Bob Marley And The Wailers – Catch A Fire (New Vinyl)

NEW LP

New sealed copy. 2023 reissue.

Catch a Fire, the fifth studio album by the legendary reggae band The Wailers (featuring Bob Marley and the Wailers), was released in April 1973. It marked their first album with Island Records. After concluding a successful UK tour with Johnny Nash, the band had begun recording tracks for JAD Records when a contentious CBS contract with Danny Sims created tension. Financial constraints prevented them from returning to Jamaica, so their road manager, Brent Clarke, approached producer Chris Blackwell. Blackwell generously offered to advance The Wailers the funds needed to complete an album. Instead, they wisely used this money to reimburse their travel expenses, allowing them to return home and finalize the recordings that would become Catch a Fire.

The album boasts nine tracks, two of which were penned and composed by Peter Tosh, while the remaining seven were written and performed by Bob Marley. Although Bunny Wailer is not credited as a writer, it’s important to note that the band’s songwriting process was a collaborative effort. For their subsequent album, Burnin’, released in 1973, Bunny Wailer contributed four additional songs.

Upon Marley’s return to London with the completed tapes, Blackwell reworked the tracks at Island Studios. Notably, Wayne Perkins, a renowned session musician from Muscle Shoals, added his guitar skills to three overdubbed tracks.

Initially, Catch a Fire had a limited release under the name The Wailers, accompanied by a sleeve featuring a Zippo lighter design by graphic artists Rod Dyer and Bob Weiner. However, subsequent releases adopted an alternative cover designed by John Bonis, which included an Esther Anderson portrait of Marley smoking a “spliff” and credited the band as Bob Marley and the Wailers.

The Catch a Fire Tour, which traversed England and the United States, significantly boosted the band’s international popularity. The album achieved a respectable ranking of number 171 on the Billboard 200 and number 51 on the Billboard Black Albums charts. It has garnered widespread critical acclaim, with Rolling Stone placing it at number 126 on its list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, ranking second only to Legend among the five Bob Marley albums featured on the list. Regarded as one of the greatest reggae albums of all time, Catch a Fire continues to captivate audiences and solidify its legacy.

TRACKLIST:

A1        Concrete Jungle    
A2        Slave Driver    
A3        400 Years  
A4        Stop That Train    
A5        Baby We've Got A Date (Rock It Baby)   
B1        Stir It Up   
B2        Kinky Reggae    
B3        No More Trouble    
B4        Midnight Ravers