March 29, 2024 —– Chart #239
Hello Music Friends,
Hey folks, welcome to another edition of Chart of the Week. Today we are going Rasta mon. Yeah, 1977 Rastafari. Live it brother! Drummers, you’re gonna like this one. And guitarists, this is the perfect song for your little used T-wah pedal. Bass players – pay attention! “Jamming” is a song by the reggae band Bob Marley and the Wailers from their 1977 album Exodus. The song also appears on the compilation album Legend. The song was re-released 10 years later as a tribute to Bob Marley and was again a hit, as in the Netherlands, where it was classified in the charts for 4 weeks. In Jamaican patois the word jamming refers to a getting together or celebration. It is still receiving moderate airplay from adult alternative stations.
Bob Marley’s wife Rita Marley has performed the song during the tribute concert “Marley Magic: Live In Central Park At Summerstage”. Marley’s children Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers have performed the song during their concerts. Their live version of the song appears on the concert CD/DVDs Live Vol. 1 and Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers Live. Notably, the song contains the line, “No bullet can stop us now”. On December 3, 1976, Marley was shot by unknown gunmen who had broken into his home. He recovered shortly afterward.
Bob Marley and the Wailers (previously known as The Wailers and prior to that The Wailing Rudeboys, The Wailing Wailers and The Teenagers) were a Jamaican ska, rocksteady and reggae band. The founding members, in 1963, were Bob Marley (Robert Nesta Marley), Peter Tosh (Winston Hubert McIntosh), and Bunny Wailer (Neville Livingston). During 1970 and 1971, Wailer, Marley and Tosh worked with renowned reggae producers Leslie Kong and Lee “Scratch” Perry.
They released four albums before signing to Island Records in 1972. Two more albums were created before Tosh and Wailer left the band in 1974, citing grievances over label treatment and ideological differences. Marley carried on with a new line-up, including the I-Threes that put out seven more albums. Marley died of cancer in 1981.
The Wailers were a groundbreaking ska and reggae group, noted for songs such as “Simmer Down”, “Trenchtown Rock”, “Nice Time”, “War”, “Stir It Up” and “Get Up, Stand Up”, and of course “Jamming”.
Here is the whole group live in 1977. Grab a Red Stripe and enjoy this: https://youtu.be/5WlCdiU9IzA?si=yKg6m1J4nP2HnuKn
Keep Rockin’,
Stan Bradshaw