"Judge Not" is

Bob Marley Robert Nesta Marley (6 February 1945 – 11 May 1981) was a Jamaican singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Considered one of the pioneers of reggae, he fused elements of reggae, ska and rocksteady and was renowned for his distinctive voca ...

's first recorded single, recorded at Federal Studios and released on

Leslie Kong Leslie Kong (20 December 1933 – 9 August 1971) was a Jamaican reggae producer. Early life Kong was born into a Chinese-Jamaican family. He had a "relatively comfortable upbringing" and attended St. George's College in Kingston. Career ...

's Beverley's Records in

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

1962 The year saw the Cuban Missile Crisis, which is often considered the closest the world came to a Nuclear warfare, nuclear confrontation during the Cold War. Events January * January 1 – Samoa, Western Samoa becomes independent from Ne ...

and on

Island Records Island Records is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded in Jamaica by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall, and Leslie Kong in 1959, and was eventually sold to PolyGram in 1989. Island and A&M Records, another ...

in the UK the following year. With a ska beat, Marley has a youthful voice, as he was 16 years old at the time of recording. Headley Bennett performed saxophone on this recording. Though "Judge Not" failed to achieve much success, Marley was not discouraged and continued to record music. "Judge Not" was re-released in the ''Songs of Freedom'' album in 1992 as well as other compilations. The song was also covered by Sublime, and can be found on the box set '' Everything Under the Sun''. The song is about morality, and may have been based on the Biblical quote " Judge not lest ye be judged". Some of the song lyrics are paraphrased in the background vocals of the later Marley hit " Could You Be Loved".

Covers

Ska band The Interrupters covered "Judge Not" on their 2014 debut album ''The Interrupters.'' The song is frequently included in their live sets.

References

Bob Marley songs 1962 songs Songs written by Bob Marley 1962 debut singles Song recordings produced by Leslie Kong Songs based on the Bible {{1960s-single-stub