Photo © Neville Garrick

BlackHeart Man is Bunny Wailer's first solo album. Recorded in 1975, it regroupe songs recorded years ago like Dreamland which originaly released from Upsetter Record (Lee Perry) in 1971, Reincarnated Soul and Oppressed Song which were to be in the second Wailers's album Burnin' these songs were recorded in April 1973, This Train a traditional song which has been recorded several times by the Wailers in different versions and Bide Up recorded in 1972, it re-voiced after with Big Youth.

The other tracks recorded in August 1975, in this album the Wailers are present there is Peter Tosh in guitar, Aston & Carlton Barrett in drum and bass, Tyrone Downie in Keyboard; the only presence of Bob Marley is in Dreamland (Backing Vocal). There is a contributions of many musicians such as Harold Buttler in keyboard, Bobby Ellis, Dirty Harry, Herman Marquis in Trumpet, Alto Sax, Tenor Sax, Tommy McCook in Tenor Sax and Flute. One day, Bob Marley, Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer stood under a tree outside the Harry J studio talking about Al Anderson (Bob and Peter's guitarist), Bunny claimed that Al was a spy sent by Chris Blackwell to drive the division of the Wailers and he refused to let him play on the sessions because he didn't want to sound like Marley's so they ask Earl "Chinna" Smith to play. During the sessions Marley was upset and storming around Hope Road when some of the band enthused for Bunny's Album, he was really jealous.

There was a problem during the session which was money, Clive "Randy's" Chin who participated to the record had no money to finish it and went over time on the session, Randy's studio still Ok but he had relationship going with Harry'j and he'd given more studio time but Carly make Clive understand that there is other persons who are waiting when Bunny arrived and made him very uncomfortable. Karl Pitterson who was the engineer of Aquarius studio took the tapes to London for the definitive mix.

He points out that he never did a tour for BlackHeart Man in 1976 and he did not perform the songs until the Youth Consciousness concert at the National Stadium in 1982; and he did not deliver them live outside Jamaica until 12 years after the initial release.

During an interview Bunny Wailer explained the title "Well, the Blackheart Man is a very serious fable; when we were kids, we all grew up hearing about this Blackheart Man, and we were told that you had to be careful of strangers who might walk up to you and invite you into a situation, or you might be found in the lonely countryside, or in the gullies, or anywhere that this individual might have shown up, and then he would take your heart out. So it brought fear on all the youths of that time when they heard the name, Blackheart Man. So I did the album based on my experiences", for him it's his best ever album " Blackheart Man is really an exceptional album, as to the valuation of the message and the amount of people who have received that message and have made themselves better people through them lives within the spiritual and cultural settings that the Blackheart Man exhibit".

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