Having quit The Wailers and Island Records (he would frequently call the label boss Chris Blackwell, “Chris Whiteworst”), Tosh delivered Legalize It in 1976.
The album was less politically focused than Tosh’s later work, but listeners loved his exuberance – and the cover image of him in a marijuana field.
The album charted at #54 in the UK, staking Tosh’s claim to Marley‘s place atop reggae’s emerging pantheon.
The following year, Equal Rights, focussed even more sharply on the iniquity that underpinned Jamaican society.
“Everyone is crying out for peace”, he reported on the title track, “none is crying out for justice”.
But however overt Tosh’s message, it never overpowered the music; Roots reggae at its best – all diamond-hard rhythms and immaculate harmonies.
Peter Tosh was murdered on 11 September 1987.
Related Posts
Dwight Twilley Band Raised in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Twilley met 15-year-old Phil Seymour at a screening of A Hard Day's Night in 1968. They made…
Bilbo Baggins Formed in Edinburgh in November 1972, Bilbo Baggins may have suffered through their connection to The Bay City Rollers (Tam…
Black Uhuru Released soon after Bob Marley's death, Red seemed a tailor-made pitch for Black Uhuru as reggae's next global superstars. Here was roots…
Chilli Willi & The Red Hot Peppers In Chilli Willi and the Red Hot Peppers, Pub Rock revealed its hippie roots. Martin Stone, once the guitar lynchpin in much-touted…
Shoes Shoes (from Zion, Illinois) recorded and pressed their first album, One In Versailles (Un Dans Versaille), in 1974. The title referred to…
Pilot Singer/bassist David Paton spent his early years in Leith (Edinburgh) and then moved to the tough district of Inch, later…
Carly Simon Carly Simon is the daughter of Richard L Simon, the co-founder of one of the largest American publishing companies, Simon…
Hall & Oates Philadelphia soulboys Daryl Hall (born Daryl Franklin Hohl) and John William Oates first met at the Adelphi Ballroom in Philadelphia…
