Bob Marley
As Tuff Gong releases a limited edition series of Marley albums, we pick the greatest work of reggae’s biggest star
The ska-era Wailers launch themselves into the 60s Jamaican vogue for singles either praising or condemning the violent Kingston “rude boy” youth cult. Tellingly, given the socio-political songs that lay ahead of him, Marley focuses on the deprived circumstances that birthed the phenomenon: “Want it want it – can’t get it, get it get it – no want it.”
29. Selassie Is the Chapel (1968)
Selassie Is the Chapel is like nothing else Marley recorded, in effect a doo-wop song given a Rastafarian twist. It is set to a lo-fi backing consisting of noticeably out-of-tune guitar and drums, which only serves to make the Wailers’ high harmonies more powerful. It’s both faintly creepy and fabulous.
