After the release of Arab's Oil Weapon on his Solomonic label Bunny decided it was time to go about recording his debut solo album.

He started working on new songs, composing new tracks and looking at ways to re-work older tracks. Bunny was now in charge of his own destiny, he could release what he wanted. His own solo album allowed him control of his creativity, allowing him to showcase his talents as producer, composer, arranger and performer.

Work on the album began in mid 1975 though the album was stalled for a while as Bunny was still negotiationg with Island on the terms of his contract and for release.

1975 was a touchy year with the Wailers and Blackwell. Peter abandoned him totally whilst Bob and Bunny both had their turmoils with him that year.

Aquarius Studio's at Halfway Tree in Jamaica became Bunny's home, spending day and night in the studio working on tracks for his yet to be titled debut album. Things were running smoothly, Bunny had been working hard and the result of these sessions bore a number of fresh ideas. After the writing of the album was complete, it was time to enlist the help of musicians to put the album together. Bunny wanted to have the finest musicians in Jamaica participate on the album. He wanted it to be a spectacular album and the personnel that he enlisted reads like an A to Z of Jamaican musicians. Despite his split from the Wailers, Bunny was still good friends with Peter and Bob, after all they were childhood friends and worked their way through the Kingston ghettos as brothers. Both Peter and Bob agreed to participate on the album, a major coup for Bunny. He then set about his search for artists to play drum and bass. Who else could Bunny turn too other than the Barrett brothers. Carly and Fams WERE drum and bass, what album would be complete without their input. Bunny continued to resurrect the Wailers line up by reaching out to Tyrone Downie and asking him to play keyboards, to which Tyrone agreed. The album was fast becoming a Wailers affair, just like the old times.

More Wailers connections followed. Earl 'Chinna' Smith soon climbed on board as did Bob's art director and part time percussionist Neville Garrick. Robbie Shakespeare who had played bass on Concrete Jungle and Willy Pep of So Jah Seh fame continued the Wailers input. Horns were provided by the number one hornsman on the Island Tommy McCook, with whom the Wailers had worked with during their Studio One tenure. Bunny had finished his recruiting and he had put together a star studded line-up. Bunny was now to be backed by the cream of Jamaican talent and they went into the studio's to start laying the tracks.

Bob and Peter sat in on a number of the recordings sessions, adding input and ideas. The album was really starting to take shape.

Bob, Peter and Bunny were approached to reform the Wailers for one last concert, at the Dream concert to be held in October, a concert co-hosted by the Jamaican government's National Sports Ltd. agency and Nasaba Promotions of New York. Stevie Wonder was also on the bill to perform. The Wailers agreed and so recording for Bunny's album was put on hold so the band could rehearse for the forthcoming concert. Many hours were put in rehearsing for the show. On October 4th the Wailers took the stage to perform in front of 20,000 adoring fans. Bunny had the chance to take lead on two tracks; Battering Down Sentence and Dreamland. Bunny's tracks went down a storm as did the Wailers set. The Wailers left the stage to a standing ovation. Bob would later return in the evening to duet with Stevie Wonder on I Shot The Sheriff.

In early 1976 recording sessions were back under way again, they were long and gruelling but bore fruit. With recording for the album complete Bunny had to sit down and work out the final tracklisting, eventually deciding on the ten tracks that would grace the album. He then set about overdubbing the tracks and putting the necessary finishing touches to the album.

Bunny decided upon a title for the album. The track 'Blackheart Man' would be the title for the album. The album was a mixture of new and original ideas and recordings and re-workings and adapting older Wailers tracks. Thus making for a wonderful combination. 5 new tracks and 5 re-workings. Finally Bunny was ready for the album to be released. Though not before Neville Garrick put the finishing touches to the artwork for the album. Neville was responsible for colouring Bob, Peter and Bunny's music over the years. The art director from UCLA worked closely with all 3 creating some of the most powerful album covers in history.Blackheart Man album features what appears to be a wooden carving of Bunny, spliff perched on his lip and a lion in the middle of his forehead, with his locks flowing, a drawn picture of Haile Selassie sits nexts to Bunny's locks. The imagery enhancing his image as a mystic man.

The albums opening track, Blackheart Man was the title track of the album. Bunny compares the socially outcast Rastaman to the mythical blackheart man of Jamaican folklore, closing with he statement "now it's the blackheart man children, who's become the wonder of the city." One of Bunny's best ever recordings, a fantastic way to open the album.

The blackheart man is a bogeyman about whom their mothers in Jamaica still warn their children. Rastaman were often seen as blackheart men.

The blackheart man lives in perpetual darkness. He carries night with him like a robe draped about his head. Flowing from it are tangled snake-finger locks, coiled about like the hissing, viperous mane of Medusa. A stranger to all he lives in the gullies (open drains) of the city and the lonely parts of the country, enticing children with candy who dare to stray from their mothers and then take them away. He consumes them, limb by limb, or presents them to Satan as slaves. Even lions fear him.

The album continues with Battering Down Sentence, recorded in 1974 released on his Solomonic label as a 45 that same year. The track is also known as Fighting Against Conviction. Bunny re-tells the story of his imprisonment in 1967 for having herb in his possession. A fantastic punchy rhythm, that bounces along. Bunny claims that he finds himself "growing in an environment where finding food is just as hard as paying the rent". Whilst also re-telling his life story about being from a family of ten and raised in the ghetto, hustlings the only education he knows. Peter provides backing vocals and rhythm guitar. Towards the end iof the song Bunny Bunny recounts his court ordeal and how he found himself in the dungeons wondering who will take care of his family. A massive hit in Jamaica.

