29 Years ago today…
Bob Marley collapsed in Central Park while jogging after playing two shows at Madison Square Garden. It was revealed that Marley had terminal cancer and would ultimately only play two more shows before dying in May of 1981.
R.I.P. — Bob Marley (1946-1981)
Marley died on this date in 1981 in Miami, FL of cancer. His final words were, “Money can’t buy life”, and were spoke to his son, Ziggy. Click here to check out more on Marley, including some stellar BMW shows. Here’s one of his most overplayed, but most powerful songs, “Redemption Song” from Germany ’80.
Bob Marley — “So Much Things To Say”
“I’ll never forget no way, they crucfy Jesus Christ”. From Santa Barbara, November 1979.
Happy Birthday — Bob Marley
Robert Nesta would’ve been 64 today. Click here for more on the rastaman.
32 Years Ago Today…
An attempt was made on Bob Marley’s life when seven gunmen burst into his Kingston home injuring Marley his wife Rita and manager Don Taylor, the attack was believed to be politically motivated. Bob was shot in the arm and Rita was shot in the head. All survived the attack.
Bob Marley — Sausalito, CA (10/31/1973)
1. Rastaman Chant
2. Bend Down Low
3. Slave Driver
4. Can’t Blame The Youth
5. Stop That Train
6. Burnin’ and Lootin’
7. Kinky Reggae
8. Get Up Stand Up
9. Lively Up Yourself
10. Walk The Proud Land
Did You Know??
Bob Marley was buried with his Gibson Les Paul, some bud and a bible.
Did You Know??
That Don Taylor, Bob Marley’s manager tried to arrange a collaboration between Prince and Marley in 1979? After a Prince show in Los Angeles, Taylor and Marley met with Prince backstage to discuss said collaboration. Apparently Prince was wearing nothing but a skimpy leopard print g-string, which didn’t sit well with Marley’s masculine Jamaican up-bringing. According to Taylor, the distaste and discomfort was shown all over Marley’s face. Needless to say, the idea was scrapped and Marley died 17 months later.
Who Does It Better? — I Shot The Sheriff
Originally recorded on Bob Marley’s 1972 album Burnin’, “I Shot The Sheriff” was promptly recorded by Eric Clapton and became his first #1 hit in 1974. The song caused quite the stir with its lyrics that told of an obviously disgruntled civilian that is constantly hounded by the local fuzz and inevitably shoots and kills Sheriff John Brown. In his autobiography Clapton, Eric talks about receiving a congratulatory call on his success with the song from Bob that he appreciated, but couldn’t understand too much because of Bob’s thick Jamaican accent.
Bob Marley in 1979:
Eric Clapton in 1976:
UB40 & Maxi Priest:
Bob Marley — Pittsburgh, PA (9/23/1980)
Intro
Natural Mystic
Positive Vibration
Burnin And Lootin
Them Belly Full
The Heathen
Running Away
Crazy Baldhead
War
No More Trouble
Zimbabwe
Zion Train
No Woman No Cry
Jammin
Exodus
Redemption Song
Coming In From The Cold
Could You Be Loved
Encore
Is This Love
Work
Get Up Stand Up
Outro
Bob Marley & The Wailers — Concrete Jungle
Taken from Bob Marley and The Wailers’, 1972 major label debut, Catch A Fire. Interesting tidbit on the cover art for Catch A Fire taken from Wiki:
The first 20,000 copies of the original 1973 vinyl release were encased in a sleeve depicting a Zippo lighter. The sleeve functioned as a Zippo lighter case would, opening at a side hinge to reveal the record within. However, producers soon realized that this operation would require hand-manufacture, as machinery available was not sufficient to rivet the upper and lower halves of the sleeve together. Copies of the record from these original pressings have since become collectors’ items.
