The music of Marley: “Concrete Jungle”
If you’re looking for that seminal moment where rock and reggae was melded together, you have to look no further than the first track on the Wailers’ debut album, Catch A Fire. The basis of reggae is there on “Concrete Jungle” in the form of Marley’s choppy rhythm guitar, but the rock is brought in full force thanks to Wayne Perkins’ scorching outro solo. Not only is this one of the finest guitar leads ever committed to tape, but had it never been recorded, it’s doubtful the world would have ever seen bands like Sublime, 311, or Dispatch garner acclaim with their own versions of reggae-rock (whether or not that is a good thing is up to you — personally I’ll say it’s roughly 75% of a good thing).
By the way, is it any surprise that my favorite Marley song would be the one with the most awesome guitar work?