Bob Marley and The Wailers celebrate 'Catch a Fire' 50th anniversary

The new version drops this fall

Catch a Fire, Bob Marley And The Wailers’ seminal first release on Island Records, universally regarded as the album that put reggae music on the global stage, is being reissued via UMe on November 3rd to celebrate the 50th anniversary of its original release in 1973. “Slave Driver,” one of the most powerful tracks on the album, will be released as a single, accompanied by remarkable live performance footage recently unearthed from the legendary Edmonton show in England in 1973.

Catch a Fire is the fifth studio album by Bob Marley and the Wailers and was the first to be released by Island Records UK. The album originally had a limited release and was credited to The Wailers. Housed in a memorable sleeve in the shape of a Zippo lighter designed by graphic artists Rod Dyer and Bob Weiner, The album’s future versions would feature the classic portrait of Marley smoking a “spliff,” taken by Esther Anderson. From then on, the artist credit was Bob Marley and The Wailers. After touring and recording in the UK with Johnny Nash, Nash’s departure to the United States left the Wailers without enough money to return home. They approached Island founder and producer Chris Blackwell, who advanced them the money for an album and paid their fares back to Jamaica, where they recorded Catch a Fire. The album features nine songs, two of which were written by Peter Tosh and the rest by Bob Marley. After Marley’s return to London to present the tapes to Blackwell, the producer reworked the tracks with contributions by Muscle Shoals session musician Wayne Perkins, who played guitar on two overdubbed tracks.

Marking the beginning of the anniversary celebrations will be the unearthing of the “Slave Driver” performance from the Edmonton show in 1973, available on his YouTube page. Fans can enjoy an ensemble of videos over the next few months to mark the release of the 50th-anniversary editions in November.

Catch a Fire will be available in two special formats — a 3 LP + 12-inch vinyl set, a 3 CD set, and digitally across all platforms. The first disc features the full final studio recording, The second is the 10-song live album, Live From The Paris Theatre London, while the third, entitled Sessions, features alternative, extended, and instrumental Jamaican versions of the original album tracks. The additional 12-inch, available with the vinyl offering, and also included on CD 3, features three classic tracks, “Slave Driver,” “Get Up, Stand Up” and “Stop That Train,” recorded live at the Wailer’s legendary performance at the Sundown Theatre in the village of Edmonton, North London. These historic recordings have only previously been available as a bootleg. The reverse side of the 12-inch has an etched image of the iconic Zippo lighter illustration.

Both LP and CD packages will include a book comprised of classic images of Marley from photo shoots with long-time collaborators Adrian Boot, and Arthur Gorson, who shot images of Bob for two weeks in Jamaica, Dennis Morris, and Neville Garrick. The packages will also include press clippings from the era, while brand new sleeve notes have been written by renowned music journalist and author Chris Salewicz. The formats will utilize both iconic sleeve designs, the original famous Zippo lighter illustration and the later version with Bob smoking a spliff. The D2C offering will be a limited edition run pressed on colored vinyl.

The album has received enormous critical acclaim, including being listed on Rolling Stone’s list of the “500 Greatest Albums of All Time,” the second highest placement of the five Bob Marley albums on the list, after the posthumous compilation album Legend. It is also rightly regarded as one of the greatest, most important, and influential albums, across all genres, of all time.

A hugely anticipated new film, Bob Marley: One Love, celebrating the life and music of an icon who inspired generations through his message of love and unity, is in theaters on January 12, 2024. Produced by Ziggy Marley, Cedella Marley, and Rita Marley, and with Stephen Marley as the music supervisor, the film tells the inspirational story of how Bob overcame huge adversity to become one of the world’s most revered musical and cultural giants through the power and beauty of his revolutionary music. Produced in partnership with the Marley family, the film stars Kingsley Ben-Adir as Bob and Lashana Lynch as his wife, Rita.

CD 1: Catch a Fire