Survival (Bob Marley and the Wailers album)

Survival is an album with an outwardly militant theme. Some critics speculate that this was due in part to criticism Marley received for the laid-back atmosphere of his previous release, Kaya, which seemed to sidetrack the urgency of his message.^[1] In the song "Africa Unite", Marley proclaims Pan-African solidarity. The song "Zimbabwe" is a hymn dedicated to later-independent Rhodesia. The song was performed at Zimbabwe's Independence Celebration in 1980, just after the official declaration of Zimbabwe's independence.

Survival was originally to be called Black Survival to underscore the urgency of African unity, but the name was shortened to prevent misinterpretations of the album's theme.^[1] The album was partially censored in South Africa because of their apartheid regime.^[2]

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	^[3]
Christgau's Record Guide	B^[4]
Smash Hits	5/10^[5]

A sample of "Zimbabwe"

Original Tuff Gong LP

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All tracks are written by Bob Marley, except where noted

Side one
No.	Title	Length
1.	"So Much Trouble in the World"	4:00
2.	"Zimbabwe"	3:51
3.	"Top Rankin'"	3:10
4.	"Babylon System"	4:21
5.	"Survival"	3:53

Side two
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
6.	"Africa Unite"		2:54
7.	"One Drop"		3:51
8.	"Ride Natty Ride"		3:50
9.	"Ambush in the Night"		3:12
10.	"Wake Up and Live"	Bob Marley, Anthony Davis	4:58

Original Island Records LP

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All tracks are written by Bob Marley, except where noted

ILPS 9542 (1979)
Side one
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Wake Up and Live"	Bob Marley, Anthony Davis	4:58
2.	"Africa Unite"		2:54
3.	"One Drop"		3:51
4.	"Ride Natty Ride"		3:50
5.	"Ambush in the Night"		3:12

Side two
No.	Title	Length
6.	"So Much Trouble in the World"	4:00
7.	"Zimbabwe"	3:51
8.	"Top Rankin'"	3:10
9.	"Babylon System"	4:21
10.	"Survival"	3:53

All tracks are written by Bob Marley, except where noted

Jamaican pressing 7910 DP (circa 1984)
Side one
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Wake Up and Live"	Bob Marley, Anthony Davis	4:58
2.	"One Drop"		3:51
3.	"Ride Natty Ride"		3:50
4.	"Ambush in the Night"		3:12
5.	"Top Rankin'"		3:10

Side two
No.	Title	Length
6.	"Africa Unite"	2:54
7.	"So Much Trouble in the World"	4:00
8.	"Zimbabwe"	3:51
9.	"Babylon System"	4:21
10.	"Survival"	3:53

Island Records LP re-issue

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All tracks are written by Bob Marley, except where noted. Issued by Island Records with a Tuff Gong disc label. Track list revised, all tracks on side A move to side B and vice versa

ILPS 9542 (i) or ILPM 9542 (1986)
Side one
No.	Title	Length
1.	"So Much Trouble in the World" (Bob Marley)	4:00
2.	"Zimbabwe"	3:50
3.	"Top Rankin'"	3:10
4.	"Babylon System"	4:36
5.	"Survival"	4:00

Side two
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
6.	"Africa Unite"		2:50
7.	"One Drop"		3:50
8.	"Ride Natty Ride"		3:50
9.	"Ambush in the Night"		3:10
10.	"Wake Up and Live"	Bob Marley, Anthony Davis	5:10

The Definitive Remastered edition (2001)

edit

All tracks are written by Bob Marley, except where noted

Current CD version
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"So Much Trouble in the World"		4:00
2.	"Zimbabwe"		3:51
3.	"Top Rankin'"		3:10
4.	"Babylon System"		4:21
5.	"Survival"		3:53
6.	"Africa Unite"		2:54
7.	"One Drop"		3:51
8.	"Ride Natty Ride"		3:50
9.	"Ambush in the Night"		3:12
10.	"Wake Up and Live"	Bob Marley, Anthony Davis	4:58
11.	"Ride Natty Ride" (12-inch mix)		6:23
Total length:			44:25

The album's front cover depicts 48 African flags, 15 of which (in italics) are now obsolete. Zimbabwe (Zimbabwe Rhodesia at the time of the album's release) is represented by two political flags instead of a national flag. The cover also depicts the flag of Papua New Guinea, the only non-African country in the artwork.

