Reggae magazine

THE MAN 1976 A YEAR OF
THE MUSIC REGGAE REVOLUTION
THE REVOLUTION

SKIN OF CASTE
AND TEENAGED
MUSIC SUPER STAR

+MUSIC REVIEW
UNSEEN
OF
DECADES





CONTENT

1-2 PAGE

WHAT IS 3-6 PAGE
REGGAE WHO IS

BOB MARL
-INTRODUCTION

-HISTORY

25-2“A reader lives a thousand
lives before he dies . . . The
man who never reads lives FACTS A
only one.” BOB MA

7-16 PAGE

TOP BOB MARLEY
REGGAE ALBUMS

-BACKGROUND

-SYNOPSIS

LEY ? 19-24 PAGE

26 PAGE CONCERTS THAT
MADE BOB MARLEY A
ABOUT LEGEND
ARLEY -ACHIVEMENT OF CONCERT

MUSIC WHAT I

Reggae is a musical genre developed by
Jamaicans of African ancestry in the late
1960s. Reggae bands incorporate musical id-

What Does Reggaeioms from many different genres, including
mento (a Jamaican folk genre), ska, rock-
steady, calypso, and American soul music

Music Sound Like?and rhythm and blues. The genre is known
Rfor its propulsive percussion, hypnotic bass
lines, and steady, up-stroke rhythm guitar
(called the “skank beat”), which has helped
it cut through as a dance music genre. Most eggae music combines the intensity of soul music,
reggae songs feature lyrics in Jamaican En- the light touch of ska, and the spiritual center of Jamaican
glish, Jamaican Patois, or Iyaric dialects. mento. The music is famed for the rhythmic patterns heard
in percussion, bass lines, and rhythm guitar parts. The
As a signature form of Jamaican music, reg- three principle reggae rhythms are:
gae is closely tied to the Rastafarian religion
and social movement that traces its roots to 1. Steppers: Similar to the American “four on the floor”
1930s Jamaica. To this day, many reggae mu- feel, this beat features a steady quarter-note pulse on the
sicians practice Rastafarianism. Reggae art- bass drum, often doubled by the bass guitar. “Red, Gold,
ists often sing of Rastafari spiritual themes and Green” by Burning Spear is a strong example of the
or social justice, which aligns the genre with steppers beat.

other popular music that arose in the late 2. Rockers: The rockers beat also emphasizes four quarter
1960s, such as American folk rock. Reggae’s notes per bar, but it offers more space for syncopation. The

rockers beat is closely associated with the rhythm section
of Sly and Robbie, who helped develop the famous “rub-
a-dub” sound. “Sponji Reggae” by Black Uhuru is another
strong example of the rockers beat, thanks to its 4/4 pulse
combined with offbeat syncopations.

3. One drop: The one-drop beat features a steady six-
teenth-note pulse (like American funk music) with a back-
beat accent from the kick drum and snare drum. It takes
its name from the song “One Drop” by Bob Marley & The
Wailers.

1

IS REGGAE...

Rebelution

2

WHO IS
BOB MARLEY ?

