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Bob Marley: Natty Dread

 A l b u m   D e t a i l s


Label: Island Records
Released: 1974.10.25
Time:
 38:48
Category: Reggae
Producer(s): See Artists ...
Rating: *******... (7/10)
Media type: CD
Web address: www.bobmarley.com
Appears with:
Purchase date: 2000.08.11
Price in €: 7,99



 S o n g s ,   T r a c k s


[1] Lively up Yourself (B.Marley) - 5:29
[2] No Woman, No Cry (V.Ford) - 4:06
[3] Them Belly Full [But We Hungry] (A.Barrett/S.Cogil) - 3:10
[4] Rebel Music [3 O'Clock Roadblock] (A.Barrett/H.Peart) - 6:40
[5] So Jah Seh (A.Francisco/B.Marley) - 4:25
[6] Natty Dread (A.Cole/B.Marley) - 3:33
[7] Bend Down Low (B.Marley) - 3:10
[8] Talkin' Blues (A.Barrett/S.Cogil) - 4:06
[9] Revolution (B.Marley) - 4:20

 A r t i s t s ,   P e r s o n n e l



BOB MARLEY - Rhythm Guitar, Vocals, Producer
JUNIOR HANSON - Guitar, Producer
ASTON BARRETT - Bass Guitar, Producer
CARLTON "Carlie" BARRETT - Percussion, Drums, Executive Producer, Producer
BERNARD TOUTER HARVEY - Organ, Piano, Producer
EARL LINDO - Keyboards, Producer
ALVIN PATTERSON - Percussion, Producer
TOUTER - Organ, Piano, Producer
AL ANDERSON - Guitar, Producer

I-Threes:
RITA MARLEY - Vocals
JUDY MOWATT - Vocals
MARCIA GRIFFITHS - Vocals

CHRIS BLACKWELL - Producer
PHIL AULT - Engineer
BARRY DIAMENT - Remastering
ROB FRABONI - Remastering
PHIL HULT - Engineer
DENNIS MORRIS - Photography
SYLVAN MORRIS - Engineer
TONY WRIGHT - Artwork

 C o m m e n t s ,   N o t e s


In 1974 Marley spent most of his time in the studio working on sessions that eventually provided Natty Dread. By the start of the year, however, Bunny and Peter had quit the group and the band was renamed Bob Marley and the Wailers. Natty Dread was released in 1974.

After Bunny Wailer and Peter Tosh left to pursue their own solo careers, the band was renamed Bob Marley and The Wailers. To fill the harmonic void, the I-Three's, consisting of Bob's wife Rita, and singers Marcia Griffith and Judy Mowatt, were recruited. At the time of its release in 1974, Natty Dread was the Wailers' best production, making the album a must-have for reggae fans. Lyrically, Marley passionately communicates radical ideas without compromise, shaped by his increasing conviction in Rastafari. A wide range of themes cross this album: the resilience of the human spirit in 'Lively Up Yourself', the testament of brotherhood and love in 'No Woman No Cry', and the need for social change in 'Them Belly Full', 'Talkin' Blues' and 'Revolution.'

www.bobmarley.com



Reggae in this country tends to attract rabid, cultish, blanket admiration. The sanctification of the form doesn't always allow that much of the stuff can be, well, boring. But the wild range in reggae's quality is actually one of the strongest arguments in favor of the legendary Bob Marley -- he wasn't passionate, moving and disciplined because he was a reggae artist but because he was Bob Marley. And 1974's Natty Dread proved for all time the possi-bilities of the genre. Peter Tosh and Bunny Livingstone (later Wailer) had just departed from Marley's band; Marley brought in a passel of new backing musicians and installed the I-Threes, a female vocal trio that included his wife, Rita, to play shimmering Greek chorus to his omniscient narrator. The record unspools like a pristine jam session, a huge range of instruments weaving in and out according to the emotional tenor of the moment -- drum fills, cowbells and a thoughtful, sometimes ominous bass piling up the sonic richness.

