Survival (Bob Marley and the Wailers album)

Survival is the eleventh studio album by Bob Marley and the Wailers released in 1979.

Survival
Studio album by Bob Marley and the Wailers
Released	2 October 1979
Recorded	January–February 1979
Studio	Tuff Gong Recording Studio, Kingston, Jamaica
Genre	Reggae
Length	38:02 (original) 44:25 (2001 remastered)
Label	Island/Tuff Gong
Producer	Bob Marley & The Wailers, Alex Sadkin
Bob Marley and the Wailers chronology
Babylon by Bus (1978) Survival (1979) Uprising (1980)

Survival is an album with an outwardly militant theme. Some critics speculate that this was due in part to criticism Marley received for the laid-back, ganja-soaked atmosphere of his previous release, "Kaya", which seemed to sidetrack the urgency of his message.[1] In the song "Africa Unite", Marley proclaims Pan-African solidarity. The song "Zimbabwe" is a hymn dedicated to later-independent Rhodesia. The song was performed at Zimbabwe's Independence Celebration in 1980, just after the official declaration of Zimbabwe's independence.

Survival was originally to be called Black Survival to underscore the urgency of African unity, but the name was shortened to prevent misinterpretations of the album's theme.[1]

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[2]
Christgau's Record Guide	B[3]
Smash Hits	5/10[4]

Track listing

Original Tuff Gong LP

All tracks are written by Bob Marley, except where noted.

Side one

No.	Title	Length
1.	"So Much Trouble in the World"	4:00
2.	"Zimbabwe"	3:51
3.	"Top Rankin'"	3:10
4.	"Babylon System"	4:21
5.	"Survival"	3:53

Side two

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
6.	"Africa Unite"		2:54
7.	"One Drop"		3:51
8.	"Ride Natty Ride"		3:50
9.	"Ambush in the Night"		3:12
10.	"Wake Up and Live"	Bob Marley, Anthony Davis	4:58

Original Island Records LP

All tracks are written by Bob Marley, except where noted.

ILPS 9542 (1979)
Side one

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Wake Up and Live"	Bob Marley, Anthony Davis	4:58
2.	"Africa Unite"		2:54
3.	"One Drop"		3:51
4.	"Ride Natty Ride"		3:50
5.	"Ambush in the Night"		3:12

Side two

No.	Title	Length
6.	"So Much Trouble in the World"	4:00
7.	"Zimbabwe"	3:51
8.	"Top Rankin'"	3:10
9.	"Babylon System"	4:21
10.	"Survival"	3:53

Tuff Gong cassette

All tracks are written by Bob Marley, except where noted.

Jamaican pressing 7910 DP (circa 1984)
Side one

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Wake Up and Live"	Bob Marley, Anthony Davis	4:58
2.	"One Drop"		3:51
3.	"Ride Natty Ride"		3:50
4.	"Ambush in the Night"		3:12
5.	"Top Rankin'"		3:10

Side two

No.	Title	Length
6.	"Africa Unite"	2:54
7.	"So Much Trouble in the World"	4:00
8.	"Zimbabwe"	3:51
9.	"Babylon System"	4:21
10.	"Survival"	3:53

Island Records LP re-issue

All tracks are written by Bob Marley, except where noted. Issued by Island Records with a Tuff Gong disc label. Track list revised, all tracks on side A move to side B and vice versa..

ILPS 9542 (i) or ILPM 9542 (1986)
Side one

No.	Title	Length
1.	"So Much Trouble In The World" (Bob Marley)	4:00
2.	"Zimbabwe"	3:50
3.	"Top Rankin'"	3:10
4.	"Babylon System"	4:36
5.	"Survival"	4:00

Side two

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
6.	"Africa Unite"		2:50
7.	"One Drop"		3:50
8.	"Ride Natty Ride"		3:50
9.	"Ambush In The Night"		3:10
10.	"Wake Up And Live"	Bob Marley, Anthony Davis	5:10

The Definitive Remastered edition (2001)

All tracks are written by Bob Marley, except where noted.

Current CD Version

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"So Much Trouble in the World"		4:00
2.	"Zimbabwe"		3:51
3.	"Top Rankin'"		3:10
4.	"Babylon System"		4:21
5.	"Survival"		3:53
6.	"Africa Unite"		2:54
7.	"One Drop"		3:51
8.	"Ride Natty Ride"		3:50
9.	"Ambush in the Night"		3:12
10.	"Wake Up and Live"	Bob Marley, Anthony Davis	4:58
11.	"Ride Natty Ride" (12-inch mix)		6:23
Total length:			44:25

Front cover

The album's front cover depicts 48 African flags, 15 of which (in italics) are now obsolete. Zimbabwe (Zimbabwe Rhodesia at the time of the album's release) is represented by two political flags instead of a national flag. The cover also depicts the flag of Papua New Guinea, the only non-African country in the artwork.

