Reggae Festival Guide is honored to have Island Reggae/Tuff Gong/UMe as our 2003 sponsor. The legacy of Bob Marley and countless other reggae artists is now receiving a well-deserved boost in the form of repackaging and remastering a rich body of work for reissue.
Ramon Galbert, Marketing Director at Island Reggae/Tuff Gong/UMe (Universal Music Enterprises) notes beautifully that, "Bob Marley is a legend and we are trying to adhere to his principles of loving life and standing for truth through his artistic expressions. It has been a blessing to be involved with, preserving and growing his legacy into the new millennium." He further explains that, "The Reggae Classics reissue program which commenced last year and will be a huge focus for our marketing team this Summer, has been overseen by A&R Director Dana Smart . Since the start of these reissues, we have made it a priority to be really aggressive in marketing these records to the public through outdoor billboard campaigns, extensive print advertising and cross promotions with partners that will further help expose reggae to the masses."
An additional benefit that the reissue effort has received is the involvement of the original creative director for Bob Marley and the Wailers, Neville Garrick. As Galbert notes, "Neville Garrick has been involved since day one as a consultant to the creative director here at Universal. Authenticity of the repackaging has been the #1 priority as well as creating tools (such as posters and stickers) that people want."
The two titles featured, Live at the Roxy by Bob Marley and the Wailers and the various artists compilation Ultimate Reggae are just a few of the releases that are now available. For more information check out www.universalchronicles.com.
For the first time, the complete 1976 Bob Marley and the Wailers concert at the legendary Roxy in Hollywood will be officially released. The result of extensive tape library research, substantial restoration and digital transfer and remastering from the original two-track analog master tapes, the two-CD set Live at the Roxy (Island Reggae/Tuff Gong/UMe), released June 17, 2003, adds another transcendent concert experience to the Marley legacy.
With the songs presented in the concert's original running order, Disc One was previously issued in 2002 as part of the acclaimed Rastaman Vibration Deluxe Edition package, which marked the official debuts of nine of its 10 songs taken from the May 26, 1976 performance. Disc Two of Live at the Roxy features the never-before-released recordings of the concert's encore "Positive Vibration" and the epic 24-minute medley "Get Up Stand Up"/"No More Trouble"/"War." The Roxy concert took place during the band's tour for Rastaman Vibration. For many in the U.S., the reggae vibe was first felt with that album, Marley's first to breach the Top 10 and soon certified gold. At the height of its powers but still awaiting success on these shores, the band launched into a mix of hits and cuts from the then-new album with a combination of energy and mastery all too rarely captured in live recordings.
Joining Marley on the tour, as they had on the album, were Wailers Aston "Family Man" Barrett on bass and brother Carlton Barrett on drums; the I-Three vocal trio of wife Rita Marley, Marcia Griffiths and Judy Mowatt; Earl "Chinna" Smith on lead and rhythm guitar; Donald Kinsey also on lead guitar; Tyrone Downie on keyboards; and Alvin "Seeco" Patterson, who brought the Wailers to their first audition in 1963, on percussion.
Now, 40 years after that audition, Live at the Roxy continues the most comprehensive and ambitious Bob Marley and the Wailers catalog program in history. Encompassing remastered reissues, expanded deluxe editions, fresh compilations and new albums, the multi-year effort brings the music of reggae's greatest artist into the new millennium.
If it's a summer party then it should be a reggae summer party, mon - and 20 of the greatest hits of reggae collected on Ultimate Reggae (UTV Records, a unit of UMe), released June 3, 2003, can surely provide the soundtrack. With classics spanning 30 years (1972-2001) from some of the genre's greatest artists, including five rare single versions and two remixes, Ultimate Reggae gets the party started - and keeps it going.
The single rarities are of "The Harder They Come" from Jimmy Cliff, the title track from the early '70s movie responsible for educating most of the world about reggae; "1865 (96° in the Shade)" from Third World, Jamaica's longest running self-contained band; "Sponji Reggae" from the fiercely Rastafarian Black Uhuru; and dancehall reggae's Eek-a-Mouse with "Wa Do Dem" and Yellowman with "Zungguzungguguzungguzeng." The remixes are the Sting Remix of "Boombastic" from Shaggy and the Kill 'Em With It Remix of "Heads High" from Mr. Vegas.
There's a lot of love on Ultimate Reggae, from "Love Has Found Its Way" from the crown prince of reggae, Dennis Brown, to the romantic reggae gem "Night Nurse" from Gregory Isaacs, the Marvin Gaye of reggae. The provocative Shabba Ranks chimes in with "Mr. Loverman" (featuring Chevelle Franklin) and the album's Marley representative, the youngest of Bob Marley's sons, Damian "Jr. Gong" Marley, contributes the album's most recent recording, 2001's "And You Be Loved." Ultimate Reggae's earliest track and the album's highest-charting hit in the U.S., #1 in 1972, is the instantly recognizable "I Can See Clearly Now" from Johnny Nash.
On the social consciousness tip are such roots reggae immortals as "54-46 Was My Number" from Toots and the Maytals, one of Jamaica's most respected and longest-lived groups; "Equal Rights" from legendary original Wailer Peter Tosh; "Police and Thieves," the biggest reggae hit of 1976, from Junior Murvin; "Marcus Garvey" from the charismatic Burning Spear and "Murder She Wrote" from dynamic duo Chaka Demus and Pliers. Also heard are "Greetings" from Half Pint, "Who Am I" from Beenie Man and, from Buju Banton, the leader of modern reggae, "Untold Stories."
Created by the compilers of Pure Reggae and Reggae Party, two of the best-selling multi-artist reggae collections since the advent of SoundScan (the method used to track sales at retail) Ultimate Reggae also features an essay and track notes by David Katz, author of People Funny Boy: The Genius of Lee Scratch Perry and Solid Foundation: An Oral History of Reggae. Ramon Galbert has a lengthy career history in the music business. He was with Polygram for five years where he began working with the Marley and reggae catalog titles. After the merger with Universal four years ago, he spearheaded the marketing and packaging effort involved with these vital reissues.