Introduction to Bob Marley

Bob's best work was done in the 60's in Jamaica. Studio One recordings and then the late 60's/early 70's stuff. Get those.

 

We're quite a few Swedish Reggae fans on here I think, so one could actually do a proper poll.

If you are talking about "Small Axe", why is that?

 

Just completed my Bob Marley collection of original lps. And what I found at this record convention was wonderful: a copy of Uprising, pressed in Jamaica! Talk about country of origin sound; This album sounds amazing.

A nice way to finish up wouldn’t you say?

 

Such an awesome, informative post. Thank you! I'm new to the pre-Island stuff and have been trying to get my arms around it. Your post has been very helpful in navigating this super confusing discography. I have a few questions that I hope you can answer:

1. "Trenchtown Rock" appears on the Songs of Freedom box in an "alternate mix" and doesn't appear anywhere on the Complete Wailers sets. Do you know what's different about this mix? I also noticed that it's 3:28 long, while the track also appears at around 2:58 elsewhere. What's the story behind the different lengths and which one corresponds to the official single? Where does the best sounding digital version appear?

2. For "Duppy Conqueror" as it appears on the Soul Revolution Part II album, where does it appear on the Complete Wailers sets? On Vol. 5 or Vol. 10? I presume that the single version is on Songs of Freedom.

3. Is "My Sympathy" ("Four Hundred Years" version) on Complete Wailers Vol. 4 (which is classified as a dub track there) the same as the album cut on the Soul Rebels album?

4. You mentioned that your copy of the Complete Wailers doesn't have the Peter Tosh sung "Give Me A Ticket," instead mistakenly including the Rita sung version twice in error. Do you know if this was corrected for subsequent pressings?

As you can probably tell, I'm really trying to focus on Songs of Freedom and The Complete Wailers sets to obtain the 1967-1972 material because it sounds like they have the best sound quality that would be to my liking. However, I'd be willing to look elsewhere to get other stray cuts for completion's sake.

 

This is why i like this forum,everybody has an opinion but there's always someone who KNOWS.

 

1. The version of 'Trenchtown Rock' released as a single had an edited ending for censorship reasons - when compiling Songs Of Freedom they found the part that was cut out of the master and reattached it (somewhat sloppily, there is a slight skip). Complete Wailers doesn't feature the track cause JAD respected Island's copyright on it. The version of Lively Up Yourself on the Universal Box Grooving Kingston 12 has a complete ending in the same fashion, where he sings "People Get Ready".

2. The single version of Duppy Conqueror with all vocals is on Songs Of Freedom (and it was also on Trojan's earlier 'Rasta Revolution'). It was omitted from Complete Wailers again due to respecting copyright.

3. If I recall yes it is. There was a release that the compilers got "My Sympathy" and "No Sympathy (Version)" mixed up on.

4. It is worth noting that there were two Complete Wailers pressings, the original French, and a US release. The copy I have is French. If I recall, the US release definitely has the correct tracks. Roger Steffens had no idea why this mixup occurred and also says that the omission of the original "Rhapsody" was an oversight too, though they no longer could get access to it anyway.

 

Thanks so much. Just a few more follow-up questions:

So this "alternate mix" of "Trenchtown Rock" on Songs of Freedom is just the original full length of the song and not actually re-mixed from the standpoint of how the various tracks (e.g. vocals, guitar, etc.) come together in the final mix?

What about the album version of "Duppy Conqueror" on Soul Revolution Part II? There's "Duppy Version" ("Duppy Conqueror" version) – 2:07 on Vol. 5 and "Duppy Conqueror" (version 4) – 3:25 on Vol. 10 of Complete Wailers. Do you know which one's the album version?

So is "My Sympathy" on Soul Rebels supposed to just be a dub instrumental version of the song "400 Years"?

 

1. Yes.
2. Duppy Conqueror Version 4 on Vol 10 is indeed the correct version, I'm not sure why it was omitted from earlier volumes given it was already easy to get. Whilst "Version 4" retains some of the vocals, "Duppy" is completely instrumental.
3. Yes. "My Sympathy" was Lee Scratch Perry's idea to use as filler at the end of the LP. "Soul Revolution Part II" had similar filler in the name of "Memphis" which was a Peter Tosh melodica track and not really a Wailers track (he did loads in that era, which you can find on a couple of Trojan releases if interested).

