BY RICHARD JOHNSON
Observer senior reporter—
THE Marley family celebrated the 40th anniversary of the release of Bob’s iconic album Exodus with an all-star concert at Los Angeles’ Orpheum Theater in California last night.
The occasion, dubbed Exodus 40 Live, featured a string of acts including Jim James, Tom Morello, Gary Clark Jr, Citizen Cope, Aloe Blacc, and Cyril Neville, along with Marley’s sons Stephen and Ziggy.
The live concert is said to have been sparked by the recent release of Exodus 40: The Movement Continues, which features lead vocal outtakes, ad-libs and more from Marley and the Wailers’ Exodus recording sessions.
The show’s producer, Don Was, said the idea came after listening to the album.
“After listening to Ziggy’s restatement of Exodus 40: The Movement Continues, the album struck me as something so powerful and rarely seen live in its entirety,” he said.
In 1999, the Marley estate released Chant Down Babylon, a remix album by various hip hop and rock artistes covering songs by Bob Marley & The Wailers, in a bid to introduce the music to a wider audience. The remixed version of Turn Your Lights Down Low with Lauryn Hill was released as a single.
It is widely suspected that this Exodus 40 project has been produced along the same lines.
Exodus is the ninth studio album with Marley and was released on June 3, 1977 through Island Records. The tracks include Natural Mystic, Jamming, Waiting In Vain, Three Little Birds, the title song Exodus, and the renowned anthem One Love. A two-disc deluxe edition was released in 2001. The Definitive Remastered Edition was released in 2004.
In 1999, Time Magazine named Exodus the best album of the 20th century.
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