Natty Dread
| Natty Dread | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by Bob Marley and The Wailers | ||||
| Released | 25 October 1974 | |||
| Recorded | Harry J. Studios, Kingston, Jamaica, 1973 | |||
| Genre | Reggae, R&B | |||
| Length | 38:59 | |||
| Label | Island/Tuff Gong | |||
| Producer | Chris Blackwell and The Wailers | |||
| Bob Marley and The Wailers chronology | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
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| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |  |
| Robert Christgau | (A) |
| Rolling Stone |  |
Natty Dread is a 1974 album by Bob Marley and the Wailers. It was the first album released as Bob Marley and the Wailers instead of just the Wailers, the first recorded without Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer, and the first recorded with the I Threes, a female vocal trio consisting of Marcia Griffiths, Judy Mowatt, and Marley's wife, Rita Marley.
Natty Dread peaked at No. 44 on Billboard's (North America) Black Albums chart, and at No. 92 on the Pop Albums chart. In 2003, the album was ranked number 181 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.
Natty Dread is a spiritually charged political and social statement. It opens with a blues-influenced positive celebration of skanking, reggae and sex, "Lively Up Yourself". The original and still unreleased demo of the Island version of "Lively Up Yourself" was recorded in 1973.
"No Woman, No Cry", the second track, is probably the best known recording on the album. It is a nostalgic remembrance of growing up in the impoverished streets of Trenchtown, the ghetto of Kingston, Jamaica, and the happiness brought by the company of friends. The song has been performed by artists as diverse as Boney M. (sung by Liz Mitchell), The Fugees, Pearl Jam, Jimmy Buffett, Rancid and Gilberto Gil. Songwriting credit for "No Woman, No Cry" went to V. Ford. Vincent Ford, better known as "Tartar" to his friends and neighbors, had been a kind friend of Marley as a child in Trenchtown. Marley claimed he would have starved to death on several occasions as a child if not for the aid of Tartar. The original version of the song was in gospel style, featuring Peter Tosh and some unknown female backing vocals and was cut for Island in 1973.
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