Marcia Griffiths: Naturally - 1978
In amongst all the devout roots material, “toasting” and punky reggae party dub grooves we find this excellent serving of tuneful and highly enjoyable reggae from one of Bob Marley’s legendary I-Threes.
It was certainly not throwaway reggae-lite pop, however, it had a serious side to it as well as its musical catchiness, something a song like Bunny Wailer’s vaguely rootsy Dreamland exemplified.
The two tracks that had appeared on her earlier album, Mark My Word and Melody Life were both classic mid-pace vehicles for Griffiths’ lovely voice. They do not require too much in-depth analysis other than to say that when you hear them, the quality is immediately apparent. Effortlessly cool. In contrast, Feel Like Jumping is winningly exuberant. The backing is provided by the legendary Studio One musicians The Revolutionaries.
I saw the album described as “nuanced sweetness” - I can’t think of a more apt phrase.
Marcia's debut solo album had been Sweet And Nice (1974) (sometimes released as Sweet Bitter Love) closely followed by Play Me (1974), which were unthreatening collections of covers of several chart standards such as The Three Degrees' When Will I See You Again, Bread's Everything I Own, Neil Diamond's Play Me, Cat Stevens' The First Cut Is The Deepest, Freda Payne's Band Of Gold, Carole King's It's Too Late and Roberta Flack's The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face. It also included what would become lovers rock hits in Melody Life and Mark My Word, along with the stonking, skanking cover of the Beatles' Don't Let Me Down.
She looks great on the cover too! As does the water.