Bob Marley, in full Robert Nesta Mar-

ley, (born February 6, 1945, Nine Miles, St. Ann, Jamaica—died
May 11, 1981, Miami, Florida, U.S.), Jamaican singer-song-
writer whose thoughtful ongoing distillation of early ska, rock
steady, and reggae musical forms blossomed in the 1970s into
an electrifying rock-influenced hybrid that made him an inter-
national superstar.
Marley—whose parents were Norval Sinclair Marley, a white
rural overseer, and the former Cedella Malcolm, the Black
daughter of a local custos (respected backwoods squire)—
would forever remain the unique product of parallel worlds.
His poetic worldview was shaped by the countryside, his music
by the tough West Kingston ghetto streets. Marley’s maternal
grandfather was not just a prosperous farmer but also a bush
doctor adept at the mysticism-steeped herbal healing that
guaranteed respect in Jamaica’s remote hill country. As a child,
Marley was known for his shy aloofness, his startling stare, and
his penchant for palm reading. Virtually kidnapped by his ab-
sentee father (who had been disinherited by his own prominent
family for marrying a Black woman), the preadolescent Marley
was taken to live with an elderly woman in Kingston until a
family friend rediscovered the boy by chance and returned him
to Nine Miles.
By his early teens Marley was back in West Kingston, living in
a government-subsidized tenement in Trench Town, a desper-
ately poor slum often compared to an open sewer. In the early
1960s, while a schoolboy serving an apprenticeship as a welder
(along with fellow aspiring singer Desmond Dekker), Marley
was exposed to the languid jazz-infected shuffle-beat rhythms
of ska, a Jamaican amalgam of American rhythm and blues and
native mento (folk-calypso) strains then catching on commer-
cially. Marley was a fan of Fats Domino, the Moonglows, and
pop singer Ricky Nelson, but, when his big chance came in 1961
to record with producer Leslie Kong, he cut “Judge Not,” a pep-
py ballad he had written based on rural maxims learned from

3his grandfather. Among his other early tracks was “One Cup

“One
love, one

heart.
Let’s get
together
and feel
all right.”

4

Marley also formed a vocal group in Trench Town with friends who would later be known

asPeter Tosh(original name Winston Hubert MacIntosh) and Bunny Wailer (original name Neville O’Reilly
Livingston). The trio, which named itself the Wailers (because, as Marley stated, “We started out crying”),
received vocal coaching by noted singer Joe Higgs. Later they were joined by vocalist Junior Braithwaite and
backup singers Beverly Kelso and Cherry Green
Marley also formed a vocal group in Trench Town with friends who would later be known as Peter Tosh (original
name Winston Hubert MacIntosh) and Bunny Wailer (original name Neville O’Reilly Livingston). The trio, which
nameditselftheWailers(because,asMarleystated,“Westartedoutcrying”),receivedvocalcoachingbynotedsinger
Joe Higgs. Later they were joined by vocalist Junior Braithwaite and backup singers Beverly Kelso and Cherry Green

In December 1963 the Wailers entered
Coxsone Dodd’s Studio One facilities to
cut “Simmer Down,” a song by Marley
that he had used to win a talent contest
in Kingston. Unlike the playful men-
to music that drifted from the porches
of local tourist hotels or the pop and
rhythm and blues filtering into Jamaica
from American radio stations, “Simmer
Down” was an urgent anthem from the
shantytown precincts of the Kingston
underclass. A huge overnight smash,
it played an important role in recast-
ing the agenda for stardom in Jamaican
music circles. No longer did one have to
parrot the stylings of overseas entertain-
ers; it was possible to write raw, uncom-
promising songs for and about the dis-
enfranchised people of the West Indian
slums.
This bold stance transformed both Marley and his island nation, engendering the urban poor with a pride that
would become a pronounced source of identity (and a catalyst for class-related tension) in Jamaican culture—
as would the Wailers’ Rastafarian faith, a creed popular among the impoverished people of the Caribbean,
who worshiped the late Ethiopian emperor Haile Selassie I as the African redeemer foretold in popular qua-
si-biblical prophecy. The Wailers did well in Jamaica during the mid-1960s with their ska records, even during
Marley’s sojourn to Delaware in 1966 to visit his relocated mother and find temporary work. Reggae material
created in 1969–71 with producer Lee Perry increased the contemporary stature of the Wailers; and, once they
signed in 1972 with the (by that time) international label Island and released Catch a Fire (the first reggae al-
bum conceived as more than a mere singles compilation), their uniquely rock-contoured reggae gained a global
audience. It also earned the charismatic Marley superstar status, which gradually led to the dissolution of the
original triumvirate about early 1974. Although Peter Tosh would enjoy a distinguished solo career before his
murder in 1987, many of his best solo albums (such as Equal Rights [1977]) were underappreciated, as was
Bunny Wailer’s excellent solo album Blackheart Man (1976).

