"Small Axe" is a song now credited to Bob Marley though the first releases credited Lee "Scratch" Perry and Bob Marley. Perry said it was a collaboration. [2] It was initially released in 1970 as a single by Perry on his Upsetter Records label, then later rerecorded for 1973's Burnin' . It has since been covered by several artists, among others Buju Banton, Deerhoof, Andrew Tosh, Greensky Bluegrass, The Aggrovators, U Roy, UB40, Trey Anastasio, and Peps Persson who made a Swedish version called "Liden såg" (little saw).
In the period when the song was written, virtually all the power in the Jamaican music industry was in a few hands including; Coxsone Dodd (Studio One), Duke Reid (Treasure Isle), and Prince Buster (Federal with Ken Khouri). Perry, frustrated at the situation, thought a metaphorical small axe could remove their power, as in the song's lyrics: “If you are a big tree, we are the small axe, sharpened to cut you down, …”. [3] [4]
"Small Axe" was first recorded and produced in 1970 as a non-album single by Perry, [5] and Martin Rodman.[ citation needed ] The version heard on the Island album Burnin' was re-recorded a few years later, with Chris Blackwell & The Wailers as producers.
There is a confusion over credit for the composition of "Small Axe". The 1970 Jamaican issue credits the song to both Perry and Marley. The Trojan-issued African Herbsman album creditis the song to Perry. The Island-issued Burnin' album credits the song to Marley. This discrepancy occurred on a lot of the Perry material that was later re-recorded for Island Records. It was one of the major sources of the feud that raged between Lee Perry and Island for most of the latter part of the 20th century.[ citation needed ]
"Small Axe" was released on Upsetter Records in Jamaica in 1970 and 1971. [1] [5] "Small Axe" was also released on a single by Perry's Upsetter Records UK. It featured "All In One" on the flip. The 1971 issue on Upsetter Jamaica had a different flip side; "Down the Road" by The Upsetters.
It was included on the album African Herbsman (1973), a compilation of tracks from the sessions that produced the album Soul Revolution Part II . [5]
It was rerecorded and released in 1973 for the album Burnin' .
Small Axe was also the name of a CD issue 883717006523 in 2005 on the Pazzazz label. This features tracks from the Lee Perry sessions that spawned Soul Rebels and Soul Revolution Part II.
"Small Axe" was re-issued in 2013 on a US Upsetter 7-inch pressing with a different flip side, "Drum Version".
Exodus is the ninth studio album by Jamaican reggae band Bob Marley and the Wailers, first released in June 1977 through Island Records, following Rastaman Vibration (1976). The album's production has been characterized as laid-back with pulsating bass beats and an emphasis on piano, trumpet and guitar. Unlike previous albums from the band, Exodus thematically moves away from cryptic story-telling; instead it revolves around themes of change, religious politics, and sexuality. The album is split into two halves: the first half revolves around religious politics, while the second half is focused on themes of making love and keeping faith.
Burnin' is the sixth album by Jamaican reggae group the Wailers, released in October 1973. It was written by all three members and recorded and produced by the Wailers in Jamaica, contemporaneously with tracks from the Catch a Fire album with further recording, mixing and completion while on the Catch a Fire tour in London. It contains the song "I Shot the Sheriff". It was the last album before Marley, Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer decided to pursue solo careers, while continuing their local releases through their company Tuff Gong Records. A commercial and critical success in the United States, Burnin' was certified Gold and later added to the National Recording Registry, with the Library of Congress deeming it historically and culturally significant.
Catch a Fire is the fifth studio album by the reggae band The Wailers, released in April 1973. It was their first album released by Island Records. After finishing a UK tour with Johnny Nash, they had started laying down tracks for JAD Records when a disputed CBS contract with Danny Sims created tensions. The band did not have enough money to return to Jamaica, so their road manager Brent Clarke approached producer Chris Blackwell, who agreed to advance The Wailers money for an album. They instead used this money to pay their fares back home, where they completed the recordings that constitute Catch a Fire. The album has nine songs, two of which were written and composed by Peter Tosh; the remaining seven were by Bob Marley. While Bunny Wailer is not credited as a writer, the group's writing style was a collective process. For the immediate follow-up album, Burnin', also released in 1973, he contributed four songs. After Marley returned with the tapes to London, Blackwell reworked the tracks at Island Studios, with contributions by Muscle Shoals session musician Wayne Perkins, who played guitar on three overdubbed tracks. The album had a limited original release under the name The Wailers in a sleeve depicting a Zippo lighter, designed by graphic artists Rod Dyer and Bob Weiner; subsequent releases had an alternative cover designed by John Bonis, featuring an Esther Anderson portrait of Marley smoking a "spliff", and crediting the band as Bob Marley and the Wailers.
Bob Marley and the Wailers were a Jamaican ska, rocksteady and reggae band. The founding members, in 1963, were Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, and Bunny Wailer.
