and-change voyage into the art of Reggae constructed live onstage by perhaps that music's greatest living practitioner.
This one was recorded in one of the Reggae capitals of the world, sometimes referred to as Rasta Cruz.
I put it on to work on it yesterday and it went by so fast. This is always a sign of a great tape.
Really a 126-minute religious liturgy disguised as a concert, by the time Bunny Wailer sends everyone home it's a decent bet that most of their feet are in no way making contact with the ground.
The last remaining original Wailer, Mr. Livingston presumes this crowd is down to skank all night and comes through with a blistering set where parts really do sound like he is a High Priest giving a sacred service. A very high priest.
He is backed by the absolutely legendary Mystic Revealers, vocal group The Psalms, and some sizzling horns whose trumpet section's identities eluded me.
Did I mention it's a near-pristine DAT board capture? You know me, I try to supply the highest quality stuff here, but the SQ definitely matches the ionospheric level of the music with this one.
Bunny Wailer & The Solomonic Reggaestra
Civic Auditorium
Santa Cruz, California USA
11.19.1995
01 Mystic Revealers - unidentified opening instrumental
02 Mystic Revealers/Psalms - Satta Massagana
03 Mystic Revealers/Psalms - Hard to Confess
04 Mystic Revealers/Psalms - Joy In the Morning
05 Rocker Billy introduces Bunny/Bunny's opening words
06 Old Dragon
07 Rastaman/Blackheart Man
08 Armagideon
09 Fighting Against Conviction
10 Dreamland
11 Love Fire
12 Rise & Shine
13 Liberation
14 Serious Thing
15 Bunny's Jesus speech/Bald Head Jesus
16 Crazy Baldheads
17 No Woman No Cry
18 Rockers
19 Rock-n-Groove
20 Dance Rock
21 Rootsman Skankin'
22 Cool Runnings
23 Rule Dance Hall
24 Gumption
25 Warrior
26 Never Grow Old
27 Sound Clash
28 Keep On Movin'
Total time: 2:06:40
disc break goes after Track 14
Bunny Wailer (Neville Livingston) - vocals
Billy "Mystic" Wilmot - guitar & vocals
Leroy "Lion" Edwards - bass
Nicholas "Drummie" Henry - drums
Steve Davis - guitar & vocals
The Psalms (Randall Thaxter, Maurice Roberts & Hopeton Thaxter) - vocals
Pierre Diaz - saxophones & trombone
Robert “Patch” Walters - keyboards
unidentified trumpet section
Rocker Billy - MC
sounds like a DAT straight from the desk
track markers adjusted and 1/10th-of-a-second gaps at the start of tracks removed by EN, November 2020
654 MB FLAC/November 2020 archive link
654 MB FLAC/November 2020 archive link
I altered the track markers to mostly start with music, and also removed these pesky 1/10th-of-a-second gaps that were present at the beginning of each track, so this one should be in the sort of tip-top shape befitting a bootleg of such necessary deliciousness.
I shall once again return in 24 with the third of these consecutives, really as divergent a trifecta as you're gonna get on a music blog if you ask me.
But don't you eschew this heady brew of Rasta wisdom coming straight at you from 25 years ago tonight. It's Bunny in the bank!--J.
