Bob Marley and the Wailers announce 50th anniversary reissue of ‘Catch A Fire’

Bob Marley and the Wailers perform at Reggae Sunsplash Festival on July 9, 1979 in Montego Bay, Jamaica. Credit: Charlie Steiner - Hwy 67 Revisited via Gett

It has been announced that Bob Marley and the Wailers’ album ‘Catch A Fire’ will receive a 50th anniversary reissue.

‘Catch A Fire’ was the group’s fifth studio album and the first to be released by Island Records UK. It is universally regarded as the album which put reggae music on the global stage. While it never charted within the UK upon its original release, Marley’s compilation LP ‘Legend’ is one of the longest-charting albums in Official Charts history.

The 50th-anniversary reissue is set for release on November 3 and can be pre-ordered here. It will be available as a 3CD set, a 3LP vinyl edition with a bonus 12-inch, as well as digitally on all streaming services.

LP1/CD1 will feature the full final studio recording, LP2/CD2 is the 10-song live album, “Live From The Paris Theatre London”, and LP3/CD3, entitled Sessions, features alternative, extended and instrumental Jamaican versions of the original album tracks.

The 12-inch vinyl features tracks ‘Slave Driver’, ‘Get Up, Stand Up’ and ‘Stop That Train’ which were all recorded live at the Wailer’s legendary performance at the Sundown Theatre in Edmonton, North London. These tracks will also be featured on CD3.

Prior to this release, those three recordings were only available as bootlegs. The reverse side of the 12-inch vinyl features an etched image of the iconic Zippo lighter illustration, that was previously seen on the sleeve of the first limited release of the LP. The design was created by graphic artists Rod Dyer and Bob Weiner.

The 50th anniversary release of ‘Catch A Fire’ comes ahead of the upcoming film Bob Marley: One Love which stars Kingsley Ben-Adir as Marley. The film is set for release on January 12, 2024 and centres on the life of the iconic reggae singer, from the early days of his career to his death in 1981.

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