Fy-ah, Fy-ah - Bob Marley 3 CD Box Set (JAD MASTER 1967-1970)

All Music Guide Despite being encased in a handsome box set featuring a 16-page booklet decorated with nice graphics, the rambling liner notes and other documentation don't give a totally clear idea of when the 68 tracks on this three-CD package were recorded, or (less forgivably) a totally clear context of how they fit into Bob Marley & the Wailers' career. It's more important to enjoy vintage reggae than to get upset about the historical details, however, and all you really need to know is that this material was cut circa 1967-1970, mostly for JAD (though there are a half-dozen sides identified as "Wail'n'Soul'm" versions, presumably indicating recordings done for their own Wail'n'Soul'm label). Most important of all, this is really first-rate early reggae music, from a juncture in the group's career that's been too ill-documented, despite having yielded much fine work. While relatively few of these songs will be familiar to many Marley/Wailers fans (an early version of "Stir It Up" and "Soul Rebel" being exceptions), it could be argued that at no other time did the band strike such an even balance between early reggae, lingering American soul influences, tender love songs, and stirring social consciousness. The production is for the most part pretty clear, and always lighter and more basic than the somewhat slicker recordings through which Bob Marley & the Wailers would rise to international stardom in the 1970s. Sometimes there's even a mild pop touch, particularly as non-Jamaican musicians (including guitarist Eric Gale, drummer Bernard Purdie, and jazzman Hugh Masekela) play on some of the cuts. Too, there's a real sense of these singers being a true group, even if Marley wrote the lion's share of the tunes, as there's so much effective give-and-take vocal harmonies among the Wailers (with Rita Marley's voice frequently heard in the mix). There are too many quality songs to specifically cite in one or two paragraphs, but "How Many Times," "Gonna Get You," "Freedom Time," "Fire Fire," "Rocking Steady," "Hypocrites," "Can't You See," and "Mr. Chatterbox" are all among the outstanding ones. As for less expected covers, you have the Archies' "Sugar Sugar," the traditional spiritual "This Train," and pretty nice American pop-influenced tunes written by JAD's Jimmy Norman and his collaborators, while emerging Rastafarianism can be heard in "Selassie Is the Chapel." Eight "versions," less essential than the fully vocalized renditions but nice for collectors to have, fill out the CDs, the last of which ends with a demo of "One Love, True Love" and a "Dub Plate Special" of "How Many Times." Richie Unterberger

• Disc 1
• 1 Fire Fire / Bob Marley & The Wailers 1:53
• 2 Bend Down Low / Bob Marley & The Wailers Wail'n'Soul'm Version 2:31
• 3 Freedom Time / Bob Marley & The Wailers 2:47
• 4 Dem a Fi Get a Beatin' / Bob Marley & The Wailers 1:50
• 5 Play Play / Bob Marley & The Wailers 2:35
• 6 This Train / Bob Marley & The Wailers Wail'n'Soul'm Version 3:37
• 7 Funeral / Bob Marley & The Wailers 3:20
• 8 Hypocrites / Bob Marley & The Wailers 2:43
• 9 Mellow Mood / Bob Marley & The Wailers Wail'n'Soul'm Version 3:29
• 10 Pound Get a Blow / Bob Marley & The Wailers 2:44
• 11 Stir It Up 3:08
