B oB Marley



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B oB Marley a Biography
David V. Moskowitz

greenwood b iographies

GreenwooD Press westPort, connecticut • lonDon


Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Moskowtz, Davd V. (Davd Vlado), 1969 –
Bob Marley : a bography / Davd V. Moskowtz.
p. cm. — (Greenwood bographes, ISSN 1540-4900)
Dscography: p.
Includes bblographcal references and ndex.
ISBN-13: 978–0–313–33879–3 (alk. paper)
ISBN-10: 0–313–33879–5 (alk. paper)
1. Marley, Bob. 2. Reggae muscans —Jamaca—Bography. I. Ttle.
ML420.M3313M66 2007
782.421646092—dc22
[B]
2007018313
Brtsh Lbrary Catalogung n Publcaton Data s avalable.
Copyrght © 2007 by Davd V. Moskowtz
All rghts reserved. No porton of ths book may be reproduced, by any process or technque, wthout the express wrtten consent of the publsher.
Lbrary of Congress Catalog Card Number: 2007018313
ISBN-13: 978 –0–313–33879–3
ISBN-10: 0–313–33879–5
ISSN: 1540–4900
Frst publshed n 2007
Greenwood Press, 88 Post Road West, Westport, CT 06881
An mprnt of Greenwood Publshng Group, Inc. www.greenwood.com Prnted n the Unted States of Amerca

The paper used n ths book comples wth the
Permanent Paper Standard ssued by the Natonal
Informaton Standards Organzaton (Z39.48–1984).
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9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

v

For Jack, welcome to the world

v

v

C ontents

Series Foreword

x

Acknowledgments

x

Timeline: Events in the Life of Bob Marley

x

Chapter 1

Country Boy to Ghetto Youth

1

Chapter 2

Out of the Ghetto, nto the Lmelght

11

Chapter 3

From Top of the Rock to Top of the World

29

Chapter 4

Reggae Internatonal

51

Chapter 5

Home to Mount Zon

67

Chapter 6

The Legacy and the Legend

77

Chapter 7

The Marley Famly

85

Selected Discography

103

Bibliography

113

Index

119
Photo essay follows page 66

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s eries Foreword

In response to hgh school and publc lbrary needs, Greenwood developed ths dstngushed seres of full-length bographes specfcally for student use. Prepared by feld experts and professonals, these engagng bographes are talored for hgh school students who need challengng yet accessble bographes. Ideal for secondary school assgnments, the length, format and subject areas are desgned to meet educators’ requrements and students’ nterests.
Greenwood offers an extensve selecton of bographes spannng all currculum related subject areas ncludng socal studes, the scences, lterature and the arts, hstory and poltcs, as well as popular culture, coverng publc fgures and famous personaltes from all tme perods and backgrounds, both hstorc and contemporary, who have made an mpact on Amercan and/or world culture. Greenwood bographes were chosen based on comprehensve feedback from lbrarans and educators. Consderaton was gven to both currculum relevance and nherent nterest. The result s an ntrgung mx of the well known and the unexpected, the sants and snners from long-ago hstory and contemporary pop culture. Readers wll fnd a wde array of subject choces from fascnatng crme fgures lke Al Capone to nsprng poneers lke Margaret Mead, from the greatest mnds of our tme lke Stephen Hawkng to the most amazng success stores of our day lke J. K. Rowlng.
Whle the emphass s on fact, not glorfcaton, the books are meant to be fun to read. Each volume provdes n-depth nformaton about the subject’s lfe from brth through chldhood, the teen years, and adulthood.
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SERIES FO REWO RD

A thorough account relates famly background and educaton, traces personal and professonal nfluences, and explores struggles, accomplshments, and contrbutons. A tmelne hghlghts the most sgnfcant lfe events aganst a hstorcal perspectve. Bblographes supplement the reference value of each volume.

a CknowledgMents

My sncerest thanks go to my wfe, Jen, and our chldren Heather, Lucas,
Kate, and Jack. Wthout ther boundless patence there would never be enough tme for me to work on projects such as ths. Thanks also go to
Dr. Walter Clark whose gudance and tutelage have helped me to pursue the research that nterests me most. Further thanks to Photofest Inc. for ther knd permsson to use the mages contaned n ths book.

x

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t iMeline: events in the liFe oF BoB Marley

