The Raw UnCut Verson Of One Of Bob Marley & The Wailers Hardest Tunes
With tomorrow, April 13th making it 40 years since arguably one of the most important reggae albums ever released, we here at Boomshots dug in the crates and pulled out the original cut of “Concrete Jungle” off the 1973 ground breaking record “Catch A Fire.” What most would notice at first is that the original doesn’t feature Wayne Perkins’ iconic guitar intro and three cord octave. A little bit of history here, Chris Blackwell the then founder of Island Records pegged Perkins’ to do overdubs of “Catch A Fire” to make it sound more Rock in an attempt to appeal to more audiences. Like most of the tracks on “Catch A Fire,” “Concrete Jungle” was recorded well before Bob and The Wailers were signed to Island. Take A Listen To Reggae History After The Jump…
Original 1972 Yard Mix
1973 Island Records Album Version
An additional tidbit, the original 1973 vinyl release (designed by Rod Dyer and Bob Weiner) was encased in a sleeve depicting a Zippo lighter with a fully functional lighter case, opening at a side hinge to reveal the record within. Only the original pressing of 20,000 had the Zippo cover, future pressings had an alternative cover designed by John Bonis featuring an Esther Anderson portrait of Marley smoking a spliff, and most notably, with the album now being credited to “Bob Marley and the Wailers.”
