Trenchtown Rock

Trenchtown Rock is asongcomposedby Bob Marley and produced by the Wailers in the late 1960s. The title refers to the neighborhood of Kingstons where Marley grew up. It is one of the few songs that Marleycomposed and recordedprior to his major label albums on Island Records , but also played regularly in later years on tours of the Island albums. (Since the contract with Iceland in 1973, Marley usually only played the songs from the Iceland albums.)

There are two official versions: the studio version from 1972 on the compilation album African Herbsman and the much better known live recording on the album Live! by Marley. Trenchtown Rock was usually played as the first song in a concert, sometimes also as the second and only very rarely in the middle of the set. It was an integral part of the concerts in 1975, but was played less often later (several times in 1976 and 1977 and once in 1978 and 1980).

The studio version is almost three minutes long. The live version takes about four and a half minutes. The studio and all known live versions are in the key of G major . The ska band Sublime covered the song.

Web links

• Trenchtown Rock at Allmusic (English)