A Truly Inspirational Musical Messenger Who Believed The World Could Do Better Through Peace & Love
Perservering On His Musical Journey Ultimately Earnt Him Legendary Status
Ten Critical Moments, Concerts, Or Performances That Help Highlight Who Marley The Man And The Musician Was
The New Bob Marley Film ‘Bob Marley: One Love‘ Was Released This Month On Valentines Day, February 14th, By Paramount. So We Were Inspired To Take A Look Back At Various Accounts of Bob’s Life And Times As Told By Those Who Knew Him, Worked With Him, Met Him, Liked Him And Loved Him And Select Ten Pivotal Moments That Powerfully Highlight Who He Was, How His Perseverance Paid off, And What Sealed His Image As A Messenger And A Peacemaker.
Two Special Documentaries, One From The BBC – And – One From Sky Arts Television, Plus An International Bob Marley ‘One Love’ Art Exhibition Premiered At The Saatchi Art Gallery In London 2022, A Multi-Olivier Winning Musical November 2021-January 2023, A Love Of His Music Through The Years, And Firsthand Observation of His Legendary Status As A National Hero In Jamaica, Help Us Select 10 Special Moments That Highlight ‘Bob Marley’ The Music, The Man, The Messenger, The Peacemaker And Why People Still Love This Unique And Special Reggae Music Legend.
Here Part 1. Part 2 Also In This Special Valentine’s Issue This Month (Seperately). And Part 3 Too.
Jamaican Music Legend Bob Marley Started Out As Part of The SKA & Rocksteady Music Movement Before Bringing Reggae To Mainstream Consciousness. He Initially Worked With Coxsone Dodds, The Owner of Studio One Before Meeting Chris Blackwell, The Owner of Island Records. This Trajectory Helps Explain How He Became A Global Music Icon.
The Sky Arts Documentary ‘Bob Marley Up Close And Personal’ Which Focuses On Musicians And Music Professionals Is An Essential Piece of Music Documentary Making For Marley Fans, Afficianados And Those Interested In Social History And The Power of Music. On Sky TV And Their Now TV On Demand Service
So Is BBC Documentary ‘When Bob Marley Came To Britain’ Which Is Particularly Charming As It Features A Substantial Amount of Input From ‘The People’ As Opposed To ‘The Music Professionals’. Three Former School Boys, Now Middle-Aged Men, Are Still On A Natural High About Johnny Nash And Bob Marley Visiting Their School Back In 1973 Bevan Booker, (The Late) George Dyer And Tony Hagan of The Former Peckham Manor School, Now The Damilola Taylor Centre Available On BBC iPlayer
As Band Member Bunny Wailer Said:
Bob Has Done His Ting’.
But Bob Is Ever Present.
Ever!
As Rita Marley Says:
Long Live Bob Marley.
They Can’t Get Him Out of The Race.
He’s Here To Stay!
As Bob Marley Said:
the greatness of man
is not in how much wealth he acquires
but in his integrity and his ability to affect those around him positively.
Bob Stood For
Black History,
Black Culture,
Black Awareness,
Black Progress,
Black Struggle
Rita Marley, Wife of Bob Marley, Member of Harmony Back Group The ‘I-Three’ (Sky Arts Documentary Bob Marley: ‘Up Close And Personal’)
Nattie Dread Album 1974
“I Think I-Three Was A Really Good Development In Perspective of The Music.
It Gave A Wider Appeal To The Backing Vocals
And It Gave A Wider Appeal To The Sound.
That Was One of The Good Developments In The Way The Sound Moved Forward.”
Sound Engineer Tony Platt,
The Nattie Dread Album 1974 Included ‘No Woman No Cry’ – ‘Liven Up Yourself’. Bunny And Tosh Were Long Gone, Replaced By The ‘I- Three’: Rita Marley, Judy Moffat And Marcia Griffith.
‘Bob Marley Up Close And Personal’ Opens With Rita Marley (nee Anderson), Who Was A Member of Bob’s Harmony Backing Group ‘The I-Threes’ And His Wife Since 1966. Born In Cuba And Raised In Trenchtown Jamaica, She Too Started Out In The Ska Era And Bob Used To Coach. After Rita There Follows Various Musical Clips From Different Albums And Time Periods With Various Different Commentators. These Include;
Marley’s Backing Singers Marica Griffifths @marciagriffiths_queenofreggae, @officialritamarley, And @judymowatt_od
Photographer Dennis Morris @dennismcevoymorris
Lloyd Bradley, Author of The Book ‘Bass Culture’: When Reggae Was King.