5

“Music is the
soundtrack
of your life.”

Eric Clapton’s version of the Wailers’ “I Shot the Sheriff ” in 1974 spread Marley’s fame. Meanwhile, Marley
continued to guide the skilled Wailers band through a series of potent, topical albums. By this point Marley
also was backed by a trio of female vocalists that included his wife, Rita; she, like many of Marley’s children,
later experienced her own recording success. Featuring eloquent songs like “No Woman No Cry,” “Exo-
dus,” “Could You Be Loved,” “Coming in from the Cold,” “Jamming”, and “Redemption Song,” Marley’s
landmark albums included Natty Dread (1974), Live! (1975), Rastaman Vibration (1976), Exodus (1977),
Kaya (1978), Uprising (1980), and the posthumous Confrontation (1983). Exploding in Marley’s reedy
tenor, his songs were public expressions of personal truths—eloquent in their uncommon mesh of rhythm
and blues, rock, and venturesome reggae forms and electrifying in their narrative might. Making music
that transcended all its stylistic roots, Marley fashioned an impassioned body of work that was sui generis.
He also loomed large as a political figure and in 1976 survived what was believed to have been
a politically motivated assassination attempt. Marley’s attempt to broker a truce between Jamai-
ca’s warring political factions led in April 1978 to his headlining the “One Love” peace concert.
His sociopolitical clout also earned him an invitation to perform in 1980 at the ceremonies cele-
brating majority rule and internationally recognized independence for Zimbabwe. In April 1981,
the Jamaican government awarded Marley the Order of Merit. A month later he died of cancer.
Although his songs were some of the best-liked and most critically acclaimed music in the popular can-
on, Marley was far more renowned in death than he had been in life. Legend (1984), a retrospective of
his work, became the best-selling reggae album ever, with international sales of more than 12 million
copies.

6

TOP BOB MARLEY
REGGAE ALBUMS

1. Exodus

Music is the only language in which you
cannot say a mean or sarcastic thing.

E“ xodus” is a song written by reggae musician Bob Marley and recorded by Bob Marley

& The Wailers, for his 1977 same-titled album. Released as a single, it hit number 14 in the UK Singles
Chart. “Exodus” was Marley’s first single to receive widespread airplay on black radio stations in the U.S
The song ties together the Biblical story of Moses leading the Israelites out of Egypt to the hope of Ras-
tafarians to be led to freedom. After an assassination attempt in Jamaica in 1976, Marley fled to En-
gland where he recorded the song. He had conceived “Exodus” as the album title before even writing the
song. The song has a revolutionary theme punctured by its chorus of “Exodus, movement of Jah people.

7

“Music is love in search of a word.”

Udiscovermusic wrote that the song was “a rippling, surging, seven-minute call to arms for a nation of dis-
placed souls on the march to a new spiritual homeland. ‘We know where we’re going/We know where
we’re from/We’re leaving Babylon,’ Marley sang against a cyclical riff that was turned, like clay on a pot-
ter’s wheel, to perfection.”[3] In a retrospective review of the album, Patricia Maschino Billboard wrote
that the title track was a “scorching mash-up of funk, reggae and disco, punctuated by blasts of regal horns.

8

2.Soul
Rebels

9

Soul Rebels is the second studio album by the Wailers, their first album to be released outside Jamaica. The

Wailers approached producer Lee “Scratch” Perry in August 1970 to record an entire album, and the sessions
took place at Randy’s recording studio (also known as Studio 17)[1] above Randy’s Record Mart at 17 North Pa-
rade in Kingston, Jamaica,[2] until November. First issued in the UK by Trojan Records in December 1970, the
album has since been re-released several times on several different labels. Perry’s production is sparse and haunt-
ing, only featuring guitar, bass, drums, electronic organs, and vocals with no horns or other embellishments.

Music is the language of
the spirit. It opens the se-
cret of life bringing peace,
abolishing strife.

