6 February 2023
Robert Nesta Marley was born 78 years
ago today in Nine Miles, Jamacia.
Happy B. to the eternal late legend who introduced reggae,
with great success, to the masses. His supreme songwriting,
his Jah devotion, and his gospel gathering-like concerts made
him a global superstar.
To celebrate the rastaman’s birthday
Turn Up The Volume picked one of his
Marley favorites.
BOB MARLEY: Bio – Discography – Website
Back in time…
13 April 2021
Artist: DAVID BOWIE
8 January 1947 – 10 January 2016
Album: ALADDIN SANE – 6th LP
Released: 13 April 1973 – 48 years ago today
Notes: Recorded with his band The Spiders from Mars.
Partly thanks to the mega-hit ‘The Jean the Genie’ the album
topped the UK charts.
Rolling Stone wrote: “Aladdin is grander, more produced:
David is more than ever more mastermind than participant.
Aladdin’s very eclecticism makes it less exposed, conceptually,
than Ziggy.”
Stream here…
.
DAVID BOWIE: All Albums
Artist: BOB MARLEY & THE WAILERS
Album: CATCH A FIRE (means: ‘Burn In Hell’) – 5th LP
Released: 13th April 1973 – 48 years ago today
Notes: 2 songs written by Peter Tosh, 7 by Marley.
The cover sleeve depicted a Zippo lighter. At first
the LP wasn’t a great success at all on release. But
after The Wailers toured the US and the UK in
support of the record sales exploded.
BBC Music said: “Reggae, up until this point, was a niche genre,
bought in the UK by ex-pat West Indians. It was even less widespread
in the States. Catch A Fire changed all that. Without it Bob Marley would
never have become a figurehead and no one outside of the Caribbean
would have heard of Bunny Wailer or Peter Tosh either. For this alone
Chris Blackwell should be canonised.”
Stream here…
.
BOB MARLEY: All Albums
Band: THIN LIZZY
Album: BLACK ROSE: A LEGEND – 9th LP
Released: 13 April 1979 – 42 years ago today
Notes: Peaked at #2 in the UK. The first full
album with Gary Moore. The track/single ‘Sarah‘
was about his newborn daughter.
All Music wrote: “Thin Lizzy’s last true classic album,
and their “most musically varied, accomplished, and
successful studio album.”
Stream here…
.
THIN LIZZY: All Albums
6 December 2020
45 years ago – 5 December 1975 – a registration of the late great reggae crusader
BOB MARLEY‘s London show in July that year, simply called LIVE! saw the day of light
and became a huge success mostly due to the fact that the track No Woman, No Cry became a hit when it was released as a single.
Here’s a 1977 live version…
Full album…
10 September 2020
Artist: Bob Marley
6 February 1945 – 11 May 1981
Album: Legend
Released: 8 May 1984
Rolling Stone: “Bob Marley said:”Reggae music is too simple for [American musicians]. You must be inside of it, know what’s happening, and why you want to play this music. You don’t just run and go play this music because you think you can make a million off it.” Ironically, this set of the late reggae idol’s greatest hits has sold in the millions worldwide. In a single disc, it captures everything that made him an international icon: his nuanced songcraft, his political message (and savvy), and – of course – the universal soul he brought to Jamaican rhythm and Rastafarian spirituality in the gunfighter ballad “I Shot the Sheriff,” the comforting swing of “No Woman, No Cry” and the holy promise of “Redemption Song.”
“If you’re white and you’re wrong, then you’re wrong; if you’re black and you’re wrong, you’re wrong. People are people. Black, blue, pink, green – God make no rules about color; only society make rules where my people suffer, and that why we must have redemption and redemption now.” – Marley
Full album…
.
BOB MARLEY: All Albums
10 June 2020
Artist: Bob Marley
Real name: Robert Nesta (Bob) Marley
6 February 1945 – 11 May 1981
Album: Uprising his 12th LP
Released: 10 June 1980 – 40 years ago
Rolling Stone wrote: “The new record finds reggae’s foremost poet-prophet in a contemplative and pessimistic mood, secure in his religious beliefs but concerned about a gloomy future. If Uprising doesn’t snap one’s head back (as Survival did), it certainly proves unnerving with its alternating moments of exaltation and introspection… one feels a man reaching out and grappling with the dreadful possibilities of liberation and disaster. Such a tour de force, like much of Uprising, is as moving as it is deeply troubling.”
Key tracks: Coming In From The Cold / Redemption Song / Could You Be Loved
– COMING IN FROM THE COLD –
– REDEMPTION SONG –
– COULD YOU BE LOVED –
Album in full…
.
BOB MARLEY: All Albums
6 February 2020
Robert Nesta Marley aka BOB MARLEY was born in Nine Miles in Jamaica on 6 February 1945. The reggae icon who passed away in Miami on 11 May 1981, would have turned 75 today. To celebrate the late legend’s birthday a new animated video clip for REDEMPTION SONG was made by French artists Octave Marsal and TheoMayDe Gueltzl who illustrated the visuals to bring the song’s story of emancipation to life.
See the beauty here…
Knockouts from the past…
14 September 2019
Artist: Eric Clapton
Song: I Shot The Sheriff
Album: 461 Ocean Boulevard – released 1 July 1974
Note: The song was written, by Bob Marley in 1973 for his Burnin’ album.
The late great reggae icon explained the song as follows : “I wanted to say
‘I shot the police’ but the government would have made a fuss so I said ‘I shot
the sheriff’ instead… but it’s the same idea: justice.“
Success: Clapton’s cover hit the top spot of the American charts
on 14 September 1974, 45 years ago today
Here’s the album version…
And here a full orchestrated 2015 live version…
ERIC CLAPTON: Facebook
Going back in sonic history looking for memorable albums…
7 November 2018
Band: BOB MARLEY & THE WAILERS
Album: BABYLON BY BUS – double live album – the greater part of the LPs
was recorded in Paris, some tracks in London
Released: 10 November 1978 – 40 years ago
ROLLING STONE wrote: ” ‘Babylon By Bus’ offers a fine sampling of material from the group’s Seventies repertoire, ranging from the wrathful ‘Rebel Music’ and ‘Rat Race’ to such sultry dance tunes as ‘Stir It Up.’ Yet each number is now infused with a sprightly clarity and tenderness that redoubles the emotional impact. Bob Marley’s vocals are his most expressive — and least pompous — ever. It’s thrilling and often deeply moving to hear the mutually exultant dialogue he establishes with his Parisian audience: a testament to the global appeal of his positive vision.” Full review here
TURN UP THE VOLUME! says: Have yourself a live punky reggae party in your living room.
Most famous track – STIR IT UP…
ALBUM in full…
.
BOB MARLEY: Website – Facebook – All Albums
The best of the past…
Every week Turn Up The Volume jumps into the past! Relive 25 Crackers and
3 Top Longplayers per year/per week. Let’s start with the star-studded year of 1975
Here’s the 25 KILLER TRACKS selection…
.
Here are 3 TOP ALBUMS…
– ‘Physical Graffiti’ by LED ZEPPELIN –
Stream here…
.
– ‘Blood On The Tracks’ by BOB DYLAN –
Stream here…
.
– ‘Horses’ by PATTI SMITH –
Stream here…
.
See/hear you next week, music junkies…