Bob Marley and the Wailers: Confrontation

Ben writes:

I was introduced to Bob Marley through the 'Legend' compilation of his top 40 hits (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legend_(Bob_Marley_%26_The_Wailers_album) - and though it contains some brilliant tracks, it somehow seemed twee and irritating as it was played approximately 47 times on the coach on a school wind band trip to Austria (you had to be there, I suppose).

Many years later, though, I'd come across the truly wonderful 'Roots of Reggae Vol. 3' compilation 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Roots-Reggae-Vol-3-Various/dp/B00000ARCI - which will no doubt be the subject of a future post - which showed that early reggae was, well, just sublime - fun and uplifting in the way that nearly all my favourite music of the late 80s and 90s wasn't.

So when I moved into a new flat and discovered that someone had left a whole box set of Bob Marley and the Wailers, I fell upon it with some anticipation. I wasn't disappointed, though I only recently learnt that my favourite album, Confrontation, was released posthumously with a bunch of overdubbing and remixing (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confrontation_(Bob_Marley_%26_The_Wailers_album).

It's a classic album in its entirety - uplifting, inspired, political, and about liberation.

Two tracks set the tone (and should link to a whole album youtube playlist - with the added bonus that they feature the colourful, wacky, and oddly symbolic cover art of Bob with big dreads in rasta colours slaying a purple dragon)...

'Jump Nyabinghi'. Google Nyabinghi and you're straight into the fascinating world of Rastafarianism - it's a drum, a goddess, a ceremony, a spriritually posessed woman, black victory, and death to the white oppressor, all in one. Anyway, it's a great song:

Biblical/rastafrian references abound, and in another favourite, 'Chant Down Bablyon', the theme is again the destruction of 'Babylon'.

All the lyrics are worth a read - http://www.angelfire.com/fm/reggae/confro.htm - or better still, a listen.

when the live version is the definitive version (No Woman No Cry by Bob Marley & The Wailers)

Joe writes: I used to be militantly opposed to live recordings being released or broadcast because generally, they sound awful. But recently in "researching" my other blog jonimitchellblue.blogspot.com, I learnt that the live version of Joni Mitchell's Big Yellow Taxi was a bigger hit in the US than the studio version. The live version isn't a patch on the studio version to be honest (it's overlong and doesn't have that delicious laugh at the end), but this got me thinking about songs where the live version is the definitive version. So far the only one I can come up with is No Woman No Cry by Bob Marley & The Wailers.

Many lovers of the song haven't even heard the rather flimsy studio version from the Natty Dread album:

Whereas this live performance has had an incredible number of plays on YouTube:

And this is of course is the definitive version, recorded live at the Lyceum, two miles away from where I'm writing this:

Immortal Technique

Joe writes: I've found another Immortal Technique track that I like almost as much as The Cause Of Death. It follows a well-worn formula but it's hard to resist thanks to the combination of a lesser known Bob Marley sample with IT's lyrics and delivery.

Immortal Technique - Mistakes (iTunes)