No Woman, No Cry
A Trenchtown song of comfort whose 1975 live version gave Marley his first hit outside Jamaica.
Bob Marley and the Wailers, from Natty Dread (1974)
- Written by
- Vincent Ford
- Released
- 1974
- Length
- 3:46
- Album
- Natty Dread
The studio version is on Natty Dread, recorded at Harry J Studio. The credit goes to Vincent Ford, a Trenchtown friend who ran a soup kitchen, though Marley is widely believed to be the author. The title is Patois for woman, don't cry, and it is often misread as the opposite. Vincent Ford was known to friends as Tartar, and Marley said he would have starved on several occasions as a child without his help. The original version was in gospel style, with Peter Tosh and unknown female backing vocalists, and was cut for Island in 1973.
The best-known version was recorded live at the Lyceum Theatre in London on 17 July 1975, appears on Live! at 7:07, and was released as a single on 29 August 1975 with Kinky Reggae on the B-side. It reached number 22 in Britain and number 23 in the Netherlands, and a 1981 reissue reached number eight in Britain. The live version is certified platinum in the UK.
On stage
- 1975-07-17, Lyceum Theatre, London The performance on Live!, recorded on the first of two nights.
Covers and versions
- Jimmy Cliff (1975) On Follow My Mind.
- Fugees (1996) Wyclef Jean sang lead. It reached number two in Britain and number one in New Zealand.
- Tems (2022) For Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, produced by Ludwig Goransson.
- Boney M. Sung by Liz Mitchell.
- Pearl Jam
- Jimmy Buffett
- Rancid
- Gilberto Gil
More songs by Bob Marley and the Wailers
I Shot the Sheriff, Get Up, Stand Up, Exodus, Three Little Birds, Redemption Song, Jamming, Is This Love, Could You Be Loved, Buffalo Soldier
Sources
- No Woman, No Cry, Wikipedia
- Natty Dread, Wikipedia
- Live! (Bob Marley and the Wailers album), Wikipedia
- No Woman, No Cry (multitrack), Internet Archive
- Rastaman Vibration, Wikipedia