Burnin'

Interesting how music marks our consciousness and, after a while, our history. I went to graduate school in International Relations in 1973 to study how nations used media to communicate with each other and to develop themselves internally, ideas that are still relevant, but much more problematic than most of us realized at the time.

One of the moments I remember most is going on a field trip with a graduate class in politics of developing countries to see The Harder They Come, about a fictional singer turned revolutionary and drug runner in Jamaica, played by Jimmy Cliff. It was astounding to me then, to see such a vivid depiction of some of the issues we were talking about -- bringing home what a movie can do above beyond all the books you might read. The movie looks a bit dated now. When I showed to students a couple of years ago, they thought it was corny. But what stuck with me longest, still does, was the music soundtrack from the film.

I wasn't alone. In 1973-1974, that movie soundtrack intrigued a fair number of American listeners. Maybe it was just living in internationally oriented Cambridge, Mass. then, but it seemed like the music struck a chord-- people were more interested in what people in developing countries were thinking. And music, like film, has always slid across cultural barriers with some ease. This music was also pretty immediately interesting and accessible. It did not take a lot of work to like, unlike some musics that are eminently worthwhile, but require more work.

What drove the appeal of reggae home even more was the more coherent, deeper and also more openly political music of the Wailers, later Bob Marley and the Wailers. The album that really broke that awareness open in the USA and elsewhere was Burnin', also in 1973. It was challenging, political and in your face, but you also found yourself swaying along and tapping your foot.

For me at least, reggae opened the door to more seriously looking for interesting music from other countries. Sort of what the world music category was intended to do on a more massive scale later. When I moved to Brazil and found first samba, and then samba reggae, I thought I had died and gone to music heaven.

Burnin' retained a special spot for me, though. I have played this album a lot over the years, wearing out an LP, then a pre-recorded cassette, and making it one of my first CDs. My son Rolf says that he thinks he memorized it in the womb. We also played it a lot on car trips. It was the perfect road trip music, interesting lyrics--something to think about, energetic, but mellow.

The album was recognized in an NPR story today as one of the most significant of that era. Check out the NPR story at
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=17031857

Or if you like videos, here are concert videos of two of my favorite songs on the album, Duppy Conqueror and Small Axe.