Bob Marley Biographer Chris Salewicz @chrissalewicz
And Various Other Music Personnel Such A Sound Engineers Phil Brown And Tony Platt.
Particularly Interesting Is How Differently Salewicz And Bradley See Things In Their Critique of Marley’s Work. Especially Their View On His Album Rastaman Vibrations.
Rastaman Vibration, Coming So Soon, Relatively Speaking, After The Highs of Live At The Lyceum Really Just Wasn’t A Good Album…
LLoyd Bradley, Reggae Music Author
The 1976 Album ‘Rastaman Vibration’ (American Top 10) (UK Top 20) Featured The Famous Track ‘War’ Which Was Essentially A Speech Made By Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia To The United Nations General Assembly October 4th 1963, In New York, Calling For Peace, Set To Music.
Rastaman Vibration 1976
In 1936 In A Similar Historic Speech He Warned The League of Nations They Too Would Inevitably Suffer If They Failed To Protect His Country Against The Threatened Invasion By Mussolini And Italy. The Invasion Happened Anyway.
I Think Rastaman Vibration Is Actually Bob Marley’s Best Album of All…
Chris Salewicz,Bob Marley Biographer
Despite Haile Selassie’s Pre-Emptive Appeal The Italo-Ethiopian War Began In October In 1935 And Lasted Until February 1937 WhDuringich Time The African Country Succombed To Italian Submission. Salassie Was Right. Germany Invaded Poland September 1st 1939 And WWII Broke Out. Only In 1941 Did The Allies Liberate Ethiopia As Part of Strategic Military Manouvres. ‘Rastaman Vibration’ Musically Documented That.
Robert Nesta Marley (Above Left) Began Playing Music Professionally With His Two Main Friends, Neville O’Riley Livingston aka ‘Bunny Wailer’ (Centre) And Peter (Winston Hubert McIntosh) ‘Tosh’ (Right). They Went To School Together In Their Hometown of ‘Trenchtown’ Jamaica And Started Playing Music From Then. The Above Picture Was Taken At or About The Time Their Group Formed In 1963 And The Wailing Wailers Were Starting Out With Studio One @studioonerecords. The Compilations Album ‘Legend’ (Opposite) Was Released In 1984 On Island Records. Virtually 20 Years Later. Three Years After Bob’s Heaven Recall. @islandrecords.
‘Legend: The Best of Bob Marley & The Wailers’ (1984) The Most Successful Reggae Album of All Time
Named ‘The Wailers’ After Bunny Livingston When They Formed In 1963, ‘The Wailers’ Had Various Other Similar Monikers Throughout Their History Together. These Included The Wailing Rudeboys, The Wailing Wailers, The Teenagers And Ultimately Bob Marley And The Wailers. Bob Was The One With The Greatest Lead Singer Charisma (Even Though Bunny Was The Original Wailer).
The Name ‘Bob Marley & The Wailers’ Reflected A Compromise As They Became Better Known. But Bunny And Tosh Ultimately Left The Band, Unable To Live With That Compromise. They Continued Playing Music And Had Their Own Reggae Careers. But Bob Grasped The Concept of Mass Appeal And It Was Bunny & Tosh’s Resistence To It That Saw The Group Go Their Seperate Ways. After That, Bob Marley The Legend Was Born.
For Instance As Photographer Dennis Morris @dennismcevoymorris Explains “He Was Very Aware of The Use of Images, Which Very Few Reggae Musicians Were At The Time. I Remember Doing Sessions With Some Reggae Musicians And The Idea of Doing Pictures Was Poo-Pooed As A Complete Waste of Time, “Where’s The Money?” [They Would Ask]. But Bob Really Understood The Use of Images. He Really Understood That.”
Robert Nesta Marley: February 6 1945-10 May 1981 (Returned Home Aged 36)
Jamaican Record Producer Clement Seymour ‘Coxsone’ Dodd Was The Pionnering Owner of Studio One. He Literally Made It His Business To Try And Satisfy The High Demand For The New Popular Ska And Rocksteady Sound, In Addition To Traditional Reggae. And Eventually Dub And Dancehall. @studioonerecords
He Became The First Black Owner of A Jamaican Recording Studio In 1954, Officially Opening Studio One On Brentford Road Kingston. They Pressed Their Own Records From 1963.
Dodd Met The Wailers When He Began Holding Auditions For Fresh New Talent. The Band’s First Big Ska Hit Single In Jamaica ‘Simmer Down’ Was Released In Later In 1963.
