Sunday, March 30
The first two disks on the four disk Bob Marley compilation, Songs of Freedom, might just be the best music you'll ever hear--anywhere. The first two disks contains the bulk of Marley and the Wailers' pre-Island material, including their phenomenal work with the great Lee "Scratch" Perry (work that is widely regarded as the finest music of Marley's career), plus the central tunes on the Wailers' first two Island releases, Catch a Fire and Burnin', and a smattering of other tunes from that era. These tracks include some scorchers like early (and better) versions of classic Marley songs like "Stir it Up," "One Love/People Get Ready," and "Small Axe," along with some wonderful ska tracks (especially "One Cup of Coffee"), some rare gems like "High Tide or Low" (from the Catch a Fire sessions; unreleased on the original Island disk), and some flat-out cool songs like "Bend Down Low" and "Nice Time."
After Burnin' was released (actually, even before it was released), Bunny Livingston and Peter Tosh left the band, and Marley replaced their voices with the I-Threes (which included Rita Marley). From that point forward, Marley would become not only a huge superstar but, really, an icon of mythic proportions. Even today, Marley is revered unlike almost any other musician (with the possible exception of John Lennon and Elvis).
Unfortunately, the music that made Marley a superstar--the bulk of the tracks on disks 3 and 4 of the set--is fairly pedestrian. It's not BAD music; it's just sounds a little too dated today than his earlier work. Why is this? Well, after Bunny & Peter left the band, Marley focused on being a superstar and less on being an innovator or even a musician. Sure, the songs on his later albums are good--Exodus has been hailed as one of the great works of all time--but the music itself isn't quite as crucial as the music he made earlier in his career.
I don't blame Marley for choosing fame and myths over musical experimentation. Heck, it's not like he truly sold out in the way most rock stars sell out. Far from it: he realized early on that his role in life was to be a symbol of power, respect, and reverence for black people everywhere (Rastafarians especially). He realized that his fame went beyond his music. I can't blame him for realizing the obvious and acting on it.
Still, most people know and love Marley's music best because of the songs on disks three and four of Songs of Freedom. Included are the songs that everyone knows by heart: the Exodus version of "One Love," "Jammin'," "Three Little Birds," "Exodus," "Waiting in Vain," and "Redemption Song." Yes, those are all wonderful songs, and they keep my attention. But there are a lot of songs on those two disks that don't really keep my attention--songs like "Zimbabwe," "Ride Natty Ride," "Rastaman Live Up," and so on. They aren't bad songs, but they sound too much like overproduced late 70s tracks to really hold my interest today. On the contrary, songs from 60s like "I'm Still Waiting," while lacking the political lyrics, nevertheless SOUNDS timeless, as if it could have been written in the 20s, 50s, or even 90s. It's that timeless quality that really makes Marley's early music so incredible, and so essential. The latter music lacked that timelessness, though, by that point, it was Marley who was timeless, not his music.
So half of Songs of Freedom is essential; the other half is interesting. It's still worth the US$60, simply because you'll never hear better music than those first two disks--and that includes The Beatles, the Stones, Bob Dylan, Elvis, Prince, Michael Jackson, They Might Be Giants, Vivaldi, Sinatra, Eminem, or even Aboo!
After Burnin' was released (actually, even before it was released), Bunny Livingston and Peter Tosh left the band, and Marley replaced their voices with the I-Threes (which included Rita Marley). From that point forward, Marley would become not only a huge superstar but, really, an icon of mythic proportions. Even today, Marley is revered unlike almost any other musician (with the possible exception of John Lennon and Elvis).
Unfortunately, the music that made Marley a superstar--the bulk of the tracks on disks 3 and 4 of the set--is fairly pedestrian. It's not BAD music; it's just sounds a little too dated today than his earlier work. Why is this? Well, after Bunny & Peter left the band, Marley focused on being a superstar and less on being an innovator or even a musician. Sure, the songs on his later albums are good--Exodus has been hailed as one of the great works of all time--but the music itself isn't quite as crucial as the music he made earlier in his career.
I don't blame Marley for choosing fame and myths over musical experimentation. Heck, it's not like he truly sold out in the way most rock stars sell out. Far from it: he realized early on that his role in life was to be a symbol of power, respect, and reverence for black people everywhere (Rastafarians especially). He realized that his fame went beyond his music. I can't blame him for realizing the obvious and acting on it.
Still, most people know and love Marley's music best because of the songs on disks three and four of Songs of Freedom. Included are the songs that everyone knows by heart: the Exodus version of "One Love," "Jammin'," "Three Little Birds," "Exodus," "Waiting in Vain," and "Redemption Song." Yes, those are all wonderful songs, and they keep my attention. But there are a lot of songs on those two disks that don't really keep my attention--songs like "Zimbabwe," "Ride Natty Ride," "Rastaman Live Up," and so on. They aren't bad songs, but they sound too much like overproduced late 70s tracks to really hold my interest today. On the contrary, songs from 60s like "I'm Still Waiting," while lacking the political lyrics, nevertheless SOUNDS timeless, as if it could have been written in the 20s, 50s, or even 90s. It's that timeless quality that really makes Marley's early music so incredible, and so essential. The latter music lacked that timelessness, though, by that point, it was Marley who was timeless, not his music.
So half of Songs of Freedom is essential; the other half is interesting. It's still worth the US$60, simply because you'll never hear better music than those first two disks--and that includes The Beatles, the Stones, Bob Dylan, Elvis, Prince, Michael Jackson, They Might Be Giants, Vivaldi, Sinatra, Eminem, or even Aboo!
