Notes: |
Bob Marley's Bedroom Tapes
Reel 2
4 track mixer?>cassette>DAT>CDR>CDR>wav(cdparanoia)>flac
some skips, clicks, pops which are supposed to be from the master dat,
lots of white noise
1
2
3 Pray For Me
4
5 Can't Take Your Slogans No More
6a
7
8
Rojah Steffens:
On the second ten-inch reel, there is a great deal of one note doodling,
tuning, etc. But a couple of very badly recorded, yet fascinating, tunes
are revealed. The first is a bossa nova, which makes one think that it
was recorded in early 1980, after Bob and Jacob Miller had returned from
a record promotion trip to Brazil. There are at least two guitarists in
the room, one of whom lays down a lilting Brazilian bed as Bob sings.
PRAY FOR ME
tell all the weakhearts
stay away from my door
just can't take your evil no more
cup is full and runneth over
far as I can see
shally wally wah
did you say your prayer
shall wally way
pray for me [repeated 4 times]
hey Mr. Klansman get down from the tree
can't stand to see
the suffering of the majority...
The final song that reveals itself is one that Bob's Rasta lawyer, Diane
Jobson, says is among her all time favorites of Bob's unreleased
masterpieces, a political diatribe against the folly- ticians, whom Bob
felt betrayed him at every opportunity. (Remember his famous line "never
make a politician grant you a favor/they will always want to control you
forever"? This song could easily be a follow-up.)
CAN'T TAKE YOUR SLOGANS NO MORE
can't take your slogans no more [repeated 4 times]
wipe off the paint and the slogans
all over the street
confusin' the people
while the asphalt burns
our tired feet
I see borders and barriers
segregation and riot
sufferation of the majority
will always be with you and me...
can't take your slogans no more...
no more sweet talk from the hypocrites...
no more sweet talk no more fussing
no more sweet talk from the pulpit
Many years ago I told Chris Blackwell of the existence of these tapes
and urged him to make safety copies on DAT as soon as possible. It
didn't matter, I said, who owned what. But if the tapes were allowed to
further decompose, no one would have anything to fight over in the
future. To this day, no such digital masters have been struck. |