Bootleg Series Vol.4: Record Plant Marley

I wrote this post nine years ago on my other Blog.  I loved this bootleg release more and more each time I heard it.  When I posted it to my audience I got an e-mail from a reader.  She liked the article and how I talked about my introduction to his music and how that grew and grew.  I liked what she had to say in the email and at that time wanted to invite her to help write a post about Bob Marley the humanitarian and the soccer player.  In my quirky way I don't like the way he is portrayed with smoking a blunt and the culture that brings.  Marley's music is never ending. There is so much to listen to and soak in.  After listening to this awesome Bootleg from 1973 I really wish I had that time machine to see him live.  I really wish I saw the tour he did with Sly & The Family Stone. He supposedly toured also with Stevie Wonder.  Anyway, I give you this nine year old post with all it's bad writing and such.  Enjoy!!

In my community college years I had a professor who was basically a Grateful Dead head. He always asked me about my dead shows I went to and would tell his stories about his past with the centered moment about meeting at a Grateful Dead show. He mentioned some good ones and I wish I could turn back time to his youth and see the shows he saw in the years circa 1973-1979. He mentioned one thing about his shows is that he loved seeing the people and soaking up the music. He also mentioned that he also had this moment when he saw Bob Marley.  The whole class jaw's dropped when he saw him a number of times.

For myself I liked Bob Marley, but really did not know where to start. I bought his best of Legend, but the professor told me that is only the tip of the iceberg on what he has out there to listen to. I was one of like 12 million people who did and that was the only Bob Marley I knew. He handed me a cassette tape full of two albums. There was even a person who befriended me and gave me a better mix then what I heard on Legend. At this point I needed to hear more. That professor heard that and made me a tape of two albums. The two albums Burnin' and Catch A Fire. These were my first two official albums of his. I did not know what to expect. Even more special was a classmate and friend of mine heard us talking Bob Marley and he gave me a 100 minute cassette full of classic and some real gems of Bob Marley. He also handed me a tape called Talkin' Blues. All the music that I got was quite a dose of music, but it was a great place to start.

Over the years I picked up the CD versions of these albums and really listened to him. I did not pay attention to the hits, but the songs that had an impact. These albums were all so good. I did not even know what album to pick or listen to more then most because all of them were playing in my CD player or cassette player. Over the next few years I would put Bob Marley away and listen to other Reggae artists. When I went back to school I made a two CD mix of the cassette mix of what my friend gave me way back a long time ago. It was really great to hear these and soak in the music.

After college I decided to go on a search of other Marley music. During college I had someone who needed money and sold me the Bob Marley Box set. It was great and all but I knew I was missing something. The music I was looking for was something live. Yet the two live albums were good especially Babylon By Bus. I stumbled on a few bootlegs on line. I took advantage of those and decided to listen for myself. It's a good thing I took that chance. I listened to these bootlegs and really liked what I heard. It was something that now after all these years made sense to me. This is the Bob Marley I wanted to really hear. It was all so good and I knew this is what should be blasting in my speakers.

After many re-listens for this blog post I stumbled upon a bootleg that I had in my music files. I grabbed this bootleg and gave it a new listen. This was recorded in December of 1973. It was part of a series that I have yet to find the whole set. In the early 1970's the Record Plant recordings were something special. I have a few namely a AC/DC one and a Herbie Hancock one. Both with it's excellent quality yet great music is a great capsule of the era that was quite unique. The Bob Marley one is no different. This show is about the time Bob Marley would break in the states and also when he opened for Sly and The Family Stone. This is a great start and if you can find it, grab it. Enjoy this one and I hope this is a start of a musical love of Bob Marley.