Roots Archives Forum

Hello

I understand that all the above albums have been remixed like Burning Spear's Marcus Garvey (& many more albums) by Island Records. As I heard, Marcus Garvey has a JA release which is much different to the Island one.

Now my question is, do the above two albums have JA releases that were not remixed like the Island ones?

Been listening to the two yesterday but i felt like they're somehow tiresome to my ears & started thinking of the not remixed tracks sounding so different and nice.

M.G.

If I remember correctly Island did release later, in the 00s, the so called Jamaican mixes, without the crossover market guitar overdubs etc, but I believe they weren't actually released as such in Jamaica back in the days.

Yes these two albums were re-released by Island as Deluxe Editions, both with the original jamaican mixes. If you wanna decide if they're worth a buy, you can just listen to the sound samples on amazon, maybe that helps you with your decision.

That's what I did and I didn't buy them.

I gotta admit, I like the Wailers' older stuff and Marley's newer "solo" stuff way more.

i have both in deluxe editions and burning was not released with original JA Mix, it had one or two out takes 2 other versions of get up stand up and a live recording on disc 2, think it was from leeds universety
the catch a fire was the original mix island received from the studio's but was not released in Ja in this form.

Catch a fire sounds much better in the original. Island butchered the remix. Wish there were JA mixes available for all "remixed" albums.

The JA mix of Catch a Fire is brilliant and the one I prefer of the two -- even for being modern mixes.

To be honest i like both mixes some tracks ie stir it up did get ruined by over dubs but tracks like concrete jungle ,well both mixes are on par.

The JA mix of catch a fire is totally brilliant

I was so glad to buy it, it's like having a totally different album.

Stir it up is a million times better and the 2 peter tosh tracks now make sense where as they used to stick out in the overdubbed version.

It's a much more roots album

Oh so the Burnin Special Edition is only remasterd. I thought it were different mixes too.

Okay since you guys praise the Catch a Fire Special that much, I guess I have to give it another chance than. Item is ordered.

Chris Blackwell explained that the objective of overdubbing C.A.F was to appeal to the rock market. This was aligned with Bob & co, as they wanted to appeal to a wider audience, and break beyond reggae circles, ie go global. That is also why CB left "high tide, low tide" aside.; He felt the track didn't fit with the objective. Retrospectively, he loves the track, and the raw JA mix, but said that "back then" it wasn't the right mix to attract the rock audience.

We must always remember that context is everything. In 2010, we think "that raw JA mix is better" but I believe many of us were not old enough to enjoy the album on its release, nor can claim to have had the instinct (yet) to bring any artist to stardom the way CB idd with Bob & co. History & fact: Chris Blackwell helped propel the Wailers to stardom, and adding overdubs to the Wailers' first Island LP probably contributed to that.

Now: I would love Island to issue the OG mix on vinyl, using the Zippo cover with either a red gold & green layer, or, simply, a golden Zippo (vs aluminum).