[SuchFriendsAreDangerous]

Natty Dread is a 1974 reggae album by Bob Marley & the Wailers.
An important transition in Marley's discography, Natty Dread was the first album released as Bob Marley & the Wailers (as opposed to The Wailers) and the first recorded without former bandmates Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer. It is also the first album recorded with the I-Threes, a female vocal trio that included Bob's wife, Rita Marley, along with Marcia Griffiths and Judy Mowatt.
Natty Dread peaked at #44 on Billboard's (North America) Black Albums chart, and at #92 on the Pop Albums chart.
Contents


Like most reggae from the time, Natty Dread is a spiritually charged political and social statement. It opens with a blues-influenced celebration of the Rastafari movement, "Lively Up Yourself", which Marley used to open many of his concerts, in order to get the audience worked up; American R&B star Prince used it for the same purpose. "No Woman, No Cry", the second track, is probably the best known recording on the album. It is a nostalgic remembrance of growing up in the impoverished streets of Trenchtown, and the happiness brought by the company of friends. The song has been performed by artists as diverse as Boney M. (sung by Liz Mitchell),The Fugees, Pearl Jam, Jimmy Buffett and Rancid. Songwriting credit for "No Woman, No Cry" went to V. Ford. Ford, better known as Tartar to his friends and neighbors, had been a kind friend of Marley as a child in Trench Town, the ghetto of Kingston, Jamaica. Marley claimed he would have starved to death on several occasions as a child if not for the aid of Tartar.
"Them Belly Full (But We Hungry)" is a warning against allowing a nation's poor to go hungry, with the prophetic warning "a hungry mob is an angry mob" (the song is reportedly dedicated to newly-elected Democratic Socialist Michael Manley), while "Talkin' Blues" and "Revolution" go deeper into controversial political commentary. "Rebel Music (3 O'Clock Roadblock)" is a reflection on the potential impact of reggae music on Jamaican society. The song was written after Marley had been stopped by a night-time police carcheck. The influence of Marley's increasing devotion to Rastafari can be heard in religious-themed songs like "So Jah S'eh", "Natty Dread" and "Lively Up Yourself", while Marley's reputation as a romantic is confirmed with smooth, seductive songs like "Bend Down Low". The title track of the album takes its title from an idealised personification of the Rastafari movement, NattyDread.
Jazz Guitarist Charlie Hunter covered the entire album is his 1997 release of the same name.
In 1975, this album was mentioned in a few audio magazines as being ready to be released on Quadraphonic 8-track tape. This unfortunately never happened. However, the Quadraphonic mixes of "Lively Up Yourself" and "No Woman No Cry" have been bootlegged from the master tapes and are available on the internet.
In 2001, a re-mastered edition of Natty Dread was released by Universal Records containing a bonus track.
In 2003, the album was ranked number 182 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.[1]

Track listing


Side one

1. "Lively Up Yourself" (Bob Marley) – 5:11
2. "No Woman, No Cry" (Vincent Ford) – 3:46
3. "Them Belly Full (But We Hungry)" (Lecon Cogill/Carlton Barrett) – 3:13
4. "Rebel Music (3 O'Clock Roadblock)" (Aston Barrett/Hugh Peart) – 6:45

Side two

1. "So Jah Seh" (Rita Marley/Willy Francisco) – 4:27
2. "Natty Dread" (Rita Marley/Alan Cole) – 3:35
3. "Bend Down Low" (Bob Marley) – 3:22
4. "Talkin' Blues" (Lecon Cogill/Carlton Barrett) – 4:06
5. "Revolution" (Bob Marley) – 4:23

[batreleaser]

marley?

[SuchFriendsAreDangerous]

Them Belly Full
Rebel Music

Natty Dread

Revolution

This album is like Rastafari anarcho-punk, anti-authority, anti-shitstem, and speaks of truth in the highest orders.. it is nothing but anthems for freedom seeking people

Originally Posted by batreleaser

marley?

yes

[finding nobody]

I read of the album in a book called Last Days (about John lennon) whom was a huge marley fan.
Catch A Fire is still my favorite. I will make it a point to hear Natty Dread very soon

[SuchFriendsAreDangerous]

Originally Posted by finding nobody

I read of the album in a book called Last Days (about John lennon) whom was a huge marley fan.
Catch A Fire is still my favorite. I will make it a point to hear Natty Dread very soon

It is much much better than Catch A Fire, catch the links above for a nice preview of the goods, now I'm off to walk in the first storm in a month to get some bäqoliwoch nna ruz (beans and rice)

[batreleaser]

anti authority as he plays in front of 5,000 white frat kids in a very capitalist arena making millions of dollars. rebel music, no doubt.

