Bob Marley & The Wailers - Babylon By Bus
Listen to an audio version of this review by Greg
Since it is summer as I review this, I felt compelled to pay homage to my college days a little. I know what you’re thinking, how do college and summer correlate? Did you go to Summer School, Greg? No, I did not. However, I loved the movie! You know the one with Mark Harmon? That film just turned 38 years old, by the way, on July 22nd of this year!
It was my freshman year at college, over 600 miles away from my hometown, my parents and the friends I grew up with, where my musical world opened even more so than when I was in high school.
I have vivid memories, for about the first three months of college of the sounds of Bob Marley and The Wailers being blared from not only every dorm window, but every rooftop and every evening at the numerous parties I had the opportunity to attend.
Although I was familiar with Mr. Marley, it would not be until I heard 1978’s Babylon By Bus in the late summer/fall of 1995, that my musical tastes would soon expand.
Babylon By Bus is one of SEVEN Live albums released by Bob Marley & The Wailers, and I believe is their strongest. It was recorded during a run of shows (not consecutively) in either 1975, 1976, and 1977, mostly at Pavilion de Paris in, of course, Paris, France. Back in those days, studio and live albums were usually recorded quickly and released within a few months, in some cases even weeks! Bob Marley’s label, Tuff Gong, was able to get the album mixed and released within five months. The album was available to the public on November 10th, 1978.
By this point, the band had recorded and put out ten studio albums, and the success from their previous live album in 1975, simply titled, “LIVE”, encouraged the band’s record company to capitalize off the current wave of achievement Bob Marley was a part of during the late 70s.
The name Babylon By Bus refers to the Rastafarian notion of Babylon. Unlike Mecca’s representation in the Muslim religion as a heavenly place, Babylon refers more to corruption and oppression in Rastafarianism.
Rastafarianism is defined as a “religious and social movement that originated in Jamaica in the 1930s. It's characterized by its belief in the divinity of Haile Selassie I, the former Emperor of Ethiopia, whom they see as a messianic figure and the Second Coming of Christ. Rastafarianism also emphasizes Afrocentricity, repatriation to Africa, and a rejection of Western societal norms, often referred to as "Babylon"” (end quote)
Marley used the word, Babylon in his music to criticize social injustice by the Western society. He often used the word to define how the rich marginalize the poor on a consistent basis.
I can remember in my younger years thinking this was a bunch of whining. I was less interested in their message and just wanted to hear the music. But now, as an adult, I have much more sensitivity to this subject matter, especially in today’s political landscape. It is music that brings people together and it is music that can also promote strife or an uprising. Marley was not a stranger to either of these.
The album kicks off with Positive Vibration. Wailers’ bass player Aston Barrett guides you through this song. This is usually the case with reggae. The guitar is many times considered the rhythm where the bass leads the charge. What also DEFINES this album is Marley’s female backing singers, including Bob’s wife, Rita Marley, Marcia Griffiths and Judy Mowatt. Their harmonization truly supports the bass line and molds quite perfectly with Bob’s lead vocals.
The party continues with Punky Reggae Party. By now, you’ve got the beach blanket set up, maybe a couple of umbrellas, you have your towels, and you’re reaching for your first beach beverage. WARNING: this music, and really this album, can cause a serious desire to throw a frisbee on the beach and drink pina coladas until dark.
I feel like Stir it Up is when the females in your party begin to pay attention. As attractive as the first three tracks are, by the fourth track, Stir it Up, or as Bob says it, “Steer it Up” you’ve got serious harmonization and more of a melody a wider audience can sing along to. Although Bob and the Wailers play this version in at much higher tempo, and a higher speed, it still resonates.
By the third verse, everyone at your party now has their eyes closed and they are dancing. ALL OF THEM!
“Oooo will you quench me, when I'm thirsty
Oh would you cool me down, when I'm hot
Your recipe darlin' is so tasty
When you show and stir your pot
So, stir it up, little darlin”
Bob wrote Stir it Up in 1967 to woo his wife, Rita. The phrase “Stir it Up” refers to Bob asking her to meet him halfway with the passion – meaning, “I’m here trying to hit on you. Do you feel the same? Let’s get something going here! I’m thirsty will you quench me?”
The album continues to deliver CONSISTENT heavy hitters such as Rat Race, Concrete Jungle, Kinky Reggae and Rebel Music. Lively Up Yourself moves me in many ways. Junior Marvin’s lead guitar stands out as The Wailers reggae has several hints of blues mixed within it. Jamaican born, Marvin moved to the UK in the 1950s. As an adult, he would perform with such acts as T-Bone Walker, Ike and Tina Turner, White Rabbit and Hanson….NO, not the Hanson you’re thinking of. Sorry. Hanson was a British based funk band that formed in 1973 and recorded two albums.
I think many of you listening to this or reading this right now, probably own or previously owned a copy of Bob Marley - Legend. This was the greatest hits compilation that made its way to every teenager when it was released in 1984. It stayed practically stapled to the wall in every college dorm room to be passed down to generation after generation.
Legend is the best-selling reggae album of all time, with more than 18 million copies sold in the US, more than 3.3 million in the UK (where it is the 17th best-selling album of ALL TIME and an estimated 25 million copies sold globally. In 2003, the album was ranked number 46 in Rolling Stone Magazine’s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time and at one point.
Is this Love is from said album, and Bob and the Wailers’ performance of this track on Babylon By Bus is a highlight for certain.
Is This Love has a certain familiarity to it. Maybe because of its catchy-ness. “I wanna love you. every day and every night” is a verse that men and women can relate to. Once again, unlike a lot of metal and prog rock I listened to as a teenager, Marley, The Wailers and this album, Babylon By Bus ALWAYS worked at a coed cookout, and it stands the test of time today.
Marley’s life would take a turn, even before the release of this album. In 1977, a malignant melanoma was discovered under his toenail. Bob’s doctors strongly recommended having his toe amputated; however, Bob felt that this was against everything he believed in with his Rastafarian culture.
Doctors removed his toenail and tissue, which, for a while, seemed to solve the issue, and Bob continued touring throughout the late 1970s and into the early 1980s. He was in the middle of a U.S. tour in the fall of 1980 when the melanoma re-appeared.
This time, Bob went to receive treatment in Germany, which included eating natural food, removing metal fillings from his teeth and taking nutrition supplements.
As many people today know, this type of natural treatment does not have a history of effectiveness. Bob’s melanoma metastasized and sadly, Bob Marley died on May 11th, 1981, at the very young age of 36.
This was a shattering loss to the reggae community and really the ENTIRE music community. Reggae music had lost its biggest star. Following Marley’s death, however, he continued to sell millions of records. In 1994, Bob Marley was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Babylon By Bus remains my favorite Bob Marley and The Wailers album, and although their album Exodus, ranks higher on the top 500 greatest of all time, as far as live albums go, this record transcends live albums from the 1970s, and there were some damn good ones.
And I must tip my cap to Marley and his band, the Wailers for being the soundtrack to my college years and all my beach trips. For any time, and I mean ANY time, I needed a cheer up, a pick me up or a little addition of liveliness, Marley was the go-to. Always and forever. Thank you, Bob, and thank you for all those good times.
