Bob Marley and The Wailers – Burnin’ (45 RPM 200 Gram Double LP on Clarity Vinyl)

Three personalities near the end of a shared path

Released in 1973, Burnin’ is the final album by the original Wailers configuration of Bob Marley, Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer. Their different voices and interests still meet within a shared record. The separate careers that followed give the album historical significance, but that alone cannot explain its musical substance. New songs, older compositions and religious singing traditions all contribute to its particular shape.

The basic recordings were made at Harry J's studio in Kingston. Additional work followed at Island's Basing Street studios in London between tour appearances. The album therefore developed across more than one place and set of working conditions. Chris Blackwell and the Wailers produced it, with Tony Platt and Phill Brown among the engineers involved. The relationship between Jamaican ensemble playing and London studio production is an essential part of how these recordings reached their final form.

Beyond the two songs everyone recognises

“Get Up, Stand Up” and “I Shot the Sheriff” have travelled far beyond their original album context. The first carries a joint Marley and Tosh writing credit. The second reached another international audience through Eric Clapton's recording the following year. On Burnin’, however, they belong to a particular sequence, surrounded by voices that a collection of familiar hits can easily leave in the background.

Bunny Wailer's “Hallelujah Time” and “Pass It On” appear under the writing name Jean Watt. “One Foundation” belongs to Peter Tosh. Hearing the record as the work of several creative personalities restores an important part of its character. The differences between the songs are built into the album. Its less frequently isolated tracks preserve the sound of a group whose history cannot be reduced to the later career of its best-known member. Each contribution changes how the surrounding material is understood.

Earlier repertoire in a new setting

“Put It On” reaches back to the Studio One years. “Small Axe” and “Duppy Conqueror” had already been associated with Lee Perry. Burnin’ presents newly recorded versions alongside more recent material, carrying part of the Wailers' earlier repertoire into the Island period. Returning songs link different recording circumstances and stages in the group's development. Familiarity becomes a resource for another performance rather than a reason to repeat an earlier release unchanged.

The closing “Rasta Man Chant” shifts the musical emphasis again. Traditional singing and percussion move away from the preceding song arrangements. Bunny Wailer's engagement with Nyahbinghi drums belongs to that background. Following the transition from Tosh's “One Foundation” into the closing track makes the change particularly revealing. The sequence extends the idea of a shared voice beyond the conventional band song, ending with a collective musical practice that held fundamental significance for the group.

This edition: Burnin’ as a 45 RPM UHQR

AUHQR 0025-45 is announced as a two-LP release on 200-gram Clarity Vinyl, pressed at Quality Record Pressings and limited to 4,500 copies. As of 10 September 2026, the publisher lists it as a preorder without a confirmed arrival date and credits Frank Arkwright and Ryan K. Smith at Abbey Road for mastering from the original master tape.

The first record contains the five tracks from the original album's first side, with the second record carrying the remaining half. Those groups are divided across four playback sides. These specifications concern the 45 RPM edition specifically. Cutting credits and listening assessments from the 33⅓ RPM version are not transferable evidence for it, and the source statement alone does not document an entirely analogue processing chain. The description identifies the forthcoming double LP and its sequence; it does not present a listening verdict on an already available pressing.

You order from Michael 45 in Germany. We arrange the US import and dispatch from Hilden. Editions not currently in stock are dispatched after the goods arrive.

In the magazine: Bob Marley: Burnin’ and Natty Dread on UHQR

More from the series: UHQR

Also on SACD: Burnin’

Also on 33 RPM vinyl: Burnin’

More by Bob Marley and The Wailers: Exodus

Artist page: All titles by Bob Marley & The Wailers

Customer question: Collecting UHQR records: limited editions of great albums

Series: UHQR – all 31 editions with pressing run and mastering

Musicians

Documented selection of participating musicians. Personnel may vary by track; this list does not claim to be complete.