• 12 Thank You Lord / Bob Marley & The Wailers Wail'n'Soul'm Version 3:35
• 13 Nice Time / Bob Marley & The Wailers Wail'n'Soul'm Version 2:43
• 14 Bus Dem Shut / Bob Marley & The Wailers 2:42
• 15 Steppin' Razor / Bob Marley & The Wailers 2:27
• 16 Don't Rock My Boat / Bob Marley & The Wailers 2:33
• 17 The Lord Will Make Away Somehow / Bob Marley & The Wailers 2:14
• 18 I'm Hurting Inside / Bob Marley & The Wailers 3:15
• 19 Chances Are / Bob Marley & The Wailers Wail'n'Soul'm Version 3:20
• 20 Lyrical Satirical 1 / Bob Marley & The Wailers 2:43
• 21 Hypocrites Version / Bob Marley & The Wailers Version 2:41
• 22 Mellow Mood Version / Bob Marley & The Wailers Version 3:28
• 23 Thank You Lord Version / Bob Marley & The Wailers Version 3:41
• 24 Nice Time Version / Bob Marley & The Wailers Version 2:37
• Disc 2
• 1 Sugar Sugar 2:48
• 2 Soul Shakedown Party / Bob Marley & The Wailers 3:09
• 3 Cheer Up / Bob Marley & The Wailers 2:02
• 4 Stop the Train 2:19
• 5 Soul Captives / Bob Marley & The Wailers 2:03
• 6 Caution / Bob Marley & The Wailers 2:43
• 7 Can't You See / Bob Marley & The Wailers 2:42
• 8 Do It Twice / Bob Marley & The Wailers 2:47
• 9 Soon Come / Bob Marley & The Wailers 2:23
• 10 Go, Tell It on the Mountain / Bob Marley & The Wailers 3:14
• 11 Back Out / Bob Marley & The Wailers 2:17
• 12 Mr. Chatterbox / Bob Marley & The Wailers 2:38
• 13 Adam & Eve / Bob Marley & The Wailers 3:07
• 14 Thank You Lord / Bob Marley & The Wailers Pouder Version / Version 3:20
• 15 Wisdom / Bob Marley & The Wailers 3:13
• 16 This Train / Bob Marley & The Wailers Pouder Version 3:37
• 17 Selassie Is the Chapel / Bob Marley & The Wailers 3:52
• 18 A Little Prayer / Mortimer Planno 3:28
• 19 Soul Shakedown Party Version / Bob Marley & The Wailers Version 3:07
• 20 Soon Come Version / Bob Marley & The Wailers Version 2:24
• 21 Mr. Chatterbox Version / Bob Marley & The Wailers Version 3:03
• Disc 3
• 1 How Many Times / Bob Marley & The Wailers 3:06
• 2 Touch Me / Bob Marley & The Wailers 3:04
• 3 Bend Down Low / Bob Marley & The Wailers JAD Version 3:29
• 4 Rocking Steady / Bob Marley & The Wailers 1:50
• 5 Soul Rebel / Bob Marley & The Wailers 3:53
• 6 Nice Time / Bob Marley & The Wailers JAD Version 2:48
• 7 Gonna Get You / Bob Marley & The Wailers 3:14
• 8 There She Goes / Bob Marley & The Wailers 2:34
• 9 Hammer / Bob Marley & The Wailers 2:56
• 10 Stay With Me / Bob Marley & The Wailers 2:59
• 11 Chances Are / Bob Marley & The Wailers JAD Version 3:21
• 12 Treat You Right / Bob Marley & The Wailers 2:18
• 13 Stranger on the Shore / Bob Marley & The Wailers 2:51
• 14 Fallin' in and Out of Love / Bob Marley & The Wailers 4:08
• 15 Mellow Mood / Bob Marley & The Wailers JAD Version 2:37
• 16 Milke Shake & Potato Chips / Bob Marley & The Wailers 2:46
• 17 Put It On / Bob Marley & The Wailers 3:03
• 18 Splish for My Splash / Bob Marley & The Wailers 2:16
• 19 The World Is Changing / Bob Marley & The Wailers 2:39
• 20 What Goes Around Comes Around / Bob Marley & The Wailers 4:14
• 21 It Hurts to Be Alone / Bob Marley & The Wailers 2:37
• 22 What Goes Around Comes Around Version / Bob Marley & The Wailers Version 4:14
• 23 One Love, True Love / Bob Marley & The Wailers Bonus Track / Demo Version 3:48
• 24 How Many Times / Bob Marley & The Wailers previously unreleased / Bonus Track / Dub Plate special / Dub 2:53