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. In the song "Africa Unite", Marley proclaims Pan-African solidarity. The song "Zimbabwe" is a hymn dedicated to then white-dominated 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. The album was partially censored in South Africa because of their apartheid regime.

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic
Christgau's Record Guide	B
Smash Hits	5/10

A sample of "Zimbabwe"

Track listing

Original Tuff Gong LP

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

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

Tuff Gong cassette

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

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)

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

Front cover

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	Chad	Egypt	Ghana
Senegal	Sierra Leone	Cameroon	Tunisia	Niger	Nigeria	Guinea
Gambia	Somalia	Upper Volta	Zaire	Guinea-Bissau	Liberia	Swaziland
Madagascar	Togo	Mozambique	Central African Republic	Zimbabwe (ZAPU)	Seychelles	Zambia
Lesotho	Uganda	Algeria	Mali	Sudan	Botswana	Morocco
People's Republic of the Congo	Tanzania	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:

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.

Personnel

Musicians

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

Production

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

Charts

Chart performance for *Survival*
Chart (1979)	Peak position
Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)	32
Norwegian Albums Chart	10
New Zealand Albums Chart	14
Swedish Albums Chart	17
UK Albums Chart	20
US Billboard Top LPs & Tape	70
US Top Soul LPs (Billboard)	32

Certifications

Certifications for *Survival*
Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)	Gold	50,000
France (SNEP)	Gold	100,000
Spain (PROMUSICAE)	Platinum	100,000
United Kingdom (BPI)	Silver	60,000
Sales figures based on certification alone. Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

^ 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.
"Canadian album certifications – Bob Marley & The Wailers – Survival". Music Canada. Retrieved 4 June 2019.
"French album certifications – Bob Marley & The Wailers – Survival" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique.
Sólo Éxitos 1959–2002 Año A Año: Certificados 1979–1990 (in Spanish), Iberautor Promociones Culturales, 2005, ISBN 8480486392, retrieved 25 April 2018
"British album certifications – Bob Marley & The Wailers – Survival". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 4 June 2019.

v t e Bob Marley and the Wailers
Bob Marley Peter Tosh Bunny Wailer Other vocalists: Junior Braithwaite Cherry Smith Beverley Kelso Constantine "Vision" Walker Rita Marley Marcia Griffiths Judy Mowatt Musicians: Aston "Family Man" Barrett Carlton Barrett Earl Lindo Tyrone Downie Alvin "Seeco" Patterson Al Anderson Earl "Chinna" Smith Donald Kinsey Junior Marvin
Studio albums	The Wailing Wailers (1965) Soul Rebels (1970) Soul Revolution Part II (1971) The Best of the Wailers (1971) Catch a Fire (1973) Burnin' (1973) Natty Dread (1974) Rastaman Vibration (1976) Exodus (1977) Kaya (1978) Survival (1979) Uprising (1980) Confrontation (1983)
Compilations	African Herbsman (1973) Rasta Revolution (1974) Legend (1984) Rebel Music (1986) Natural Mystic: The Legend Lives On (1995) 21 Winners: The Best of Bob Marley and the Wailers (1997) One Love: The Very Best of Bob Marley & The Wailers (2001) Gold (2005)
Live albums	Live! (1975) Babylon by Bus (1978) Talkin' Blues (1991) Live at the Roxy (2003) Live Forever: September 23, 1980 • Stanley Theatre • Pittsburgh, PA (2011) Easy Skanking in Boston '78 (2015)
Remix albums	Chances Are (1981) Chant Down Babylon (1999) B Is for Bob (2009)
Box sets	Songs of Freedom (1992) The Complete Bob Marley & the Wailers 1967–1972 (1997–2002)
Singles	"Judge Not" "Simmer Down" "Guava Jelly" "Stir It Up" "Get Up, Stand Up" "I Shot the Sheriff" "No Woman, No Cry (Live '75)" "Jah Live" "Exodus" "Waiting in Vain" "Jamming"/"Punky Reggae Party" "Is This Love" "Satisfy My Soul" "So Much Trouble in the World" "Could You Be Loved" "Redemption Song" "Three Little Birds" "Forever Loving Jah" "Buffalo Soldier" "One Love/People Get Ready" "Iron Lion Zion" "Sun Is Shining" "Turn Your Lights Down Low" "Slogans" "Is This Love"
Other songs	"Rude Boy" "Mr Brown" "Small Axe" "No Woman, No Cry" "Turn Your Lights Down Low" "Sun Is Shining" "One Drop" "War" "Hammer"
Performances	Smile Jamaica Concert (1976) Exodus Tour (1977) One Love Peace Concert (1978) Uprising Tour (1980)
Associated acts	The Skatalites The Upsetters Word, Sound and Power The Wailers Band The Original Wailers
Related people	Chris Blackwell Errol Brown Allan Cole Coxsone Dodd Vincent Ford Neville Garrick Joe Higgs Lee Jaffe Arthur Jenkins King Sporty Leslie Kong Johnny Nash Jimmy Norman Lee "Scratch" Perry Mortimer Planno Karl Pitterson Alex Sadkin
Related articles	Discography Band members Outline of Bob Marley 1976 assassination attempt Marley Natural Upsetter Records Tuff Gong Bob Marley Museum Statue of Bob Marley Tribute to the Legend: Bob Marley Marley soundtrack Hall of Fame: A Tribute to Bob Marley's 50th Anniversary Time Will Tell: A Tribute to Bob Marley One Love: The Bob Marley Musical Get Up, Stand Up! The Bob Marley Musical Bob Marley: One Love soundtrack
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