[SuchFriendsAreDangerous]

The Wailers "Catch A Fire" (1973)

 

"

It is nearly impossible to imagine a time when reggae was not part of the cultural currency. Though Bob Marley and the Wailers cannot be said to have invented the style, they certainly brought it to the world stage, and this album was the torch that lit the way. CATCH A FIRE hit with the force of a revelation when it was released in 1973, and though Chris Blackwell tailored its sound with a rock audience in mind, the album was still unlike anything that had ever come down the pike. Ironically, even given its relatively full production and electric guitar solos, CATCH A FIRE sounds more organic and rootsy than any of the Wailers' subsequent releases.

While the percolating rhythms and burbling bass lines of the Barrett brothers, and the sweet, impeccable harmonies of Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer soothe and move, CATCH A FIRE also introduces the conscious, politically minded themes that would remain at the center of Marley's songwriting for the rest of his career. "Concrete Jungle," one of the towering standout tracks, addresses the trap of inner cities, while "Slave Driver" and "400 Years" take on racial/historical issues. Yet Marley's penchant for gorgeous love songs is evident here too on his all-time classic "Stir It Up." Even after everything that followed, and the cult of idolatry that formed around Marley, this remains soulful, message-driven music that goes straight to the blood. Utterly essential.

For a majority of the world, Catch a Fire was not only the introduction to Bob Marley & the Wailers, but to reggae as well. The intimate and organic nature of the band's compositions coupled with its trademark mantra-like rhythms attracted the attention of producer and musical entrepreneur Chris Blackwell. So smitten was Blackwell that he commissioned the band to record for his primarily rock-oriented Island Records label. Although greatly encouraged by the Wailers' efforts, Blackwell was likewise cognizant of creating a fuller and more polished effort aimed specifically for the ears of the burgeoning "album rock" consumer. His idea was to "flesh out" the sonic atmosphere that supported and drove Marley and company's otherwise stark and unadorned folk songs. With the blessings of Marley and under the direction of Blackwell, sporadic instrumental augmentations were made, featuring Wayne Perkins (guitar), John "Rabbit" Bundrick (keyboards), Robbie Shakespeare (bass), and Tyrone Downie (organ). Although Catch a Fire was their international debut, Marley and fellow Wailer Peter Tosh used the medium to conjure and translate universal themes of love ("High Tide or Low Tide") and hope ("Stir It Up"), as well as the pain ("400 Years") and fear ("Slave Driver") of not only Jamaicans, but all humanity. Like Bob Dylan and John Lennon before him, Marley could project not only for his people and time, but also for those who would come before and after. The 2001 remastered version also com.."

Concrete Jungle

Slave Driver

Kinky Reggae

400 years

[SuchFriendsAreDangerous]

this album is not only a classic, it is one of the pioneer albums of any genre..

it is truly groundbreaking for so many reasons..

for its lyrical content, I mean come on.. Burnin and Lootin? Slave Driver? Concrete Jungle? these are serious protest songs to be slipping into mainstream music, even for the early 1970s!

and musically, this album is a revolution! So much of reggae is innovated on this album.. the chord progressions are all original, not standard patterns. the shuffle skank rhythm, the use of four chord patterns instead of two, the blend of up and down strokes..

The scales and leads are unique, and they are all Peter Tosh, who helped to create the wailing guitar solo that has become patented reggae with a distorted cry-baby.
This album is simply remarkable.. everyone should own it.