After The Success of The 1963 Hit ‘Simmer Down’ Marley Also Wrote ‘Stir It Up‘ Released As A Single In 1967.
Their 1965 Debut Album ‘The Wailing Wailers’ Included The Song ‘One Love’ Recorded With Studio One. It Was Re-Recorded A Number of Times Over The Years But Would Only Be Released As A Single Approximately 20 Years Later From The Bob Marley ‘Legend’ Album, Under An Entirely Different Record Company, Island Records, On May 7 1984. Three Years After His Death.
Island Records Was Founded By Chris Blackwell In 1959. He Would Eventually Sell The Company In 1989 To PolyGram, Which Would Morph Into Universal Music. Bob Marley And The Wailers Are Now Included In Their Music Catalogue.
Chris Blackwell Made A Star of Millie Smalls With Her 1964 Hit ‘My Boy Lollipop’ (An Essential Tune In The Windrush Story Soundtrack). It Was The First Ska Hit Outside of Jamaica And By Woman.
He’d Heard Her On A Licensed Mastertape He Had Acquired, Singing The Song Originally Sung By Barbie Gaye Eight Years Earlier.
He Brought Her To Forest Hill In South London To Refine Her Act And Give Her Schooling In Presentation, Performance, And Diction. This Clearly Proved Successful. For Him.
She Would Later Be Living In Poverty Having Not Been Contracted Any Royalties! (A Similar Tragedy Befalled Paul Michael Glazer And David Soul of Starsky & Hutch Fame, Within The Film & TV Industry.)
Following The Success of The 1972 Reggae Film ‘The Harder They Come’ Starring Jimmy Cliff, Chris Blackwell of Island Records Was Very Keen To Embrace The Reggae Scene And Develop Reggae Artists.
The Wailing Wailers Debut Album 1965 Was Ska Style. Including Their Suits. (L) Bunny Wailer (Centre) Bob Marley (R) Peter Tosh In Sunglasses. The Album Includes The Track ‘Rude Boy’.
As If Marking The End of An Era The Best of The Wailers Was Released In 1971 Under Studio One.
Wanting To Promote American Artists On The Jamaican Reggae Scene American Actor And Singer Johnny Nash Had Moved To Jamaica In 1965 With His Manager Danny Sims Because Record Production Was Much Cheaper There.
They Eventually Met Bob Marley And The Wailers On The Scene (Circa 1967) And Began Collaborating With Them. This Included Signing Them Up To JAD Ltd (Named After Singer & Actor Johnny Nash, Producer Arthur Jenkins, And Manager Danny Sims). It Involved Touring Together And Sharing Songs.
Johnny Allen Hendrix aka Jimi Hendrix : November 27 1942-September 18 1970 (Returned Home Aged 28)
Under Licence From Studio One Chris Blackwell Produced, Recorded And Released A Number of Singles By Their Artists, Including Millie Small And The Wailers, Plus He Used Their Music For Collaborations With Other Artists Like Eric Clapton, Who Blackwell Was Also Working With Seperately On His Own Record Label ‘Island Records’ @island records.
He Passionately Believed That Marley Had Star Potential Equal To That of Charismatic African-American Electric Guitar Rock Star Jimi Hendrix (Pictured Above). He Wanted Similar Success For The Wailers As He Had With Millie Small By Bringing Them Out of Jamaica And Introducing Them To British Audiences Through Touring And Developing A More International Appeal.
He Got His Big Chance Following The Collision of A Number of Factors. The Bob Marley And The Wailers Tour Wasn’t As Busy As They’d Hoped, The Group Had A Disagreement With American Singer Johnny Nash Regarding A Recording Contract, They Subsequently Got Stuck In London, And They Needed Help To Get Back Home To Jamaica. Blackwell Gave Them That Help. Subject To The Production of A Number of Albums In Return! Hence Came Their Island Records Debut Album ‘Catch A Fire’ In April 1973. (Which Included Stir It Up That Bob Had Previously Written In 1967 And Concrete Jungle).
The Band Performed ‘Stir It Up’ Live In 1973 On The BBC’s Music Show ‘The Old Grey Whistle Test’ And Their Self-Assured Performance of This Melodious Mellow Yet Meaningful Track Made A Big Impression. It Was Their First Visit To The UK And The First Time A Jamaican Reggae Band Had Appeared British TV.
But Johnny Nash Had Released A Cover Version of It In I971 And Included It On His Album ‘I Can See Clearly Now’ In 1972. Wrangling Over Music Rights Stemming From The JAD Ltd Contract Would Prove Problematic For Years To Come.
