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Natty Dread

For the Rastafarian term, see Natty Dreadlocks.

Natty Dread is a 1974 reggae album by Bob Marley & the Wailers.

An important transition in Marley's discography, Natty Dread was the first album released as Bob Marley & the Wailers (as opposed to The Wailers) and the first recorded without former bandmates Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer. It is also the first album recorded with the I-Threes, a female vocal trio that included Bob's wife, Rita Marley, along with Marcia Griffiths and Judy Mowatt.

Natty Dread peaked at #44 on Billboard's (North America) Black Albums chart, and at #92 on the Pop Albums chart.

Content

Like most reggae from the time, Natty Dread is a spiritually charged political and social statement. It opens with a blues-influenced celebration of the Rastafari movement, "Lively Up Yourself", which Marley used to open many of his concerts, in order to get the audience worked up; American R&B star Prince used it for the same purpose. "No Woman, No Cry", the second track, is probably the best known recording on the album. It is a nostalgic remembrance of growing up in the impoverished streets of Trenchtown, and the happiness brought by the company of friends. The song has been performed by artists as diverse as Boney M. (sung by Liz Mitchell),The Fugees, Pearl Jam, Jimmy Buffett and Rancid. Songwriting credit for "No Woman, No Cry" went to V. Ford. Ford, better known as Tartar to his friends and neighbors, had been a kind friend of Marley as a child in Trench Town, the ghetto of Kingston, Jamaica. Marley claimed he would have starved to death on several occasions as a child if not for the aid of Tartar.

"Them Belly Full (But We Hungry)" is a warning against allowing a nation's poor to go hungry, with the prophetic warning "a hungry mob is an angry mob" (the song is reportedly dedicated to newly-elected Democratic Socialist Michael Manley), while "Talkin' Blues" and "Revolution" go deeper into controversial political commentary. "Rebel Music (3 O'Clock Roadblock)" is a reflection on the potential impact of reggae music on Jamaican society. The song was written after Marley had been stopped by a night-time police carcheck. The influence of Marley's increasing devotion to Rastafari can be heard in religious-themed songs like "So Jah S'eh", "Natty Dread" and "Lively Up Yourself", while Marley's reputation as a romantic is confirmed with smooth, seductive songs like "Bend Down Low". The title track of the album takes its title from an idealised personification of the Rastafari movement, Natty Dread.

Jazz Guitarist Charlie Hunter covered the entire album is his 1997 release of the same name.

In 2001, a re-mastered edition of Natty Dread was released by Universal Records containing a bonus track.