[Rob Instigator]

love love love this album.
need to find one of the 20 thou original LP's

 

released the year I was born.


concrete jungle. a fucking classic
slave driver - great fucking song, and still hits hard
stop that train, cuz I am leavin'
kinky regga, no more trouble,

stir it up sexual love supreme

[Rob Instigator]

burnin and lootin are on BURNIN though

[SuchFriendsAreDangerous]

Originally Posted by Rob Instigator

love love love this album.
need to find one of the 20 thou original LP's

 

released the year I was born.


concrete jungle. a fucking classic
slave driver - great fucking song, and still hits hard
stop that train, cuz I am leavin'
kinky regga, no more trouble,

stir it up sexual love supreme

fuck the original LPs, get the 2001 CD reissue it has like 6 extended cuts, including the absolute finest version of Rastaman Chant that ever existed.. in fact, that song is one of the single driving influences of me becoming a Rastaman in my younger days.. My moms used to sing me that hymn (fly away home) often when I was a kid, and to find a new voice and a new culture to express that same warm sentiment of home, comfort and piety was so exciting.. I didn't know that there were hip, conscious and radical religious people out there until a Rasta gave me this album..

it is one of the finest albums of all time, of any genre or any artist, and one day I am sure that Bob Marley will be more a fixture of reality then Mozart..

I think what makes this album so fucking perfect is the influence of the trinity, Bob Bunny and Peter working together.. Peter had the attitude and the inspiration, Bob had the charisma and the energy, and Bunny had the spirit. The combination is literally mystical.

[Rob Instigator]

plus they did not take no shit from no one.


and they were rulin' since the wailin wailers ska days!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOrLMoyUIgU

Bunny used to sing a lot back then
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zuZWf-w46m0

[SuchFriendsAreDangerous]

Originally Posted by Rob Instigator

Bunny used to sing a lot back then
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zuZWf-w46m0

I know.. his "jungle jungle jungle" is the best chorus on that album! Bunny is truly my favorite.. do you have Bunny Wailer "protest"

it is equally a superb album as Catch A Fire, but that is because much like BlackHeart Man, Bunny worked with the same production people, the same backing bands/artists, and very closely with Peter who also did the guitar work and leads on both Blackheart Man and Protest.

Those brothers were prolific musicians, and truly revolutionaries! But that is why they tried to assassinate Bob, and after decades of attempts, they finally got Peter! Only Bunny remains, and as he explains, "Some of the brothers got a little soft along the way, which explains why they are not here today (sighs) but the flag has got to be hoisted!"

 

[Rob Instigator]

Protest is fucking awesome. I also have 3-4 of Tosh's albums, which are excellent as well.

Bunny is like a guru now.

[chicka]

Truly timeless truly priceless. I saw the Wailers 2 years ago and the only thing missing was Marley's voice the songs all sounded like they just lifted them off the vinyl plus the added solo live addons

[SuchFriendsAreDangerous]

Originally Posted by chicka

Truly timeless truly priceless. I saw the Wailers 2 years ago and the only thing missing was Marley's voice the songs all sounded like they just lifted them off the vinyl plus the added solo live addons

I caught that tour, it was pretty good, like the best Bob Marley cover band, cuz it was not cover band at all but the original band! But Bunny does the Wailers tune the best these days, the absolute finest!

 

one of the best tracks on this album and from this era:

I see.. 10,000 chariots.. and they are riding with out horses.. (Midnight Ravers)

[wellcharge]

bunny wailer is a dickhead for stealing people's music

[SuchFriendsAreDangerous]

Originally Posted by wellcharge

bunny wailer is a dickhead for stealing people's music

Bunny didn't still anyone's music! He is one of the pioneer authors of all the greatest wailers tunes, and his original albums are amongst the greatest reggae albums ever! I do believe sir, that have confused Bunny Wailer with Lee Scratch Perry

please, be careful no to disraspect the Emperor of Reggae Music again, he is ranking Dread pon that scene iyah!

