Natty Dread [Bonus Track] [Remaster] (CD - 1974)

Bob Marley & The Wailers: Bob Marley (vocals, guitar); Al Anderson (guitar); Touter (piano, organ); Aston "Family Man" Barrett (bass); Carlton "Carly" Barrett (drums, percussion).

Additional personnel includes: Rita Marley, Marcia Griffiths, Judy Mowatt (background vocals).

Reissue producers: Bill Levenson, Maxine Stowe.

Recorded at Harry J Studios, Kingston, Jamaica and Island Studios, Hammersmith, England.

All tracks have been digitally remastered.

Personnel: Bob Marley (vocals); Al Yasha Anderson (guitar); Touter (piano, organ); Aston Barrett (bass guitar); Carlton "Carlie" Barrett (drums, percussion); I-Threes (background vocals).

Audio Mixer: Sidney Bucknor.

Recording information: Harry J. Studios, Kingston, Jamaica; Harry Jay's Recording Studio, Kingston, Jamaica; Island Studios, Hammersmith, England.

Photographers: Adrian Boot; Dennis Morris.

Out on his own following the defection of Bunny Wailer and Peter Tosh, this album saw Marley utilizing the talents of the I-Threes for the first time. There was still a nod to his past in the inclusion of a cover version of a Wailers tune, "Lively Up Yourself," but elsewhere he revelled in his new found freedom, on "Revolution" and most particularly, "No Woman, No Cry," which has practically become a Jamaican national anthem since its release. If that song had an instantly universal appeal, Rasta themes were also brilliantly conveyed via "Them Belly Full (But We Hungry)" and "Rebel Music (Three O'Clock Roadblock)." Marley had announced himself as one of the greats of modern music.

Natty Dread is Bob Marley's finest album, the ultimate reggae recording of all time. This was Marley's first album without former bandmates Peter Tosh and Bunny Livingston, and the first released as Bob Marley & the Wailers. The Wailers' rhythm section of bassist Aston "Family Man" Barrett and drummer Carlton "Carlie" Barrett remained in place and even contributed to the songwriting, while Marley added a female vocal trio, the I-Threes (which included his wife Rita Marley), and additional instrumentation to flesh out the sound. The material presented here defines what reggae was originally all about, with political and social commentary mixed with religious paeans to Jah. The celebratory "Lively Up Yourself" falls in the same vein as "Get Up, Stand Up" from Burnin'. "No Woman, No Cry" is one of the band's best-known ballads. "Them Belly Full (But We Hungry)" is a powerful warning that "a hungry mob is an angry mob." "Rebel Music (3 O'Clock Road Block)" and "Revolution" continue in that spirit, as Marley assumes the mantle of prophet abandoned by '60s forebears like Bob Dylan. In addition to the lyrical strengths, the music itself is full of emotion and playfulness, with the players locked into a solid groove on each number. Considering that popular rock music was entering the somnambulant disco era as Natty Dread was released, the lyrical and musical potency is especially striking. Marley was taking on discrimination, greed, poverty, and hopelessness while simultaneously rallying the troops as no other musical performer was attempting to do in the mid-'70s. [The 2001 Definitive Remasters edition also includes the track "Am-A-Do," which was recorded during the Natty Dread sessions but shelved until the 1991 compilation, Talkin' Blues. It is restored here to its proper chronological context.] ~ Jim Newsom minimize