‘Bob Marley and The Wailers: The Capitol Session ’73’ is now streaming exclusively on The Coda Collection. Meticulously restored and long believed lost, the new film features a never-before-seen studio session with 12 performances by the legendary band, filmed and recorded live at Capitol Studios in Hollywood, California. Coinciding with the arrival of the film, Tuff Gong/Mercury Studios have released ‘The Capitol Session ’73’ in CD/DVD, CD, 2LP colored vinyl, and digital audio formats today, which are available now HERE.
‘Bob Marley and The Wailers: The Capitol Session ’73’ can be streamed in-full now HERE via The Coda Collection, and the group’s performance of “Slave Driver” from the session is available to watch on Bob Marley’s official YouTube channel HERE.
Following a pair of successful concerts in San Francisco, Bob Marley and the Wailers headed to LA for a closed-door session at Capitol Studios, recorded by producer Denny Cordell on October 24, 1973. Cordell had previously released Bob Marley and the Wailers’ first U.S. single on his and Leon Russell’s Shelter Records in 1971, and he was also instrumental in the group’s signing to Island Records.
Featuring the Wailers lineup of Peter Tosh, Joe Higgs, Aston Barrett, Carlton Barrett, and Earl “Wya” Lindo, the performance showcases the reggae pioneers on the brink of global stardom. The Capitol session followed the band’s 1973 release of two acclaimed albums on Island within six months — ‘Catch a Fire’ and ‘Burnin’’ — and successful tours in the U.S. and UK.
Shot on four cameras and originally mixed live, the intimate studio performance has been restored and remastered for the new releases. The footage from the session was recovered in a 20-year search of archives and storage units across the globe. ‘Bob Marley and The Wailers: The Capitol Session ’73’ is directed by Martin Disney and produced by Denny Cordell’s son, Barney Cordell.
Director Martin Disney says, “What makes the ‘Capitol Session ’73’ stand out is that Bob Marley and the Wailers can really relax. They’ve got great sound. They’ve got the equipment that they know if anything goes wrong, it’s fine. It’s going to be fixed. They’ve got a really lovely, appreciative, little audience. All the ingredients for just a great afternoon doing what they loved. And it shows. I mean, it isn’t like anything else.”
Producer Barney Cordell says, “From seeing a lot and playing (as in football and sandcastles!) a lot with Bob Marley and the Wailers as an 8-year-old boy at Dad’s house in Malibu — not knowing who (or caring who!) these exotic guys with cool hats were — to eventually, 30 years later, discovering why they were there and finding and bringing this incredible footage to the world has been an extraordinary, challenging and ultimately unbelievably fulfilling journey. When I started working in A&R at Island my father always said to me, ‘film and photograph EVERYTHING.’ I know it’s different now, but I guess he had the right idea!”
Bob Marley & The Wailers – The Capitol Sessions ’73 Setlist
1. You Can’t Blame the Youth
2. Slave Driver
3. Burnin’ and Lootin’
4. Rastaman Chant
5. Duppy Conqueror
6. Midnight Raver
7. Put It On
8. Stop That Train
9. Kinky Reggae
10. Stir It Up
11. No More Trouble
12. Get Up Stand Up
