''Marcus' Children'' is a studio album by the Jamaican musician

Burning Spear Winston Rodney Order of Distinction, OD (born 1 March 1945), better known by the stage name Burning Spear, is a Jamaican roots reggae singer-songwriter, vocalist, and musician. Burning Spear is a Rastafarian movement, Rastafarian and one of the ...

, originally released in 1978 as ''Social Living''. It was produced by

Karl Pitterson Karl Pitterson is a Jamaican record producer and sound engineer. Pitterson began his career in the early 1970s as house engineer with Jamaican studios such as Dynamics, Federal, Randy's, Studio One, Treasure Isle and Aquarius. Over the course of ...

and Burning Spear. "Marcus Say Jah No Dead" was covered by

Sinéad O'Connor Shuhada' Sadaqat (born Sinéad Marie Bernadette O'Connor; , ; 8 December 1966 – 26 July 2023) was an Irish singer, songwriter, record producer and activist. Her debut studio album, ''The Lion and the Cobra'', was released in 1987 and achieve ...

on her 2005 album ''

Throw Down Your Arms ''Throw Down Your Arms'' is the seventh studio album by Sinéad O'Connor, also known as her reggae album. O'Connor sings cover versions of classic roots reggae songs, with production by Sly and Robbie. The album was recorded in Kingston, Jamaic ...

''.

Critical reception

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and later became a ...

wrote: "In its sinuous vocalizations and giving groove, its single and unison horns, the music is all charity and cooperation—it's why Winston Rodney is preaching 'Social living is the best.'"

Track listing

Marcus' Children AKA Social Living

#"Marcus Children Suffer" - 4:39 #"Social Living"- 2:49 #"Nyah Keith" - 4:03 #"Institution" - 3:29 #"Marcus Senior" - 5:09 #"Civilized Reggae" - 7:11 #"Mister Garvey" - 4:52 #"Come"- 3:53 #"Marcus Say Jah No Dead" - 3:57

Social Living (2003 Island Remaster)

#"Marcus Children Suffer" #"Social Living" #"Nayah Keith" #"Institution" #"Marcus Senior" #"Civilized Reggae" #"Mister Garvey" #"Come" #"Marcus Say Jah No Dead"

Bonus Tracks

#"Social Living xtended Mix #"Civilized Reggae xtended Mix

Credits

*Recorded at

Harry J Studio Harry Zephaniah Johnson (6 July 1945 – 3 April 2013), known by the stage name Harry J, was a Jamaican reggae record producer. Biography Born in Westmoreland Parish, Jamaica, in 1945, Johnson started to play music with the Virtues as a bass p ...

, Kingston, Jamaica and at

Compass Point Studios Compass Point Studios was a music recording studio in the Bahamas, founded in 1977 by Chris Blackwell, the owner of Island Records. The concept of the studio was of a recording facility supported by in-house sets of artists, musicians, producers ...

, Nassau, Bahamas *Engineer Sylvan Morris *Mixed at

and Benji Armbrister *All songs written by

Winston Rodney Winston Rodney OD (born 1 March 1945), better known by the stage name Burning Spear, is a Jamaican roots reggae singer-songwriter, vocalist, and musician. Burning Spear is a Rastafarian and one of the most influential and long-standing roots a ...

and published by

EMI EMI Group Limited (formerly EMI Group plc until 2007; originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At t ...

Musicians

Earl "Chinna" Smith Earl "Chinna" Smith (born 6 August 1955), a.k.a. Earl Flute and Melchezidek the High Priest,Johnson, Richard (2013)The Melchizedek way, ''Jamaica Observer'', 6 October 2013. Retrieved 12 October 2013 is a Jamaican guitarist active since the late ...

- guitar * Bertram "Ranchie" McLean - guitar *

Brinsley Forde Brinsley Forde MBE (born 16 October 1953) is a British singer and actor of Guyanese parentage who is best known as the founder member of the reggae band Aswad and as a child actor in the children's television series ''Here Come the Double ...

- guitar * Donald "Roots" Kinsey - guitar *Donald Griffiths - guitar * Lowell "Sly" Dunbar - drums *

Leroy "Horsemouth" Wallace Leroy "Horsemouth" Wallace (born 22 August 1950) is a Jamaican drummer who worked for several years at Studio One, and has worked with numerous reggae artists including The Gladiators, Inner Circle,Hebdige, Dick (1987) ''Cut 'n' Mix: Culture, ...

- drums *

Angus Gaye Angus Gaye (24 September 1959 – 2 September 2022), better known as Drummie Zeb, was an English musician. He was the drummer and vocalist for the reggae band Aswad, as well as a record producer for other artists. Early life Gaye was born in Lon ...

- drums *

Robbie Shakespeare Robert Warren Dale Shakespeare (27 September 1953 – 8 December 2021) was a Jamaican bass guitarist and record producer, best known as half of the reggae rhythm section and production duo Sly and Robbie, with drummer Sly Dunbar. Regarded as on ...

- bass *

Aston "Family Man" Barrett Aston Francis Barrett, Order of Distinction, CD (22 November 1946 – 3 February 2024), often called "Family Man" or "Fams" for short, was a Jamaican musician and Rastafari movement, Rastafarian. He was best known as the bass-guitar bandleader ...

- bass *George Oban - bass *Bernard "Touter" Harvey - keyboards * Earl "Wire" Lindo - keyboards * Michael "Ibo" Cooper - keyboards *Courtney Hemmings - keyboards *

Bobby Ellis Bobby Ellis OD (2 July 1932 – 18 October 2016) was a Jamaican trumpet player. He worked with many reggae artists including Peter Tosh, Burning Spear and The Revolutionaries. Biography Born in Kingston on 2 October 1932, Bobby Ellis attended ...

- trumpet *

Dick Cuthell Dick Cuthell is a British musician and record producer. He plays flugelhorn, cornet, and trumpet, amongst a range of other brass instruments, including tenor horn and valve trombone. Cuthell is best known for his work with the SpecialsStrong, M ...

- trumpet * Richard "Dirty Harry" Hall - tenor saxophone *

Herman Marquis Herman Marquis is a Jamaican saxophone musician who has played with many reggae artists including Burning Spear. He recorded for Arthur "Duke" Reid in the 1960s and was a member of The Revolutionaries and The Upsetters in the 1970s.Barrow, Steve ...

- alto saxophone * Vincent "Trommie" Gordon - trombone * Rico Rodriguez - trombone *

- percussion *

Uziah "Sticky" Thompson Uzziah "Sticky" Thompson (1 August 1936 – 25 August 2014) was a Jamaican percussionist, vocalist and deejay active from the late 1950s. He worked with some of the best known performers of Jamaican music and played on hundreds of albums. Biog ...

- percussion

Blood and Fire release notes

*Remastered by Kevin Metcalfe at the Town House, London *Designed and built by Mat at intro, London *Photograph of Cover by Phil Hale *Photograph of the Black Disciple Band by Kim Gottlieb *Photograph of

by Adrian Boot *The copyright to recording is owned by

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 ...

Inc. and is licensed to Blood and Fire Ltd.

References

{{Authority control Burning Spear albums 1978 albums Albums recorded at Compass Point Studios Island Records albums