7 Jamaican Reggae Albums Rank Among Rolling Stone’s Best of 1976
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Augustus Pablo and King Tubby lead Jamaica’s showing at No. 5. They are ahead of classics by Peter Tosh, Bob Marley, Bunny Wailer and Lee “Scratch” Perry.
NEW YORK, NY – Rolling Stone’s “76 Best Albums of 1976” celebrates seven landmark Jamaican records, underscoring the global impact of reggae and dub 50 years after one of popular music’s most influential years.
Augustus Pablo and King Tubby’s King Tubbys Meets Rockers Uptown is the highest-ranked Jamaican album at No. 5. The dub classic places ahead of the Eagles’ Hotel California at No. 11 and Bob Dylan’s Desire at No. 13.
The Seven Jamaican Albums on the List
- 5 — Augustus Pablo and King Tubby, King Tubbys Meets Rockers Uptown
- 24 — Lee “Scratch” Perry and the Upsetters, Super Ape
- 35 — Peter Tosh, Legalize It
- 43 — Bob Marley and the Wailers, Rastaman Vibration
- 49 — Max Romeo and the Upsetters, War Ina Babylon
- 54 — Bunny Wailer, Blackheart Man
- 71 — Burning Spear, Garvey’s Ghost
Three founding Wailers are represented by solo-era releases: Tosh’s debut Legalize It, Marley’s U.S. breakthrough Rastaman Vibration and Wailer’s debut Blackheart Man.
Dub Classic Leads Jamaica’s Showing
Released at the height of Jamaica’s roots-reggae era, King Tubbys Meets Rockers Uptown paired Pablo’s haunting melodica and production with King Tubby’s pioneering studio mixes. This collaboration helped turn dub’s stripped-down rhythms, echo and spatial effects into a major art form.
Rolling Stone praised the album’s “dazzling psychedelic sprawl” and called it “widely regarded as the greatest dub album of all time.” Its No. 5 finish makes it the list’s highest-ranked Jamaican release.
Pablo died in 1999. King Tubby, regarded as one of reggae’s most influential engineers, was killed in Kingston in 1989.
Roots Reggae’s Global Breakthrough
Roots reggae emerged from Kingston in the late 1960s alongside the Rastafarian movement. It then surged internationally in the 1970s. Artists including Marley and Tosh brought its spiritual, political and social themes to audiences around the world. Meanwhile, producers such as Tubby and Perry transformed studio mixing into an instrument.
The seven selections show how Jamaica’s music moved from the island’s studios into the center of global popular culture. Other major Jamaican albums released in 1976 included Toots and the Maytals’ Reggae Got Soul, the Mighty Diamonds’ Right Time and Third World’s self-titled debut.
Stevie Wonder Tops the 1976 Ranking
Stevie Wonder’s Songs in the Key of Life holds the No. 1 spot. Other notable entries include Millie Jackson’s Free and in Love at No. 18, ABBA’s Arrival at No. 26, Linda Ronstadt’s Hasten Down the Wind at No. 38, Rose Royce’s Car Wash at No. 45, Marvin Gaye’s I Want You at No. 51 and Rod Stewart’s A Night on the Town at No. 64.
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