The 500 - #126 - Catch A Fire - The Wailers

I was inspired by a podcast called The 500 hosted by New York-based comedian Josh Adam Meyers. His goal, and mine, is to explore Rolling Stone Magazine's 2012 edition of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.

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Album: #126
Album Title: Catch A Fire
Artist: The Wailers
Genre: Reggae, Reggae Rock, Roots Reggae
Recorded: Four Studios, Kingston, Jamaica

Released: April, 1973

My age at release: 7
How familiar was I with it before this week: A couple of songs
Is it on the 2020 list? Yes, at #140, dropping 14 spots
Song I am putting on my Spotify Playlist: Stir It Up

My wife and I have always loved sampling different cuisines. In fact, we recently joined friends at the Annual Taste Experience (formerly Food & Drink Show) in London, Ontario, where we eagerly tasted a variety of flavors, dishes and beverages from regional artisans. With our adventurous palates, we're ready for almost anything. Fortunately, neither of us has allergies or sensitivities, and we enjoy vegetables, seafood, and most meats. We’re also game when it comes to bold, spicy food...though, we’re not out to break any Scoville Scale records eating Carolina Reaper hot wings. We prefer spice with depth and flavor, crafted by someone who knows what they’re doing.

It took me a while to realize that not everyone possesses an adventurous approach to food. I’ve had friends who stick to a handful of simple, fairly flavorless dishes they eat over and over again. One friend even joked, "Hodgy, I’m Irish -- mayonnaise is spicy to my people."

Always the educator, I felt they were missing out. If only I could introduce them to some of the incredible dishes I’d discovered, surely they’d be won over. Sadly, in the process, I became a bit of a food bully, pushing my favorite discoveries on them, instead of respecting their cuisine comfort zone.

An AI image capturing my excitement as I push an exotic dish

on friends with more reserved tastes.

Sometimes, my pushy efforts actually worked. Case in point: Chicken Tikka Masala, a dish that delighted my wife and I while checking out East Indian cuisine in the late 1980s. At the time, the predominantly white, Anglo-Saxon city of London, Ontario, was hardly a culinary hotspot. There was just one Indian restaurant -- Curry’s on Wellington Road. Unfortunately, after 40 years it closed in 2025, a casualty of road widening. On our first visit, we tested Tikka Masala, a U.K. twist on the Delhi classic Murgh Makhani. I learned that in Britain, they simply call it Butter Chicken. And just like that, my campaign to convert the cautious began.

The front door to the recently shuttered
Curry's restaurant in London, Ontario,

Over time, we stocked up on spices and started experimenting with Indian dishes. Moving to Brampton in 1991 was a culinary jackpot. The city’s large South Asian population (15% then, 55% now) meant spices, paneer, mung beans, tamarind, ghee, naan and other Indo-Asian staples were everywhere. Now widely available, these were delicacies at the time, seemingly as rare as a snow-free January in Southwestern Ontario.

The 90s opened us up to a world of flavours. We felt tres- continental.

Slowly, we learned to tame the heat, while keeping the flavour, for more sensitive North American palates. Then came the fun part -- serving these unfamiliar dishes to dinner guests, some of whom would have bolted at the mere mention of words like spicy, Indian, or curry…let alone such mysterious names as Tikka, Masala, Murgh, or Makhani. We waited nervously as our guests took the first bite of our North American-branded “Butter Chicken on rice with a side of cheesy pita.” Just in case, a back-up pizza chilled in the fridge for quick baking.

There was no need. The foreign dish was a hit. Over and over again, our once food-reticent friends asked for seconds. We had unlocked the secret, or rather, two secrets. First. tone down the spice and, second, rebrand the name. Suddenly, ‘Butter Chicken on Rice” sounded far less intimidating than “Murgh Makhani.” Marketing works, even at the dinner table.  

The same strategy was applied when The Wailers released their fifth studio record, Catch A Fire, in 1973.

The Wailers - 1972 - (l-r) Bunny Wailer, Bob Marley, 
Carlton Barrett, Peter Tosh and Ashton Barrett.

The band found themselves financially strapped and stranded in the U.K. following a tour supporting American singer Johnny Nash, known best for his 1972 hit, I Can See Clearly Now. The Wailers’ road manager, Brent Clark, reached out to Chris Blackwell, head of Island Records, with a proposal. Blackwell agreed to pay for their fares back to Jamaica in exchange for a chance to market their next record. Five months later, Marley returned to London with the tapes from their recording sessions. Blackwell, in pure “butter chicken” fashion, reworked the tracks at Island Studios, adding rock guitar overdubs from famed Muscle Shoals session player Wayne Perkins.

Musicians Jimmy Johnson (left) and Ronnie Van Zandt of Lynyrd
Skynyrd pointing at Wayne Perkins in the Muscle Shoals Sound Studios.

The original album cover on the Tuff Gong label featured a picture of a Zippo lighter and was credited to "The Wailers". Blackwell changed the name for the International release of Island Records. The group was now credited as Bob Marley and The Wailers and featured a portrait of Marley smoking a "marijuana spliff", as seen at the toop of this post. There’s debate among historians and reggae scholars that skin tone may also have also been a factor in promoting Marley as the band’s leader. Marley was of mixed heritage, his father was white and his mother was black, and some argue that his lighter skin and "universal" image made him more appealing to Western markets. However, this ignores Marley’s natural leadership qualities as well as his talents as a singer, songwriter and musician.

Original album cover for Catch A Fire on Tuff Gong Records.

In 1973, The Wailers performed their first single, Stir It Up, on the popular U.K. television program The Old Grey Whistle Test, and international attention began to build. 

Bob Marley (centre) and The Wailers on The Old Grey Whistle Test.

A tour followed, and by the summer of 1974 the album had sold about 14,000 copies. Although not a blockbuster by any stretch, it was enough to establish The Wailers and Bob Marley as bona fide artists in a now palatable genre of reggae. The following year, Eric Clapton released his version of Marley’s I Shot the Sheriff, and reggae exploded into the mainstream. And, like our butter chicken, it was enjoyed by everyone, even those with a sensitive palate for spicy, exotic flavours. These days, it is tough to find a person who doesn't like both -- butter chicken and reggae. Mission accomplished!