Beyond the lilting charm of the ballad "No Woman, No Cry," which has become a reggae classic and cover staple, what Natty Dread evinces is Marley's remarkable musical control. "Lively Yourself Up" is cool and stripped down -- every guitar note and percussive shake seems necessary. "Rebel Music (3 O'Clock Road Block)" folds in sidelines of harmonica and stalls for brief drum turns between the regulation loping, circular beat and the muselike affirmations of the I-Threes. "So Jah Seh," a taut profession of Rastafarian faith, does not resist the earthly pleasures of a big horn sound and thoughtful piano playing.

All of reggae's signature forces are in vibrant play. Its charismatic political rebelliousness is trickily conveyed on "Them Belly Full (But We Hungry)," in which Marley plays double agent, posing as the good-time partymaster while rallying the desperate troops with a vocal line that bends at the tips like the branches of a weeping willow. Like qawwali music and American blues, reggae folds in sensual with spiri-tual ecstasies. The blueslike "Bend Down Low" is grounded by a grouchy pop-up rhythm while Marley and the I-Threes sing ethereally, even merrily, with their eyes on the heavens. Natty Dread wrangled the seemingly unreconcilable impulses of reggae -- its economy of line and expansiveness of spirit -- into an intense evocation of a people's boundless capacities for faith, anger and love.

ARION BERGER - RS 853
© Copyright 2001 RollingStone.com



Natty Dread hält Bob Marleys bewußten Übergang vom Mitglied der Wailers zum Songwriter sehr genau fest. Ab hier stehen sein Gesang und seine Texte im Vordergrund und die runderneuerte Band fügte sich sicher in seine widerständige Rasta-Weltanschauung ein.

Diese Veröffentlichung aus dem Jahr 1974 spiegelt den strafferen Sound der Gruppe wider, Al Anderson's spinnenfeine Gitarrenlicks, Touters abgehacktes Keyboard, die Backgroundstimmen der I-Threes und die Improvisationen der Bläser -- eine Kraftbrühe, die unter seinen zehn explizitesten politischen Songs brodelt. Wie eine Art Flugblatt über die entmutigende Realität des Ghettos von Trenchtown in Jamaika, entfaltet das Album eine Serie dauerhafter Marley-Klassiker und legt mit der leichtsinnigen, sexy Reggae-Hymne "Lively Up Yourself" los, mit ihrer lustigen, aber mysteriösen, gesprochenen Ausblende: "What you got in dat bag, dere?". Es folgen die ermutigende moralische Ansprache in "No Woman No Cry", die herben Anklagen von "Them Belly Full (But We Hungry)" und "Rebel Music (3 O'Clock Roadblock)", wie auch die Ermahnungen des Titelsongs und "Revolution".

Marleys eigene Dreadlocks waren damals noch am Wachsen, aber dieses Album ist dennoch vollkommen ausgereift: faszinierender Reggae, absolut auf den Punkt gebracht, rechtschaffen und rhythmisch unwiderstehlich.

Sam Sutherland, Amazon.de



Natty Dread is Bob Marley's finest album, the ultimate reggae recording of all time. This was Marley's first album without former bandmates Peter Tosh and Bunny Livingstone, and the first released as Bob Marley and the Wailers. The Wailers' rhythm section of bassist Aston "Family Man" Barrett and drummer Carlton "Carly" Barrett remained in place and even contributed to the songwriting, while Marley added a female vocal trio, the I-Threes (which included his wife Rita Marley), and additional instrumentation to flesh out the sound.