1945

1951

1952
1955
1956
1957

1959

Nesta Robert Marley, the only chld of Cedella Malcolm and Captan Norval Snclar Marley, was born at
2:30 p.m. on February 6, 1945. The brth took place on
Cedella’s father’s (Omerah Malcolm’s) farm n Nne
Mle, St. Ann’s Parsh, Jamaca. Bob stayed on ths famly farm untl he was sx.
Bob went to lve wth hs father n Kngston, Jamaca.
When Cedella arrved the followng year to look n on
Bob, she dscovered that he had not been lvng wth hs father but had nstead been stayng wth an elderly woman named Mrs. Grey.
Once mother and son were reunted, they returned together to ther rural Jamacan home n St. Ann.
Bob learned that hs father had ded, hs mother moved to Kngston (wthout hm) to earn a better lvng.
Bob was moved from hs grandfather’s farm to lve wth hs mother’s sster, for whom he tended a herd of goats.
Bob was reunted wth hs mother when he moved to
Kngston to jon her. Ths otherwse happy reunon was marred by the fact that they now lved n Kngston’s west-sde ghetto known as Trench Town.
After attendng several area schools, ncludng Ebenezer,
Wesley, and St. Aloysus, Bob ended hs formal educaton when he qut school. He spent hs tme playng

x 

xv

T IMELINE

1960

1962
1963

1965

1966

1969

soccer, hangng out wth other ghetto youth, and gradually pckng up musc.
Together wth hs closest frend Bunny, born Nevlle
Lvngston, Bob began to cultvate hs muscal talents.
He and Bunny bult rudmentary nstruments and together they practced sngng by mtatng Fats Domno,
Lous Jordan, and the harmones of Curts Mayfeld’s Impressons. Also durng ths year, Bob and Bunny began studyng sngng wth the Jamacan recordng artst Joe
Hggs. Hggs not only provded sngng lessons, but he added Peter Tosh (born MacIntosh) to the group.
At age 16, Bob was taken to sng for producer Lesle
Kong, who ssued hs frst recordngs, “Judge Not,” “One
Cup of Coffee,” and “Terror,” on the Beverley’s mprnt.
Bob, Peter, and Bunny recorded for Clement “Coxsone”
Dodd, who was one of the three bggest producers of
Jamacan popular musc on the sland. Under the name
The Walng Walers, the group released the sngle
“Smmer Down,” whch brought them consderable success n Jamaca.
The Walng Walers contnued to have success wth a seres of sold-sellng sngles. By the end of the year,
t was clear that Bob was the natural front man for the group. Ths led to frcton that ultmately broke up the orgnal three-member group. Early n the year, Bob met Rta Anderson (Alpharta Constanta Anderson), whom he soon marred.
Together, Bob and Rta had three chldren, although
Bob had many other chldren outsde hs relatonshp wth Rta. Later n ths year, Bob moved to Wlmngton, Delaware. Bob remaned n Wlmngton for seven months, durng whch tme he worked a varety of odd jobs tryng to make enough money to launch hs own
Jamaca-based record company. Whle n Wlmngton, Bob stayed wth hs mother, who had prevously relocated to the Unted States.
Bob, Peter, and Bunny (under the name of the Walers) recorded a seres of successful sngles for Johnny Nash and Danny Sms’s JAD label. In the mddle of the year,
Bob was agan n Delaware makng and savng money to open hs own studo n Jamaca.

