Bob Marley & The Wailers: In Dub Flight. 1

How time flies. Exactly forty years ago today, a message on the radio hit me right in the heart. I pulled my old VW Beetle to the side of the road, stopped in shock and felt like I had just received the sad news that a very good friend of mine had died. Reggae's figurehead, the Tuff Gong, had lost his last battle with cancer. After almost six months of treatment at the Ringberg Clinic in Rottach-Egern, Bob Marley's health deteriorated significantly in early May 1981 and he decided to fly back to Jamaica to spend the last days of his life there. Unfortunately, he should no longer achieve this goal. Already on the way back to the Caribbean it collapsed at the airport in Munich-Riem. After a stopover in Miami on the morning of May 11th, he was too weak to continue the flight. He was taken to a clinic, where he died a short time later. One of the most charismatic and challenging performers of our time, a musical, political and even spiritual figure of mystical proportions died at the age of 36 and is and remains Reggae's greatest icon and an outstanding figure of our time. No artist in modern music has dominated his genre like Bob Marley has dominated reggae. Marley sang of rebellion, riot, rasta and the power of love. A man who rose from the most modest of circumstances to become a role model for the oppressed. He was the most renowned Jamaican artist who gave a voice to the daily struggle of his people and the Rastafarian culture (s) and also the first to achieve global fame.
Bob Marley & the Wailers recorded eight studio and two live albums together during their lifetime. On the occasion of his 65th birthday (February 6th) - if he had seen him - in 2010 "Bob Marley & The Wailers - In Dub Flight. 1" released.
Apart from Soul Revolution II, which Lee Perry originally only released on his label, “In Dub Vol. 1 “one of Marley's few attempts Dubs to be published in album length. That makes the album interesting from the start, but also daring. With “Roots Rock Dub“The album starts and the skanking rhythm guitar in combination with fragmented backing vocals are complemented by jazzy saxophone sounds. The “Jamming Version” almost completely dispenses with echo and reverb. "Is This Love Dub“Comes out much stronger: The lead vocals are faded in and out, echo, reverb and beautiful percussions show the way. "One Love / People Get Ready Dub“Sounds good to me too. In “Forever Loving Jah Dub“Aston Barrett's incomparable bass takes on the role that he played in Dub also due to the main role. The “Lively Up Your Dub“Retained more of Bob Marley's voice than any other track. "Three Little Birds Dub“Sounds a bit like from the beginnings of reggae, maybe also because of the classical instrumentation. "Crazy Baldhead Dub“Looks even darker and therefore more interesting, while“ Waiting in Vain ”seems much darker to me than the original. "She's gone Dub"Contains much of the original vocals before being converted into a great old-school version /Dub-Style transitions. The album closes with a "Smile Jamaica Version" and a somewhat muffled production sound that was characteristic of the time.
"Lively Up Your Dub“Is the only track on this album that clearly shows that it was mixed by Scientist. The remaining ten tracks could have been mixed by Bob Marley with Aston Barrett or other sound engineers working in the Tuff Gong Studio. Unfortunately, no further information can be found on the album in this regard.
In conclusion, it can be stated that “Bob Marley & The Wailers - In Dub Vol. 1 “No major mixer trickery taking place or one Dubfireworks being burned down. Rather, we get before our eyes and especially ears that also in the reduced Dubsound Robert Nesta Marley's songs and melodies light up like fixed stars in the infinite universe.