The material presented here defines what reggae was originally all about, with political and social commentary mixed with religious paens to Jah. The celebratory "Lively Up Yourself" falls in the same vein as "Get Up, Stand Up" from Burnin'. "No Woman No Cry" is one of the band's best-known ballads. "Them Belly Full (But We Hungry)" is a powerful warning that "a hungry mob is a angry mob." "Rebel Music (3 O'Clock Roadblock)" and "Revolution" continue in that spirit, as Marley assumes the mantle of prophet abandoned by '60s forebears like Bob Dylan. In addition to the lyrical strengths, the music itself is full of emotion and playfulness, with the players locked into a solid groove on each number.

Considering that popular rock music was entering the somnambulant disco era as Natty Dread was released, the lyrical and musical potency is especially striking. Marley was taking on discrimination, greed, poverty and hopelessness while simultaneously rallying the troops as no other musical performer was attempting to do in the mid-'70s.

Jim Newsom, All-Music Guide
 

 L y r i c s


Lively up yourself

You're gonna lively up yourself, and don't be no drag;
You lively up yourself 'cause reggae is another bag.
You lively up yourself, and don't say, "No";
You're gonna lively up yourself 'cause I said so!

Hear what you gonna do:
You rock so, you rock so, like you never did before, yeah!
You dip so, you dip so: dip through my door.
You come so, you come so, oh yeah!
You skank so, you skank so: be alive today!

You're gonna lively up yourself, and don't say, "No";
You lively up yourself, big daddy says so, y'all!
You lively up yourself, and don't be no drag;
You lively up yourself 'cause reggae is another bag.

What you got that I don't know?
I'm a-trying to wonder - wonder - wonder why you -
wonder - wonder why you act so. Yeah!

Hey, do you hear what the man seh?
Lively up your(self) - your woman in the morning time, y'all!
Wa! Keep a liv'lin' up your woman when the evening come
And take ya* - take ya - take ya - take ya-a-a!
Come on, baby! 'Cause I wanna be lively myself, y'all!

[Organ, saxophone and guitar solo]

Lively up yourself;
Lively up yourself.
You want to rock so, you rock so:

[Saxophone solo]

You rock so, you rock so;
You dip so, you dip so;
You skank so, you skank so, and don't be no drag!
You come so, you come so, for reggae is another bag!

Get what you got in that bag!
What you got in de other bag you got hanging there?
What you say you got?
I don't believe you!

[* Sheet music gives this line as: "And take her take ya."]


No woman no cry

No, woman, no cry;
No, woman, no cry;
No, woman, no cry;
No, woman, no cry.

'Cause - 'cause - 'cause I remember when a we used to sit
In a government yard in Trenchtown,
Oba - obaserving the 'ypocrites - yeah! -
Mingle with the good people we meet, yeah!
Good friends we have, oh, good friends we have lost
Along the way, yeah!
In this great future, you can't forget your past;
So dry your tears, I seh. Yeah!

No, woman, no cry;
No, woman, no cry. Eh, yeah!
A little darlin', don't shed no tears:
No, woman, no cry. Eh!

Said - said - said I remember when we used to sit
In the government yard in Trenchtown, yeah!
And then Georgie would make the fire lights,
I seh, logwood burnin' through the nights, yeah!
Then we would cook cornmeal porridge, say,
Of which I'll share with you, yeah!
My feet is my only carriage
And so I've got to push on through.
Oh, while I'm gone,
Everything's gonna be all right!
Everything's gonna be all right!
Everything's gonna be all right, yeah!
Everything's gonna be all right!
Everything's gonna be all right-a!
Everything's gonna be all right!
Everything's gonna be all right, yeah!
Everything's gonna be all right!

So no, woman, no cry;
No, woman, no cry.
I seh, O little - O little darlin', don't shed no tears;
No, woman, no cry, eh.

No, woman - no, woman - no, woman, no cry;
No, woman, no cry.
One more time I got to say:
O little - little darlin', please don't shed no tears;
No, woman, no cry.


Them belly full (But we hungry)

Na-na na na-na na na na;
Na-na na na-na na na na;
Na-na na na-na na na na;
Na-na na na-na na na na.

