Sleevenotes
There is another side to Bob Marley that the world, even all this time later, barely knows, and this collection will help bring that side to the light. If you are coming to it for the first time, you won't believe how close it is to the sound that made him a star – indeed some of these tracks were made long after he became a star, yet remain largely unknown. They have a rootsiness, honesty and identity all their own.
Bob's story began in the ska era, recording first as a solo artist for Leslie Kong's Beverley's label, and then with his vocal group, The Wailers, at Studio One, where he enjoyed his first local hits but few financial rewards. A period of trying his hand as a freelance songwriter and launching his own label didn't work, so by 1969 he was back recording for other producers, such as Leslie Kong, and, more importantly, Lee Perry. It is here that our album picks up the tale, working through Bob's astonishing output for Perry's Upsetter label, some classic tracks recorded for Bob's own Tuff Gong company, and the dazzling songs recorded with Perry at the height of Bob's fame with Island Records but never, or barely, released at the time.
It has been said that Bob relearnt to sing under Perry's instruction. Certainly the original Wailers (Bob, Bunny Wailer and Peter Tosh) never sounded better than they did with Perry, acquiring a rebel chic and a funky soulfulness that remains unmatched in reggae to this day. Marley and Perry's phrasing is curiously similar, and whatever the truth of Bob's up-and-down relationship with his best mentor-producer may be, certainly Perry's unabashed drive and creativity brought out the best in his ambitious young charge.
Here then is the roots of the Marley reggae revolution – deep, powerful roots that brought Jamaican music to a new fever pitch of excitement, as well as providing the basis for Bob's global breakthrough. This is the Marley sound the world already knows, plus a little extra Jamaican magic – the Natural Mystic that Bob sings about so evocatively . . .
There is another side to Bob Marley that the world, even all this time later, barely knows, and this collection will help bring that side to the light. If you are coming to it for the first time, you won't believe how close it is to the sound that made him a star – indeed some of these tracks were made long after he became a star, yet remain largely unknown. They have a rootsiness, honesty and identity all their own.
Bob's story began in the ska era, recording first as a solo artist for Leslie Kong's Beverley's label, and then with his vocal group, The Wailers, at Studio One, where he enjoyed his first local hits but few financial rewards. A period of trying his hand as a freelance songwriter and launching his own label didn't work, so by 1969 he was back recording for other producers, such as Leslie Kong, and, more importantly, Lee Perry. It is here that our album picks up the tale, working through Bob's astonishing output for Perry's Upsetter label, some classic tracks recorded for Bob's own Tuff Gong company, and the dazzling songs recorded with Perry at the height of Bob's fame with Island Records but never, or barely, released at the time.
It has been said that Bob relearnt to sing under Perry's instruction. Certainly the original Wailers (Bob, Bunny Wailer and Peter Tosh) never sounded better than they did with Perry, acquiring a rebel chic and a funky soulfulness that remains unmatched in reggae to this day. Marley and Perry's phrasing is curiously similar, and whatever the truth of Bob's up-and-down relationship with his best mentor-producer may be, certainly Perry's unabashed drive and creativity brought out the best in his ambitious young charge.
Here then is the roots of the Marley reggae revolution – deep, powerful roots that brought Jamaican music to a new fever pitch of excitement, as well as providing the basis for Bob's global breakthrough. This is the Marley sound the world already knows, plus a little extra Jamaican magic – the Natural Mystic that Bob sings about so evocatively . . .
