Equal Rights Archives

Album: Equal Rights
Year: 1977

. . .

They never covered anything from it, but given that it came out in the same year as their debut, and given their penchant for reggae and politics, I can’t imagine that The Clash didn’t on Peter Tosh’s Equal Rights album, especially the stellar title track, one of the most uncompromising songs Tosh ever wrote.

After all, the affinity between punk and reggae in the U.K. was so strong in 1977 that Bob Marley put out a single celebrating it, the utopian “Punky Reggae Party,” but compared to the powerhouse “Equal Rights,” or Culture’s “Calling Rasta For I” — which also featured Sly and Robbie — Marley’s effort felt a bit slight.

Album: Equal Rights
Year: 1977

. . .

One of the first reggae albums I ever purchased, Peter Tosh’s 1977 Equal Rights is also one of my all-time favorite reggae albums, mixing and matching furious political commentary with thrilling and propulsive music.

Mixing and matching Wailers vets like keyboardist Earl Lindo and guitarist Al Anderson, Equal Rights was also one of the earliest albums that the crack rhythm section of Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare played on, and their incredible groove was just part of the reason Equal Rights sounded so great, especially compared to the somewhat thin Legalize It.

Equal Rights

Certain Songs #1549: Peter Tosh – “Equal Rights”

Certain Songs #1548: Peter Tosh – “Stepping Razor”