Over a Beatlesesque chord progression and lazy ska beat, Bob Marley’s voice — mellow and trustworthy — assures us, “In high seas or in low seas/I am going to be your friend.”
The opening line of Marley rarity “High Tide or Low Tide” is a benediction connecting the listener to one side of the icon’s soul: tender, devoted, unfailingly melodic. A slight, tight nugget of a tune, “High Tide or Low Tide” provides a pointed re-introduction to Marley during the months-long celebration of what would have been his 75th year.
The song opens six-LP or three-CD set “Songs of Freedom: The Island Years.” Along with the release of “Songs of Freedom,” a dozen of Marley’s albums have been re-pressed, SiriusXM launched Bob Marley’s Tuff Gong Radio, and son Ziggy curated a recent book of unreleased photos of Bob and family. But listening to the new box from “High Tide or Low Tide” to the staggering, heartbreaking live version of “Redemption Song” offers the best proof that we need Marley’s art more than ever.
Positive and political, forceful and gentle, Marley needs another renaissance. Oddly enough, if you give President Joe Biden’s inaugural address a hippie rewrite, you get Marley’s mission statements: love, unity, respect for the planet and a fearless, relentless campaign for racial and economic justice. The tracks that directly follow “High Tide” call out the sin of slavery (“Slave Driver”), plead for peace (“No More Trouble”), mediate on the dehumanizing nature of urban life (“Concrete Jungle”) and confront ills and isms of every kind (“Get Up, Stand Up”).
The Marley so many people look to is the singer/songwriter behind “High Tide,” the herald of goodwill and joy. It’s no surprise that Marley’s most-streamed songs — “Three Little Birds,” “Could You Be Loved,” “Is This Love,” and “Jammin’” (versions of all these appear on the box) — tell us, “Don’t worry about a thing/Cause every little thing is gonna be alright.” But they’ll only be alright if we heed Marley’s other voice.
Marley managed to be Paul McCartney and John Lennon in one. He had McCartney’s tuneful ear and love of love. He also had Lennon’s revolutionary angst, his rage over injustice and fight-for-humanity mission statement. “Songs of Freedom: The Island Years” balances the two in a way popular visions of Marley miss.
The “Redemption Song” that closes the box comes from a Sept. 23, 1980, concert at Pittsburgh’s Stanley Theatre. In a struggling mill town, a setting better suited for a Bruce Springsteen anthem than a Marley tune, reggae’s chief champion performed his final concert before his death on May 11, 1981. The epic, infectious energy laid to tape at the Stanley defies the fact that cancer was attacking his body (he had collapsed a few days prior in New York City but went on with the Pittsburgh date).
A fitting cap to a release that begins with such breezy kindness and hope, “Redemption Song” sees Marley telling his American audience of a slave ship bound for North America, of prophets killed, before he asks listeners to help him sing songs of freedom.
"freedom" - Google News
January 31, 2021 at 05:55PM
https://ift.tt/2MJMClu
‘Songs of Freedom’ set captures Bob Marley & his message - Boston Herald
"freedom" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2VUAlgg
https://ift.tt/2VYSiKW
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "‘Songs of Freedom’ set captures Bob Marley & his message - Boston Herald"
Post a Comment