Bob Marley and the Wailers’ ‘Catch a Fire’ Turns 50

Jamaican music was hardly foreign to American ears or the U.S. pop charts in 1973. Starting with Harry Belafonte’s recording of “Day-O (The Banana Boat Song)” in 1956, singles became hits using Jamaica’s brassy ska and mellow rocksteady styles. These included Millie Small’s “My Boy Lollipop” (1964), Johnny Nash’s “Hold Me Tight” (1968) and “I Can See Clearly Now” (1972), the Beatles’ “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da” (1968) and Desmond Dekker & the Aces’ “Israelites” (1968).

Then, in February 1973, the Jamaican crime film “The Harder They Come,” starring singer Jimmy Cliff, was released in the U.S. along with the soundtrack album. Many Americans were exposed for the first time to reggae—a bass-heavy rhythmic style that emerged in 1968 with the Maytals’ “Do the Reggay.”