There are a select handful of favourite artists who ploughed their respective trades within my timeframe, that I never, for one reason or another, managed to see live in concert. Most of them I've come to terms with by this stage, others I'm still irritated that I missed out on, but one or two are almost too upsetting to dwell upon for any extended period. Bob Marley, who died 40 years ago today, falls squarely into the latter category.
Following the 1973 release of their sixth LP, 'Burnin'', founding members Bunny Livingston and Peter Tosh left The Wailers, allowing Bob Marley to assume full control of the band and the rest, as they say, is history. Both Tosh and Livingston (trading as Bunny Wailer) issued debut solo albums in 1976 and Bunny continues to enjoy a successful career to this day. Tragically, Peter Tosh was brutally tortured and murdered in 1987. In a career as long as Bunny's, it's no surprise that the quality of his output has ebbed and flowed somewhat over the years, but you're on very safe ground with any one of his first half dozen LPs. 'Struggle' is the title track from his third, released in Jamaica in 1978 and to a wider world the following year.
'Could You Be Loved' was written by Bob Marley in 1979 and originally saw the light of day as the first UK single to be taken from the 'Uprising' LP in 1980. A number of alternative versions of the song have surfaced in recent years, the most interesting of which is this one, subtitled the 'Drumbox Demo'.
By all accounts the Lee Perry/Bob Marley
relationship was a stormy one, not helped by
Scratch's licensing of early Wailers tracks
without Marley's consent. In spite of this,
the pair continued to collaborate
sporadically after The Wailers signed to
Island Records - in 1975 for the non-album
single 'Jah Live' and in 1977 with 'Punky
Reggae Party'.
When they reconvened in late 1978, Perry put
forward his own 10 year-old song, 'Who Colt
the Game?', for Marley's consideration. Bob
was reluctant, but, after some lyrical
tinkering, gave it a shot, however tensions
between the pair rose to the surface once
again and the track was never completed,
languishing in the vaults for 20 years.
An import Bob Marley & the Wailers
compilation of dubious origin arrived in my
shop in the late 1990's, with all the tunes
you would expect to find, present and
correct. Additionally, and without fanfare,
'Who Colt the Game?' was was in the track-
listing. There were no sleeve notes to
indicate it's source and I presumed it to be
an unreleased demo. It was only later, when
Island Records added the song to one of
their own, better annotated, compilations,
that the Lee Perry connection became clear.
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