Joseph Benjamin Higgs was a reggae musician from Jamaica. In the late 1950s and 1960s he was part of the duo Higgs and Wilson together with Roy Wilson. He was a popular artist in Jamaica for four decades and is also known for his work tutoring younger musicians including Bob Marley and the Wailers and Jimmy Cliff.
African Herbsman is a 1973 Trojan Records repackage of Bob Marley and the Wailers' 1971 album Soul Revolution Part II produced by Lee "Scratch" Perry, which had had a limited Jamaica only release. African Herbsman was released shortly after the band's major-label debut album Catch a Fire had been released by Island Records.
The Upsetters was the name given to the house band for Jamaican reggae producer Lee "Scratch" Perry. The name of the band comes from Perry's nickname of Upsetter, after his song "I Am the Upsetter", a musical dismissal of his former boss Coxsone Dodd.
Judith Veronica Mowatt, is a Jamaican reggae artist. As well as being a solo artist, from 1974 she was also a member of the I Threes, the trio of backing vocalists for Bob Marley & The Wailers.
Soul Rebels is the second studio album by the Wailers, their first album to be released outside Jamaica. The Wailers approached producer Lee "Scratch" Perry in August 1970 to record an entire album, and the sessions took place at Randy's recording studio above Randy's Record Mart at 17 North Parade in Kingston, Jamaica, until November. First issued in the UK by Trojan Records in December 1970, the album has since been re-released several times on several different labels. Perry's production is sparse and haunting, only featuring guitar, bass, drums, electronic organs, and vocals with no horns or other embellishments.
Chances Are is a compilation album by Bob Marley released in 1981 by WEA International throughout the world, and through the Cotillion imprint of Atlantic Records in the U.S.
Soul Revolution Part II is the third album by Bob Marley and the Wailers. It was produced by Lee "Scratch" Perry. While the name on the album cover for all the original releases was Soul Revolution Part II, some releases had the name Soul Revolution printed on the album label, leading to uncertainty over what name was intended. A "dub" version with the vocals removed was released as Soul Revolution Part II Dub; both versions were released as one set in 1988. The album was repackaged with additional material as African Herbsman in 1973.
Upsetter Records was a Jamaican record label set up by Lee "Scratch" Perry in 1968. Perry also opened the Upsetter Record Shop where he sold the records he produced.
"One Love" is a ska song written by Bob Marley and recorded by his group the Wailers from their 1965 debut studio album The Wailing Wailers. It was rerecorded as part of the 1970 medley "All in One", which contained reggae reworkings of their early ska songs. This was released as a single and is also included on the compilation African Herbsman under the name "All in One".
One Love: The Very Best of Bob Marley & The Wailers is a compilation album of Bob Marley and the Wailers songs that was released on the Island Records label in 2001.
"Run for Cover" is a 1967 rocksteady and reggae single by Lee "Scratch" Perry, credited as Lee "King" Perry. The recording featured Perry, his band, Lynn Taitt on guitar and The Sensations as backing singers. It was recorded at Clifford Rae's WIRL studio and appeared on the WIRL record label in Jamaica, then in the UK on Graeme Woodall's Doctor Bird (label), both pressings with "Something You've Got" on the B-side.
Neville O'Riley Livingston, known professionally as Bunny Wailer, was a Jamaican singer-songwriter and percussionist. He was an original member of reggae group The Wailers along with Bob Marley and Peter Tosh. A three-time Grammy Award winner, he is considered one of the longtime standard-bearers of reggae music. He was also known as Jah B, Bunny O'Riley, and Bunny Livingston.
Winston Hubert McIntosh, OM, professionally known as Peter Tosh, was a Jamaican reggae musician. Along with Bob Marley and Bunny Wailer, he was one of the core members of the band the Wailers (1963–1976), after which he established himself as a successful solo artist and a promoter of Rastafari. He was murdered in 1987 during a home invasion.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Bob Marley:
Paul Douglas is a Jamaican musician, best known for his work as the drummer, percussionist and bandleader of Toots and the Maytals. His career spans more than five decades as one of reggae's most recorded drummers. Music journalist and reggae historian David Katz wrote, "dependable drummer Paul Douglas played on countless reggae hits."
This Is Reggae Music: The Golden Era 1960–1975 is a reggae retrospective anthology issued as a 4-CD box set in 2004 by Trojan Records. The anthology, which was compiled by Colin Escott and Bas Hartong, is arranged in chronological order and features tracks by various artists, starting with mento and ska from the first half of the 1960s, then progressing to the slower rhythms of rocksteady and reggae, which both emerged later in the decade, continuing into the 1970s. Several of the acts featured are Derrick Morgan, Desmond Decker & the Aces, Toots & the Maytals, Jimmy Cliff, and Bob Marley and the Wailers.