Kenya	Angola	Côte d'Ivoire	Ethiopian Empire[lower-alpha 1]	Chad	Egypt	Ghana
Senegal	Sierra Leone	Cameroon	Tunisia	Niger	Nigeria	Guinea
Gambia	Somalia	Upper Volta[lower-alpha 2]	Zaire[lower-alpha 3]	Guinea-Bissau	Liberia	Swaziland[lower-alpha 4]
Madagascar	Togo	Mozambique	Central African Republic	Zimbabwe (ZAPU)	Seychelles	Zambia
Lesotho	Uganda	Algeria	Mali	Sudan	Botswana	Morocco
People's Republic of the Congo[lower-alpha 5]	Tanzania[lower-alpha 6]	Burundi	Zimbabwe (ZANU)	Mauritius	Mauritania	Gabon
Benin	Equatorial Guinea	Papua New Guinea	Malawi	São Tomé and Príncipe	Djibouti	Rwanda

1. Now the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia.
2. Now Burkina Faso.
3. Now the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
4. Now Eswatini.
5. Now the Republic of the Congo.
6. The flag is shown upside-down on the front cover and bears a darker shade of blue.

Four states already sovereign by the time of the album's release didn't have their flags featured in its cover art: Cape Verde, Comoros, Libya and South Africa (which was under apartheid at the time). Three states only came to sovereignty after the album's release and thus didn't have their flags included: Eritrea, South Sudan and Namibia.

The album's title appears in white (City typeface) with the Brookes slave ship engraving in the background.

Personnel

Musicians

• Bob Marley – lead vocals, rhythm guitar, acoustic guitar, percussion
• Aston "Family Man" Barrett – bass, rhythm guitar, percussion
• Carlton Barrett – drums, percussion
• Tyrone "Organ D" Downie – keyboards, percussion, backing vocals
• Alvin "Seeco" Patterson – percussion
• Junior Marvin – lead guitar, backing vocals
• Earl "Wire" Lindo – keyboards
• Al Anderson – lead guitar
• Rita Marley – backing vocals
• Marcia Griffiths – backing vocals
• Judy Mowatt – backing vocals
• Carlton "Santa" Davis – drums on "Africa Unite"
• Mikey "Boo" Richards – drums on "Wake Up And Live"
• Val Douglas – bass on "Wake Up and Live"
• Earl "Chinna" Smith – rhythm guitar and percussion on "One Drop"
• Headley Bennett – alto saxophone
• Ronald "Nambo" Robinson – trombone
• Melba Liston – trombone
• Luther Francois – trombone
• Junior "Chico" Chin – trumpet
• Jackie Willacy – trumpet
• Micky Hanson – trumpet
• Lee Jaffe – harmonica[5]

Production

• Producers – Bob Marley & The Wailers, Alex Sadkin
• Mastering – Ted Jensen at Sterling Sound, NYC

Charts

Chart (1979)	Position
Norwegian Albums Chart[6]	10
New Zealand Albums Chart[7]	14
Swedish Albums Chart[8]	17
UK Albums Chart[9]	20
US Billboard Top LPs & Tape	70
US Top Soul LPs (Billboard)	32

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[10]	Gold	50,000^^
France (SNEP)[11]	Gold	487,400[12]
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[13]	Platinum	100,000^^
United Kingdom (BPI)[14]	Silver	60,000
^^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References

1. Tribute to Bob Marley The Daily Star.
2. Planer, Lindsay. "Review: Survival Bonus Track". Allmusic. Retrieved 23 July 2009.
3. Christgau, Robert (1981). "Consumer Guide '70s: M". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies. Ticknor & Fields. ISBN 089919026X. Retrieved 4 March 2019 – via robertchristgau.com.
4. Starr, Red. "Albums". Smash Hits (1–14 November 1979): 29.
5. Roger Steffens and Leroy Pierson, Bob Marley and the Wailers: The Definitive Discography (Cambridge, MA: Rounder, 2005)
6. Steffen Hung. "Norwegian charts portal". norwegiancharts.com. Retrieved 7 January 2012.
7. Steffen Hung. "New Zealand charts portal". charts.nz. Retrieved 7 January 2012.
8. Steffen Hung. "Swedish Charts Portal". swedishcharts.com. Retrieved 7 January 2012.
9. "Bob Marley & the Wailers | Artist". Official Charts. Retrieved 7 January 2012.
10. "Canadian album certifications – Bob Marley & The Wailers – Survival". Music Canada. Retrieved 4 June 2019.
11. "French album certifications – Bob Marley & The Wailers – Survival" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique.
12. "Les Meilleures Ventes de CD / Albums "Tout Temps"" (in French). InfoDisc. Retrieved 2 March 2019.
13. Sólo Éxitos 1959–2002 Año A Año: Certificados 1979–1990 (in Spanish), Iberautor Promociones Culturales, 2005, ISBN 8480486392, retrieved 25 April 2018
14. "British album certifications – Bob Marley & The Wailers – Survival". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 4 June 2019. Select albums in the Format field. Select Silver in the Certification field. Type Survival in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.