Just a correction here: Acousticsounds is issuing Exodus as a UHQR single 33 1/3 lp, NOT the Exodus 40 – The Movement Continues 4LP+2 7-inch 45s UHQR collection as stated by Mr. Mettler. But it is indeed sold out.
Bob Marley’s Limited Edition 12LP Vinyl Series, Fully Pressed at Tuff Gong International in Kingston, Jamaica, Is Set for March 24
The Legend continues. The Marley Family, Tuff Gong, and UMe are set to commemorate the late, great Bob Marley’s 78th birthday with 12 limited-edition Bob Marley LPs, each of them numbered and pressed exclusively at Tuff Gong International headquarters in Kingston, Jamaica, and set for release on March 24.
This Jamaican Pressing series features nine original Bob Marley studio albums and two original live albums plus the world’s best-selling reggae album, Legend, all of them including the “highly desirable” (their words) Tuff Gong stamp. Additionally, April 1973’s Catch A Fire, initially recorded by The Wailers in Jamaica and eventually released with overdubs and a mix overseen by Island founder Chris Blackwell at the label’s London headquarters, will only be available in its original Jamaica-recorded version, with two extra tracks from the sessions along with some tracks with longer fades. Produced entirely by Bob Marley and The Wailers and mixed by longtime Marley associate Errol Brown, this Jamaican version will now be on vinyl for the first time.
Complete track listings for each of the 12 albums in this series follows at the end of the story. But first, you can watch the trailer for said Jamaican Pressings series below.
Each of these limited-edition Bob Marley LPs were pressed at Tuff Gong’s newly refurbished vinyl pressing plant in Kingston, which reopened in the summer of 2020 and currently has an annual capacity of 250,000 units.
UMe has confirmed the following pressing-related stats with me directly. Each album in this series was mastered by Dave Cooley at Elysian Masters in Los Angeles. He worked from hi-res digital copies of the original album masters. The above-noted Catch A Fire was indeed newly created for vinyl from the original masters of the undubbed Jamaican recordings to include the extended fades, and then mastered by Cooley (as opposed to how the 2001 CD version of Fire was done). Cooley was specifically chosen by the Marley family to master all 12 of these albums for the Tuff Gong pressings. The vinyl lacquers were all cut by Phil Rodriguez, also at Elysian Masters.
As many of you already know, Analogue Productions has their own Bob Marley masters on the market — to wit, the Rastaman Vibration 200g 1LP UHQR box, and the Exodus 200g 1LP UHQR sets. We will be reviewing both of these important releases here on AP in the near future, so stay tuned for that. (Yes, I know both Marley UHQRs are currently sold out, but just in case additional copies become available, etc., etc.).
In the meantime, the Bob Marley/Tuff Gong Legend lives, and you can glean all the stats and track listings for all 12 of these Jamaican Pressing LPs below.
BOB MARLEY & THE WAILERS
TUFF GONG / KINGSTON, JAMAICA PRESSING SERIES
CATCH A FIRE / BOB MARLEY & THE WAILERS
Produced By Bob Marley & The Wailers
1973
Side 1
1. Concrete Jungle
2. Stir It Up
3. High Tide Or Low Tide
4. Stop That Train
5. 400 Years
6. Baby We’ve Got A Date
Side 2
1. Midnight Ravers
2. All Day All Night
3. Slave Driver
4. Kinky Reggae
5. No More Trouble
BURNIN’ / THE WAILERS
Produced By Bob Marley & Chris Blackwell
1973
Side 1
1. Get Up Stand Up
2. Hallelujah Time
3. I Shot The Sheriff
4. Burnin’ And Lootin’
5. Put It On
Side 2
1. Small Axe
2. Pass It On
3. Duppy Conqueror
4. One Foundation
5. Rasta Man Chant
NATTY DREAD
Produced By Chris Blackwell & The Wailers
1974
Side 1
1. Lively Up Yourself
2. No Woman, No Cry
3. Them Belly Full (But Them Hungry)
4. Rebel Music (3 O’clock Roadblock)
Side 2
1. So Jah Seh
2. Natty Dread
3. Bend Down Low
4. Talkin’ Blues
5. Revolution
LIVE!
