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THE year 1979 was a momentous one, as Rodney took a leading role in the ‘‘seminal Rockers’’ movie; his a cappella performance of “Jah No Dead” was one of the film’s stand-out moments.
The singer had appeared at the inaugural Reggae Sunsplash the year before, and was invited back again that year, in 1980, and he appeared regularly throughout the rest of the festival’s history.
His relationship with the Island label came to an end and Spear, too, folded with its final release of Burning Spear’s own “Nyah Keith.”
As the new decade dawned, Rodney launched the Burning Spear label, and signed it to the EMI label. But the singer hadn’t cut all ties with his past and he recorded his new album, Hail H.I.M., at Bob Marley’s Tuff Gong studio with Black Disciple and Family Man Barrett co-produce it.
Sylvan Morris was again engaged to remix a dub version. These five studio albums, starting with Marcus Garvey, remain a seminal canon of dread roots, a string of recordings so strong that no other artist in the field has equalled them. They remain a fiery legacy, not just of the artist, but of the time.
In 1982, Rodney inked a deal with the Heartbeat label in the US, and recorded his debut album for them, ‘‘Farover’’. The album featured a new backing group, the Burning Band, and it was apparent that the artist was now entering a new musical era. While ‘‘Farover’’ remained suitably steeped in roots, for the first time Rodney was beginning to seriously explore non- cultural themes, a shift the “She’s Mine” single drove home.
The Fittest of the Fittest continued down this path the following year, but there was more sparkle found on 1985’s Resistance, which was nominated for a Grammy.
That was Burning Spears final album for Heartbeat and Rodney next signed a deal with the independent Slash label. His debut for them, People of the World, earned another Grammy nomination.
Its follow-up, 1988’s Mistress Music, suffered from poor production, but better was the Live in Paris: Zenith album recorded at a show in May and released the same year.
Running through a set of greatest hits, the album garnered another Grammy nomination, but saw the end of the Burning Band, which dissolved upon the completion of Burning Spear’s European tour.
Two years later, Rodney was back with a new backing group and incredibly re-signed to Island, opening his account for them with Mek We Dweet.
By now, Burning Spear was recording the kind of consumer friendly roots Island had always wanted. The album, while a simmering blend of jams and jazz, pop, and reggae lite, was far removed from the artist’s seething early work for the label.
However, Rodney’s stage work remained ferocious and American audiences were treated to some stunning live performances at the Sunsplash U.S. shows.
Odd as it may sound, the artist was asked for a track for Deadicated: A Tribute to the Grateful Dead, a Grateful Dead tribute album. His version of “Estimated Prophet” was less a tribute to the kings of psychedelic jams, than a simmering tribute to classic roots.
That album appeared in 1991, the same year as Burning Spear’s own Jah Kingdom, which while as light as its predecessor, contains a remarkable hypnotic atmosphere. After its release, Rodney once again severed his ties with Island and moved back to the Heartbeat label. 1993’s The World Should Know, another Grammy-nominated album, inaugurated the new partnership and was cemented the following year with Love and Peace: Live 1994.
The live album features some of Rodney’s most ferocious recordings in years, and it was now on-stage that the artist was arguably delivering his best work. Burning Spear toured constantly, and successfully, across the decade, to the detriment of recording time.
Still, the artist continued to release albums on a biannual basis, beginning with Rasta Business in 1995, it too earned a Grammy nomination. As did “Appointment with His Majesty”, which saw Rodney experimenting with a distinctly folky sound. However, always a bridesmaid but never a bride, it seemed the artist was destined to be the eternal also-ran at the Grammys. That changed in 1999 when Calling Rastafari finally garnered the trophy.
It was a deserving win; the album, moodier and more introspective than anything since the early crucial five, simmers across the grooves and many of the tracks have an unexpected sharpness to the lyrics. The album was supported by a major American tour.
Spear started his own record label, Burning Spear Records, and released Freeman in 2003, followed by the hopeful Our Music in 2005.— allmusic.
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