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A sweet set of sides cut by the Wailers under Lee Perry's production. Crucial early roots versions of some of Marley's strongest material, like "Mr. Brown", "Soul Rebel", "Duppy Conqueror", and "400 Years" rendered in a raw Kingston soul style! Give us this stuff over the Island LPs any day! 13 tracks in all, this set also includes "Try Me", "It's Alright", "No Sympathy", "My Cup", "Rebel's Hop", "Corner Stone", "No Water", "Reaction" and "Soul Almighty".

Early, early Coxsone Dodd produced sides of groovy rocksteady, voiced by a young Bob Marley with Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer. While we don't find this material nearly as compelling as his later work produced by Lee Perry and then his huge international hits, it's great Studio One rocksteady and an interesting portrait of a legend in the earliest stages of his career. Twenty tracks, including "Simmer Down", "Maga Dog", "It Hurts To Be Alone", "I'm Still Waiting", "Dancing Shoes", "Do You Feel The Same Way" and "Love & Affection".

Early, early Coxsone Dodd produced sides of groovy rocksteady, voiced by a young Bob Marley with Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer. While we don't find this material nearly as compelling as his later work produced by Lee Perry and then his huge international hits, it's great Studio One rocksteady and an interesting portrait of a legend in the earliest stages of his career. 10 tracks, including "Simmer Down", "Maga Dog", "I Made A Mistake", "I Am Going Home", "Donna", "Nobody Knows" and "Love & Affection".

Sweet grooves from the great Bob Marley – a set cut at a time when Marley was really riding his international fame – and able to create the kind of music that reached out way more than conventional reggae! The Kingston roots of the sound are still very firmly in place – but there's also a more globally-expansive vision here too – partly the tight production on the music, partly the warm feelings that ebb and flow throughout the entire set – a vibe that's very different than American soul, and which has turned out to be surprisingly encompassing over the years. Titles include "Is This Love", "Running Away", "Kaya", "Satisfy My Soul", "Easy Skanking", "Sun Is Shining", "She's Gone", "Misty Morning", "Crisis", and "Time Will Tell" – plus this reissue adds "Smile Jamaica" as a bonus track.

A great collection of work from Bob Marley – put together as the soundtrack to the film of the same name, but a set that works equally well as a rich introduction to his music! There's a handful of classics here, but also some nice lesser-remembered tunes too – and the package includes a fair bit of live recordings, which make up almost a third of the 2CD collection! Titles include "Small Axe", "Concrete Jungle", "Work", "Crazy Baldhead", "Corner Stone", "Judge Not", "Stir It Up", "Simmer Down", "Natty Dread", "Trenchtown Rock (live)", "One Love", "Could You Be Loved", "High Tide Or Low Tide", "Redemption Song", "I Shot The Sheriff (live)", "War (live)", "No Woman No Cry (live)", "Exodus Dub (Kindred Spirit dub)", 'Three Little Birds", and "Real Situation".

A massive book on the music of Bob Marley and The Wailers – written in collaboration with Aston Barrett and other group members – and offering up a huge amount of detail that we haven't seen in other Marley biographies! The style is great – and offers up loads of personal recollections pulled from interviews, which are then woven together to tell this important story through details that go way beyond the historical information – a vivid portrait of the rise of Jamaican music on the global scene, and the all-too-short life of the great one. Filled with black and white photos, yet very densely written – almost 600 pages in length.

Recorded live at the Reggae Sunsplash festival in 1981, with a tremendous line up paying tribute to Bob Marley: Steel Pulse ("Sound System" & "Handsworth Revolution"), Rita Marley & I Threes, the Melody Makers & the Wailers, Eek A Mouse with the Wailers, Denis Brown ("If I Had the World"), Black Uhuru ("Guess Who's Coming to Dinner"), Sheila Hylton, Gregory Isaacs ("Soon Forward"), Carlene Davis, the Mighty Diamonds ("Right Time") & Third World.

One of our favorite Wailers LPs – as solid a statement as Marley had made, and to our ears, the finest moment of his later career. The album features classics like "Natural Mystic", "Three Little Birds", "One Love/People Get Ready" and the excellent, driving title track.

Later Marley on Island, not our favorite stuff, but it plays well with the tourist crowd. Granted, there are some nice moments here, so we shouldn't get too down on it. Includes "Chant Down Babylon", "Buffalo Soldier", "Mix Up, Mix Up", "Blackman Redemption" and "Trench Town", 10 track s in all.

Sweet grooves from the great Bob Marley – a set cut at a time when Marley was really riding his international fame – and able to create the kind of music that reached out way more than conventional reggae! The Kingston roots of the sound are still very firmly in place – but there's also a more globally-expansive vision here too – partly the tight production on the music, partly the warm feelings that ebb and flow throughout the entire set – a vibe that's very different than American soul, and which has turned out to be surprisingly encompassing over the years. Titles include "Is This Love", "Running Away", "Kaya", "Satisfy My Soul", "Easy Skanking", "Sun Is Shining", "She's Gone", "Misty Morning", "Crisis", and "Time Will Tell". 2CD version features the bonus track "Smile Jamaica (version)" – plus 13 more tracks recorded live in Rotterdam in 1978 – "Jamming", "No Woman No Cry", "I Shot The Sheriff", "The Heathen", "Positive Vibration", and "Exodus".