The Opressed Song song was originally recorded during the sessions for the Wailers' Burnin' album, but Chris Blackwell decided it did not fit in with the scheme of the album and so was left out from the final running order. A demo of the track from 1973 was issued on the re-mastered Burnin' album issued by Island/Universal in June 2001. This re-cut keeps the same feel as the original cut.

Again the acoustic guitar is featured in the intro. A slow looping rhythm, with Peter and Chinna on lead guitar. Oppression is the poor mans choice. His burdens so heavy, he some how bears, as for his seed, theres only one who cares. Theres no rest in the west, so to the east he goes. The song closes with a slightly different ending to the original recording with Bunny being more vocal.

Peter and Chinna share the lead guitar roles on Fig Tree. A fantastic original track recorded in 1975 and released as a single on his Solomonic label. A fig tree is a peace tree, part of the Rasta theory of living in peace not war. "Never never knew that the time would come where ever fig must find where he does come from".

A slow, sweeping, glorious rhythm featuring a full horn section. "I've been rebuked and I've been scorn" claims Bunny before pleading that we all "live in love and peace and harmony and say we are free". Bunny provides his own backing vocals (as he does on every track on the album). "I long to be from all misery".

Dreamland is a true classsic from the pen of Bunny, the original version was laid at Studio One in 1966, and included on the 'Marley, Tosh, Livingstone...' album. It was re-recorded for Lee Perry in 1970, and issued in a couple of differing mixes. Singing about a better time for black people in a dreamland, Africa. The natural life offered by honey from the bees and breakfast from the trees. The liner notes suggest that Bob, Peter and Bunny supply backing vocals, making this the last ever studio recording to feature all three original Wailers. However it is debatable as to whether Bob adds any vocal input on the track, Bunny and Peter can definately be heard, but Bob is not decipherable. Wailers sound engineer Karl Pitterson provides the basslines whilst Tyrone provides the glorious keyboard and synth licks. A true classic and stand out track.

The classics continue with Rastaman. The Rastaman has the mark of a nazarene. "Warning out of time and out of age". Willy Pep plays bongos whilst Peter plays the melodica. Them kill Lumumba but them can't kill the rastaman at all. Bunn sings that the Rastaman carries a prophetical message and that Rasta come from zion and Rastaman a lion. Bunny goes through a history lession, mentioning various names such as Jerrimiah, Isiah and Moses. The Rastaman is a righteous upfull man. Bunny declares that there would be "7 years of years of famine for 7 of years of plenty". "It was Elijah who prayed that it did not rain, he prayed and the rains came again. It was Joshua who commanded the sun to stand still, he did that according to his masters will". Wonderful imagery created by Bunny.

Originally recorded in 1973 whilst Bunny was still a part of the Wailers. Reincarnated Souls was scheduled to be included on the Wailers second Island album, in fact this was to be the title of the album. However when Bunny decided to quit the band due to his lack of touring the title was changed to Burnin'. The track was originally released on the B side of Concrete Jungle. Bunny decided to slightly re-work the track and release it on his own album. The version gracing the album is pretty much the same as the 45 released some 3 years earlier.

The acoustic guitar featured on the original is missing from this version. "He who is weary let him come hither, he who has eyes to see let him look yonder". Bunny exhalts that "it's the age of Aquarius", explaining that we are all reincarnated souls.

An Astonishing 6 minute epic, Armagideon features an awesome rhythm, with majestic horn fanfares, adding up to one of reggae musics finest ever releases. Considered by many to be Bunny's best ever track and one of the finest in musical history. " We've got wars and rumours of wars", "Nations fighting against nation". These words still ringing so true in todays world. It's the armigideon taking place in a iration. "Light fighting against darkness, righteousness against evil, right battling against wrong, here comes bondage struggling for freedom". Bunny tells his bredren to have have patience and to remember the call of redemption.

Infectious rhyhtm with some unique creative voices from Bunny. The track features some of Bunny's famous creative voices, shrieks and yells.

Carly and Fams supply drum and bass, Tyrone on keyboards, Peter and Chinna on guitars and Willy Pep on bongo's give the track a real Wailers feel. The instrumental version was released on Bunny's Solomonic label in 1978 as Anti-Apartheid.

Bide Up originally appeared on two seperate Bunny Wailer singles in 1975, before appearing on the album the following year. Bide Up features an airy falsetto. Claiming listeners to "bide up with reason, humble thyself and I'll protect thee". "No more crying shedding tears like rain, for the master has come back, gathering all his flock" Bunny emploring the youth to bide up with reason. A short snappy uplifting track. "We shall walk and not look back, were living examples cause were black". Harmonica supplied by Peter whilst Bunny plays the harp.

An 8 and a half minute epic re-cut of This Train closes the album. This is an old traditional song that was originally recorded by the Wailers in 1969 for Ted Pounder. The Wailers re-cut this for their own Wail'N Soul'M label in 1968. Featuring creative train station noises from Bunny. Slow and laborish rhythm. The wailing bluesy harmonica is provided by Peter. A slow spiritual track to close out the album. This train don't carry no backsliders, it only carries Jah children. Bunny's acoustic guitar can be heard throughout. An acoustic version of this song was recorded in 1966 featuring Bunny and Peter. Neville Garrick helps out with the percussion. The pace picks up with two minutes left, giving it a more uptempo feel and different to the previous recordings.

When Blackheart Man was released, it was hailed as an instant classic. Blackheart Man is undoubtedly Bunny's best ever album. An astounding collection, featuring re-workings of older tracks and fresh material of exceptional quality. The album is rightly regarded as one of the finest reggae works of all time, and still retains the impact it originally had all these years later.