It was music industry custom for top artistes to release live albums during the 1970s. With that in mind, Island Records released Live! by Bob Marley and The Wailers in December 1975, 50 years ago this year.

Comprising songs from Marley’s two shows at the Lyceum Ballroom in London five months earlier, Live! is one of the jewels in the reggae king’s hefty catalogue. It contains classics like No Woman No Cry, Them Belly Full (But We Hungry), and Lively Up Yourself, which are from Natty Dread, his first solo album for Island Records, released in 1974.

The Natty Dread Tour started in Miami, Florida, on June 5, 1975. Marley and The Wailers did one show in Canada before playing Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland, New York, Philadelphia, Connecticut, Boston, San Francisco, Oakland, and Los Angeles. Next stop was the United Kingdom, where the first gigs were at The Lyceum.

Both shows, which had Third World as opening act, attracted the capacity 2,100 fans. Many of them were Jamaican and West Indians who moved to the UK in the 1960s.

David Hinds, who founded Steel Pulse in 1975, attended Marley’s show at The Odeon in his hometown of Birmingham on July 19. He told the Jamaica Observer that the Lyceum shows set the standard for live reggae albums.

“A combination of things made that show so memorable, but I believe the most significant of them is that it was perhaps the first reggae live album to ever be recorded and released on a professional level. Another memorable point, also, is that the whole event saw the birth of Third World. Two incredible performances; the best that money could buy,” said Hinds. “Up until then, I had never heard rock and blues guitar of such a high calibre played in reggae music. It meant a lot to me because the lead guitar instrument is usually the weakest when played in this genre. Another point that was worth remembering was the presentation of the I Three and the effort they gave in regard to appearance and choreography.”

Marley’s wife Rita, Marcia Griffiths and Judy Mowatt comprised the I Three, his harmony group.

Bass player Aston “Familyman” Barrett, drummer Carlton Barrett, guitarist Al Anderson, keyboardist Tyrone Downie, and percussionist Alvin “Seeco” Patterson also played on Live! The album was a must for rock bands at that time. Jimi Hendrix, The Who, Peter Frampton, Deep Purple, Kiss, and The Allman Brothers were some of the artistes who then released well-received in-concert projects.

“The greatest aspect of the Live! album was to see Rastafarian culture on display; advertised to the hilt. It shall be testimony of those of us who witnessed such an electrifying energy unleashed to the world. Jamaica, overnight, became a noteworthy country/island on the map,” said Hinds.

In 1978, Island Records released Babylon By Bus, another live album by Marley, who died in May 1981 at age 36. His 80th birthday was celebrated on February 6.

Universal Music released a three-LP vinyl edition of Live!, along with a digital edition of the album in December 2016.