After leaving the Wailers behind, Bunny Wailer (born Neville Livingston) wasted no time establishing himself as a highly original and visionary singer and songwriter on his own. His solo debut remains one of the most extraordinary albums of the roots period, a complex but instantly attractive and occasionally heartbreaking record that never rises above a whisper in tone but packs as much political and spiritual wallop as the best of Bob Marley's work. Critics have been praising this album for more than 25 years, and they generally (and quite rightly) focus on the quality of such songs as the quietly ferocious "Fighting Against Conviction" (aka "Battering Down Sentence"), the classic repatriation anthem "Dreamland," and the apocalyptic "Amagideon," but the song that pulls you into Bunny Wailer's magical web of mystical Rastafarianism is the first one, in which Wailer recalls being warned by his mother to avoid Rastas ("even the lions fear him") and then describes his eventual conversion, all in a tone of infinite gentleness and sadness at the hardhearted blindness of Babylon. Are there missteps? Maybe one or two: The bluesy "Oppressed Song" never quite gets off the ground, for example. But taken as a whole, Blackheart Man is an astounding achievement by an artist who was, at the time, only at the beginning of what would be a distinguished career. ~ Rick Anderson, All Music Guide
Bunny Wailer (Guitar (Acoustic)), Bob Marley (Vocals (Background)), Harold Butler (Keyboards), Bunny Wailer (Director), Mark West (Horn), Karl Pitterson (Guitar (Acoustic)), Vartan (Reissue Art Director), Bunny Wailer (Drums), Karl Pitterson (Tape Operator), C. Pitterson (Bass), Neville Garrick (Cover Design), Neville Garrick (Percussion), Jeff Willens (Tape Transfer), Peter Tosh (Guitar (Rhythm)), Peter Tosh (Harmonica), Herman Marquis (Horn), Fratter (Guitar), Bunny Wailer (Cover Design), Bunny Wailer (Bongos), Tommy McCook (Horn), Karl Pitterson (Sounds), Guy Bidmead (Mixing), Bernard Touter Harvey (Keyboards), Carlton "Carlie" Barrett (Funde Drum), Carlton "Carlie" Barrett (Keyboards), Karl Pitterson (Engineer), Bunny Wailer (Vocals (Background)), Tommy McCook (Horn Arrangements), Bunny Wailer (Sounds), Robbie Shakespeare (Bass), Bunny Wailer (Arranger), Bunny Wailer (Voices), C. Walker (Guitar (Acoustic)), Gavin Lurssen (Mastering), Bunny Wailer (Producer), Bunny Wailer (Percussion), Mike Murray (Guitar (Rhythm)), Monique McGuffin (Reissue Production Coordination), Carl Peterson (Editing), Carl Peterson (Mixing), Carl Peterson (Engineer), Peter Tosh (Guitar), Tommy McCook (Flute), Peter Tosh (Melodica), Tyrone Downie (Sound Effects), Bunny Wailer (Guitar), Tyrone Downie (Keyboards), Karl Pitterson (Mixing), Bunny Wailer (Bass), C. Pitterson (Sound Effects), Willy Pep (Bongos), Neville Garrick (Cover Art), Touter (Keyboards), China (Guitar), Tommy McCook (Saxophone), Aston Barrett (Guitar), Carlton "Carlie" Barrett (Guitar (Rhythm)), Ryan Null (Reissue Coordination), Bunny Wailer (Funde Drum), Peter Tosh (Vocals (Background)), Bobby Ellis (Horn), Carlton "Carlie" Barrett (Drums), Chris Blackwell (Mixing), Bunny Wailer (Vocals), Eric Frater (Guitar), Aston Barrett (Keyboards), Aston Barrett (Guitar (Rhythm)), Earl "Chinna" Smith (Guitar), Aston Barrett (Bass), Larry McDonald (Conga), Bunny Wailer (Timbales), Dirty Harry Hall (Horn), Bunny Wailer (Sound Effects), Neville Garrick (Photography), Bunny Wailer (Jaw Harp), Karl Pitterson (Tape Editor), C. Pitterson (Guitar (Acoustic)), Dana Smart (Reissue Supervisor), Bunny Wailer (Repeater), W. Wright (Keyboards)
Blackheart Man is the first solo album by Bunny Wailer, originally released on 8 September 1976, in Jamaica on Solomonic Records and internationally on Island Records.[4] The songs on the album are regarded as the finest written by Bunny Wailer, and explore themes such as repatriation ("Dreamland"), and his arrest for marijuana possession ("Fighting Against Conviction", originally titled "Battering Down Sentence").[5] The album features some of Jamaica's leading musicians and also contributions from Bob Marley and Peter Tosh of The Wailers on backing vocals, and the Wailers rhythm section of Carlton and Aston Barrett on some of the tracks.[5][4] The high quality of the songs and musicians makes Blackheart Man one of the greatest reggae albums of all times.[2].
The origins of the album title goes back to Wailer's childhood in the Jamaican countryside, where he grew up in the same little village as his friend Bob Marley. Wailer said:
“
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.[2]
”
Bunny Wailer himself considers Blackheart Man to be his best solo album. As he told Jamaican newspaper the Daily Gleaner in June 2009:
“
I will make good albums, yes, for I have made good albums - Liberation, Protest, Struggle, My Father's House, Rock and Groove. All them album is really good album - Marketplace. But 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 exhibits.[6]
The album has been released on compact disc several times. First in 1989 on Mango Records, then again in 2002 on Island in a remastered edition.[4]. In 2009 a newly remastered reissue is planned. This edition will—like the previous—not contain any bonus tracks, but some of the songs will be longer than on the original release as dub tracks have been added.[6]
