Bob marley burnin album cover full#
Bob marley burnin album cover free#

It’s one of those Marley songs that is so potent in its bare-bones essentials, but seems a little bit too glitzy on the record given its subject matter, as if it was maybe overthought in the studio. There is certainly an interesting juxtaposition to this song musically the opening organ chords and lackadaisical guitar chording seem almost dissonant with the shift that takes place in the chorus, which, especially live, gets aggressive quickly. Sometimes there doesn’t need to be a message any deeper than celebrating the genesis. But these two tracks might as well be attached at the hip.Ī throwback to the classic form, as the title might imply, but with a little snarling electric guitar thrown in for good measure.

Bob marley burnin album cover full#

“Rebel Music,” with its wailing harmonica and pseudo-falsetto, is a little more on the nose than the other, and is a more adventurous musical composition, too Natty Dread is full of fantastic bass lines, as “Lively Up Yourself” can attest. It’s hard to talk about “Them Belly Full” without talking about “Rebel Music,” so often are they paired together - and not just on the Natty Dread album, but in live sets, too. Another classic Marley bait-and-switch: you could easily listen to this song and walk away singing to yourself, “We’re gonna dance to Jah music, dance,” rather than absorbing the fact that he’s talking about the conditions that spark talk of revolution against the rich. Maybe one of Bob’s most important songs, given its message about poverty and hunger and the class pressures and anger that arise from it. Man, that sounds nice right about now, doesn’t it? (Stay for the kind of hilarious bird sounds.)

Bob marley burnin album cover free#

But there’s something to be said for simplicity, and the carefree feel of hook - “Yes me friend / Them say we free again” - is the audio form of hanging out with your best friends on a Saturday afternoon in the summer with nothing to do and nowhere to be. For that reason alone it belongs on this list.Ībout as classic a 1-4-5 progression as it gets, there’s not much that’s especially groundbreaking or revolutionary about this track. There are a few songs that are more compelling musically (the traditional “Rasta Man Chant” comes to mind) on Burnin’ than “Small Axe,” but this is a concept that echoes through several Marley songs throughout the years - that the big tree can be cut down by the small axe, that there’s nothing that can stop the people from rising up and overcoming their oppressor if the situation is right. Lyrically, it’s a call to smash the systems of power - a theme that is omnipresent across his catalog. The way the bass and organ mesh is much more devastating when given the space to breathe of a live stage setting, and makes the song that much heavier than it ever could be in the studio. There are several Marley songs that are more iconic live than in the studio - “No Woman, No Cry” being the obvious example - and “Burnin’ and Lootin’,” despite lending the Burnin’ album its title, has to be among them. Lyrically it’s almost cliche, but the emotion in Bob’s voice saves it from that fate. But it’s Aston “Family Man” Barrett’s bass that really stands out, with its adventurous lines giving the song a different dimension. The opening section, with its underlying organ and piano and haunting vocals give off an ominous vibe, before the reggae-rhythm of the guitar kicks it into a traveling groove. This is a great early example of the musicianship of the Wailers, and how the different layers and textures of the group could add up to something greater than the sum of their parts. It’s the formula that the Wailers, and especially Tosh, would eventually perfect over the first few albums.Ī good storytelling song from the original Wailers. Light and dark, heavy and easy, all at once.Ī Peter Tosh showcase, both written and sung, the song is another that showcases the trio’s vocal work together - particularly the soaring harmonies after Tosh pleads to “make a move” - amid a particularly heavy subject. This is a good place to acknowledge that just about every Marley album cut is worthy of this list - “Concrete Jungle,” the album’s opener, showcases the group’s raw power, for instance - but this is the first selection for how it displays the near-perfect way that the voices of Marley, Bunny Wailer and Peter Tosh blend together in their harmonies. The second track on the first Wailers album for Island, “Slave Driver” is straightforward and to the point in its messaging and rhythm, setting the tone and blueprint for what would come over the next decade. In Jamaica With the Marleys: Behind a Booming Family Business As It Weathers A Global Crisis