#140 Bob Marley and the Wailers, 'Catch a Fire' (1973)
Previously #126
Last time around I called this “one of the best reggae albums I have ever listened to” and I stand by that. It was a stand out record last time and I was excited to relisten this time around. I, along with the rest of the world, know Bob Marley and The Wailers hits very well, and while this record only includes one “hit,” the rest of the songs on the album hold their own. ‘Catch A Fire’ was the group’s fifth album, but first for Island Records. At the end of 1971, the band embarked on a UK tour with Johnny Nash but following the tour, they got stuck in the UK as they didn’t have the funds to return to Jamaica. Their work permit wouldn’t allow them to earn the money to get back to the UK. Stuck without options, the band reached out to Island Records founder, Chris Blackwell, who advanced the band money to get home and record a new album.
The album title, meaning “burn in hell,” was taken from the second track, ‘Save Driver,’ illustrating Marley’s sentiment towards the oppression Jamaicans were subject to historically. The album opens with ‘Concrete Jungle,’ a song with a similar theme, a dark song tinged with hope “No chains around my feet/But I'm not free, oh-oh/I know I am bound here in captivity,” “I said life (Sweet life) must be somewhere to be found/(Must be somewhere for me).” I listened to this song about 5 times, it’s incredible. ‘400 Years’ is a change in pace led by Peter Tosh, with once again, a similar sentiment. There’s a definite recurring theme throughout the album “Why do they fight against the poor youth of today?/And without these youths, they would be gone.” It’s a protest album, an album willing change. The only single from the record was ‘Stir It up,’ and was the song that truly introduced Marley to the world thanks to their performance of it on ‘The Old Grey Whistle Test’ on UK TV in 1973. Unlike the other songs on the record, this was Marley’s love song to marijuana. Even the most rebellious of protesters have to kick back every and then too. With this record, Bob Marley and the Wailers had arrived.
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