Whilst we're on this subject, one of the latter era Wail n Soul M tracks, "Rhythm" - originally the b-side to a rare single "Feel Alright", from which both the tracks are transferred - is the dub version of a lost Bunny Wailer-sung track "Homeward Bound". Bunny himself did not recall if it was a Simon And Garfunkel cover or an original. At any rate, the master tape is long gone, and we can only speculate how the song went.

 

Here's the timeline for Trenchtown Rock. Originally released with the 3:28 edit on Tuff Gong in Jamaica and G&C in the US. Then supposedly for radio play reasons the 'controversial' final verse (Don't Call No Cops, we can trash things ourselves) was excised and the single repressed on Tuff Gong in Jamaica but not in the US. The only way to tell the two Jamaican pressings apart in the first press has no matrix number in the deadwax

This is the original press that includes the final verse



Whilst searching the vaults in the '90s the mix that appears on Songs Of Freedom (and also released on a vinyl 10" by Tracks On Wax) was turned up. This has the original edit length of the track but has the instruments dropping out in certain places leaving only the vocals - although I must admit that I have doubts about this being a vintage 1971 mix...

 

Legend is one of the few collection/greatest hits album that I own and it is a great introduction to Marley. Beyond that my favorites are Catch A Fire and Exodus.

 

Thanks for posting this longer one.
Still not on CD!

 

Interesting. So then you don't think what's on Songs of Freedom is the shortened version of the single with the final verse reattached to it to recreate the original full length? I did notice the instruments dropping out in spots on the Songs of Freedom version, which doesn't happen in the 2:58 version I've heard elsewhere. Otherwise, from what I can tell, the first 3 minutes or so of the Songs of Freedom version sounds like the same take and the same mix used on the single version. I wonder what could be the story around why this version with the instrumental dropouts exists in the first place (whether it's vintage 1971 or created later on) and why the compilers of Songs of Freedom chose it for inclusion, given that there was yet to be an official release at the time of either the original full-length single or the shortened single on CD.

 

Agreed!

 

Other than the duplication error of the Rita sung "Give Me a Ticket" being subsequently corrected, do you know of any other differences between the original French release and later releases?

 

I can vouch for these two releases having the correct "Give Me A Ticket" on the Selassie Is The Chapel disc:
Bob Marley & The Wailers - The Complete Bob Marley & The Wailers 1967 To 1972 Part I
Bob Marley & The Wailers - The Complete Wailers 1967-1972 Part 1

There are no US releases of the Complete Wailers series, in this box set form there are French, by Pense À Moi, and Canadian, by Koch (and the first box was also released in the UK), and there were also single discs released in France, first by Pense À Moi, then reissued by FiftyFive Records. It could be that only those pressings by Pense À Moi have the mistake and the FiftyFive is also correct, but any by Koch are definitely correct.

The alternate "Give Me A Ticket" is actually just missing Peter's lead vocal, and since Rita is promintly featured on backing vocals she is thus put in the foreground.

 

So it sounds like "Give Me a Ticket" is the only mistake/difference between the French series and the Canadian/UK series?

I just purchased and received the three box sets today off of eBay. Parts I and II are the Koch versions, while Part III is Pense À Moi (and still sealed). Do I have all of the best versions of each set?

 

I don't know of any other mistakes, but then I wasn't aware of this one either (since I only have the correct ones), so don't take my word.

As far as this one track goes it sounds like you got a good one. Remember that you now have the first eight "volumes", if you want the complete Complete (!) there are three more which are not part of these box sets but are only stand alone releases: Vol. 9: Freedom Time, Vol. 10: Soul Adventurer and Vol. 11: Lonesome Feeling (the last one is vinyl only).

This whole JAD release program, with the vinyl and CD configurations, the "part" and "volume" designations, and the many different companies involved, is rather complicated, but I find this Wikipedia page makes it rather easy to understand: The Complete Bob Marley & the Wailers 1967–1972 - Wikipedia

On LP all "Parts" were released, on CD "Parts I - III" were released (as box sets) and also "Volumes 1 - 10" (as single discs).

