Bob Marley, Legend
Bob Marley & The WailersLEGEND.
Legend turned Bob Marley and the Wailers' Island-era catalog into a compact fourteen-song collection that became the primary entry point to Marley's music for generations of listeners.
Album artwork shown for commentary and historical reference. Image source: Cover Art Archive / MusicBrainz.
SEVEN THINGS
WORTH KNOWING.
Recording stories, personnel, physical details and numbers worth keeping with the record.
Legend was first released in the United Kingdom on May 8, 1984.
The original edition contains 14 tracks.
The compilation focuses heavily on Bob Marley and the Wailers' Island Records era.
The sequence includes "Is This Love," "No Woman, No Cry," "Could You Be Loved," "Three Little Birds" and "Redemption Song."
The original release uses the live version of "No Woman, No Cry" rather than the studio recording.
Later CD editions and remasters have appeared with different mixes, running times and bonus material.
The compilation was assembled after Marley's death in 1981.
WHY THIS
ALBUM MATTERS.
Legend became so dominant that for many listeners it functions almost like a studio album, shaping which parts of Marley's catalog became the most universally familiar.
THE
NUMBERS.
ORIGINAL TRACKS
The first edition contains fourteen songs.
RELEASE
Legend arrived three years after Marley's death.
LIVE CLASSIC
No Woman, No Cry appears in its famous live version.
THE
PHYSICAL OBJECT.
The close portrait gives the compilation one of the simplest possible identities, allowing Marley's face to function as the visual summary of the entire collection.
RESEARCH SOURCES
Facts are checked against official artist archives, release databases, recording credits and established archival sources before publication.
KEEP
DIGGING.
More recording stories, strange credits, cover art, chart numbers and details hiding inside the records.