10

3. Burnin

B“ urnin’” is a 1997 song by Anders Melander first released by Swedish music group Cue. Thesong
was awarded a Grammis for “Song of the year 1997”
(Swedish: Årets låt 1997), which was the first time a
song performed in another language than Swedish
won this award. The song was featured on the band’s
self-titled album which was released in 2000.zz
Anders Melander was a composer working for the
Swedish TV and a theatre director at Angeredste-
atern. He was also much earlier a member in the
progg band Nationalteatern. Niklas Hjulström on
the other hand was an actor. The two had cooperat-
ed before working on a song and Anders knew Hju-
lström was a skilled singer. So when Anders needed
a singer to sing “Burnin’”, a song composed by him
for the Swedish TV series Glappet, he asked Hjul-
ström and they formed together a band called Cue.

Although not strictly intended for release as a hit, just
usage for the TV series, the song gained popularity and upon release as the first single for Cue, it hit the Swed-
ish charts at #1 for 4 weeks (14 November to 12 December 1997. It eventually sold 90,000 copies making it
one of the most successful singles in the 1990s in Sweden.[1] It also reached #4 in Norway and #9 in Finland

If Music is a Place — then Jazz is the
City, Folk is the Wilderness, Rock
is the Road, Classical is a Temple..

11

12

4.Rastaman
Vibration

‘ Life is one big road with lots of signs. So when you riding
through the ruts, don’t complicate your mind. Flee from
hate, mischief and jealousy. Don’t bury your thoughts.”

Rastaman Vibration is a reggae album by Bob Marley and the Wailers released on 30 April 1976.

The album was a great success in the US, becoming the first Bob Marley release to reach the top 10 on the
Billboard 200 chart (peaking at number 8), in addition to releasing Marley’s most popular US single “Roots,
Rock, Reggae”, the only Marley single to reach the Billboard Hot 100 chart, peaking at no. 51. Synthesizers
are featured prominently on this album, adding a breezy embellishment to otherwise hard-driving songs
with strong elements of rock guitar. This is one of the three Wailers solo albums released in 1976, along with
Blackheart Man by Bunny Wailer and Legalize It by Peter Tosh.

Although the album’s liner notes list multiple songwriters, including family friends and bandmembers, all
songs were written by Marley. Marley was involved in a contractual dispute at the time with his former pub-
lishing company, Cayman music. Marley had not wanted his new songs to be associated with Cayman and
it was speculated, including in his obituary in The Independent, that he had put them in the names of his
friends and family members as a means of avoiding the contractual restrictions and to provide lasting help
to family and close friends.

13

Vincent Ford, a childhood friend from Jamaica, is the songwriter for “No Woman, No Cry” on the
1974 album Natty Dread, as well as the songs “Crazy Baldheads” (with Marley’s wife Rita), “Positive
Vibration” and “Roots Rock Reggae” from Rastaman Vibration, along with “Inna De Red” and “Jah
Bless” with Marley’s son, Stephen

Marley’s widow and his former manager Danny Sims sued to obtain royalty and ownership rights to
the songs, claiming that Marley had actually written the songs but had assigned the credit to Ford
to avoid meeting commitments made in prior contracts. A 1987 court decision favored the Marley
estate, which assumed full control of the songs.

14

5.Soul
Revolution

In 1971 in Jamaica, producer Lee Perry unleashed Bob Marley & the Wailers’ stellar Soul Revolution album