Record Produced By Steve Smith & Chris Blackwell
Music Produced By Bob Marley & The Wailers
1975
Side 1
1. Trenchtown Rock
2. Burnin’ & Lootin’
3. Them Belly Full
4. Lively Up Yourself
Side 2
1. No Woman, No Cry
2. I Shot The Sheriff
3. Get Up, Stand Up
RASTAMAN VIBRATION
Produced By Bob Marley
All Songs Written By Bob Marley
1976
Side 1
1. Positive Vibration
2. Roots Rock Reggae
3. Johnny Was
4. Cry To Me
5. Want More
Side 2
1. Crazy Bald Head
2. Who The Cap Fit
3. Night Shift
4. War
5. Rat Race
EXODUS
Produced By Bob Marley And The Wailers
All Songs Written By Bob Marley Except *Bob Marley And Curtis Mayfield
1977
Side 1
1. Natural Mystic
2. So Much Things To Say
3. Guiltiness
4. The Heathen
5. Exodus
Side 2
1. Jamming
2. Waiting In Vain
3. Turn Your Lights Down Low
4. Three Little Birds
5. One Love /People Get Ready*
KAYA
Produced By Bob Marley & The Wailers
All Songs Written By Bob Marley
1978
Side 1
1. Easy Skanking
2. Kaya
3. Is This Love
4. Sun Is Shining
5. Satisfy My Soul
Side 2
1. She’s Gone
2. Misty Morning
3. Crisis
4. Running Away
5. Time Will Tell
BABYLON BY BUS
1978
Side 1
1. Positive Vibration
2. Punky Reggae Party
3. Exodus
Side 2
1. Stir It Up
2. Rat Race
3. Concrete Jungle
4. Kinky Reggae
Side 3
1. Lively Up Yourself
2. Rebel Music
3. War / No More Trouble
Side 4
1. Is This Love
2. The Heathen
3. Jamming
SURVIVAL
All Songs Written By Bob Marley
Produced By Bob Marley & The Wailers And Alex Sadkin
1979
1. So Much Trouble In The World
2. Zimbabwe
3. Top Rankin’
4. Babylon System
5. Survival
Side 2
1. Wake Up And Live
2. Africa Unite
3. One Drop
4. Ride Natty Ride
5. Ambush In The Nite
UPRISING
All Songs Written By Bob Marley
Produced By Bob Marley & The Wailers And Chris Blackwell
1980
Side 1
1. Coming In From The Cold
2. Real Situation
3. Bad Card
4. We And Them
5. Work
Side 2
1. Zion Train
2. Pimper’s Paradise
3. Could You Be Loved
4. Forever Loving Jah
5. Redemption Song
CONFRONTATION
All Songs Written By Bob Marley
Produced By: Bob Marley & The Wailers & Errol Brown
Executive Producer: Rita Marley
1983
Side 1
1. Chant Down Babylon
2. Buffalo Soldier
3. Jump Nyabinghi
4. Mix Up Mix Up
5. Give Thanks & Praises
Side 2
1. Blackman Redemption
2. Trench Town
3. Stiff Necked Fools
4. I Know
5. Rastaman Live Up!
LEGEND
1984
Side 1
1. Is This Love
2. No Woman No Cry (Live)
3. Could You Be Loved
4. Three Little Birds
5. Buffalo Soldier
6. Get Up Stand Up
7. Stir It Up
Tracks 1 & 4: Produced By Bob Marley & The Wailers Track 2: Produced By Steve Smith And Chris Blackwell Tracks 3, 6 & 7: Produced By Bob Marley And Chris Blackwell Track 5: Produced By Bob Marley & The Wailers And Errol Brown
Side 2
1. One Love/People Get Ready
2. I Shot The Sheriff
3. Waiting In Vain
4. Redemption Song
5. Satisfy My Soul
6. Exodus
7. Jamming
Produced By Bob Marley & The Wailers
Except Tracks 2 & 4: Bob Marley & The Wailers And Chris Blackwell
Get Up, Stand Up: Above, Bob Marley catches a fire onstage. Photo by Adrian Boot.
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COMMENTS
Exo-DUH!
Submitted by Mike Mettler on Thu, 2023-02-16 09:54
That is correct. It's what we call in the business a bleep up, a.k.a. Mettler adding coding to a text file that inadvertently erased a line before that one, and not being more vigilant when proofing it. The text is now been revised to reflect this. Thanks for the catch.
Jamaican Version of Catch a Fire
Submitted by dolstein on Thu, 2023-02-16 05:05
I'm a little confused by the description in the article. Did the original Jamaican version feature longer fades and two additional tracks, as compared to the Island verison. Or has the original version been modified by adding two bonus tracks and extended fades?
Which ones to get?
Submitted by MhtLion on Thu, 2023-02-16 08:28
Great news! I wish but cannot afford all 12 of them. Which albums in order should I go for? Any suggestion will be welcomed.
I know you asked, but
Submitted by rich d on Thu, 2023-02-16 09:35
it's tough to rank them in order. Having said that, if you have Rastaman Vibration, Exodus, Burnin' and Catch a Fire you've got just about all the Bob Marley you need. Maybe add one of the pre-Island compilations as well. Incidentally, original UK Island pressings are quite good and not stupidly expensive so you may want to go that way.
I have a few Jamaican pressings and they're pretty poor. One can only hope that the new plant exercises better QC.
Babylon by Wax
Submitted by Mike Mettler on Thu, 2023-02-16 10:08
Agreed re the original Jamaican pressings, the few of which I have are permanently shelved. I would add to Rich's wise suggestions that if you want to take a more career-spanning route at first, Legend is perhaps the obvious catch-all. Besides the albums Rich cited, I have also become partial to Kaya and Natty Dread upon repeat re-listens.
