Customer Reviews

Classic Albums: Bob Marley and the Wailers - Catch a Fire

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Having already seen the "The Grateful Dead:From Anthem to Beauty" episode of the "Classic Albums" series I knew what to expect from this DVD. This series is about retracing history, and documenting the process of creating the classic albums of the past 30 years before the creators pass from the earth and their words are lost forever. Short on "features" that we've been spoiled with on other DVDs , on the surface this is a straight forward 60 min. doc on the making of the "Catch A Fire" album by The Wailers. The strength of this production, and in fact the whole series, is that the producers went to Jamaica and London to interview the people who wrote, recorded, engineered, produced and played on this seminal album. Recent interviews with Bunny Wailer, Rita Marley, Chris Blackwell, and surviving members of the Wailers live and studio bands are very insightful. Add to that the fact that the DVD features archival interviews with Bob Marley and Peter Tosh. These further deepen the viewer's understanding of their musical and social philosophies and how it was expressed in their music. Through all of these people you get a very complete picture of the commercial, religious, social, and economic pressures on the band to bring the message of Reggae Music from the Third world to the First. Finally, the highlight of the disc has to be the rare and some never-seen-before footage of the original Wailers live in England in the early '70's. You finally see Bob, Bunny and Peter sing those amazing harmonies live which,IMHO, has more impact now because NOBODY sings their own harmonies live anymore without some sort of pre-recorded assistance. This is a tribute to the "old-skool", where the musical worlds of Kingston, Motown, Memphis, and London blended together over a 16 track mix in such a simple yet expressive way to create a deeply spiritual and mystic sound. If you really love music, especially Reggae music, then you should pick this one up. Amazon's price. . . is very reasonable, considering I paid $19.99USD at a bricks and mortar video chain for this DVD. Enjoy!

This is a wonderful video for anyone interested in the technical aspects of the creation of a classic album, and the efforts of the production team to translate a "new" musical style to the masses. With a strong focus on the music-- especially the drum and bass-- and indispensible interviews with the original Wailers as well as the session musicians who contributed to the album. Bass Players will love the priceless interviews with "Family Man" Barrett and Robbie Shakespeare. This is not a concert video, but a great look behind the scenes at the making of a breakthrough record, including a track-by-track breakdown of some of the original studio tapes. Highly recommended for musicians. May bore the heck out of non-musicaians.

One in the continuing series by Rhino called "Classic Albums," this documentary of the Wailers' classic lp "Catch a Fire" will serve as a perfect compliment to the recently issued 2 cd set of "Catch a Fire" which contains the original Jamaican version of the lp.

For me personally, the reason to get the dvd is not Marley himself- there are many documentaries and concerts of Marley on the market that can be had- but the interviews with Bunny Wailer and the late, great Peter Tosh, as well as the vintage footage of the 3 original (and only, in my book) Wailers in concert. As one frustrated reviewer pointed out, there are not whole performances by the Wailers on this dvd- snipets abound within the context of the documentary. While to fans of Tosh, in particular, this is a shame, the dvd IS a documentary, and not live performances, so the lack of complete footage needs to be taken in stride.

What the dvd DOES offer, however, are wonderful anecdotes from Bunny Wailer, (including a solo rendition of "Slave Driver" that is riviting) Alston "Family Man" Barrett, Rita Marley, Chris Blackwell, guitarist wayne Perkins, and keyboardist Rabbit Bundrick, on the making of the lp. Archival interviews with Tosh and Marley add the perspectives of the lp's 2 main catalysts. As with all the Rhino dvds, the work given to this dvd is top rate, with the interviews backed by examples, live performances by many of the key players on the lp, and scenes of Chris Blackwell rolling the master acetates in his recording studio to break down what was happening on certain tracks.

While the lack of complete songs does take away somewhat from the overall effect of the video, the archival footage of the Wailers on TV (complete with the Barrett brothers and Bunny in their rastafarian-laden outfits, their matching sweaters with the traditional red gold and green) and the Edmonton, London performance of "Get Up Stand Up," alone is worth the price of the video. For me, seeing Peter Tosh on stage and singing lead on his "Stop That Train" is priceless.

Fans of Tosh and the early Wailers will find many pearls from which to choose from on this video. It was skillfully done, and is well worth having in one's personal collection. A wonderful DOCUMENTARY of the band.

As a fan of music, but knowing little about its technical aspects and production, this documentary/concert dvd was a godsend. Interviews with people who made the album. The rastas who knew bob tell stories and history. Home videos of bob with his family are priceless. I think the music is amazing and I learned something about creating an album, and about bob marley and the wailers. If you like Bob, get this.

I just finished watching this fine documentary. (Picked it up for only $4.99 in a bargain bin!) The content is priceless - interviews with Bob Marley, Rita Marley, Peter Tosh, Bunny Wailer are quite rare. The interviews with Chris Blackwell, the recording engineers and studio musicians from Jamaica, England and U.S. who helped to produce the groundbreaking album "Catch A Fire" are enlightening. I've been a Marley fan for 30 years and I learned a lot from watching this DVD. It illustrates, in a somewhat disjointed fashion, the Jamaican culture that gave birth to reggae music and it's ambassadors to the world, The Wailers, while recording the development of "Catch A Fire" which brought reggae to mainstream British and American rock fans. Marley fans owe a great deal to Chris Blackwell and Island records. I attended Bob Marley's last concert in America in 1981. Every week, it seems, I see another young kid wearing a Bob Marley T-shirt. Whether you're an old Marley fan or a young one, there is plenty in this DVD for you.

It is an insite into an arist starting off and having to compromise slighty for the bigger good. In depth on how the tracks were recorded and edited. Video and audio of how mixing and great editing can change an average song into a great song. Good for music lovers library.

This dvd is nothing but interviews, many of them repeated on the second disc, with 30 second clips of live Marley perfomances here and there. I was lucky to only have borrowed it from the library. Had I payed $30+ for it I would have been very upset. Half of the people on the second disc never met Marley. They're mostly music journalists or producers offering their critique of certain songs off the Legend album. If you are a collector of all things Marley this dvd MIGHT appeal to you, but if your looking to learn anything about Bob or see live footage of the legend look elsewhere.

No need to say much.This is wonderfull.Brings back memories of Bob at his best.Worth every cent.I have watched it over 30 times already.Put it on,pour a rum,and enjoy

Customer reviews were misleading. There is not a single complete Marley song in this documentary. It is a series of disjointed, inane and largely irrelevant interviews with anyone who had any contact with Bob Marley, the Wailers or the "Catch a Fire" album. I am trying to return it to Amazon for credit. No music. Just clips and chatter.

I wasn't that familiar with Bob Marley, or reggae music in general... As a matter of fact I'd go as far as to say I disliked the entire genre of music. My friend put this dvd on one day and I found myself immediately captivated by what I saw. This documentary gives a great over view of the early Bob Marley and the Wailers years, as well as interesting interviews with the surviving members, and old footage of the man himself. I have since become a HUGE reggae fan, after learning how it's made, and how it can only be felt, not taught. Granted, I am a musician and I found the commentary from the other musicians to be interesting, I think that 'Catch a Fire' does a great job of introducing reggae music, and music composition to an all-aged audience. HIGHLY recommended ;)