Burnin' (The Wailers album)


Burnin' is the sixth studio album by Jamaican reggae band The Wailers, released in October 1973. It was written mostly by bandleader Bob Marley and produced by Chris Blackwell. A commercial and critical success in the United States, Burnin was certified Gold and later added to the National Recording Registry, with the Library of Congress deeming it historically and culturally significant.

Music and lyrics

The sixth album by Bob Marley, Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer, Burnin opens with a signature song, the call to action "Get Up, Stand Up" and includes a more confrontational and militant tone than previous records, such as in another Marley standard turned into a number one hit by Eric Clapton, "I Shot the Sheriff". The songs "Duppy Conqueror", "Small Axe", "Put It On" and "Pass It On" are re-recordings of songs previously released.

Critical reception

Reviewing in , Robert Christgau wrote: "This is as perplexing as it is jubilant—sometimes gripping, sometimes slippery. It's reggae, obviously, but it's not mainstream reggae, certainly not rock or soul, maybe some kind of futuristic slow funk, War without the pseudo-jazz. What's inescapable is Bob Marley's ferocious gift for melodic propaganda. It's one thing to come up with four consecutive title hooks, another to make the titles 'Get Up Stand Up,' 'Hallelujah Time,' 'I Shot the Sheriff,' 'Burnin' and Lootin'.'"
In 2003, the album was ranked number 319 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. The album maintained the same position in a 2012 update of the list. American singer Lauryn Hill's album cover for her debut The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill was inspired by the album cover of Burnin. In 2007 the album was added to the Library of Congress' National Recording Registry for its historical and cultural significance.

Track listing

Original album release (1973)

Text from 12 June 2001 Tuff Gong cat# 314 548 894-2 CD liner notes:

Personnel

The Wailers