Them belly full, but we hungry;
A hungry mob is a angry mob.
A rain a-fall, but the dirt it tough;
A yot a-yook, but d' yood no 'nough.

You're gonna dance to Jah music, dance;
We're gonna dance to Jah music, dance, oh-ooh!

Forget your troubles and dance!
Forget your sorrows and dance!
Forget your sickness and dance!
Forget your weakness and dance!

Cost of livin' gets so high,
Rich and poor they start to cry:
Now the weak must get strong;
They say, "Oh, what a tribulation!"
Them belly full, but we hungry;
A hungry mob is a angry mob.
A rain a-fall, but the dirt it tough;
A pot a-yook, but d' yood* no 'nough.

We're gonna chuck to Jah music - chuckin';
We're chuckin' to Jah music - we're chuckin'.

[Guitar solo]

A belly full, but them hungry;
A hungry mob is a angry mob.
A rain a-fall, but the dirt it tough;
A pot a-cook, but d' food* no 'nough.
A hungry man is a angry man;
A rain a-fall, but the dirt it tough;
A pot a-yook, but you no 'nough'
A rain a-fall, but the dirt it tough.
A pot a-cook, but you no 'nough;
A hungry mob is a angry mob;
A hungry mob is a angry mob.

[* Sheet music gives this line as: "A pot a cook but you no' nough".]


Rebel music (3 O'Clock roadblock)

(Do do do do-do do do!
Do do do do-do do do!
I rebel music;
I rebel music.)
Why can't we roam (oh-oh-oh-oh) this open country? (open country)
Oh, why can't we be what we wanna be? (oh-oh-oh-oh-oh)
We want to be free. (wanna be free)

3 o'clock roadblock - curfew,
And I've got to throw away -
Yes, I've got to throw away -
A yes-a, but I've got to throw away
My little herb stalk!

I (rebel music) - yeah, I'm tellin' you! -
(I) I rebel music (rebel music). Oh-ooh!

Take my soul (oh-oh-oh-oh-oh)
and suss - and suss me out (suss me out). Oh-ooh!
Check my life (oh-oh-oh-oh-oh),
if I am in doubt (I'm in doubt); I'm tellin':
3 o'clock roadblock - roadblock - roadblock,
And "Hey, Mr. Cop! Ain't got no - (hey) hey! (hey, Mr Cop) -
(What ya sayin' down there?) - (hey) hey! (hey, Mr Cop) -
Ain't got no birth certificate on me now."

[Instrumental break]
(I rebel music)
(I rebel music)
(oh-oh-oh-oh-oh)
(open country)
(oh-oh-oh)

(Do do do!)
I (rebel music) - yeah, I'm tellin' you! -
(I) I rebel music (rebel music).

Oh-ooh! Take my soul (oh-oh-oh-oh-oh)
and suss - and suss me out (suss me out). Oh-ooh!
Check my life (oh-oh-oh-oh-oh),
if I am in doubt (I'm in doubt); I'm tellin':
3 o'clock roadblock - roadblock - roadblock,
And "Hey, Mr. Cop! Ain't got no - (hey) hey! (hey, Mr Cop) -
(What ya sayin' down there?) - (hey) hey! (hey, Mr Cop) -
Ain't got no birth certificate on me now."


So jah seh

So Jah seh,
"Not one of my seeds
Shall sit in the sidewalk
And beg bread."
(No, they can't and you know that they won't!)

So Jah seh,
"Not one of my seeds
Shall sit in the sidewalk
And beg your bread."
(No, they can't and you know that they won't!)
"And verily, verily, I'm saying unto thee, 'I
Inite oneself and love Imanity.'"
'Cause puss and dog they get together:
What's wrong with loving one another?
Puss and dog they get together:
What's wrong with you my brother?

