The songs were notable not only for the richness of the melodies and wordplay but also for the vitality and imagination of the harmony arrangements which were supplied by a newly-recruited vocal section the I-Threes, featuring Rita Marley (Bob’s wife), Marcia Griffiths, and Judy Mowatt. “Natty Dread” was a soubriquet Marley had recently acquired on the streets of Jamaica thanks to his lengthening locks which, as could be seen in the cover photograph, were beginning to flow as freely as his music. Listening now to the opening run of tracks it almost sounds like a Greatest Hits collection – “Lively Up Yourself,” “No Woman, No Cry,” “Them Belly Full (But We Hungry)” – before you even get to the celebrated title track. With Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer now departed from the group to establish solo careers of their own, Marley took hold of the reins with new confidence and stunning results. It reached the top of the US chart in September 1974, a month before the release of Natty Dread, the first album to be credited to Bob Marley and the Wailers. The timing of Clapton’s hit could not have been better. “I Shot The Sheriff” became a US No.1 hit (still Clapton’s only such success) and his enthusiastic endorsement of a Marley song, with an arrangement that did not differ hugely from the original (on the Burnin’ album), was a considerable spur to popular acceptance of reggae music in general and Marley in particular. Clapton, at this point, was the voice and sound of the mainstream rock establishment. But it certainly encouraged a sea change in the popular perception of reggae. It would be overstating the case to say that Eric Clapton’s version of “I Shot The Sheriff” changed everything. They were attempting to introduce a whole genre that was still quite alien to the mainstream music media. The problem which Chris Blackwell and Island Records had to address was not merely that of trying to launch a “new” artist. Those albums, both released in 1973, would eventually be recognized as classics, but neither of them reached the Top 100 in either the US or the UK. As part of the Wailers and before the release of Natty Dread, Bob Marley had already put in a considerable effort to break into the charts with his first international album releases Catch A Fire and Burnin’. Even a godlike genius can use a helping hand from time to time.
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