 

Thanks for your shared knowledge. Yep, I know of the Wikipedia page and have been finding it useful because it has a list of all of the tracks in the series in one place. My goal isn't necessarily to have every dub, alternate, version, and unreleased track recorded by the Wailers from this period but to have all of the singles, B-sides, and album tracks. And now I see that I need to have Vol. 10 just for a single track that I want ("Duppy Conqueror" (version 4)) to have a complete Soul Revolution Part II. Argh!

 

It's strange that track was also omitted from Vol. 5 "for legal reasons", there should have been no such reason, it must have been a mistake since they then later incuded it on Vol. 10. Soul Revolution Part II is also available from Universal (but I guess that's bad value, even if it's cheap, since you got the rest of it). You should also consider getting the Wail'n Soul'm material, which is essential (and is on Vol. 9), there is also the option to get it on Universal's Wail'n Soul'm Singles Selecta instead.

On a side note, there is a way to also get the tracks from the LP only Vol. 11: Lonesome Feeling on CD. There was a later JAD box set called Rebel, which was a sort of best of sampler of the Complete series, and that included all those tracks. For the super completist...

 

All of these are sensible suggestions, but I'm not always a sensible guy.
I've been focusing on gathering these tracks from Songs of Freedom and The Complete Bob Marley & the Wailers series where possible because I understand that they have the best sound quality in line with my tastes (i.e. more natural, dynamic, etc.). It sounds like the tracks from the Universal reissue program generally are more compressed and brighter.

On a different note, while I have your attention, I'm not sure if you read the bit of discussion above about "Trenchtown Rock." The version on Songs of Freedom offers the full 3 1/2 minute length of the song before it got edited down, but it sounds like it may be cobbled together from a shortened version with the ending reattached. Furthermore, the instrumentation gets dropped out in spots (e.g. whenever they sing "trenchtown rock" during 2:02-2:14 and "hit me with music" from 3:00-3:05). Does the original full-length version as released in 1971 exist on CD or does the Universal reissue campaign use the same Frankensteined version throughout found on Songs of Freedom?

 

I’ve stopped at Rastaman Vibrations for a bit. Will continue. Love that album. Just having a longish break. AlthoughI’mstill listeningto the first four albums. I can’t stop listening to Catch a Fire it’s just too captivating

 

I can understand that, so it seems the best thing is to just add the Vol. 9 and Vol. 10 separate CDs, if they can be found for normal prices, and you are pretty much set.

I don't think the original full lenght single version is on CD, and Universal's Grooving Kingston 12 and 127 King Street (and anywhere else it appears on their releases I assume) use the same version as Songs Of Freedom.

 

Re: Trenchtown Rock.

I believe the version on Songs of Freedom is the original
from 1971 and is the only "full-length version" available.
That includes singles, LPs and CDs. It has been used on
all of the Universal compilations and box sets. It was
also used on the box set Bunny released. Although 3
seconds or so were cut from that. It is the same mix
with the music cutting out on the end.

 

They're more or less functionally identical - the sets were a collab effort by Bruno Blum (France) and Roger Steffens (US). The French releases have French liner notes and the US releases have English ones. The US also mentions KOCH as the label. The last two volumes "Freedom Time" and "Soul Adventurer" were only released in France, at a later date than the earlier ones. There was an 11th, vinyl-only volume called "Lonesome Feeling" whose tracks were otherwise exclusives on the French-only 'Best Of' set Rebel Box.

The single edit is on Trojan's African Herbsman, as well as numerous shoddy bootlegs. On the latter note, an alternate version of Peter Tosh's "The World Is Changing" appears on some boots under the name "You Can't Do That To Me" and is not on Complete Wailers.

The single mix of Caution, still vinyl only, censors the words 'you crazy motherfunky', though more crucially has an extra few seconds at the end.

 

Although on Songs of Freedom it's labeled as an "alternate mix" ... unless you think they just mean it's alternative to the edited single.

To confuse matters further (at least to me), the Songs of Freedom version has the little instrumental dropouts that are not found in the video above posted by marmalade166 that supposedly represents the original pressing of the full length. That to me suggests that the Songs of Freedom version may not be the original from 1971. However, what I thought was the compilers reattaching the ending that was previously chopped off as denoted by a skip at 3:03 in the Songs of Freedom version also appears at the same point in the video above. So not sure what to make of it.