So Jah seh,
"Ye are the sheep of my pasture;
So verily, thou shall be very well."
So Jah seh - yeah! -
"Ye are the sheep of my pasture;
So verily, thou shall be very well," yeah!

And down here in the ghetto,
And down here we suffer.
But I'n'I a-hang on in there
And I'n'I, I naw leggo;
I'n'I a-hang on in there
and I'n'I, I naw leggo.

For so Jah seh - yeah! -
"I'm gone to prepare a place,
That where I am thou shall abide," yeah!
So Jah seh,
"Fear not for mighty dread,
'Cause I'll be there at your side."

And - and down there - down there in the ghetto -
And down there we suffer
But I'n'I a-hang on in there
And I'n'I, I naw leggo.
But I'n'I a-hang on in there
And I'n'I, I naw leggo;
- So Jah seh.


Natty dread

Dread, Natty Dread now, (Natty Dread)
Dreadlock Congo Bongo I. (Natty Dread)
Natty Dreadlock in a Babylon: (Natty Dread)
A dreadlock Congo Bongo I. (Natty Dread)
Eh! Children get your culture (Natty Dreadlock)
And don't stay there and gesture, a-ah, (Natty Dreadlock)
Or the battle will be hotter (Natty Dreadlock)
And you won't get no supper. (Natty Dreadlock)

Natty Dread, Natty Dread, now; (Natty Dread)
A dreadlock Congo Bongo I. (Natty Dread)
Natty Dreadlock in a Babylon - (Natty Dread)
Roots Natty, Roots Natty! (Natty Dread)

Then I walk up the first street, (Natty Dreadlock)
And then I walk up the second street to see. (Natty Dreadlock)
Then I trod on through third street, (Natty Dreadlock)
And then I talk to some Dread on fourth street. (Natty Dreadlock)
Natty Dreadlock in a fifth street, (Natty Dreadlock)
And then I skip one fence to sixth street. (Natty Dreadlock)
I've got to reach seventh street: (Natty Dreadlock)
Natty Dreadlock Bingy Bongo I (Natty Dread)
Natty dread, Natty Dread, now, (Natty Dread)
Roots Natty Congo I. (Natty Dread)

Oh, Natty, Natty,
Natty 21,000 miles away from home, yeah!
Oh, Natty, Natty,
And that's a long way
For Natty to be from home.

Don't care what the world seh; (Natty Dread)
I'n'I couldn't never go astray. (Natty Dread)
Just like a bright and sunny day: (Natty Dread)
Oh, we're gonna have things our way. (Natty Dread)
Natty Dread, Natty Dreadlock, (Natty Dreadlock)
Dreadlock Congo Bongo I. (Natty Dreadlock)
Don't care what the world seh; (Natty Dreadlock)
I'n'I gonna have things our way. (Natty Dreadlock)
If a egg Natty in a the red - (Natty Dreadlock)
If a egg Natty in a the red. (Natty Dreadlock)
Natty Dread, Natty Dreadlock.


Bend down low

Bend down low, let me tell you what I know now;
Bend down low, let me tell you what I know.
Oh! Fisherman row to reap what you sow now;
Oh, tell you all I know (Oo-oh!),
you've got to let me go now (Oo-oh!),
And all you've got to do:
(Bend down low) Oh yeah! Let me tell you what I know;
Bend down low, let me tell you what I know. Oh yeah!

You keep on knockin', but you can't come in.
I get to understand you been livin' in sin,
But if you love me, woman, walk right in.
I've got a notch for your safety-pin,
But bend down low.

[Instrumental break]

Keep on knockin', but you can't come in.
I get to understand you been livin' in sin,
But walk right in, woman, sit right down.
I will keep on lovin' you; I play the clown.
But bend down low, baby, let me tell you what I know;
Bend down low, let me tell you what I know, yeah!
Let me tell you, baby! Let me tell ya -
Knock on, babe! Just won't let ya in!
You been livin' in sin. Knock on!


