Bob Marley not just a Cultural Ambassador

If he had done nothing but record Catch a Fire, Bob Marley would still be known as the person who introduced reggae music to millions of Americans.

But more than just a cultural ambassador, Robert Nesta Marley was a fabulously talented songwriter who could mix protest music and undeniable pop as skilfully as Bob Dylan; even before Marley’s death at age 36, he was becoming a true culture hero — the first major rock artist to come out of a Third World country.

More than 20 years on, his records sound as fresh as ever, something proved every week by the astonishing continued sales of his greatest-hits package Legend.

Although Marley is best known for the string of memorable albums he recorded during the ‘70s, the original Wailers — Marley, Peter Tosh, and Neville “Bunny Wailer” Livingston — were a leading Jamaican vocal trio in the ‘60s, cutting R&B-flavored sides with distinctive island rhythms.

The development of the Wailers into a self-contained band mirrors the evolution of reggae itself; gradually, the group shook off the singles-minded approach of the early Jamaican studios and forged an expansive new groove from established local styles like ska, mento, and bluebeat.

Emerging as a fiery topical songwriter and spiritually compelling frontman, Marley led the Wailers to international acclaim with the release of two startling albums in 1973.

With stalwart bassist Aston “Family Man” Barrett and drummer Carlton Barrett pumping out incendiary “riddims” behind the Wailers’ smoky harmonies, Catch a Fire is a blazing debut.

“Concrete Jungle” and “Slave Driver” crackle with streetwise immediacy, while “Kinky Reggae” and “Stir It Up” (a pop hit for Johnny Nash in ‘73) revel in the music’s vast capacity for good-time skanking.

“Stop That Train” and “400 Years,” both written by Peter Tosh, indicate the original Wailers weren’t strictly a one-man show. Burnin’ glows even hotter; “Get Up, Stand Up” backs its activist message with an itchy, motivating beat.

“I Shot the Sheriff” (covered by Eric Clapton in 1974) and “Small Axe” show Marley’s verbal and melodic skills growing by leaps and bounds; he expertly blends personal testimony with political philosophy to make enduring points about institutionalized racism.

Tosh and Livingston left for solo careers after that album and were effectively replaced by the “I-Threes” trio: Marcia Griffiths, Rita Marley (Mrs. Bob), and Judy Mowatt. Natty Dread captures the refurbished Wailers at an ambitious peak.

“No Woman, No Cry” features Marley’s most soulful vocal performance; while avoiding crippling despair, “Them Belly Full (But We Hungry)” and “Rebel Music (Three o’Clock Roadblock)” articulate the anger of the oppressed and downtrodden; the title track and “So Jah Seh” posit the tangled web of Rastafarian belief without slipping totally into the cosmos. Live! documents a thrilling, tight-as-a-drum 1975 London performance of highlights from the first three albums.

On Rastaman Vibration, Marley starts to fall back on pat formulas and ganja-stoked rhetoric. But the grimly prophetic “War” and the deceptively feel-good “Positive Vibration” stand out on an album that holds up to repeated listening (and dancing).