The most immediately striking thing about Natty Dread is the chirpy, tin shed disco original version of No Woman No Cry. I always thought it was odd that they used the live version on Legend, but that now makes perfect sense. Interesting to see that it wasn't a Bob song either, and in fact the album is a very mixed bag in terms of songwriting credits.

Fascinating too to try to put this album in context. It has a timeless feel to it. But the UK had a string of uber-seventies hits that year which sound comically dated (to my ears anyway) - Love Me For a Reason, Kung Fu Fighting, Lonely This Christmas - and Bob is spitting verses about hungry mobs and justice for the poor. They must have looked at the UK scene which had allowed them to flourish with something of a raised eyebrow.

There is still the odd flash of that Memphis soul sound, a shared DNA coursing through the music, particularly the title track.