Remembering Bob Marley, born on this day in 1945. —Ed.
Live concert music from Bob Marley & the Wailers during their ’70s heyday has often been presented at mid-size to large venues, as evidenced by their 1975 album Live! and 1978 double-album Babylon By Bus, along with the 1978 video Live at the Rainbow. Sometimes the spectacle of the music is quite pronounced and, as amazing as those albums are, the musical subtleties can get lost.
The Capitol Session ‘73 should rectify that. A live session, for the cameras from October 24th, 1973, just a week after the release of their latest album, Burnin’, produced by Denny Cordell, received a video and audio release from Mercury Studios, co-executive-produced by Cordell’s son Barney.
Filmed and recorded at the Capitol Records Tower in Los Angeles using Cordell’s portable rig of four cameras and mixing the sound live on the fly, even though Marley was under contract at the time with Island Records, this one-off show was thought to be lost, but after a twenty-year, international search, the film and audio were found.
The concert came on the heels of the group’s second Island Records release, Burnin’. That album featured the original version of “I Shot the Sheriff,” later made into a hit by Eric Clapton in 1974 from his 461 Ocean Boulevard album. Burnin’ also included a version of “Get Up, Stand Up” and the classic “Burning and Looting.” The group was then on only its second U.S. tour, after having been in the States the previous spring. For both tours, the group also played in England.
Vega has, of course, continued writing and performing; crafting a catalog of music that is poetic, clever and adventurous. Location is of paramount importance to Vega and the thread of her body of work always ends up somewhere in New York City. This leads us to Suzanne’s latest project and release, An Evening of New York Songs and Stories which was the encapsulation of a run of shows Suzanne performed at New York City’s famed Cafe Carlyle. Like many projects in the last year or two, the release and tour to support it was hampered by the pandemic, but Vega is ready to get back out on the road to share this song-cycle focused on New York, New York.
All jokes aside, New Jersey is a pretty great place. While it has a lot to offer as a state, it also has a rich musical history of which many people remain unaware. Everyone knows Sinatra and The Boss, but there’s much more.
