Martha Velez - Escape From Babylon (1976)

Another little gem of an album here today as we present Martha Velez - Escape From Babylon.

Released in 1976 on the Sire label it's an album with a great story behind it involving reggae legends Bob Marley and Lee "Scratch" Perry.

Martha Velez, of Puerto Rican descent, was born in New York, USA in 1945, she started singing at a young age and by the time she was 12 years old won an opera scholarship as a mezzo soprano.

She attended the high school for performing arts in New York City and went on to study acting and playwriting.

Velez began her music career in the folk group The Gaslight Singers who recorded for Mercury records before releasing her debut solo album "Friends And Angels" for the Sire label (a subsidiary of Warner Bros.) in 1969. It was a blues-rock album that included guitar legend Eric Clapton and keyboardist Christine McVie of Fleetwood Mac.

Her follow-up album "Hypnotized" released in 1972 came out on the Polydor label and again was blues-rock orientated.

In 1974 she released the more contemporary-pop flavoured "Matinee Weepers" which was a return to the Sire label.

In 1975 she travelled to Jamaica to record an album with Bob Marley, her producer Craig Leon had spoken to Marley about recording with Velez and it's said that after hearing her song "Living Outside The Law" from the "Hypnotized" album, Marley agreed to the project.

Bob Marley assembled his group The Wailers and long time friend and producer Lee "Scratch" Perry and the recording sessions began at Harry J's studio in Kingston, Jamaica.

The most noticeable thing about this album is that it has the sound of The Wailers (circa 1976), complete with the I-Three's harmonies (Rita Marley, Judy Mowatt and Marcia Griffiths), and their sound is unmistakable. It is the Bob Marley sound only with a female American blues singer on vocals.

Indeed four of the albums eight songs are Bob Marley covers. "There You Are" is a take of The Wailers early tune "Stand Alone" which they had cut for Lee Perry in the early 1970's and "Happiness" is a version of "I'm Hurting Inside" from 1972.

"Get Up Stand Up" from Marley's own "Burnin'" album of 1973 gets the Velez treatment as does "Bend Down Low" a tune Marley had intended to include on his 1974 album "Natty Dread".
 

 

The musicianship is superb, Marley and The Wailers were on top form in this period, although long time members Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer had left to pursue solo careers by now, it was a peak time for the group who were gearing up for their own "Rastaman Vibration" album sessions.

The production credits for the album include Lee Perry but just how involved in this project he was is unclear. After all it wasn't recorded at his own Black Ark studio and so it has none of his trademark sound, so it's hard to say just what his input to this album was, although it's said that Perry was pretty much the producer of the project and Marley the songwriter.

The overall result is one that is unique but really it's the listener who must be the judge. Yes it's The Wailers sound, yes it's Marley's song writing and possibly Lee Perry's production but it is an American blues singer that is on lead vocals.

A strange combination at the time of release and even today it's hard to comprehend how such a project came together but it does have moments that really work. Either way it's an interesting piece of Jamaican recording history involving most of the big names of the time in Reggae music.

Enjoy!  :-)
 

 
Tracklisting: 

1) Money Man
2) There You Are
3) Wild Bird
4) Disco Night
5) Bend Down Low
6) Happiness
7) Come On In
8) Get Up Stand Up

Recorded at Harry J's studio, Kingston Jamaica, 1975
Produced by Bob Marley And Lee "Scratch" Perry

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