Bob Marley (1974)
Very rare are the songs recorded live that have had worldwide success. This is indeed the case with this reggae signed Vincent Ford, a childhood friend of Marley and here his figurehead, which appeared in 1974 on the album Natty Dread. The first as Bob Marley & The Wailers after Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer left the ship. But the title’s popularity only came a year later when it was released as a single from the disc. Live ! recorded at the Lyceum in London. This is Marley’s first hit. The simple story of his life with Rita, his future wife, in the Trenchtown ghetto, south of Jamaica’s capital Kingston. Nearly fifty years after its publication, it is not uncommon to hear it still popping up on a street corner in London, a bar in Bombay or a store in Shanghai. Thus demonstrating the universality of reggae. Ja Rules!
Joe Dassin (1978)
From Simon Garfunkel to the Doors via Bobby Gentry, the Franco-American singer has often drawn material for his hits from other repertoires. Even those most famous hits Whistle on the hill, the Champs Elysees, America, Indian summer are adaptations. So, not very surprising to see him, in 1978, humming If you think of me to the tune of No Woman No Cry from Bobby. Exit the ghetto and a certain social claim, make way for a love song where the narrator, employed on an oil rig (the great subject of an era that was already chasing waste) addresses his girlfriend, who has remained in England . A nice bluette with its strange organ intro, very Bach, which despite everything has remained largely in the shadow of the aforementioned hits. Despite having recourse to the singer’s usual gold makers, the legendary Pierre Delanoë and Claude Lemesle. You can’t win every time.