Bob Marley and The Wailers - live in New York, 1978

In a recent blog on the punk rock bands, I mentioned my first visit to New York in 1977. Since then I have been back there on many occasions, most recently in the late summer of 2019, for my epic 50th anniversary weekend in Woodstock country.

The reason I am so fond of New York is there is always plenty of live music to enjoy. The best musicians on the planet - the ones playing on all your records - are either in New York or LA. Any night of the week you can see them playing in small clubs. If I had to choose one city to live in, other than where I live now, New York would be it.  

The first big live concert I saw there was in the summer of 1978, when I returned from my home in the UK to stay with a friend and her family in Long Island. One day, itching to get out of the suburbs and looking through the newspaper, I saw an advert for a concert at Madison Square Garden - Bob Marley & The Wailers, supported by Stanley Clarke. 

Too good to miss, I thought, so I got the train into the city and headed for The Garden.

My ticket

I wasn't so familiar with how to get about the city in those days. As I mentioned in the punk story, New York in the 70s was not a safe place. The city was on its knees financially, virtually bankrupt. There were regular blackouts and street crime was commonplace. 

I once saw a guy chasing his girl down the street in broad daylight brandishing a kitchen knife. She ran out in front of a police car (the only way to get them to stop in some neighbourhoods) and the guy walked back past me with the knife tucked under his shirt. Everyone else just carried on as if this was an everyday occurrence. 

There was a group of vigilantes - the Guardian Angels - policing the subway so that folks could travel safely. On one occasion in Manhattan, I had made the rookie mistake of getting on the wrong subway train - the famous 'A' Train that - as the song says - takes you to 125th Street in Harlem. 

The New York subway has express trains that skip several stops and the A train is one of them. I got on it downtown and then it sailed right past my stop. When it arrived at 125th St, I stepped off the train and was greeted with a scene straight out of the Velvet Underground's I'm Waiting For The Man.

"Hey white boy, what you doin' uptown?"

It was comical really. I didn't feel at all threatened. It was obviously a routine situation for these Harlem drug dealers. I politely declined the goods on offer and crossed the platform without fuss.

On the night of the Bob Marley concert I had no such issues, because the Long Island Railroad terminates at Penn Station, which is right where Madison Square Garden is located. 

Once inside, I was keen to hear Stanley Clarke slap that bass. I was a jazz rock fan and Stan was The Man. He had crossed over with the rock audience at this time, with his albums School Days and Journey To Love. But the Bob Marley crowd at The Garden were not much interested and became restless during his set. 

I remember Clarke said something from the stage like, "I know you're not here to listen to this...we won't take too much more of your time...here's one called School Days..."

Here's a clip of the Stanley Clarke Band from Montreux in 1977 which includes his more well-known tracks like Silly Putty and School Days https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFdfD4-jm7M

Bob Marley & The Wailers were one of the top acts in the world at this point. It was a privilege to have witnessed them in such an auspicious venue. The crowd were in good spirits - there was a constant waft of dope smoke -  and the concert seemed to get better as it went along. 

The 1978 US tour was promoting the latest album Kaya. I had the record, so I was familiar with the new material as well as recent classics such as Exodus, Get Up Stand Up and No Woman No Cry.

A review of Bob Marley at MSG

Bob and The Wailers started the show with Positive Vibration and they played several other tracks from the Rastaman Vibration album, one of my favourites, including Crazy Baldhead and War.

Reviews of the tour from the time reflect the fact that in America reggae was still considered black people's music. While we in England drew no racial distinction - in that white kids enjoyed reggae too - in the US white kids were getting their kicks mostly from Aerosmith, Fleetwood Mac, Peter Frampton and Foghat. 

Make no mistake, this was Bob Marley at the peak of his powers. You can hear what the 1978 band sounded like on the live album Babylon By Bus.

After the concert, I bought the tour t-shirt, which might have been a mistake since it featured a picture on the back of Bob smoking a massive bifter. I put the shirt down the wash chute back at the family house in Long Island. 

Second time I saw them was at Crystal Palace, 1980

It didn't come back for days. I went down to the den room and it was draped on the back of a chair - Bob in all his Rastaman glory, puffing on a spliff. I took that as a message of disapproval. A youthful indiscretion on my part. I'm sure my parents had the same reaction when I took it home.

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I've pasted here some contemporary clips of Bob Marley to give you a flavour of the times.

1978 rehearsal and interview footage
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9I11LJcy_Y

'I Shot The Sheriff' live, 1978
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p80TP8kUI2A

Satisfy My Soul, BBC Top of the Pops, 1978
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aws_3k-GDKM

Rebel Music, live, 1978
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djqj50ilx7M

Natty Dread - One Love Peace Concert, Jamaica 1978
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDUJ2tpsnu8

Audio of the Madison Square Garden show, June 17th 1978
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NR1STewPNMQ