Bob Marley and The Wailers, “Exodus”

Zeb Scheffler, Scoop Writer

It was December 3, 1976, two days before Bob Marley and The Wailers were set to play in Free Jamaica, a free concert set up by Jamaican Prime Minister, Michael Manley. Inside the Marley’s home, both he and his wife were shot at in an assassination attempt by an unknown gunman. Marley was the only one hit. The bullet severed his right shoulder but was not fatal.

Nonetheless, two days later on December 5, as scheduled, Marley and his band got on stage and sang before a festival crowd of 80,000. One of the songs he sang, “So Much Things to Say”, later became one of the songs in his album “Exodus”. When asked why he continued after an attempt on his life, he responded, “THe people who are trying to make this world worse aren’t taking a day off. How can I?”

Eventually, at the end of December, Marley moved to England in a self-imposed exile. He spent two years in London writing and recording music. While in England, Marley recorded “Exodus” in June of 1977, which stayed on the British album charts for 56 consecutive weeks. The music is really down to earth and easy to listen to. It included four UK hit singles: “Exodus”, “Waiting in Vain”, “Jamming”, and “One Love”.

Overall, “Exodus” is a phenomenal album and still sends a powerful message of peace, love and happiness to the world. It shows that there is good in this difficult world. This album can be purchased on the iTunes store for $7.99 and at Target for $8.99.