on his own Upsetter label, a follow-up to 1970’s Soul Rebels, the first of their full-lengths to be overseen by
Scratch. Perry promptly licensed the set, without the group’s knowledge, to the U.K. Trojan label, who released
it in 1973 under the title African Herbsman. The Brits, however, had no interest in the “dub” companion set,
Soul Revolution, Pt. 2, which Perry also unleashed on Jamaicans in 1972. At least not then; in 1988, the label
changed its tune, licensing it for release alongside a plumped-up bonus track reissue of African Herbsman. But
it’s not that set that is twinned here with Pt. 2, but the original Soul Revolution album, which is logical, but
does mean that fans are losing the four bonus tracks that Herbsman offered up, but they do, however, get the
instrumental “Memphis,” which was omitted from the original set. And a further warning is in order: although
Pt. 2 is oft-times referred to as a “dub set,” that’s merely for lack of a better term, for the pieces are not dubs at
all, but the original Soul Revolution album with the vocals stripped off. Today, people expect more, but these
bare “riddim tracks” are interesting in their own right, allowing the musicianship to shine and the structure of
the arrangements to come into sharp focus. Soul Revolution was a stunning album, its companion set virtu-
ally unique, and as only small quantities were sold, a real rarity. Now fans can finally enjoy both as they were
intended to be heard.

In this great future, you can’t forget
your past.

15

16

17

18

A DAY WITH
BOB MARLEY

3 CONCERTS THAT MADE BOB MARLEY A LEGEND

1. SMILE JAMAICA

19

WHILE BOB HAD ALREADY BEEN IN THE MUSIC INDUSTRY FOR 14 YEARS AT THI-

SPOINT, AND HAD FINALLY STARTED TO REACH INTERNATIONAL SUCCESS FOLLOWING THE
HISTORIC 1975 NATTY DREAD TOUR AS WELL AS THE GAME-CHANGING RELEASE OF RASTA-
MAN VIBRATION, MOST HISTORIANS AND SUPER-FANS WOULD AGREE THAT SMILE JAMAICA
WAS THE TRUE START OF BOB MARLEY BECOMING THE LEGEND HE IS TODAY. ON DECEMBER 3,
1976, BOB AND BAND WERE REHEARSING AT 56 HOPE ROAD IN KINGSTON, JAMAICA, IN PREPA-
RATION FOR THE SHOW

IT WAS A TIME OF EXTREME AND VIOLENT POLITICAL TURMOIL, WHERE THE
COUNTRY WAS DIVIDED BETWEEN THE DEMOCRATIC SOCIALIST PEOPLE’S NATION-
AL PARTY (PNP) AND THE CONSERVATIVE JAMAICA LABOR PARTY (JLP). EVERYONE
PICKED A SIDE AND FOUGHT VICIOUSLY TO DEFEND THEIR BELIEFS; EVERYONE EX-
CEPT BOB MARLEY AND THE WAILERS. AS BOB SAID, “I NOT A POLITICIAN. POLITICS
IS MONEY BUSINESS, AND WE IN PEOPLE BUSINESS ” UNFORTUNATELY THOUGH,
WHEN YOU DON’T TAKE A SIDE, EVERYONE THINKS YOU’RE ON THE WRONG SIDE.
AS NEVILLE GARRICK (BOB’S ART DIRECTOR) RECENTLY TOLD ME, “YOU CAN BE ON
ONE SIDE OR THE OTHER, BUT IF YOU TRY AND STAY ON THE FENCE, SOMEONE
SHOOT YOU DOWN OFF IT.” AND AS WAS THE REALITY IN JAMAICA AT THAT, THAT’S
EXACTLY WHAT HAPPENED. DURING THE REHEARSAL, AN UNKNOWN GUNMAN
MADE HIS WAY ONTO THE PROPERTY, CRACKED OPEN THE DOOR TO THE KITCHEN,
STUCK HIS GUN IN AND STARTED SHOOTING.
BOB WAS SHOT IN THE ARM, HIS WIFE RITA WAS GRAZED BY A BULLET IN THE HEAD,
AND MANAGER DON TAYLOR WAS SHOT SEVERAL TIMES IN THE STOMACH. MIRAC-
ULOUSLY, ALL SURVIVED THE SHOOTING, AND IN A SHOWING OF GREAT BRAVERY
AND STEADFAST DEDICATION TO UNITING THE ISLAND, BOB AND BAND WENT
ON TO PERFORM AT THE FESTIVAL AS SCHEDULED, ONLY TWO DAYS LATER. MANY
PEOPLE TALK ABOUT STANDING UP AND FIGHTING FOR FREEDOM, BUT IN THIS IN-
STANCE, BOB REALLY DID PUT HIS LIFE ON THE LINE FOR PEACE. NEARLY 80,000 PEO-
PLE ATTENDED THE FREE EVENT, AND MANY WOULD POINT TO SMILE JAMAICA AS
A BEGINNING OF THE END FOR CIVIL WAR IN JAMAICA.