I've had some on pre-order for so long...
Submitted by Anton D on Thu, 2023-02-16 11:38
...I now wonder if I am one pressing behind.
Were these the ones that were such a long time coming?
Regarding rank order, I am partial to...
Natty Dread. (First time I heard that, I was a fifteen year old conglomeration of chaos walking into Odyssey Records in Santa Cruz and said to myself, "This must be the place." So, I promptly finished my trip from Reno, went home, and ran away back to Santa Cruz and worked in that store while living in an attic that had one electrical outlet. Honestly, a life changing record.) 'Lively Up Yourself,' my favorite Bob Marley song
Kaya. It's a lovely record.
Exodus, because, well, it's Exodus. Great album.
The 1975 "Live" and 1978 "Babylon by Bus" are pretty great live albums, and they both have "Lively Up Yourself!"
I will stop now before listing them all.
Natty Dread, Jamaican Prseeings and cancelled orders
Submitted by Happy Will on Thu, 2023-02-16 11:56
In reverse order - all my pre-orders of these (Marley Shop UK and Sound of Vinyl UK) were cancelled before Xmas as being unavailable :(
I have the Jamaican Pressing of the Songs of Freedom box and hope the new issues are better pressed. Slightly disappointed that the are not AAA but..
And finally I vote Natty Dread - maybe because I've had a copy since '74, and then the Live album too.
Don't want to sound like Columbo, but...
Submitted by rich d on Thu, 2023-02-16 20:40
Just one more thing, Sir: if you're starting a reggae collection, you will need Toots and the Maytals 'Funky Kingston', Burning Spear 'Marcus Garvey', Culture 'Two Sevens Clash', Doctor Alimantado 'Best Dressed Chicken in Town' and Keith Hudson 'Pick a Dub'. Those records will bring you happiness well beyond whatever you have to pay for them.
yeah, OK
Submitted by rich d on Fri, 2023-02-17 12:12
But The Harder They Come is a compilation/soundtrack so it didn't really pop into my head as an album per se. Also, unless you're prepared to buy two copies (or three or four, like I did) you really need that one on CD as it's one of the best things you can put into your car stereo or bring to a party.
I bet Anton has 17 copies...
I stayed sane on that!
Submitted by Anton D on Fri, 2023-02-17 15:59
Just speaking of Reggae and Toots, in general, there is a great LP pressing of his later in life "True Love" album. It's a bunch of duets, sort of a 'stunt' album, but really great pressing. We've used it for demos, it is Hi Fi.
Little know fact, Toots was an audiophile. He showed up at one of the old T.H.E. Shows in Las Vegas when it was held at the semi crappy two story hotel across from the Hard Rock.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/True_Love_(Toots_%26_the_Maytals_album)
Anyway, if this album ever crosses your path, it is a fun listen.
Cliff Notes
Submitted by Mike Mettler on Sat, 2023-02-18 12:58
True re the soundtrack/comp aspect re Harder, but no less vital imo. Any other Jimmy Cliff LPs that stand out in y'all's respective collections? I'm all ears...
just one
Submitted by rich d on Sat, 2023-02-18 13:30
There's an excellent LP on Trojan called (wait for it) Jimmy Cliff. After that you can probably move on to greener pastures. I just picked up a used copy of a record he made with a bunch of LA session people. It stank so bad I had to leave it on the back porch.
Cliff Notes (Slight Return)
Submitted by Mike Mettler on Tue, 2023-02-21 13:23
That's his debut album from 1969, yes...?
Ah, the memories
Submitted by rich d on Fri, 2023-02-17 20:18
You're talking about the Debbie Reynolds hotel - T.H.E.'s splinter show was there giving the manufacturers, distributors and the occasional hobbyist a chance to display products without ponying up the usurious CES tariffs. In my misbegotten industry days a lot of friends and colleagues availed themselves of that venue. And Anton is being charitable when he describes the place as "semi crappy". The main attraction in the lobby was a crashed car (an MG if memory serves) which Carrie Fisher (again, going from memory) had wrapped around some roadside fixture.
Thanks for the tip on the Toots record. I have the old Trojan records but no later stuff.
Save your money
Submitted by Russo7516 on Tue, 2023-02-21 04:05
Just pick up a used VG+ of these records . Do not buy them all at once either.
Catch a Fire a good 1 pressing will range from 25 to 200 depending on the condition of the lp and media sleeve. I am still looking for a decent CAF.
Academy / BRX in Brooklyn never disappoints .
Those UHQR ‘s and FOMO is not what record collecting is about or all in one box sets . Sorry
Where has the art of collecting lp’s gone ?
Cover quality?
Submitted by mat2483 on Fri, 2023-03-24 07:28
Anybody know of these new Jamaica pressings might use old-school 'tip-on' style covers? I doubt it but it sure would be nice.
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