How Long Shall They Kill Our Prophets While We Stand Aside and Look?

There comes a time in every person’s life that there is music that is made that is never played on the radio and even more surprisingly there was music made before you were made and some of it great. Actually there is too much good music so it was much easier to pick up a greatest hit package than buy an artist’s entire catalogue (at least it was when I discover music older than me; today’s children can access almost all music ever recorded on Spotify or other nefarious means for little to no money). One album that seemed like it was handed out at freshmen orientation in high school because everyone had was Legend, the greatest hit package from Bob Marley and The Wailers, this month’s induction into the Scooter Hall of Fame.

Legend was released thirty years ago, three years after the untimely death of Bob Marley and a year after his final album was released. But in the ten years prior, Bob Marley and the Wailers released eight albums for Island Records. The set spanned a career that dabbled in political (Get Up, Stand Up), partying (Jamming), romantic (Could You Be Love), retrospective (No Woman, No Cry), storytelling (I Shot the Sheriff) the guy even wrote songs that could easily double as children’s songs (Three Little Birds) all the while presenting the reggae genre with pop sensibilities.

For my money, the best song on an impeccable album is just the best song on Legend, but one of the finest songs ever written, is Redemption Song. The simplest song on the album, just Bob and an acoustic guitar, is also the most impactful. It was also the last song on the last album Marley released while he was alive and a fitting epilogue to a great career.

Today also sees the release of Legend 30th Anniversary Edition with a new 5.1 mix including newly discovered early studio tracks. These tracks include the original, early studio version of No Woman No Cry, in lieu of the previous live version. Also featured are two, previously unheard alternate takes of Easy Skanking and Punky Reggae Party recently discovered in the Marley vault. Legend 30th Anniversary Edition will also be made available on tri-color vinyl (yellow, green and red) and pressed as a double gatefold LP allowing for a higher fidelity sound quality that is closer to the original source.