Rolling Stone reviewed the re-release in 2001:
The deluxe edition of Bob Marley and the Wailers’ 1973 breakthrough, Catch a Fire, is like one of those before-and-after photos of dieters: Disc One offers the unretouched – and little-heard – original Jamaican mix, Disc Two the familiar international version produced several months later by Marley and Island Records founder Chris Blackwell. This is the rare reissue project that expands what we know about a classic; the lavishly illustrated Deluxe Edition provides a glimpse into the engine room of one of the most important rhythm sections of the Seventies, and offers a new way to appreciate enduring calls to consciousness such as “Slave Driver,” “400 Years” and “No More Trouble.” Continue Reading…
Recorded for English television in 1972:
Bob Marley — Harare, Zimbabwe (4/19/1980)
1. Natural Mystic
2. Positive Vibration
3. Roots Rock Reggae
4. Lively Up Yourself
5. Zimbabwe
6. Runnin’ Away
7. Baldheads
8. Get Up Stand Up
9. Exodus (cuts)
Mix-Tape — Makapu’u Mix (Reggae Edition)
Ketchy Shuby (Instrumental) – Peter Tosh
Johnny Too Bad – The Slickers
Sweet and Dandy – Toots & the Maytals
Nice Time – Bob Marley
Ya Mar – The Mustangs
La La Bam-Bam (Alternative Mix) – The Congos
Lick Samba – Bob Marley
Pressure Drop – Toots & the Maytals
Rasta Lead On Version – Cedric Im Brooks
Lion of Judah – Bob Marley
African – Peter Tosh
Sabayindah – Cedric Im Brooks
Mr. Brown – Bob Marley
Shanty Town – Desmond Dekker
The Harder They Come – Jimmy Cliff
Jah Live – Bob Marley
Inna The Hills – Linval Thompson
One Dub – Bob Marley
Hold Them In Dub – King Tubby and Friends
Jammin’ (12″ Mix) – Bob Marley
Bob Marley — London, England (5/31/1977)
Bob Marley at his Basing Street rehearsal in late May, 1977. Broken into 6 downloads.
01. Exodus
02. I Shot The Sheriff
03. No Woman, No Cry
04. No More Trouble
05. Positive Vibration
06. Natty Dread
07. Jammin’
08. Guiltiness
09. Natural Mystic
10. Lively Up Yourself
11. Crazy Baldheads~Running Away
Download 1, Download 2, Download 3, Download 4, Download 5, Download 6
Bob Marley — 7/7/1975 (The Boarding House)
Jah! Rastafari…
1975 saw Marley’s rise to international stardom continue. Eric Clapton had recorded “I Shot The Sheriff” in 1974, which went on to become a number one hit in America. This brought a huge increase of interest in Marley’s already vast body of work. This show captures him in prime form, into his 30th year and electrifying audiences across the globe.
Trench Town Rock
Burnin’ & Lootin’
Midnight Raver
Them Belly Full
Rebel Music
No Woman, No Cry
Kinky Reggae
Stir It Up
Lively Up Yourself
Get Up, Stand Up
Phish — 10 Years Ago Today
Phish opens by playing Bob Marley’s “Trenchtown Rock” for the first time. Here’s Bob playing it in 1976:
08/11/98 Star Lake Amphitheatre, Burgettstown, PA
Set I: Trenchtown Rock> Julius> Wolfman’s Brother, Time Loves a Hero, Bittersweet Motel, Reba, The Sloth, Ginseng Sullivan, Fee, Maze, Sample in a Jar
Set II: Runaway Jim, Meat, Limb By Limb, When the Circus Comes to Town, Down With Disease
Encore: Wilson, Golgi Apparatus
Bob Marley — Black Art demos (1978)
Aquarium Drunkard recently posted these Bob Marley demos recorded at Lee “Scratch” Perry’s Black Ark studio in 1978 – a few years prior to Marley’s death. Check out the tracks along with their dub counterparts.
Good stuff…
Ernest Ranglin — Redemption Song/ No Woman, No Cry
Amazing Jamaican reggae guitarist Ernest Ranglin performs two of Bob Marley’s most recognized pieces, Redemption Song and No Woman, No Cry.
Robert Nesta Marley
One of my all time fave songs. Redemption Song. Bob Marley. The stuff legends are made of.
