I have included here a digital copy of a performance contract for Bob Marley & The Wailers signed by their first tour manager Benjamin Foot, the agreement made on the 26th March 1973 on an Island Artists… printed form. According to the contract, The Wailers played The Speakeasy, Margaret Street, London W1 for four evenings, May 15th, 1973 – May 18th, 1973 at a salary of £250.
The contract is signed by Benjamin Foot p.p. Wailers c/o Island Artists 8-10 Basing St./London W.11. On behalf of The Speakeasy, Ms. Laurie O’Leary signs. The Guests list for the show includes Paul Rodgers, Muff Winwood, John Peel, Charles Shaar Murray and Johnnie Walker.
According to one fan with knowledge of the show:
“Such was the buzz created by Catch A Fire that this set of London shows was a complete sell-out. More than that, the first nig ht at The Speakeasy turned into the hippest cultural event that London had experienced that year. Bianca Jagger, Bryan Ferry, Brian Eno and assorted members of Traffic were all in an audience that comprised London’s top taste-makers.
Moreover, for once this crowd waited patiently in its seats; the fact that the Wailers were so resolutely unpunctual in arriving onstage at their appointed hour seemed to be part of the attraction: this Jamaican soon-come way of thinking was deemed to be definitively cool.
When the Wailers appeared, the con trast between the affluent audience and the group, with their shuffling demeanour, could not have been more pronounced. Crammed on to the tiny stage of The Speakeasy, the group had both a humility about them and a power in their performance.
Such an approach was literally stunning. The strangely quiet, almost hushed performances of the Wailers at The Speakeasy on those nights in May 1973 were life-changing experiences. It was as though there was a spirit hovering over the group.”
And an interview with my good friend Marco Virgona at ww.bobmarleymagazine.com.
THE SPEAKEASY CONCERTS: AN INTERVIEW WITH LAURIE O’LEARY
by Marco Virgona from Bob Marley Magazine (ww.bobmarleymagazine.com)
Dear Marco:
Bob Marley has some great memories for me. My friend Chris Blackwell was the first person to really introduce me to Bob & the Wailers. Would you believe it! I was against having Bob in the Speakeasy, “Not our scene Chris, we are a progressive music club” was my initial reaction, how wrong was I? Being the manager and sole agent for booking the entertainment in the Speak’ Chris persevered and the rest is history, they were sensational the crowd of an eclectic mix were spellbound with the rhythms of sound never before experienced; Chris wanted a week in the club I gave him an unheard of four consecutive dates, the only artiste ever to have had that option in the ‘Speak’.
I had a group that I was managing Heavy Metal Kids by name and expecting good things from on a residency, and had the audacity to keep their date in at the expence of another night of ‘BOB’. I believe fate took a hand in that as Bob said to me after the last night there, “it’s meant to be man you did right by us” and was pleased with the reaction from the nearly all famous musicians from well known groups, Eric Clapton, from Jeff Beck, The Who, Deep Purple, among others. I have tried to get copy of a pic’ of Bob in the Speak for a book I’m writing from Dennis a nice young kid that Bob spoke to and allowed into the club, after he had asked me, in fact I spoke to him on a radio show a few moths back and he promised to get in touch, I’ll check the publishers.
Would you believe that I also managed at one time Junior Kerr/ Hanson/ who I noticed playing in the Wailers for some time?
I have sent the original contract for the Bob Marley gig at the Speak to Christies for their auction in April 2005, four nights @ £250 with a thank you letter for my assistance from Island records. Marco I hope that you’ve not been bored but those nights still figure as strongly in my mind as when I was tour manager for six weeks to the great Marvin Gaye in 1976. May your God Bless You mate
LEGENDARY REGGAE 
thank you