20

2..ZIMBABWE INDEPENDENCE CELEBRATIONS

PERHAPS THE PINNACLE OF BOB’S STRUGGLE FOR A FREE AND UNITED AFRICA, IN 1980

MARLEY WAS INVITED TO PERFORM AT THE INAUGURAL ZIMBABWE INDEPENDENCE CELE-
BRATION. BOB WAS PERHAPS THE BEST AND ONLY PERSON TO PERFORM AT THE EVENT, AS
HE AND HIS MUSIC PLAYED A MAJOR ROLE IN INSPIRING THOSE WHO EARNED THE COUN-
TRY THE INDEPENDENCE IT STILL ENJOYS TODAY. WITH THE RELEASE OF SURVIVAL BOB GAVE
AFRICA THE AFOREMENTIONED, “ZIMBABWE”. THE MESSAGE OF THE SONG PERSONIFIED SO
BEAUTIFULLY AND VEHEMENTLY IN THE LYRICS, “EVERY MAN GOTTA RIGHT TO DECIDE HIS
OWN DESTINY, AND IN THIS JUDGEMENT THERE IS NO PARTIALITY. SO ARM IN ARMS, WITH
ARMS, WE’LL FIGHT THIS LITTLE STRUGGLE, ‘CAUSE THAT’S THE ONLY WAY WE CAN OVER-
COME OUR LITTLE TROUBLE. BROTHER, YOU’RE RIGHT, YOU’RE RIGHT, YOU’RE RIGHT, YOU’RE
RIGHT, YOU’RE SO RIGHT! WE GONNA FIGHT, WE’LL HAVE TO FIGHT, WE GONNA FIGHT, FIGHT
FOR OUR RIGHTS!”
THE SONG INSTANTLY BECAME THE BATTLE CRY FOR THE SOLDIERS WHO WERE DOING JUST
THAT, AND WITH BOB’S WORDS INSPIRING THEM ALONG THE WAY, THE INDEPENDENCE OF
THE NATION WAS FINALLY WON AND CELEBRATED ON APRIL 18, 1980. BUT WHILE THEY WERE
DESPERATE TO HAVE BOB PERFORM AT THE CEREMONY, THE YOUNG COUNTRY COULD NOT
EVEN AFFORD TO GET THE BAND AND THEIR EQUIPMENT ACROSS THE SEA, LET ALONE PAY
THE GOING RATE OF ONE OF THE WORLD’S BIGGEST LIVE ACTS. SO, IN TRUE MARLEY FASHION,
BOB SPENT HIS OWN MONEY TO CHARTER A PLANE AND BRING THE BAND’S EQUIPMENT –
ALONG WITH LIGHTING AND SOUND GEAR – OVER TO ZIMBABWE. AND SO IT WENT, WITH
ABOUT 40,000 INSIDE THE STADIUM, THE CEREMONY COMMENCED. THE NEW FLAG WAS
RAISED, AND THE FIRST OFFICIAL WORDS IN THE NATION OF ZIMBABWE WERE, “LADIES AND
GENTLEMEN, BOB MARLEY AND THE WAILERS!”

