Jam Central Station 08.08.09: Bob Marley

Posted by Jeff Modzelewski on 08.09.2009

Bob Marley's legacy extends far beyond Legend and "No Woman, No Cry." This week I dive into the Rastafarian legend's 20 year career that was cut way too short



Hey, welcome back everyone to your only stop at 411mania for all of your hippy needs. I'm back this week after a great weekend of camping and music in Noblesville, Indiana. 2 nights of camping, 2 nights of DMB (including 11th row center for Night 2), and a great group of friends for the shows. I'm not going to get into too much detail on the shows here, but suffice it to say that they were both worthy of downloading. The band is absolutely on fire right now, with an energy that I honestly haven't seen from them probably since 2000. If you have an opportunity to check these guys out this summer, do yourself a favor and go. My only complaint from the shows is the fact that they changed the Night 2 encore from "Gravedigger," "Granny," and "Grey St." or "Halloween" (I've never seen Halloween live) to "Don't Drink the Water" and "Two Step." Make no mistake that "Don't Drink the Water" and "Two Step" are spectacular encore songs, but, after 21 shows, I'd like to finally get a Halloween in there.

I also want to recommend to anyone who's going to Deer Creek for a weekend of shows that you don't camp at any of the campgrounds that are right at the venue. Sleepy Bear was $60, and I think that the campground run by the venue was $70. My friends and I camped about 2 miles away for $30 a person, had plenty of room, and there was even music in the campground after the DMB shows. Granted, we also ended up with a naked guy on way too many drugs having to be brought down by about 10 cops, but that can happen anywhere. Just remember, mixing mushrooms, PCP, coke, and God knows what else will probably not work out too well for you in the end.

Enough of all that, let's get on to the main attraction for this week!



28 years after his death, Bob Marley continues to be a huge influence on musical culture around the world. Marley was the first "third world superstar," coming out of Jamaica to sell over 100 million albums worldwide. He brought reggae and the Rastafari movement to an international audience, and his greatest hits collection Legend has sold over 20 million copies, making it one of the best selling albums in history. Despite this, few people know much about Marley or his career beyond a couple of songs and his love for "the ganja." The fact is that Marley's career spanned nearly 20 years, until his early death in 1981, and is much more than "No Woman, No Cry" and "Redemption Song." Bob Marley was a legendary artist whose tremendous talent brought the music of a small group of people to an audience that Marley could never have anticipated.

Marley had recorded a handful of songs himself before he put The Wailers together in 1963. The band was primarily led by Marley, Bunny Livingston (who later went by Bunny Wailer), and Peter McIntosh (later shortened to Peter Tosh.) The band quickly released a handful of songs, along with the album The Wailing Wailers in 1965. Despite significant success in Jamaica, the band was unable to make enough money to stay active. Marley went to the U.S. to work for a year, and Tosh and Marley stayed in Jamaica making music on their own. When Marley came back, the band got back together and began focusing primarily on refining their reggae sound (along with other sounds like funk and ska) along with devoting themselves to the Rastafari movement.

The band released four studio albums between 1970 and 1974, along with compilation and "dub" albums. Soul Rebels, released in 1970, was the first Wailers album to be released outside of Jamaica. The band's increased popularity in Jamaica along with their burgeoning presence outside of Jamaica (especially in the UK), led to the band being signed to Island Records. This was significant, as The Wailers were among the first artists from outside of the U.S. or Europe to be signed to an international label. Catch a Fire was released in Island records in 1973, and sold well enough to get The Wailers some real international recognition. The album included also included one of their most well known tracks, the classic "Stir it Up."

The success of Catch a Fire, however, was more than topped by their 1974 follow-up, Burnin'. While the album would no doubt have gained recognition in it's own right, Eric Clapton came out with a cover of "I Shot the Sheriff" soon after the release of Burnin', and the Clapton version of the song hit #1 on the Billboard charts. The success of the Clapton cover multiplied the success that The Wailers were already experiencing, making them bona-fide international superstars.

It was at this time, when the band was experiencing it's greatest success, that both Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer decided to leave the band to pursue solo careers. The reasons for their departures have never been revealed, although most experts tend to believe that everyone involved (including Marley) simply wanted to pursue their own musical avenues. Bob Marley continued with the rest of the backing band, simply renaming the group Bob Marley and the Wailers. Bob Marley and the Wailers released Natty Dread This album gave Marley his first major U.S. hit of his own, with the well-known "No Woman, No Cry." Without Tosh and Bunny to back him up, Marley turned to the I-Threes, a female trio that included his wife, to provide additional vocals for the album. Marley also continued to tackle sensitive political issues with his lyrics, specifically with the song "Them Belly Full (But We Hungry)." Natty Dread continued to explore not just reggae music, but also blues, ska, funk, and R&B. Marley's success continued with Rastaman Vibration, Marley's only album to to break the Billboard Top 10. Surprisingly, however, the album didn't produce any hit singles.

Unfortunately, Marley's overt political lyrics would also make him a target for violence. Amid political turmoil and violence in the ghettos where he was raised, Marley announced that he would play a free concert on December 5, 1976 in Jamaica. Two days before the event, gunmen invaded Marley's home and shot Marley, his wife, and manager Don Taylor. Despite minor injuries to himself and series injuries to the other two, Marley went on to perform the concert as scheduled. Soon after the concert, however Marley left for England, where he recorded Exodus and Kaya. The two albums were recorded at the same time, and each is very unique. Exodus had a much stronger political message, and included the well known songs "Exodus," "Three Little Birds," "Jamming," and "One Love/People Get Ready." Kaya, on the other hand, was hardly political, focusing primarily on love. Critics complained that the urgency of Marley's political message wasn't present on Kaya, and that the album was too "soft."

