Bob Marley and The Wailers - Kaya (2LP, original 1978 mix + Stephen Marley mix)
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Lead vocals, rhythm guitar, acoustic guitar, percussion – Bob Marley [click here to see more vinyl featuring Bob Marley]
Backing Vocals – The I-Threes (Rita Marley, Judy Mowatt, Marcia Griffiths)
Aston "Family Man" Barrett – bass, percussion
Carlton Barrett – drums, percussion
Tyrone "Organ D" Downie – keyboards, percussion
Alvin "Seeco" Patterson – percussion
Junior Marvin – lead guitar
Vincent Gordon – trombone
Glen Da Costa – trumpet
Winston Grennan – drums
Written by Bob Marley
2LP, standard sleeve
Original analog Master tape : YES
Heavy Press : 180g
Record color : black
Speed : 33 RPM
Size : 12'’
Stereo
Studio
Record Press : Tuff Gong Recording Studio in Jamaica
Label : Tuff Gong
Original Label : Tuff Gong
Recorded January – April 1977 at Island Studios, London, England
Produced by Bob Marley and the Wailers
Mixed by Chris Blackwell (LP1) and Stephen Marley (LP2)
Originally issued in March 1978
Released in 2025
Tracks:
LP1: original mix
Side A:
- Easy Skanking
- Kaya
- Is this Love
- Sun is Shining
- Satisfy My Soul
Side B:
- She's Gone
- Misty Morning
- Crisis
- Running Away
- Time will Tell
LP2 : Kaya 40
Side B:
- Easy Skanking
- Kaya
- Is this Love
- Sun is Shining
- Satisfy My Soul
Side C:
- She's Gone
- Misty Morning
- Crisis
- Running Away
- Time will Tell
Reviews:
For its 40th anniversary, Kaya, Bob Marley & The Wailers' historic March 1978 release is getting an exciting reissue featuring Stephen "Ragga" Marley's exciting and vibrant new "Kaya 40" mixes of all 10 tracks from the original album alongside its original mixes in a 180-gram 2LP configuration.
Recorded in London concurrently with the material that ultimately comprised 1977’s Exodus — a record proclaimed by Time Magazine in 1999 to be the Best Album of the 20th Century — Kaya is the perfect sonic-sibling bookend that shares all the joy, spirit, and literal DNA of some of Marley’s most groundbreaking material. Kaya contains a number of the most enduring, heartfelt songs in the entire Marley canon, including “Is This Love,” “Easy Skanking,” and “Sun Is Shining.”
Kaya was initially released just one month ahead of Bob Marley & The Wailers headlining the legendary One Love Peace Concert at The National Stadium in Kingston, Jamaica on April 22, 1978, an event that featured 16 of reggae’s biggest acts. One Love Peace was heralded as Marley’s triumphant return to his native soil, following his long exile in London after having fled the country as a result of a December 1976 assassination attempt at his Kingston homestead.
The album was recorded with the then-new configuration of The Wailers that comprised brothers Carlton and Aston “Family Man” Barrett on drums and bass, Tyrone Downie on keyboards, Alvin “Seeco” Patterson on percussion, and the I Threes — Rita Marley, Marcia Griffiths, and Judy Mowatt — on backing vocals, along with newest member Julian (Junior) Marvin on guitar. Two of Kaya’s songs had previously appeared in different arrangements on 1971’s Soul Revolution — the title track, and “Sun Is Shining.”
Stephen's goal in mixing Kaya 40 was to create a balance that drew heavily from the original versions. Using Bob’s vocals from demos from original Kaya sessions that were recorded at different tempos, Stephen synched the vocals with alternate takes and layered it over different instrumental arrangements. Stephen tried to keep the flavor as authentic as possible. To mix the album, he used a similar minimal approach, basing his version heavily off the classic analog concepts they used in the 1970s.
After the emotionally charged Exodus and the attempt on his life, Marley's Kaya reveals a more mellow, philosophical side of the Rastafarian musician. The album peaked at No. 50 on the Billboard and stayed on the chart for 17 weeks.
Bob Marley’s artistic legacy forever endures, and the 40th anniversary edition of Kaya only serves to reinforce just how much we all share the shelter of this special music.
“By 1978, Bob Marley was by far the best-known reggae musician in the world and a major star in the U.K. and Europe as well as his native Jamaica. However, he was still little more than a cult figure in the United States, and by many accounts Marley was eager to attract a larger audience in America, seeing it as a new challenge. Released in 1978, Kaya wasn't necessarily made with American tastes in mind, but it was an album that presented a more accessible version of Bob Marley. Lyrically, the songs avoided the political commentary or Rastafarian philosophizing that was at the forefront of Natty Dread and Rastaman Vibration, and instead emphasized tunes about love and ganga, such as "Easy Skanking" and the title cut. And the palpable musical tension that simmered beneath the surface on the Wailers' earlier material gave way to a more laid-back riddim that was more comfortable but a bit less demanding. Kaya presented a gentler and friendlier version of Bob Marley & the Wailers, but it also documented Marley and his group at the peak of their abilities. The nuance in Marley's vocals on "Running Away," "She's Gone," and "Is This Love" showed how much he'd grown as a performer since Catch a Fire, and his passion elevates "Misty Morning" into one of the album's highlights. The Wailers were capable of cutting a groove that was both powerfully muscular and seemingly effortless, with Aston "Family Man" Barrett and Carlton Barrett once again reaffirming their status as one of the finest rhythm sections on earth, and Junior Marvin and Marley offering a master class in how the concept of "less is more" can be applied to the guitar. Though Kaya offered a less aggressive message than one might have expected from Marley, the songs were far from lazy, and "Time Will Tell," "Is This Love," and "Running Away" are resonant, top-shelf work. Kaya was a minor effort for Bob Marley as a prophet or a commentator, but it's a rich and rewarding set from Marley the musician.” AllMusic Review by Mark Deming
Ratings :
AllMusic : 4 / 5 ; Discogs : 4.38 / 5