Soul Rebels

Soul Rebels is the second studio album by the Wailers, their first album to be released outside Jamaica. The Wailers approached producer Lee "Scratch" Perry in August 1970 to record an entire album, and the sessions took place at Randy's Recording Studio (from then it was Randy's Studio 17) in Kingston, Jamaica, until November. First issued in the UK by Trojan Records in December 1970, the album has since been re-released several times on several different labels. Perry's production is sparse and haunting, only featuring guitar, bass, drums, electronic organs, and vocals with no horns or other embellishments.

Soul Rebels
Studio album by Bob Marley and the Wailers
Released	December 1970
Recorded	August – November 1970
Genre	Reggae
Length	33:09
Label	Trojan
Producer	Lee Perry
Bob Marley and the Wailers chronology
The Wailing Wailers (1965) Soul Rebels (1970) Soul Revolution (1971)

Songs

The first track, "Soul Rebel", was from the first collaboration of Perry and Marley.[1] Marley initiated the idea for the song, and Perry arranged and co-wrote the music as Marley dictated the lyrics.[2]

Reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[3]

Writing in Newsday in 1973, Robert Christgau found Soul Rebels superior to Marley and the Wailer's only American release at the time, Catch a Fire.[4]

Allmusic gave Soul Rebels a glowing retrospective review, calling it "a strange and wonderful set of early reggae that at times plays fast and loose with the already established conventions of the genre".[3]

Cover

According to the book, I & I: The Natural Mystics: Marley, Tosh and Wailer by Colin Grant, the band was not happy with the "soft porn" look of the album cover, clashing as it did with their sensibilities, and were upset that they weren't consulted on its look.[5]

Track listing

Original album (1970)

Side one

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Soul Rebel"	Bob Marley	3:19
2.	"Try Me"	Marley	2:45
3.	"It's Alright"	Marley	2:34
4.	"No Sympathy"	Peter Tosh	2:13
5.	"My Cup"	James Brown	3:34
6.	"Soul Almighty"	Marley	2:42

Side two

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
7.	"Rebel's Hop"	Curtis Mayfield, Norman Whitfield, Barrett Strong, Marley	2:38
8.	"Corner Stone"	Marley	2:28
9.	"400 Years"	Tosh	2:33
10.	"No Water"	Marley	2:08
11.	"Reaction"	Marley	2:41
12.	"My Sympathy"	Marley	2:41

The Definitive Remastered edition (2002)

Current CD Version

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Soul Rebel"	Bob Marley	3:19
2.	"Try Me"	Marley	2:45
3.	"It's Alright"	Marley	2:34
4.	"No Sympathy"	Peter Tosh	2:13
5.	"My Cup"	James Brown	3:34
6.	"Soul Almighty"	Bob Marley	2:42
7.	"Rebel's Hop"	Curtis Mayfield, Norman Whitfield, Barrett Strong, Marley	2:38
8.	"Corner Stone"	Marley	2:28
9.	"400 Years"	Tosh	2:33
10.	"No Water"	Marley	2:08
11.	"Reaction"	Marley	2:41
12.	"My Sympathy"	Marley	2:41
13.	"Dreamland"	Neville Livingstone	2:44
14.	"Dreamland" (version)	Livingstone	2:36
15.	"Dracula"	Lee Perry	2:55
16.	"Soul Rebel" (version 4)	Marley	2:54
17.	"Version of Cup"	Perry	3:13
18.	"Zig Zag"	Perry	3:24
19.	"Jah Is Mighty"	Marley	2:26
20.	"Brand New Second Hand"	Tosh	3:11
21.	"Brand New Second Hand" (version)	Tosh	3:05
22.	"Downpresser"	Tosh	3:16

JAD Remastered edition (2004)

Bonus tracks

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
13.	"Jah Is Mighty"	Marley	2:26
14.	"Soul Rebel" (version 4)	Marley	2:52

Also "No Sympathy (Version)" (replaces "My Sympathy", due to error)

References

1. David Katz, People Funny Boy - The Genius Of Lee 'Scratch' Perry, p. 116: "Shortly after the success of 'Duppy Conqueror,' Perry and the Wailers scored another hit with 'Soul Rebel,' ... The Wailers later issued alternate versions of the song with entirely different lyrics as 'Run For Cover,' which surfaced on ..."
2. Kevin O'Brien Chang, Wayne Chen, Reggae Routes: The Story of Jamaican Music, 1998, p. 167: "We started to work together and the ideas started to flow 'till we made the tune 'Duppy Conqueror'. Then he came up with the idea 'I'm a rebel, soul rebel' and I arranged the music for that song 'Soul Rebel'. He wrote the lyrics."
3. Soul Rebels at AllMusic
4. Christgau, Robert (6 May 1973). "An Outsider's Guide to the Inside World of Reggae". Newsday. Retrieved 17 October 2018.
5. I & I: The Natural Mystics: Marley, Tosh and Wailer, Colin Grant (2011). Random House. p.179