June
3rd marks the 45th anniversary of the release of Bob Marley & The
Wailers classic album, Exodus. It was one of the first albums to
introduce me to real reggae music and came into my awareness right at a
time when I was looking for bass driven music after discovering the
throb of Public Image Ltd’s Second Edition/Metal Box in 1980. The title
song, in particular, hooked me the most with its insistent pulse and
its sense of movement and determination. When he shouts “MOVE”, you
really wanna get up and go somewhere and don’t stop until you get there,
wherever the hell it is.
The album was recorded in London
after Marley exiled himself from Jamaica following a failed
assassination attempt which left him with a grazed chest and a bullet in
his arm. Marley’s wife, Rita, was also wounded in the incident. Given
that recent history, Exodus remains a laid back and mellow album,
musically, though the lyrical themes simmer underneath that calm with
deep political and spiritual intensity. Side one of the album
particularly focuses on the spiritual and political aspects while the
second side goes into more personal themes of love and relationships.
The
album was a commercial and critical success and became a further
reinforcement of Marley’s position as the premier ambassador of the
reggae movement. The title track single became a number one hit in
Jamaica, the UK and Germany.