[greedrex]

very good album, yes.

[SuchFriendsAreDangerous]

Originally Posted by batreleaser

anti authority as he plays in front of 5,000 white frat kids in a very capitalist arena making millions of dollars. rebel music, no doubt.

obviously you have never been acquainted with the real Marley, and are only familiar with the commercial version, however trenchtown is no joke thing, and in JA rebel music is fe real, and in the streets here, it is equally appropriate..

this is street music, and if non-street folks happen to enjoy it, so be it, but how could that discredit things?

when you walk in the rain skirting the one-times paranoid to have to chuck your little stock of herb for nothing more than some asshole with a badge and his roadblock curfew..

when you trod the streets as a natty dreadlock and get treated as dreadfully as your appearance would suggest..

when you deal with the anger and frustration of the hungry, while them belly full across town..

well, then, if the middle class trust fund kids can't relate thats fine, but we the street people understand the vibe entirely, and this indeed is ya rebel music, but it comes in such a sweet riddim that even the conservatives can feel it.. unity is strength.

judge the art, not the AR people.

[Rob Instigator]

Originally Posted by batreleaser

anti authority as he plays in front of 5,000 white frat kids in a very capitalist arena making millions of dollars. rebel music, no doubt.

who gets to choose their audience? you just PLAY THE GIG

[Rob Instigator]

I prefer SURVIVAL, mainly because of the inclusion of ZIMBABWE, but Natty Dread is fucking AWESOME

[SuchFriendsAreDangerous]

Originally Posted by Rob Instigator

I prefer SURVIVAL, mainly because of the inclusion of ZIMBABWE, but Natty Dread is fucking AWESOME

trip out! I always put my Bob albums together in pairs because they nicely fit together on 80 minute discs, and since 2001, I have ALWAYS paired SURVIVAL and NATTY DREAD as a single, composite album!

[Rob Instigator]

what I do not undertsand is, how some people buy LEGEND, the collection of mainly innocuous love songs, grow to love the bob marley, yet NEVER BUY ANOTHER ALBUM!!!!!!! It drives me crazy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[SuchFriendsAreDangerous]

Originally Posted by Rob Instigator

what I do not undertsand is, how some people buy LEGEND, the collection of mainly innocuous love songs, grow to love the bob marley, yet NEVER BUY ANOTHER ALBUM!!!!!!! It drives me crazy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

because most people love lovers reggae and that is all they want..

they want that Gregory Isaacs, that Sugar Minott, but they don't want that Peter Tosh and Jacob Miller..

[Rob Instigator]

I'm a steppin' razor
don;t you watch my size
I'm dangerous
dangerous

[SuchFriendsAreDangerous]

Originally Posted by Rob Instigator

I'm a steppin' razor
don;t you watch my size
I'm dangerous
dangerous

"them want I them want I, to go to them funeral, let them say let them say.."

[greedrex]

 

[wellcharge]

Originally Posted by batreleaser

anti authority as he plays in front of 5,000 white frat kids in a very capitalist arena making millions of dollars. rebel music, no doubt.

you're ridiculous, how about playing in jamaica a few days after getting shot, or playing through a riot in zimbabwe

maybe you don't know anyone from the carribean, but trust me on this one, bob was more committed to,and more popular with ghetto youths around the world than any other artist in history.....period

[SuchFriendsAreDangerous]

Originally Posted by wellcharge

you're ridiculous, how about playing in jamaica a few days after getting shot, or playing through a riot in zimbabwe

maybe you don't know anyone from the carribean, but trust me on this one, bob was more committed to,and more popular with ghetto youths around the world than any other artist in history.....period

thank you! you know they shot rita in the head! rudeboy hustlin aint no joke thing! long time poor people a suffer, sometimes them youth even haffe pull out gun for the food seen?

[SuchFriendsAreDangerous]

Originally Posted by hypertonic

shit yeah... my families friend got shot right on the street there. it's no joke.

BTW - The "Rebel Music" I have in my hand I purchased on the island for 400 J's.

You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to hypertonic again.

[PAULYBEE2656]

not a fan of marley but do appreciate his importance and his existence.. in fact this is the only marley album i own.. havent played it out of choice in about 10 or 15 years.....