THE PROBLEM, HOWEVER, WAS THAT WHILE 40,000 WERE ABLE TO GET IN TO SEE THE SHOW,
THE OTHER 2 MILLION SURROUNDING THE STADIUM, WEREN’T. A RIOT ENSUED, AND TEAR
GAS WAS DISPERSED ACROSS THE AREA, INEVITABLY MAKING IT’S WAY INTO THE VENUE. THE
PEOPLE SCATTERED, THE BAND ALL LEFT THE STAGE, BUT BOB STAYED. WITHOUT ANY MU-
SIC TO BACK HIM UP, AND TEARS IN HIS EYES FROM THE GAS, LIKE A TRUE REBEL SOLDIER
HE JUST KEPT ON FIGHTING THE FIGHT—HE KEPT ON SINGING. EVENTUALLY, THE WAILERS
RETURNED TO THE STAGE TO BACK UP THEIR BROTHER IN ARMS. BOB TURNED AROUND TO
HIS BANDMATES AND JOKING PROCLAIMED, “NOW WE KNOW WHO IS THE REAL REVOLUTION-
ARIES” (A LYRIC LINE FROM THE SONG “ZIMBABWE”). AS THE MUSIC STARTED UP AGAIN, THE
PEOPLE MADE THEIR WAY BACK INTO THE STADIUM. BOB SPOKE WITH SOME OFFICIALS AND
ANNOUNCED THAT THEY HAD AGREED TO HOST A SECOND CONCERT THE FOLLOWING EVE-
NING AS A MEANS TO HELP QUELL THE RIOTING. THE NEXT NIGHT, BOB DELIVERED ON THAT
PROMISE AND PLAYED A SPECIAL SHOW JUST FOR THE PEOPLE… OVER 100,000 OF THEM.

21

Music is the moonlight in the gloomy
night of life.

22

3.AMANDLA FESTIVAL OF UNITY

BY THE LATE 1970S, BOB MARLEY HAD TURNED MUCH OF HIS ATTENTION TO AFRICA.

HAVING JUST RETURNED HOME FROM THE BABYLON BY BUS TOUR, BOB WAS WORKING ON
THE RELEASE OF WHAT MANY WOULD SAY IS HIS FINEST AND MOST PHILOSOPHICALLY-FO-
CUSED ALBUM, SURVIVAL. COMPRISED OF SONGS LIKE “AFRICA UNITE”, “ZIMBABWE” AND “SO
MUCH TROUBLE IN THE WORLD”, BOB SPOKE OF THE STRUGGLES OF AFRICA AND ESPECIALLY
THE BLACK MAN’S ROLE IN THAT BATTLE. THE ALBUM COVER WAS ADORNED WITH FLAGS
FROM EVERY NATION, AND ITS RELEASE LATER THAT YEAR WOULD HAVE LASTING IMPACTS
ON THE CONTINENT AND ITS PEOPLE (SEE #4). HE WOULD GO ON TO HELP AFRICA IN A VARI-
ETY OF WAYS, BUT THE FIRST EXAMPLE OF BOB USING HIS FAME AND TALENT TO HELP THE
LIVES OF BLACK MEN IN AFRICA WAS AT AMANDLA: THE FESTIVAL OF UNITY. SET IN BOSTON
AT THE RENOWNED UNIVERSITY’S HARVARD STADIUM, THE GOALS OF THE EVENT WERE TO
SUPPORT THE LIBERATION OF SOUTH AFRICA AND THE END TO APARTHEID (AS WELL AS
THE ON-GOING EFFORTS OF BOSTONIANS TO END RACISM IN THEIR OWN CITY). SIGNING
ON ONLY THREE WEEKS BEFORE THE EVENT, BOB AGREED TO PERFORM AT THE SHOW FOR
FREE, WITH THE PROMOTERS SIMPLY COVERING THE BAND’S TRAVEL EXPENSES. BY ALL AC-
COUNTS, IT WAS A TRULY HISTORIC SHOW. AS ONE OF THE ORGANIZERS RECALLED, “THE
PERFORMANCE WAS JUST MAGIC. PEOPLE IN BOSTON COME UP TO ME EVEN TODAY AND
TELL ME THAT WITNESSING THAT PERFORMANCE WAS LIFE-CHANGING FOR THEM. THIS IS
NOT A JOKE. IT WAS JUST MAGICAL. THE PEOPLE AROUND HIM KNEW IT, AND WE KNEW IT.”
IN THE END, THE EVENT ENDED UP RAISING TENS (IF NOT HUNDREDS) OF THOUSANDS OF
DOLLARS FOR THE REBEL SOLDIERS IN SOUTH AFRICA, AND YET AGAIN BOB MARLEY CE-
MENTS HIS PLACE IN HISTORY AS A VOICE OF FREEDOM, OF UNITY, AND OF OVERCOMING
THE STRUGGLE.

