Bob Marley and the Wailers — Catch A Fire — 50th Anniversary

2023-10-13 13:00

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct 13, 2023--

Bob Marley and the Wailers — Catch A Fire — 50th Anniversary

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct 13, 2023--

A historic recording of “ Get Up, Stand Up,” one of Bob Marley’s best-loved and most powerful songs, recorded live at the Wailers’ legendary performance at the Sundown Theatre in the village of Edmonton, North London, will be available on his YouTube page from Friday, October 13. This historic recording was previously only available as a bootleg. “Get Up, Stand Up” is from The Wailers’ last album together, “Burnin’,” which also celebrates its 50 th anniversary on October 19. It is also believed that both “Burnin’” & “Catch A Fire” were recorded at the legendary Harry J’s in Kingston at the beginning of 1973.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231013591326/en/

A historic recording of “Get Up, Stand Up,” one of Bob Marley’s best-loved and most powerful songs, recorded live at the Wailers’ legendary performance at the Sundown Theatre in the village of Edmonton, North London, will be available on his YouTube page from Friday, October 13. This historic recording was previously only available as a bootleg. “Get Up, Stand Up” is from The Wailers’ last album together, “Burnin’,” which also celebrates its 50th anniversary on October 19. It is also believed that both “Burnin’” & “Catch A Fire” were recorded at the legendary Harry J’s in Kingston at the beginning of 1973. (Graphic: Business Wire)

A brand-new merchandise suite will also be launched on Friday, which will include an exclusive print by Arthur Gorson, who spent two weeks in Jamaica shooting pictures of Bob around the time this seminal album was recorded. The special 50 th Anniversary Reissue of “Catch A Fire,” Marley’s first album for Island Records, will be released on November 3.

Arthur Gorson Print HERE

A hugely anticipated new film, BOB MARLEY: ONE LOVE, celebrating the life and music of an icon who inspired generations through his message of love and unity, is in theatres on January 12, 2024. Produced by Ziggy Marley, Cedella Marley, and Rita Marley, and with Stephen Marley as the music supervisor, the film tells the inspirational story of how Bob overcame huge adversity to become one of the world’s most revered musical and cultural giants through the power and beauty of his revolutionary music. Produced in partnership with the Marley family, the film stars Kingsley Ben-Adir as Bob and Lashana Lynch as his wife, Rita.

Watch the trailer HERE

Catch A Fire is the fifth studio album by Bob Marley and the Wailers and was the first to be released by Island Records UK. The album originally had a limited release and was credited to The Wailers. Housed in a memorable sleeve in the shape of a Zippo lighter designed by graphic artists Rod Dyer and Bob Weiner, Catch A Fire’s future versions would feature the classic portrait of Marley smoking a “spliff,” taken by Esther Anderson. From then on, the artist credit was Bob Marley and The Wailers. After touring and recording in the UK with Johnny Nash, Nash’s departure to the United States left the Wailers without enough money to return home. They approached Island founder and producer Chris Blackwell, who advanced them the money for an album and paid their fares back to Jamaica, where they recorded Catch a Fire. The album features nine songs, two of which were written by Peter Tosh and the rest by Bob Marley. After Marley’s return to London to present the tapes to Blackwell, the producer reworked the tracks with contributions by Muscle Shoals session musician Wayne Perkins, who played guitar on two overdubbed tracks.

Marking the beginning of the anniversary celebrations will be the unearthing of the “Slave Driver” performance from the Edmonton show in 1973, available on his YouTube page. Fans can enjoy an ensemble of videos over the next few months to mark the release of the 50th-anniversary editions in November.

Catch A Fire will be available in two special formats: a 3 x Vinyl LP + 12” set and a 3 CD set, as well as digitally across all platforms. LP1/CD1 features the full final studio recording, LP2/ CD2 is the 10-song live album, “Live From The Paris Theatre London,” while LP3/CD3, entitled “Sessions,” features alternative, extended and instrumental Jamaican versions of the original album tracks. The additional 12”, available with the vinyl offering, and also included on CD3, features three classic tracks, “Slave Driver,” “Get Up, Stand Up” & “Stop That Train,” recorded live at the Wailer’s legendary performance at the Sundown Theatre in the village of Edmonton, North London. These historic recordings have only previously been available as a bootleg. The reverse side of the 12” has an etched image of the iconic Zippo lighter illustration.

Both LP & CD packages will include a book comprised of classic images of Marley from a photo shoot with long-time collaborator Arthur Gorson, who shot images of Bob for two weeks in Jamaica. The packages will also include press clippings from the era, while brand new sleeve notes have been written by renowned music journalist and author Chris Salewicz. The formats will utilize both iconic sleeve designs, the original famous Zippo lighter illustration & the later version with Bob smoking a spliff. The D2C offering will be a limited-edition run pressed on colored vinyl.

The album has received enormous critical acclaim, including being listed on Rolling Stone’s list of the 500 greatest albums of all time, the second highest placement of the five Bob Marley albums on the list, after the posthumous compilation album Legend. It is also rightly regarded as one of the greatest, most important, and influential albums, across all genres, of all time.

The full track listing is as follows:

3xLP+12”

LP1 - Studio Album