Talkin' blues

Yeah! Oh, yeah! Now!
Cold ground was my bed last night (bed last night)
And rock was my pillow, too; (doo-oo-oo-oo-oo!)
Cold ground was my bed last night (bed last night)
And rock was my pillow, too. Yeah!

I'm saying: talkin' blues (talkin' blues),
talkin' blues (talkin' blues);
They say your feet is just too big for your shoes. (shoe-oo-oo-oo-oo)
Talkin' blues (talkin' blues), talkin' blues (talkin' blues):
Your feet is just too big for your shoes. (shoe-oo-oo-oo-oo)

Yeah, I've been down on the rock for so long, (so long)
I seem to wear a permanent screw; (screw-oo-oo-oo-oo)
I've been down on the rock for so long, (so long)
I seem to wear a permanent screw. (screw-oo-oo-oo-oo)
But-a I - I'm gonna stare in the sun,
Let the rays shine in my eyes.
I - I'm a gonna take a just-a one step more
'Cause I feel like bombin' a church -
Now - now that you know that the preacher is lyin'.
So who's gonna stay at home
When - when the freedom fighters are fighting?

Talkin' blues (talkin' blues), talkin' blues (talkin' blues):
They say your feet is just too big for your shoes, woe-oh-oh-oh!
Talkin' blues (talkin' blues), keep on talkin' blues (talkin' blues);
They say - you hear what they say -
Didn't you hear?

Cold ground was my bed (bed last night),
Rockstone - rockstone - rockstone was my pillow;
Cold ground was my bed last night (bed last night),
And rock was my pillow, too.

Sayin': (talkin' blues, talkin' blues):
I seem to wear a permanent screw - permanent screw.
Talkin' blues (talkin' blues), talkin' blues (talkin' blues):
Feet is just too big for your shoes. (shoe-oo-oo-oo-oo)


Revolution

Revelation reveals the truth - revelation.
(revolution, revolution, revolution - oooo-doo-doo-doo-doo)
(revolution - oooo-doo-doo-doo-doo)

It takes a revolution (revolution) to make a solution;
(doo-doo-doo-doo)
Too much confusion (aaa-aaah), so much frustration, eh!
I don't wanna live in the park (live in the park);
Can't trust no shadows after dark (shadows after dark), yeah-eh!
So, my friend, I wish that you could see,
Like a bird in the tree, the prisoners must be free, yeah! (free)

Never make a politician (aaa-aaah) grant you a favour;
(doo-doo-doo-doo)
They will always want (aaa-aaah) to control you forever, eh!
(forever, forever)
So if a fire make it burn (make it burn, make it burn)
And if a blood make ya run (make ya run, run, run),
Rasta de 'pon top (aaa-aaah), can't you see? (doo-doo-doo-doo)
So you can't predict the flop. Eh-eh! (doo-doo-doo-doo)

We got lightning (lightning), thunder (thunder),
brimstone (brimstone) and fire - fire (fire, fire);
Lightning (lightning), thunder (thunder),
brr-brimstone (brimstone) and fire - fiyah - fire - fiyah!
(fire, fire)

Kill, cramp and paralyze all weak at conception;
(aaa-aaah, doo-doo-doo-doo)
Wipe them out of creation (creation), yeah-eah! (creation)
Wa-Jah, Jah, Jah! Wa-Jah, Jah, Jah! (creation)
Wa-Jah, Jah, Jah! (creation)

Oh! Let i'es is i'es (i'es), in i'es is black (i'es),
In i'es is red (i'es), in i'es is dread.

Let righteousness cover the earth
Like the water (aaa-aaah) cover the sea, yeah! Yeah!

Lightning (lightning), doo-doo-doo (thunder),
doo-doo-doo (brimstone), doo-doo-doo (fire, fire);
A lightning (lightning), thunder (thunder),
brimstone (brimstone) and fire.

 M P 3   S a m p l e s


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