Kenya	Angola	Côte d'Ivoire	Ethiopian Empire^[a]	Chad	Egypt	Ghana
Senegal	Sierra Leone	Cameroon	Tunisia	Niger	Nigeria	Guinea
Gambia	Somalia	Upper Volta^[b]	Zaire^[c]	Guinea-Bissau	Liberia	Swaziland^[d]
Madagascar	Togo	Mozambique	Central African Republic	Zimbabwe (ZAPU)	Seychelles	Zambia
Lesotho	Uganda	Algeria	Mali	Sudan	Botswana	Morocco
People's Republic of the Congo^[e]	Tanzania^[f]	Burundi	Zimbabwe (ZANU)	Mauritius	Mauritania	Gabon
People's Republic of Benin	Equatorial Guinea	Papua New Guinea	Malawi	São Tomé and Príncipe	Djibouti	Rwanda

^ Now the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia.
^ Now Burkina Faso.
^ Now the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
^ Now Eswatini.
^ Now the Republic of the Congo.
^ The flag is shown upside-down on the front cover and bears a darker shade of blue.

Four states already sovereign by the time of the album's release didn't have their flags featured in its cover art, though they were featured in a poster that came with the album:^[6]

Cape Verde
Comoros
Libya
South Africa (which was under apartheid at the time).

Two non-sovereign regions that didn't have their flags included in the cover art are also featured in the bonus poster:

Three states only came to sovereignty after the album's release and thus didn't have their flags included neither in the cover art nor in the bonus poster:

The album's title appears in white (City typeface) with the Brookes slave ship engraving in the background.

Bob Marley – lead vocals, rhythm guitar, acoustic guitar, percussion
Aston "Family Man" Barrett – bass, rhythm guitar, percussion
Carlton Barrett – drums, percussion
Tyrone "Organ D" Downie – keyboards, percussion, backing vocals
Alvin "Seeco" Patterson – percussion
Junior Marvin – lead guitar, backing vocals
Earl "Wire" Lindo – keyboards
Al Anderson – lead guitar
Rita Marley – backing vocals
Marcia Griffiths – backing vocals
Judy Mowatt – backing vocals
Carlton "Santa" Davis – drums on "Africa Unite"
Mikey "Boo" Richards – drums on "Wake Up And Live"
Val Douglas – bass on "Wake Up and Live"
Earl "Chinna" Smith – rhythm guitar and percussion on "One Drop"
Headley Bennett – alto saxophone
Ronald "Nambo" Robinson – trombone
Melba Liston – trombone
Luther Francois – trombone
Junior "Chico" Chin – trumpet
Jackie Willacy – trumpet
Micky Hanson – trumpet
Lee Jaffe – harmonica^[7]

Producers – Bob Marley & The Wailers, Alex Sadkin
Mastering – Ted Jensen at Sterling Sound, NYC

^ ^a ^b Tribute to Bob Marley The Daily Star.
^ "Survival". Bob Marley. Retrieved 8 August 2023.
^ Planer, Lindsay. "Review: Survival Bonus Track". Allmusic. Retrieved 23 July 2009.
^ Christgau, Robert (1981). "Consumer Guide '70s: M". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies. Ticknor & Fields. ISBN 089919026X. Retrieved 4 March 2019 – via robertchristgau.com.
^ Starr, Red. "Albums". Smash Hits (1–14 November 1979): 29.
^ "Bob Marley's Survival: An Album for Zimbabwe!". 2 October 2020. Retrieved 8 August 2023.
^ Roger Steffens and Leroy Pierson, Bob Marley and the Wailers: The Definitive Discography (Cambridge, MA: Rounder, 2005)
^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992: 23 years of hit singles & albums from the top 100 charts. St Ives, N.S.W, Australia: Australian Chart Book. p. 192. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
^ Steffen Hung. "Norwegian charts portal". norwegiancharts.com. Retrieved 7 January 2012.
^ Steffen Hung. "New Zealand charts portal". charts.nz. Retrieved 7 January 2012.
^ Steffen Hung. "Swedish Charts Portal". swedishcharts.com. Retrieved 7 January 2012.
^ "Bob Marley & the Wailers | Artist". Official Charts. Retrieved 7 January 2012.
^ Sólo Éxitos 1959–2002 Año A Año: Certificados 1979–1990 (in Spanish), Iberautor Promociones Culturales, 2005, ISBN 8480486392, retrieved 25 April 2018