Meantime Once Again There Was A Problem On Tour. Bunny & Tosh Didn’t Take To The British Weather And Both Seriously Missed Jamaica. Bunny Also Hated Flying. Peter Also Disliked The Record Company Management. One Day Seeing Snow For The First Time They Took It As A Sign of ‘Babylon’ (A Rastafarian Word Meaning Something Wicked & Bad), So They Abandoned The Tour And Returned To Jamaica. Marley However Wanted To Stick It Out. This Difference In Attitude Hightlights The Difference In Career Trajectory.
Bob Was Perceived By The People To Be Committed To Spreading The Message of Positivity, Love And Peace. His Bandmates Did Not Come Across Equally Persuasively, But Instead As Just Going Through The Motions. Possibly Because That’s How It Was. They Had A Different.
A Second 1973 Island Records Album Was Released Just 8 Months Later, In December, Called ‘Burnin’ And Included ‘I Shot The Sheriff’ And ‘Get Up Stand Up’.
A Musical With The Latter Name Was Staged Over 40 Years Later In 2021 At London’s Lyric Theatre In The Westend. Marley Was Still Commanding The Attention of The Great And The Good Despite His Recall To Heaven In The Early 80s.
Chris Blackwell, Founder of Island Records, Born June 22 1937 (Age 84) (Has Outlived Both Hendrix & Marley By Many Decades)
Young Up & Coming Photographer Dennis Morris @dennismcevoymorris And Marley Met During The 1973 ‘Catch A Fire‘ Tour.
Having Enjoyed A Church Photography Club Attached To His Choir He’d Began Reading The Trendy Music Magazines of The Day And Learnt That Bob Marley Was Coming To London To Play A Showcase Gig Promoting The New ‘Catch A Fire’ Album At The SpeakEasy Club In Mayfair, A Venue For Up & Coming Talent, Attended By Musicians And Music Execs. So He Decided To Take The Day off School To Be There And Wait Outside For The Band To Arrive. When They Did He Asked Bob If He Could Tag Along, To Which Bob Said Yes. Subsequently Dennis Produced Some Exclusive Iconic Pictures And He And Bob Became FriendsFor Live. He Was One of The Last People To See Him Just Days Before He Died.
Two Years Later When Bob Came Back To Britian For The Famous Lyceum Concert In 1975, He Remembered Dennis, Allowing Him To Approach The Record Company Directly And Get A Photographer’s Pass Into The Gig, Which, Dennis Says Was “Amazing.” Especially Bob’s Performance of ‘No Woman, No Cry’.
This 1975 Concert Took Bob Marley And The Wailers To A Whole New Level.
It Was So Hot That Steam From The Body Heat Went Up And Hit The Ceiling And Came Back Down Again Like It Was Raining.
We Had A Reunion The Next Day. He Was Staying In A Flat In The Kings Road. And The Reunion Was Like, How I Found It, What I Thought of It, That Kind of Thing You Know.
And I Said “Yeah Man, You’re The King.”
Dennis Morris, Bob Marley Photographer
Dennis Morris Named His Exhibition Honouring What Would Have Been Bob Marley’s 75th Birthday After A Conversation The Two Has After The Famous London Lyceum Concert of 1975.
Movingly He Explains How Bob Encouraged His Photography, Loved Football, And Sadly Received A Cancer Diagnosis After A Toe Injury Whilst Playing It In Germany (Which He Witnessed). Cancer Ended His Life Prematurely.
He Reveals How He Became One of The Last People To Hear Bob Sing ‘Redeemption Song’ Live As Bob Sang It To Him The Last Time They Saw Each Other. Only Later Did He Realise He Was Saying Goodbye. Most People Had No Idea How Ill Bob Was (Although Dennis Could Tell He Was Not Himself). He Cried On Hearing The News of Bob’s Last Earth Day, 1981 11th May. Aged Just 36.
The Last Album & Tour ‘Uprising’ (1980) Featured Newly Written Songs Including ‘Could You Be Loved?’ ‘Always Loving Jah’ ‘Zion Train’ ‘Coming In From The Cold’ And ‘Redeemption Song’. It Was A Farewell Album And A Great Legacy.
Bob Marley: One Love ‘The Movie’ Released February 14 2024
The First Five of TO.P’s Top Ten Moments of Marley Magic:
- TO.P’S Top Ten Movements of Marley Magic:
- TO.P’S Top Ten Movements of Marley Magic:
- TO.P’S Top Ten Movements of Marley Magic:
- TO.P’S Top Ten Movements of Marley Magic:
- TO.P’S Top Ten Movements of Marley Magic:
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