Marley silenced all critics with his return to politically-focused lyrics with 1979's Survival. The album focuses on themes of African unity and pride, along with the usual Marley themes of peace and love. It was not a call to revolution, but more of a call to unity, reconciliation, and freedom. His following album, Uprising, was much more spiritual in focus. The lyrics were focused almost exclusively around Marley's Rastafarian beliefs. The album didn't chart very well in the U.S., but it did well in the U.K. It also included perhaps Marley's most well-known song, "Redemption Song."

Sadly, Uprising would be the last album Marley would release in his lifetime. A toe injury that Marley had received in 1977 had never been properly treated, and he had developed a type of cancer. Due to his religion (along with a distrust of doctors), Marley refused to have the toe amputated. Holistic treatments proved unsuccessful, and the cancer spread to other parts of his body. He collapsed after a concert in New York in 1980. He sought another holistic treatment in Germany, but the treatment proved unsuccessful. Bob Marley died in 1981, at the age of 36. He received a state funeral from Jamaica, and has received a Lifetime Achievement Grammy and has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Marley's musical influence lives on to this day. His music has been covered from artists ranging from Blues Traveler to the String Cheese Incident to Joe Strummer, Johnny Cash, and Life of Agony. When people think of reggae music, they immediately think of Bob Marley. Most casual Bob Marley fans would be hard-pressed to think of a single other reggae artist. Nearly 30 years after his death, Bob Marley's legend continues to live on.



This week, I think that there's more than enough Marley to go around. I'm gonna start with "Get Up, Stand Up"



Next a good "I Shot The Sherrif"



And, it just wouldn't be right to skip "No Woman, No Cry"



Of course, plenty of artists have covered Marley. Here's Jason Mraz doing "I'm Yours" and throwing in some "Three Little Birds" in there too



Here's DMB with Ziggy Marley doing "Exodus"



Finally, this isn't a video, but here's The Grateful Dead doing "Stir It Up" in 1988.






Kyle Hollingsworth Comments on SCI Future

About a month after String Cheese Incident's first show in the past couple of years, Kyle Hollingsworth blogged about the future of Cheese.

So what happens next? I wish I knew. From my perspective I would love to go out and play some more shows. I cannot say for sure, but it did seem like the band felt the same way. But one thing I do know is that this "break" has been good for everyone. The band came back refreshed and ready to play together again. And although all of our side projects have their own vibe and momentum, I do think there is something to be said about how the six of us play together as a band. There is something special that happens when we are all connected in the moment and in the music.
I hope to keep it going!

So apparently no firm decisions have been made as to what happens next, but, after their Rothbury performance, I can't see them not getting back together on a regular basis sometime soon. I wasn't an SCI fan prior to Rothbury, but I am now. I personally expect to see them on the road in 2010.

Bill Kreutzmann Joins Phish On Stage

Grateful Dead drummer Bill Kreutzmann joined Phish on stage for the last set of the band's four-night Red Rocks run. Kreutzmann came out on stage during "You Enjoy Myself" and stayed out for the rest of the set, which included a drum duel with Jon Fishman. This is only the third time that a member of the Grateful Dead has joined Phish on stage. This collaboration capped a full weekend of rarities and surprises for Phish fans lucky enough to get tickets to the shows.

Tenacious D To Replace Beasties at Outside Lands

With MCA recovering from surgery for throat cancer, Outside Lands has tapped Tenacious D to fill in for the Beastie Boys later this month. The D opened a few shows for the Beastie Boys last year, and, while they're not on the same level as the Beasties, they should be a good fit for Outside Lands. In good news, MCA seems to be in good health following surgery, and hopefully we'll see the band back on the road at some point next year.

Leftover Salmon Celebration 20 Years

Leftover Salmon is looking for some help to celebrate 20 years. The band is looking for anyone that would have pictures, video, or anything cool that they might be able to use for their anniversary show on New Years Eve. If you're a Salmon fan and you would like to participate, you can contact the band at [e-mail].

Mike Gordon Sits In With Rubblebucket

Phish bassist Mike Gordon took a little time to sit in with his friend Craig Myers and Rubblebucket prior to Phish's four-night Red Rocks run. Myers plays in Gordon's solo project, and, since Gordon was in town anyways, he decided to drop in. Sounds like a treat for fans.

Lotus Offering "Pay What You Want" Tour

As Lotus gets ready to embark on an extensive fall tour, the band will be offering a "Pay What You Want" deal for a few west-coast shows. The deal will run from their October 6th show in Hollywood to their October 14th show in Salt Lake City. They are offering an incentive for fans to pay a little more, however, as all fans that pay $15 or more will receive digital downloads of two new EP's. Their tour will run through the end of November, and tickets can be purchased at the band's website.

Artists Announced for Trinumeral Festival

The annual Trinumeral Festival has announced their initial lineup. The festival has been held every year since 2001 when the month, date, and year all line up. The festival will actually run from September 10-13 in Asheville, NC, but there will be a special "launch party" for the first 999 ticket purchasers on 9/9/09. Initial artists include The Glitch Mob, Pretty Lights, RJD2, Toubab Krewe, Pnuma Trio, Future Rock, Break Science, and Big Gigantic, among others. Tickets are $135 for the weekend, and are available at the Trinumeral website.



Finally, I couldn't leave well enough alone with the videos this week. I noticed that I didn't have a version of "Redemption Song," and I just couldn't live with myself if I didn't include that. So, as your final encore this week, here's a home video of my favorite Bob Marley song. Until next week, jam on!