February is Reggae Month in Jamaica. Tidbits Tuesday will pay tribute to a classic Jamaican work in this period. Today we look at Marley's Kaya album.

Next month marks the 31st anniversary of the release of Kaya, Bob Marley's most commercial album for Island Records. The singer/songwriter is at his most romantic and also pays homage to ganja, the plant used by many Rastafarians as a religious sacrament.

Assassination attempt

The Kaya songs were largely recorded in Britain in 1977. Marley had been living there since an assassination attempt on his life in December 1976.

More hard-hitting songs from that session were compiled for the epic Exodus album which was released by Island in 1977. Some of the songs on Kaya, such as Sun Is Shining and Is This Love? were originally done by Marley and The Wailers in the late 1960s.

Given the powerful message of early Marley albums like Burnin', Catch A Fire and Natty Dread, some critics viewed Kaya as too soft. They thought he had sold out to break through in the United States.

Kaya reached as far as number five on the United Kingdom's album chart. It has won over the naysayers and is regarded among Marley's strongest works.