Bob Marley Discoveries

Bob Marley didn't become the ruler of the reggae universe by kicking back. In his decades of music-making, Marley laid down so many sun-splash signposts, one Essentials playlist couldn't possibly contain them all. With that in mind, we give you our Bob Marley Discoveries, a tour through all that is rough and righteous in the vaults of the Kingston king. First stop, a tune you're bound to know well, "Redemption Song", in very mellow guise that may surprise you, from the remastered 2001 issue of seminal album Uprising (the last studio LP released during Marley's lifetime), alongside other lesser known tracks, including a soulful nugget of island perfection, "Cry to Me".

In Next Steps, Bob strips it back with Lee.

Next up on our journey into the heart and soul of the Jamaican musical prophet, we enter that dub zone created, tweaked and perfected by Lee "Scratch" Perry, who would become a cult figure in his own right long after his work for Marley on Soul Revolution Part II, which includes a bass-heavy plea for peace and 'armony, "Fussing & Fighting", and an island cover of the Impressions "I Gotta Keep on Moving" (as "Keep on Moving"). Here you'll also find select tracks from the excellent Live at the Roxy set, recorded in Los Angeles in 1976, and long the source of bootlegs until an official release in 2003: forget your troubles and dance, to "Them Belly Full (But We Hungry)".

In Deep Cuts, Marley covers a tune made famous by toons.

Early Wailers cuts have been packaged and re-packaged in countless ways, but its always worth exploring the great outfit's pre-Island Records output . . . and you get a great sense of the band finding its way with vocal harmonies on "Grooving Kingston 12" and "Man to Man". 1970's Soul Rebels was the first album credited to Bob Marley & the Wailers, and if you ever wondered how much soul you could squeeze into a reggae track, look no further than "Soul Almighty" with its defiantly hoarse vocal and rocked-up guitar. Surprised? Then prepare for a bigger shock, when Bob and his boys transform the Archies' "Sugar Sugar" from bubblegum into rum.

So, you've already downloaded your Bob Marley Essentials and had the hits shuffling through the Jamaican side of your brain. Now, it's time to take yourself deeper into the genius that is Bob Marley. We've gathered together everything from early-days rarities to standout album cuts to should-have-been hits waxed over the course of two decades by the Jamaican prophet and musical citizen of the world. From legendary but little heard live recordings ("I Shot the Sheriff"; "Positive Vibration") to dread reggae rhythms ("Real Situation"), spiritual outpourings ("So Jah S'eh") and rocksteady rasta manifestos ("Top Rankin'"), we've got the discoveries to put you — and keep you — deep in Marley's groove.