Search - Bob Marley & The Wailers :: Essential Bob Marley & The Wailers

Excellent overview of early Bob Marley & The Wailers! Excel

Rastaman | Austin, Tx USA | 03/12/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I have alot of Bob Marley, or I thought I did. I mean I have all of his Tuff Gong/Island records including live records. I have 2 Trojan era albums called Soul Rebels and African Herbsman. I have the box set as well. And for a quick overview for the car, Gold has replaced both Legend and Natural Mystic the Legend Lives On. But when I got this 2 disc set I was amazed and how much Marley I was not familiar with.



Everything here is pre-Tuff Gong. You'll find both Leslie Kong produced tracks as well as Lee "Scratch" Perry produced tracks as well. Many of these tracks are on the two early albums mentioned above (Soul Rebels and African Herbsman) and the sound quality is top notch and the combination here is the key!



And the best part of all is that you get to hear the whole band! Not just Bob Marley & The I-threes. Later more popular albums after Catch A Fire and Burnin' no longer have Peter Tosh or Bunny Wailer on them. Instead you have the I-three's, which is nice and has it's definite place but if you really want to hear "Bob Marley & THE WAILERS" check out this double album. You'll be pleased. It makes a fine addition to ANY Bob Marley collection. And if it's the only thing you ever bought, it stands on it's own. This makes a nice pair for the 2 disc Gold set.

"

The Essential Wailers

Matt | 04/27/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I usually prefer simple, catchy songwriting--it holds up better to endless listenings than the looser, more experimental stuff does. Thus, while I won't deny that Magical Mystery Tour blew my mind when I first heard it, I reach for my copy of Rubber Soul much, much more often.



I own Legend. And I do appreciate that side of Bob Marley. But this early stuff is the truly ESSENTIAL Bob Marley and the Wailers. It's straight up, soul- and R&B- and ska-influenced reggae music. No long, natty dreads; no songs about cannabis; no references to Jah Almighty. Just sweet Jamaican soul music, along the lines of the Toots & The Maytals (but quite possibly even better).



The lyrics, too, are markedly different from Marley's later music. Instead of social consciousness and Rastafarian religion, you get - gasp! - humor. "Adam and Eve" is a hilarious example. He tells the whole story of the garden of Eden, straight from the Bible and with no embellishment, and then at the very end of the chorus he sneaks in the punchline: "And anywhere you go/Woman is the root of all evil/She was the first one to take the fruit/And everyone of us is living in sin." Who knew Bob was so witty?



If you like simple and catchy songwriting as much as I do, you need to give this collection a spin. Everybody knows that after Americans invented rock and roll, the British took it, perfected it, and spit it right back. It turns out the Jamaicans did it too. Why so few people realize this fact (as evidenced by there being only one review of this CD prior to mine) is a mystery to me.



P.S. - I mainly wrote this review for reggae newbies like me, but here's a fact that will interest hardcore reggae/dub fans: nearly 4/5ths of the material on this compilation was produced by Lee "Scratch" Perry."

The Essential Bob Marley

A. Tetrault | Tampa Florida | 01/07/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"As someone who has been a Marley fan for more than 30 years, I didn't think there would be any new music mixes or remakes that would interest me or be of any kind of quality. What a great surprise this c.d. is. Truly excellent quality sound, none of the muddy low quality mixes that I have heard before from the Scratch Perry studio sessions. I can't recommend this c.d. enough. If you are a Marely afficionado, this c.d. is a must."