When: Released April 13, 1973
Why? I can’t recall ever hearing an actual Wailers song. My previous experience was with cover versions, such as Eric Clapton’s “I Shot the Sheriff” and Johnny Nash’s “Stir It Up,” the original version of which appears on this album.
What? Nine songs, just under 36 minutes. This album, the Wailers’ fifth, is notable for being the one that introduced the group—and, presumably, reggae in general—to rock audiences.
First Impressions: I’ll state this at the top: As someone who appreciates reggae rhythms and the musicianship required to play them, I was predisposed to like this. And I did.
The album opens with four songs of survival, oppression, and, eventually, escape: “Concrete Jungle,” “Slave Driver,” “400 Years,” and “Stop That Train.” Yet despite the emotional weight of the lyrics, the songs themselves never feel oppressive or weary. And Marley (who wrote all but two of the songs here) seems to make a point of contrasting whatever sorrow he may be experiencing with at least a suggestion of positivity: “I’ve never known happiness / I’ve never known what sweet caress is / Still / I’ll be always laughing like a clown / Won’t someone help me, ’cause I / I’ve got to pick myself from off the ground,” he sings in “Concrete Jungle.” This message is only helped by that loping, reggae beat, which seems to lift everything up.
Peter Tosh, writer and lead singer of the two non-Marley songs, seems more cynical. In “400 Years,” he bemoans a history that favors complacency over action: “Look how long, 400 years / Way too long / And the people, my people can’t see.” And then in “Stop That Train,” it sounds like he’s done cajoling; if no one will listen, he will take his message elsewhere: “Teaching my people who don’t understand / And even though I tried my best / I still can’t find no happiness / So I got to say, stop that train, I’m leaving, any day now.”
I’ve read nothing that suggests there was any special thought given to this album’s sequencing. But it seems to flow perfectly, with “Stop That Train” providing a natural segue into three songs of love and sex—“Baby We’ve Got a Date (Rock It Baby),” “Stir It Up,” and “Kinky Reggae”—before returning to sociopolitical concerns in “No More Trouble” and “Midnight Ravers.”
I am completely unfamiliar with Rastafari religious beliefs, which are probably essential for a full understanding of Marley’s songwriting in particular and the Wailers’ work in general. So there may be messages and layers of meaning here that I simply am not getting. That said, I really enjoyed all of the songs here. My least favorite songs were “No More Trouble,” which was overly repetitive for me, and “Midnight Ravers,” which opened with a wonderfully provocative verse—starting with the line, “Can’t tell the woman from the man / No, I say you can’t, ’cause they’re dressed in the same pollution”—but then became cryptic and indecipherable to me.
About the recordings themselves… The songs were recorded in several different Jamaican studios, then enhanced later (with some remixing and additional instrumental overdubbing) by Marley and the album’s producer and label owner, Chris Blackwell, in England. The two were working to achieve an authentic reggae sound that also would be palatable to American and British rock fans, who in 1973 were either ignorant of or outright antagonist toward the music.
Both the “enhanced” tracks and their previously unreleased Jamaican versions are now available. For my money, Blackwell and Marley did a fantastic job with the material. Blackwell clearly respected the work that the band had done in Jamaica (even though some of the recording was sub-par in sound quality—and remains so in his final mixes), but he was able to give it a depth and professional sheen that the original tracks lacked without affecting its integrity. And I think it’s remarkable that Marley was not only open to these changes, he was actively involved in overseeing and teaching the non-reggae musicians who were involved in the overdubs. He seemingly brought no ego to the task and was interested only in seeing the Wailers’ message spread beyond Jamaican audiences.
So? I thoroughly enjoyed this album and will definitely listen again.