If ever there was an anthem that took the expertise of the Jamaican poor to the world, it was “No Woman, No Cry.” There had been earlier pop hits that associated the struggles of Jamaican ghetto dwellers, notably Desmond Dekker’s “Israelites” in 1968, however most listeners who heard Dekker’s report wouldn’t have understood his message, and it was delivered in such shiny tones that few would have suspected it was critical. However you couldn’t mistake Bob Marley’s intent on “No Woman, No Cry.” This deeply non secular music spoke volumes about life within the Trenchtown ghetto with out saying a single specific phrase about how poor the folks have been or about injustice. As an alternative, it affords reminiscences, observations, and, above all, solace and hope. It’s pure Bob Marley: warm-hearted and non secular.
A celebration of life within the face of hardship
“No Woman, No Cry” first appeared on Natty Dread in 1974, using a drum machine rhythm, an innovation in reggae courtesy of The Wailers’ bass participant, Aston “Family Man” Barrett. The memorable keyboard association was offered by session participant Jean Roussel, a pivotal a part of the music that grew to become much more glowing underneath the good fingers of Hammond participant Tyrone Downie when the music was delivered on the Lyceum Ballroom, London, on July 18, 1975, the place it was captured for posterity on the Stay! album.
Those that solely know the latter reduce, which grew to become Bob’s breakthrough pop hit, are sometimes shocked by how skinny and delicate the studio model sounds, with the drum machine ticking away, the just about funky guitar with a touch of wah-wah, and The I-Threes becoming a member of in prefer it was a jam or a rehearsal. It’s barely reggae in any respect when it comes to rhythm, which suggests it’s simply this nice Jamaican band working by way of the music in a relaxed manner, not attempting to put down some deep rhythm. That is intelligent manufacturing by Chris Blackwell, The Wailers, and Bob; it emphasizes the down-home really feel of the music like they are surely sitting within the Authorities Yard in Trenchtown, chatting, making music, and recalling the previous.
One of many benefits Bob had over most reggae artists was the truth that he labored with an everyday band and was touring. Most Jamaican singers didn’t maintain their very own band and performed gigs right here and there with whoever was competent and accessible. Therefore Bob’s songs developed a lifetime of their very own by way of repeated enjoying with The Wailers. Inside 9 months of Natty Dread’s launch, “No Woman, No Cry” had grown massive, daring, and sumptuous. It now had room to breathe: the unique had been three minutes and 46 seconds lengthy; the one introduced on Stay! prolonged to greater than seven minutes (it was chopped again to across the size of the studio model for launch on 7” single). This modestly delivered although inspirational music had turn into a swaying, swelling, soulful skank, with angelic opening singing from The I-Threes, a heavyweight one-drop from Carlton Barrett on drums, and a celebratory environment. We had onerous occasions however there was love and friendship and hope; a few of us have been misplaced, they’re remembered. Some survived and thrived. It’s an excellent celebration of life within the face of hardship. Don’t cry: we should stay on.
An anthem for all occasions
There have been debates about who had written the music, even unsuccessful lawsuits from Bob’s former writer. It had been credited to Vincent Ford, a well known character round Trenchtown when Bob was rising up. A paraplegic, Ford misplaced his legs when younger, owing to untreated diabetes – medical therapy was in brief provide within the ghetto – and rolled round Trench in a wheelchair. Undeterred, he ran a soup kitchen in an space referred to as the Authorities Yards. Slightly than being one particular open house, the Yards each referred to residence in Jamaican English and the open areas between buildings erected in a 40s authorities scheme to accommodate the poor in Western Kingston. Whereas the buildings have been higher than the shanty cities discovered elsewhere, with bogs, operating water, and an influence provide, they weren’t blessed with work alternatives, and the poor remained horribly impoverished.
One beneficiary of Ford’s free meals was Bob Marley, who stated that with out Ford’s efforts, he would have starved. Ford received the credit score for writing a number of of Bob’s songs, together with “No Woman, No Cry.” There have been quite a few theories as to why Bob may need given away the publishing credit to one in all his greatest songs; this isn’t the place to debate them, but when he actually did, and Ford didn’t write it, the charitable older man actually wanted the royalties it might have introduced in. It was a sublime manner for Bob to repay him for his very important kindness. Neither celebration ever broke the pact that stated that Ford wrote the music. Within the 90s, Ford was an everyday presence on the Bob Marley Museum in Kingston, a residing testomony to Bob’s struggles – and supreme victory over poverty.
There have been quite a few covers of “No Woman, No Cry.” The Fugees hit with it in 1996. It was reinterpreted by Nina Simone, which was fairly a coup for Bob, as she had been a powerful affect over reggae music and he had sung on cowl variations of her “Sinnerman” whereas he was nonetheless preventing for a break. South African township music pioneer Hugh Masekela recorded it in 1989. Artists as various as Joan Baez, Pearl Jam, and Naughty By Nature have been drawn by its soulful magnificence. Even the younger classical music sensation, celloist Sheku Kannah-Mason, launched a model in 2018, serving to him to interrupt into the mainstream. In 1975, reggae legend Derrick Morgan wrote a solution music, “Some Woman Must Cry,” which defined that ladies had a proper to cry contemplating the appalling manner they have been handled by their menfolk. However none may match the impression of Bob Marley & The Wailers’ stay model of “No Woman, No Cry” – an anthem for all occasions.
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