Maps of Music

Babylon by Bus (1978)

Where the lyrics of Babylon by Bus take you, and where it was really made.

The bus on the front cover has its windows cut out, so the sleeve shows four different scenes through them.

Key places

Recorded at the Pavillon de Paris (1978)

Recording site Pavillon de Paris — Most tracks on this album are taken from three nights of concerts at the Pavillon de Paris, 25 to 27 June 1978, on the Kaya Tour. Two tracks are exceptions, and the track listing has discrepancies. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Babylon by Bus: live album by Bob Marley and the Wailers, released in 1978
• Double album; the listener can view four different scenes through the bus windows
• Most tracks taken from the Pavillon de Paris concerts over three nights, 25–27 June 1978, during the Kaya Tour
• Two tracks are exceptions, and the track listing has discrepancies
• Released 10 November 1978

Background

• Recorded during the Kaya Tour of 1978
• Set list notes: "Heathen", "Lively Up Yourself" and "Concrete Jungle" were less common on the tour, with two of the three usually played on a given night
• All three were played together on the same night only twice: Pinecrest Country Club in Shelton, Connecticut, 14 June, and Music Inn in Lenox, Massachusetts, 18 June
• The Music Inn show was one of the longest the band ever played, with 22 songs; none of the three were played at the Paris concerts
• "Rebel Music", "Positive Vibration", "Jamming", "Exodus", "War / No More Trouble" and "Punky Reggae Party" were nearly always played at some point in each concert
• These songs were sometimes mixed with others such as "Get Up, Stand Up", which does not appear on this album
• "Is This Love" was not common on the tour but was played in Paris
• "Kinky Reggae" had not been played since the 1976 Rastaman Vibration tour, so the concert for this version is unclear

Recording

• Tracks drawn from the Pavillon de Paris concerts, 25–27 June 1978

Cover

• The first release had a novelty cover, similar to Catch a Fire (1973)
• The bus windows on the front cover were cut out, revealing part of the inner sleeve
• Because it is a double album, the four scenes behind the windows give the listener a choice of views

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• Formed in 1963 in Jamaica around Peter Tosh, Bunny Wailer and Bob Marley, initially as the Teenagers before becoming the Wailers.
• The band had a ska and rocksteady origin and their 1964 hit "Simmer Down" recorded at Studio One shifted Jamaican music toward its own voice.

Members

• Founding members were Bob Marley, Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer; Tosh and Wailer left in 1974.
• Marley continued with a new lineup including Aston and Carlton Barrett and the female backing trio the I-Threes.

Career

• Signed to Island Records in 1972; albums Catch a Fire and Burnin' followed in 1973.
• Released Exodus (1977) and Uprising (1980), and Marley died of cancer in 1981, after which the group disbanded.
• Legend (1984) became the biggest-selling reggae album ever.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Rolling Stone praised the album as a new side of Bob Marley
• The review cites the opening invocation of Selassie's divinity on 'Positive Vibration' on side one
• It also cites the good-cheer wrap-up of 'Jamming' on side four
• Rolling Stone describes this side of Marley as fanciful, lovelorn and vulnerable
• The review says this side is as riveting as any of his sulfurous early tirades
• The live material is framed as a contrast to the earlier, more abrasive Marley records

Reappraisal

• Track selection for the album reflects the set lists of the Kaya Tour
• The two concerts that played the full set of the three less common songs are both outside Paris

Records

• The chart and certification sections of the source are empty
• No chart positions, sales figures or certifications are recorded in the source

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• The bus on the front cover had its windows cut out, so the inner sleeve shows through
• "Is This Love" was not common on the tour but was played in Paris
• "Kinky Reggae" had not been played since the 1976 Rastaman Vibration tour, so this version's concert is unclear
• Three songs were played together on the same night only twice on the tour, both times outside Paris
• The Music Inn show in Lenox, Massachusetts, was one of the longest the band ever played, with 22 songs

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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