A later effort from Robert Nesta Marley, though nowhere near past his prime. By this point in his career a lot of purists were criticizing Marley for crossing over too far, but there is no shortage of either conscious lyric and intent, nor heavy, rootsy rhythms here. The hit was "Roots, Rock, Reggae", but cuts like "Crazy Baldhead","Rat Race" and "Night Shift" hit just as hard. Also includes "Positive Vibration", 'Who The Cap Fit", "Cry To Me", "Johnny Was" and "Want More". This reissue includes and 11th bonus track, "Jah Live".

A nice collection of early Bob Marley & The Wailers singles – all produced by Lee Perry! The music's a great meeting of two important reggae talents – quite different than both in later years, especially Marley – as the music has a great rawness that would get glossed over in Bob's years with Island, when he would go on to become an international star! The cuts were recorded at Randy's, and titles include "Soul Rebel", "Try Me", "It's Alright", "No Sympathy", "My Cup", "Soul Almighty", "Rebel's Hop", "Corner Stone", "Four Hundred Years", "No Water", "Reaction", and "My Sympathy".

Great early work by Bob Marley & The Wailers – some of it produced by the legendary Lee Perry, too! Some of the tunes are early takes on later famous versions – but in a way, they're actually more definitive – in that they tie Marley back to the rich Kingston culture, instead of making him some beatific figure who emerged to greatness on his own. The rougher edge is a great contrast to Marley during the Island years – as you'll hear on tunes that include "Lively Up Yourself","Small Axe", "Duppy Conqueror", "African Herbsman", "Sun Is Shining", "Keep On Moving", "Don't Rock The Boat", and "Kaya".

A well-titled album – given that Taj Mahal's music is always pretty darn rootsy – and this time around, he's also adding in a bit of Jamaican roots too, thanks to production help from Bob Marley and Aston Barrett of The Wailers! The pair help Taj out on a few numbers, mixing in some reggae rhythms with his bluesy lead – another compelling combination of modes that marks the creative apex of Taj Mahal's years on Columbia. Titles include "Johnny Too Bad", "Big Mama", "Cajun Waltz", "Slave Driver", "Blackjack Davey", and "Desperate Lover".

The Charlie Hunter quartet offers their take on Bob Marley's groundbreaking album Natty Dread – taking the original Jamaican grooves of the set, and performing them in a laidback jazz funk style! The lineup includes Charlie on 8-string guitar, plus alto sax, tenor sax, and drums – on titles that include "Rebel Music", "So Jah She", "Revolution", "Talkin Blue", "Lively Up Yourself", "No Woman No Cry", and "Natty Dread".

A tome to the legacy of Island Records – the pretty amazing journey of a record label that began with the goal of bringing reggae to the masses – and in it's heyday, grew to be home to some of the most creative artists in modern pop music of sprawlingly broad styles! From Bob Marley to U2, Roxy Music, Tom Waits, Elvis Costello, PJ Harvey, Tricky and so many more! Includes a preface by Chris Blackwell, and this book is quite beautifully illustrated. . .lots of full color photography, album art and more. 222 pages.

A sweet overview of work from the second stretch of the career of Gilberto Gil – and a set that's worth it alone for two of the five albums in the package! The set begins with Refazenda and Refavela – both fantastically funky albums that have Gilberto Gil hitting a soulful style that's very different than before – a mode that's more Jorge Ben than any of Gil's previous work – yet still with some of the sharper, more creative edges that always made him one of the leading lights of 70s MPB! Realce manages to capture a lot of the warmth and imagination of Gil's earlier work. The production's a little smooth in parts, but Gil's beautiful voice and guitar playing are still right out front, especially in some of the more stripped-down tracks. Raca Humana is pretty compelling stuff – almost a new wave album of sorts, recorded with lots of tight guitar work by producer Liminha, and plenty of catchy tunes that sparkle like some lost gems from early 80s radio. And Kayangandaya is a real surprise – an album of reggae tracks, mostly by Bob Marley, recorded in Kingston at the Tuff Gong Studios, with help from the Rita Marley, Marcia Griffiths, Judy Mowatt, Sly & Robbie, and others. The record's actually pretty nice – a good blend of the dub-heavy sounds of Jamaica, with some of the rougher soul stylings that Gil was crafting in earlier years – a combination that shouldn't work, but which does nicely.

Mad heavy funk from this excellent Japanese combo – really hitting hard here on a host of covers of famous tunes – all returned to the group's sharp 70s instrumental approach! The groove is incredible – razor-sharp right from the start, and served up with perfect old school instrumentation – and just the right production to match – perfect for the tight horns in the lead, riffing guitar in the rhythms, and the warm organ that sews the whole thing together! And although we love their own songs, this set seems to sound extra-hip, given that it features work by Jimi Hendrix, Bob Marley, Herbie Hancock, Led Zeppelin, and others – a wicked array of re-tooled tunes that includes "Tell Me A Bedtime Story", "Too High", "Mean Street", "Power Of Soul", "Exodus", "Space Dust", "The Immigrant Song", "Blackbyrd's Theme", and "KITT".

The clown prince of hip hop at his goofy best, a great reminder that hip hop can have some levity and still be dope. One of our all time favorite Juice Crew LPs, with production by Marley Marl, and a helping hand on the lyrics from the Kane. Just about every cut here's an essential classic: "Vapors", "Make The Music With Your Mouth Biz", "Noboby Beats The Biz", "This Is Something For The Radio", "Cool V's Tribute To Scratching", "Pickin' Boogers", "Albee Square Mall", "Biz Is Goin' Off" and "Biz Dance (part one)".