[Rob Instigator]

I love how Reggae music, much like all amalgasm musics of the world, draws influence from wide realms, and they do covers of everythuing from james brown, to motown, to disco, to rock, to africa music to their own reggae forebears. music always in flux. music always in growth.

bunny wailer's voice is awesome.

chant down babylon.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xEcdsTLq8Pg


love this song. Free Jah Jah Children.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MfB6yEZ0Ni4

[wellcharge]

you guys don't know what you're talking about, bunny has been to court and lost for stealing dreamland, copying a record completely and listing himself as the composer, he's an international artist and the standards for other jamaican artists who get paid like $20 bucks for a track don't apply to him, he's a douche

[SuchFriendsAreDangerous]

Originally Posted by wellcharge

you guys don't know what you're talking about, bunny has been to court and lost for stealing dreamland, copying a record completely and listing himself as the composer, he's an international artist and the standards for other jamaican artists who get paid like $20 bucks for a track don't apply to him, he's a douche

that is bullshit! Rita stole Dreamland from Bunny, that was always his tune, and both Peter and Bob always agreed from the beginning! In regards to the record company shit, that is a misunderstanding, Bunny was supposed to get his credit due and it didn't come, did he do some gangster shit to get around it? Yes! But hey, Bob had DJs in Kingston beat up and dragged around the trunks of cars through the streets to spin Wailers records so there is a lot of street shit mixed up in there.. business is crazy sometimes!

And OF COURSE BUNNY should get top billing, highest pay, he has been performing reggae music since it literally DID NOT EXIST! He is the LIVING FATHER of Reggae music, alongside brothers like Burning Spear and Ras Michael and the Abyssinians, the other greats are all passed on.. Maximum raspect to our fathers!

but hey, I am glad you actually have done some homework and were not just selling woof tickets here, even if you were a bit mistaken

[wellcharge]

what the hell are you saying about rita? i am talking about the el-tempos, do you know them? you should, they wrote one of yr favorite songs, they deserve highest pay and i think are now getting it out of bunny's royalties.

you're the one who's a bit mistaken

[Rob Instigator]

I was not defending Bunny's thieveries, just lovin on the reggae music.

that whole scene in jamaica was one big clusterfuck for decades (and may still be). from the early days of ska music on they would steal, borrow, rip-off, re-create, taking songs and sounds and making it their own.

[SuchFriendsAreDangerous]

Originally Posted by wellcharge

what the hell are you saying about rita? i am talking about the el-tempos, do you know them? you should, they wrote one of yr favorite songs, they deserve highest pay and i think are now getting it out of bunny's royalties.

you're the one who's a bit mistaken

a) this is a constant debate in reggae music. there are three early versions of Bunny's Dreamland, from 66, 71 and 73, as well as the post-solo versions in 1976 and another in 1980. The lyrics to ALL of these versions are slightly different as is the music itself, with different chord changes, bass lines, rhythms, drum patterns, tempo etc etc.. Many of the early reggae tunes were remakes and rasta renditions of hit soul/r&b records that Jamaicans had been hearing from Louisiana and Florida radiostations, and much like the UK blues artists, were making it their own.

b) Bunny claims this to be his own tune for two reasons: for having written his own lyrics and for having changed the structure of the instrumentation itself several times over..

while surely there are many parallels between the tunes, Bunny's and El Tempo's "My Dream Island" are also different tunes.. Bunny did not simply cover El Tempo's tune, and while it may be in poor taste to have not disclosed the source of inspiration, "Dreamland" as a Rastafari spiritual with clear reggae/rock steady instrumentation is an original tune in that regard.. Now, while I like to cover tunes like say, "Good Lovin" in reggae stylee, I often change some of the lyrics and clearly change the song structure to fit reggae parameters, and honestly, I put a lot of artistic work into the piece, and it becomes my own. Now, personally, I would always give the credit where it is due, but when it comes to getting paid on yr own albums, sometimes you have to be very assertive..

Should the El Tempos get the chump change Bunny made off that tune? Nah.. thats Bunny's Tune...


now the things with Rita I brought up are Bunny's fighting over credit in tunes which she owns as part of the Marley estate, tunes like Get Up Stand Up which Bunny says he wrote with Peter and several others from the Wailers back catelogue..

[Keeping It Simple]

The only problem I have with reggae is it seems to spam dope and dreadlocks.