![]() The three bonus tracks on the 2001 reissue are all by Tosh and Wailer, though recorded at the album's sessions, suggesting the source of their frustration. Bob Marley was a first among equals, of course, and after this album his partners, Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer, quit the group, which thereafter was renamed Bob Marley and the Wailers. Such songs illuminated the desperation of poor Jamaican life, but they also looked forward to religious salvation, their themes accentuated by the compelling rhythms and the alternating vocals of the three singers. Here, on "Burnin' and Lootin'," they take issue with fellow Jamaican Jimmy Cliff's song of the previous year, "Many Rivers to Cross," asking impatiently, "How many rivers do we have to cross/Before we can talk to the boss?" "I Shot the Sheriff," the album's most celebrated song, which became a number one hit in the hands of Eric Clapton in 1974, claims self-defense, admits consequences ("If I am guilty I will pay"), and emphasizes the isolated nature of the killing ("I didn't shoot no deputy"), but its central image is violent. ![]() The Wailers are explicit in their call to violence, a complete reversal from their own 1960s "Simmer Down" philosophy. The confrontational nature of the group's message is apparent immediately in the opening track, "Get Up, Stand Up," as stirring a song as any that emerged from the American Civil Rights movement a decade before. But they fit in seamlessly with the newer material, matching its religious militancy and anthemic style. ![]() Given that speed, it's not surprising that several tracks - "Put It On," "Small Axe," and "Duppy Conqueror" - are re-recordings of songs dating back a few years. There are a few tracks that work - such as the Erykah Badu and Lauryn Hill contributions - but overall, this is a misguided and embarrassing effort that winds up undercutting Marley's very virtues.The Wailers' fourth album overall, Burnin', was their second for Island Records, released only six months after its predecessor, Catch a Fire. 4:19 I Shot The Sheriff (1973) - Bob Marley & The Wailers. 'No Woman, No Cry (Live 75)' was released as a single. Live is a 1975 album by Bob Marley and the Wailers which was recorded live in concert during July 1975 at the Lyceum Theatre, London. ![]() Burnin And Lootin (1973) - Bob Marley & The Wailers. (1976) Singles from Live 'No Woman, No Cry (Live 75)' Released: 1975. Unlike many of these recordings, the original musical base is not completely discarded, but that turns out to be more problematic, since the resulting vocal and instrumental overdubs are awkwardly meshed with the originals. 'This Jamaican Pressing series features nine original Bob Marley studio albums and two original live albums plus the world’s best-selling reggae album, Legend, all of them including the highly desirable Tuff Gong stamp. We were on tour supporting the Burnin’ album. It doesn't play that way, however, and Chant Down Babylon - an attempt to refashion Bob Marley recordings as urban and hip-hop (and, in the case of "Roots, Rock, Reggae" with Aerosmith's Steven Tyler and Joe Perry, rock) for a new generation, based on the presumption that, since Marley never reached the broad African-American audience he desired during his lifetime, there's no time like 1999 to try it again - is arguably the most extreme reworking to date. We were staying in a motel about a mile from the venue a club with capacity of about 800, aptly called The Matrix. Evidently, these good intentions made these albums better than, say, overdubbing strings on Hank Williams' spare recordings after his death, since that was just crass commercial pandering and this was noble missionary work. Sometime during the '90s, overdubbing classic recordings with new instruments and vocals became an accepted practice, since the intent was to introduce legendary artists to a contemporary audience. ![]()
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