The coming weeks will see some of today's biggest artists paying homage to reggae icon Bob Marley via a tribute album and a TNT Masters Series concert; in anticipation of renewed interest in Marley's music, a long out-of-print box set that covers the fallen legend's entire career is about to resurface in record stores.
"Songs Of Freedom," a 78-track, four-CD box set, was originally released in 1992 and was deleted when its original printing ran out. Now a collector's item among reggae aficionados, fans may shell out up to $100 for a copy if they are able to find one at all. Happily, a repackaged version of "Songs Of Freedom," with the same track list as the original, will be re-released on November 16. The box set covers Marley's entire career, starting with his debut single, "Judge Not" (recorded in 1962 when he was 17 years old) and extends through his entire career, which ended in 1981 when he succumbed to cancer at the age of 36. The box set's release is well timed: it will enter record stores on the same day as the Marley tribute album, "Bob Marley: Chant Down Babylon," which is due out on October 26. That album will feature the legend's music as reinterpreted by the likes of Lauryn Hill, Busta Rhymes, the Roots, Aerosmith's Steve Tyler and Joe Perry, Erykah Badu, Gang Starr's Guru and others (see "Busta Rhymes, The Roots On Board For Marley Tribute" and "Lauryn Hill On Recording 'Duet' With Bob Marley"). A few weeks after the release of the tribute and the box set, on December 4, TNT will hold an edition of its Masters Series dedicated to Marley, featuring Lauryn Hill, Busta Rhymes, Sarah McLachlan , Erykah Badu, Queen Latifah, Seal and Sheryl Crow, among others (see "Lauryn Hill, Sarah McLachlan, Busta Rhymes To Play Marley Tribute Show"). TNT plans to air the special on December 19 at 8 p.m. (ET/PT), with a DVD and VHS version of the concert due to hit stores a few weeks later.
