Maps of Music

Kaya (1978)

Where the lyrics of Kaya take you, and where it was really made.

Kaya was recorded alongside the Exodus album, yet it was released just as Marley returned to Jamaica from exile in London.

Key places

Island Studios, London (1978)

Recording site British Grove Studios — Listed as the studio where the album was recorded. The dot marks the studio building, not a specific room. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Kaya: tenth studio album by the Jamaican reggae band Bob Marley and the Wailers
• Released in 1978
• Produced by the Wailers
• Consists of tracks recorded alongside those released on the Exodus album
• Three songs are new versions of tracks from the 1971 album Soul Revolution Part II
• Reached the top five in the UK album charts
• 40th anniversary remix released on 2 June 2018

Background

• Release coincided with the One Love Peace Concert
• Heralded Marley's triumphant return to Jamaica from exile in London
• Editions named in the source: The Definitive Remasters edition (2001), Deluxe edition (2013), Kaya: 40th Anniversary Mix (2018)

Recording

• Mastered by Ted Jensen of Sterling Sound
• Recording studio listed as Island Studios, London
• Lead vocals, acoustic and rhythm guitar, percussion: Bob Marley
• Lead guitar: Junior Marvin
• Keyboards and percussion: Tyrone "Organ D" Downie
• Bass and percussion: Aston "Family Man" Barrett; drums and percussion: Carlton Barrett
• Drums: Winston Grennan; percussion: Alvin "Seeco" Patterson
• Trombone: Vincent Gordon; trumpet: Glen Da Costa
• Backing vocals: Rita Marley, Marcia Griffiths, Judy Mowatt

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

• Lester Bangs in Rolling Stone wrote that the album is a succession of tepid reggae clichés, pristinely performed and recorded, and compared it to a Martin Denny record
• The Bay State Banner noted that the Wailers take freely from Gamble & Huff's chords, Euro-disco's bass and pop-soul ballads' strings and synthesizers, then funk them up and condense them
• Robert Christgau said the album is MOR like good Steely Dan, and that Marley's control of the shift begun with Exodus is now absolute
• Christgau added that Marley has not abandoned his apocalyptic vision, but found a day-to-day context for it
• The Globe and Mail opined that Marley's reggae has this time failed to integrate the Jamaican and American elements

Records

• Reached the top five in the UK album charts
• The source's certifications section is empty, so no further sales or certification figures are listed

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• A 40th anniversary remix was released on 2 June 2018, four decades after the original release.
• Three songs on the album are new versions of tracks first released on Soul Revolution Part II in 1971.
• The album's release coincided with the One Love Peace Concert, which marked Marley's return to Jamaica.
• Its tracks were recorded in the same sessions as the material released on Exodus.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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