Independence from Britain. Today, the Jamaica Observer’s Entertainment section reflects on the influence Jamaican pop culture has had on that country in REGGAE BRITANNIA, a weekly feature leading up to the Golden Jubilee.

BOB Marley’s star was rising when he and his Wailers band arrived in England for a handful of shows in July 1975. Two of them were scheduled for the Lyceum Theatre in London.

Those shows took place on July 17 and 18, the second of which was recorded for a live album released four months after the triumphant performances. They capped a successful tour for Marley who was promoting Natty Dread, his third album for Island Records.

Marley had kicked off the tour in June, opening in Toronto, Canada. He moved on to the United States where he played Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland, Ohio, Philadelphia, New York, and Boston.

From all reports, the shows were well received, setting the stage for the gigs in England which would be held in Birmingham, Manchester and London. Cities with growing populations of Caribbean heritage.

Marley’s support in Britain transcended race. Whites and blacks had warmed to his music since 1973 when, as a member of the Wailers, he recorded the Catch a Fire and Burnin’ albums for Island.

Late that year, core members Peter Tosh and Bunny ‘Wailer’ Livingston left the group. Marley, backed by a relatively young band, crafted Natty Dread which had critics in Europe and the US raving.

It was agreed that the second of the Lyceum shows would be made into a live album, which was a popular format during the 1970s. Opening for Marley on the British shows was a young band called Third World which had just signed to Island.

Ibo Cooper, Third World’s keyboardist, told the Jamaica Observer in a 2003 interview that the other shows took place at the Academy in Birmingham and Hard Rock Café in Manchester. Even though Marley was approaching superstar status, Cooper says not even he could escape the dark side of British society.

“There was the business of walking into the dressing room for the soundcheck and the place was plastered with posters marked ‘keep Britain white’,” Cooper recalled. “It was frightening.”

Marley and the Wailers were not intimidated, delivering two magnificent sets on sold-out nights. They performed favourites like Trench Town Rock, Burnin’, Concrete Jungle, Lively Up Yourself and a hymnlike rendition of No Woman No Cry.

Cooper has no doubt what was the high point of the shows.

“Is the first time mi hear No Woman No Cry. Believe mi, it was very, very electric,” he said.

The bigwigs at Island also felt the Lyceum surge and released Live! in November. The lead single was No Woman No Cry which cracked the British Top 40 and gave Marley his first international chart hit.

Within a year, Third World was opening for Marley again but under more stressful circumstances at the Smile Jamaica concert in Kingston. That show took place December 5, 1976, two days after he was shot by gunmen during rehearsals at his Hope Road home in St Andrew.

The incident forced Marley into exile, first to the Bahamas and then back to England where he recorded the epic Exodus and easy-listening Kaya albums.