23

24

FACTS OF BOB MARLEY

He liked to spook people by
predicting their futures

When he was a small child, Marley seemed
to have a knack for spooking people by suc-
cessfully predictingtheir futures by reading
their palms. At seven, after a year spent living
in the ghettos of Kingston, he returned to his
rural village and declared that his new des-
tiny was to become a singer. From then on,
he refused all requests to read palms. By his
early teens, Marley was living in Kingston’s
Trench Town, a desperately poor slum.

He achieved international stardom

The Wailers recorded for small Jamaican labels throughout the 1960s, during which time ska became the hot
sound. Marley’s lyrics took a more spiritual turn, and Jamaican music itself was changing from the bouncy
ska beat to the more sensual rhythms of rock steady. When the group signed with Island Records in the early
1970s, they became popular with international audiences.

He produced a string of politically charged albums

When Livingston and Tosh left for solo careers, Marley hired a new band and took center stage as singer,
songwriter and rhythm guitarist. He produced a string of politically charged albums that reflected the keen
social consciousness that came to define his lyrics. He wrote about the soaring unemployment, rationed food
supplies and pervasive political violence he saw in Jamaica, which transformed him into an influential cultur-
al icon.n 1976, two days before he was set to play a free “Smile Jamaica” concert aimed at reducing tensions
between warring political factions, an unknown gunman attacked him and his entourage. Though bullets
grazed Bob and wife Rita Marley, they electrified a crowd of 80,000 people when both took to the stage with
the Wailers. The gesture of defiant survival heightened his legend and further galvanized his political outlook,
resulting in the most militant albums of his career

25

He’s one of the top-earning dead celebrities

In late 2018, Forbes Magazine listed Marley as fifth on the list of the highest-earning dead celebrities. In ad-
dition to Marley Natural, his family has also licensed brands of coffee, audio equipment, apparel and lifestyle
goods. Of course, Marley has also sold more than 75 million albums in the past two decades. Legend, a retro-
spective of his work, is the best-selling reggae album ever. More than 12 million copies have been sold interna-
tionally and several thousand new units sell every week. Marley died of cancer on May 11, 1981 in Miami. His
body was flown back to Jamaica to be buried and, in one day, 40,000 people filed past his coffin as his body lay
in state in Jamaica’s National Arena.

Marley had several children and
adopted children as well

A little history of Marley and his wife Rita: He mar-
ried her at 21 (she was a Sunday school teacher at the
time) and stayed married to her until his death. He
adopted her daughter and they had four children to-
gether during their marriage. Marley also had at least
eight more children with eight different women. Ru-
mors allude to several other unclaimed children but
those named officially are: Imani, Sharon, Cedella,
David (aka Ziggy), Stephen, Robbie, Rohan, Karen,
Stephanie, Julian, Ky-Mani, Damian and Madeka.

He is the front of a global marijuana brand

As celebrity endorsements go, it certainly seems like a perfect fit: Under the label Marley Natural, the reggae
icon fronts a global marijuana brand. Products include the “heirloom Jamaican cannabis strains”—purport-
edly the very same one Marley himself purportedly enjoyed—along with smoking accessories, creams, lotions
and other items. Marley’s daughter Cedella calls the brand an “authentic way to honor his legacy by adding
his voice to the conversation about cannabis and helping end the social harms caused by prohibition. My dad
would be so happy to see people understanding the healing power of the herb.”

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