Bob Marley and The Wailers – Exodus (Ultra Tape)

London becomes a temporary home

Exodus took shape during a period when Bob Marley had left Jamaica. Following the armed attack on his home in December 1976, he performed at the Smile Jamaica concert and then travelled abroad. Work in London began early in 1977. Distance and relocation belong to the background of the album, although its individual songs cannot all be reduced to a single biographical event. The range of its subjects resists that kind of simple explanation.

The Wailers worked predominantly at Island's Basing Street studios. Karl Pitterson participated in recording and mixing, with Aston “Family Man” Barrett and Chris Blackwell also appearing in the mixing credits. Material from this period later contributed to Kaya. Exodus therefore belongs to a wider phase of creative activity while retaining a particularly clear album structure of its own. That combination gives the recording both continuity within the catalogue and a recognisable internal shape.

Junior Marvin and new lines within the ensemble

Junior Marvin joined the group in 1977. Born in Kingston and raised in London, the guitarist brought an established musical background to the Wailers. His first meeting with Marley took place in February, during the period when Exodus was coming together. Tyrone Downie on keyboards, the Barrett brothers and percussionist Alvin “Seeco” Patterson complete the central instrumental picture. The I Threes add their collective responses to Marley's lead voice.

This line-up rewards attention to the accompaniment. Guitar figures, keyboard accents and vocal entries organise the repetition on which many of the songs are built. Small changes can perform functions that another kind of music might assign to a major structural shift. On a familiar track, try following one accompanying line through several repetitions. It redirects attention towards the ensemble work behind melodies that have long since acquired lives outside their original album setting.

Two halves carrying different weight

The first half moves from “Natural Mystic” through “So Much Things to Say”, “Guiltiness” and “The Heathen” into the extended title track. Religious ideas and political experience shape that progression. “Jamming” then opens another section. “Waiting in Vain”, “Turn Your Lights Down Low” and “Three Little Birds” turn more directly towards relationships and reassurance, before “One Love / People Get Ready” closes the album.

The division is more than a retrospective interpretation of familiar hits. The original release identified the halves as “Part 1” and “Part 2”. “One Love” revisits an earlier Wailers song, while its relationship with “People Get Ready” brings Curtis Mayfield into the writing credit. New material connects with longer-standing musical relationships. The well-known second half gains another context when it is approached through the first five tracks, following the complete route rather than beginning with the songs most often heard separately.

This edition: Exodus on quarter-inch tape

RRAP 0045 is the Ultra Tape edition in two-track stereo at 15 ips with IEC equalisation. The publisher describes real-time transfer using an ATR-modified Ampex and identifies a copy of the original analogue master tape as the source in its explanatory text. The exact copying generation remains unspecified. A direct dub from the original master, or the use of a particular vinyl mastering, is therefore not claimed.

Playback requires a compatible half-track machine. Edition documentation identifies 10.5-inch reels with NAB hubs, but published information conflicts over the number of reels and the allocation of the album halves. An unverified reel sequence is consequently not given here; the supplied configuration should be established before ordering. The musical reference remains the complete album, both parts of Exodus, in an edition intended for listeners with appropriately configured open-reel equipment.

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

Also on SACD: Exodus

More by Bob Marley and The Wailers: Natty Dread

Artist page: All titles by Bob Marley & The Wailers

Customer question: Buying Analogue Productions records in Europe

Musicians

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