ALBUM: Bob Marley's Inspiration
ARTISTE: Various
LABEL: SPANK 1 RECORDS
ALTHOUGH BOB Marley's Inspiration is billed as a Various Artistes, half of its 12 gospel-oriented tracks are by the man who produces it, Baron 'Breezy' McKenley.
And that is its weakness, because while the depth of his conviction cannot be doubted, as a singer McKenley does not lift much above average. And in the company of Luciano, Lady Junie, Ken Boothe, Mikey General and Marcmuch ia Griffiths and Judy Mowatt (who combine on a rather strange sounding Bob's Version, where they basicaly sing some harmony). average is just not good enough.
In the cover jacket, McKenley writes that 'The Bob Marley Inspirational album is a long awaited gift given to me in a dream. One Sinday night, as Mr. Marley played the piano and sang these words to me, "I wanna be saved and live on" and give God his glory. The story is that twice in the same night Marley appeared to me, giving me the full song, just for me to get up on both occassions and write down the lyrics. The rest of the story is a dream".
Apparently Marley had a change of beliefs after he died, for the song with which the album opens and which contains the line "I wanna be saved and live on", Bob Marley's (Inspiration), is the gateway to a flood of Christian and not Rastafarian oriented songs. There is no doubt just where it is going when McKenley opens with "Greetings in the name of Father, Son and Holy Spirit" and not "greetings in the name of His Imperial Majesty" as Marley so famously did.
McKenley goes on to sing "There is only one God, he's all around/looking down on us, to show each other love.../You gotta be saved to live on/don't you wanna be saved and be strong?"
The music for the opening track serves from several other songs on the album, Ken Boothe doung it much better justice on Grace of Our Lord.
McKenley returns on the uptempo traditional Gospel Music Time (on which he crams the line "as long as it is gospel music/you know you cannot refuse it" into a lyrical parking space that is just too small); combines with deejay Papa Biggsy on Jesus Must Be Glad pt. 2 and does Father, Son & Holy Ghost, Young Man, High Time and Eye For an Eye by himself.
Of the guests, Luciano weighs in with a slower More to Life, Lady Junie dejays "one time gone I was a terrible winner/Jesus come and turn me into a winner", Luciano goes double with I Want To Know and Mikey General wraps up with Jerusalem.
Lyrically Bob Marley's Inspiration is not outstanding and the competently played music sticks mainly in the traditional gospel music vein.