T IMELINE

1970

1971

1972

1973

1974

1975

xv

The Walers begn recordng a seres of now classc sngles for producer Lee “Scratch” Perry n what would be a legendary lneup: Bob Marley, Bunny Waler, Peter
Tosh, and the Barrett Brothers (Aston and Carlton) as the rhythm secton.
Bob, Peter, and Bunny, along wth ther rhythm secton
Aston and Carlton Barrett, were n London workng for
Nash and Sms on a record deal for CBS records. At the end of the year, the group was abandoned n London wth no means to return to Jamaca. Bob made contact wth Island Records’ head, Chrstopher Blackwell, who fronted hm the money to get the band back to Jamaca and make an album. Ths assocaton quckly made Island Records the most mportant reggae musc label.
The Walers released Catch a Fire, whch was the frst album-length recordng of reggae musc. The album had modest success and a degree of crossover appeal due to the rock and roll style gutar and keyboard overdubs that
Blackwell added to the orgnal tracks. In January 1973, the album was released n the Unted States and forever changed the way that reggae musc was packaged and marketed. Catch a Fire was soon unversally recognzed as the frst genune reggae album n hstory.
The Walers launched ther frst offcal tour, whch
ncluded televson appearances on the Old Grey Whistle
Test and Top Gear. Also n ths year, the Walers released ther second record on the Island label, Burnin’.
The Walers reached nternatonal exposure due to Erc
Clapton’s cover of the Walers song “I Shot the Sherff.”
The song went to number one and sparked an enormous amount of nterest n the reggae style. Whle they were experencng the most success they had yet had, the orgnal three-member Walers core dsbanded. Bob contnued to use the Walers name for the rest of hs lfe. Wthout Peter and Bunny, Bob went on to release the Natty Dread album at the end of the year.
In January, the orgnal Walers offcally dsbanded. The
Natty Dread album was released nternatonally n February. Much of the summer and fall of the year was taken up by an nternatonal tour n support of the new album.
Several shows were recorded n England and made nto

xv

T IMELINE

1976

1977
1978

1979

1980

the frst Walers concert album, called Live! The album sold well n the UK and was released n the Unted
States n 1976.
Bob appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone magazne.
Bob Marley and the Walers released the Rastaman Vibration album then toured for three months to support the release. At approxmately 8:45 p.m. on December 3, gunmen broke nto Marley’s house at 56 Hope Road and opened fre. Bob and Rta were each shot once and ther manager, Don Taylor, was shot several tmes. Everyone survved, but ths forced Bob nto self-mposed exle n fear for hs lfe.
In the wake of the assassnaton attempt, Bob released a flurry of records. Exodus was ssued on June 3, 1977.
Kaya album released n early 1978. The Exodus and
Kaya releases both spawned successful tours. Bob set up the Jamacan Peace Concert, whch featured several
mportant reggae acts. The concert was produced to help settle some of the volence that had been tearng the
sland apart.
Bob and the Walers released the Survival album n
October of 1979. The album was another bg success and led to another nternatonal tour whch was launched n Boston at the end of October.
The sessons that produced the Survival materal also yelded the songs for the album Uprising. Uprising was released n June and was supported by another nternatonal tour wth dates n the Unted States and Western
Europe, durng whch the Walers played for over one mllon people. Durng the North Amercan leg of the
Uprising tour, Bob collapsed whle joggng n New York’s
Central Park. It was soon dscovered that he had suffered a stroke and the rest of the tour was canceled. The last lve show that Bob Marley and the Walers played was on September 23, 1980, at Pttsburgh’s Stanley Theater. In the wake of hs collapse, Bob was dagnosed wth termnal cancer n hs stomach, lungs, and bran. At the end of the year, Bob traveled to Bad Wessee, Germany, seekng nontradtonal cancer treatment from Dr. Josef
Issels. Dr. Issels was able to extend Bob’s lfe, but could not successfully treat the cancer.

T IMELINE

1980

1981

1984
1999

xv

On October 4, Amercan popular muscan Steve Wonder released a trbute to the cancer-strcken reggae superstar. The song was reggae-lke n style and was called
“Master Blaster (Jammn’).” It went on to be a serous ht on the U.S. rhythm and blues charts and topped out at number fve on the pop charts.
At 11:45 on Monday, May 11, 1981, Robert Nesta
Marley, the frst thrd-world muscan who rose to nternatonal super stardom, ded. In death, Bob was treated as a Jamacan natonal hero. He was awarded Jamaca’s
Natonal Order of Mert and gven a state funeral.
Afterward, Bob’s body was taken to hs St. Ann’s brthplace where t remans. Snce hs death, Bob’s chldhood home n St. Ann and hs house at 56 Hope Road have become places of plgrmage for ardent fans. Although there are many albums that have been released after
Bob’s death, the Confrontation album (released n 1983) was the only posthumous release that was conceved of by Bob before he ded.
The most popular collecton of Bob’s greatest hts, Legend, was released. The album went on to become the hghest-sellng reggae album of all tme.
The collecton of Bob’s greatest hts, Legend, receved ts
10th platnum certfcaton, sgnfyng that t had sold more than 10 mllon copes. Ths contnues to easly hold the record for the hghest-sellng reggae boxed set.

x v

c hapter 1

Country Boy to g hetto youth

Robert Nesta Marley was the frst and possbly the only superstar to emerge from the thrd world. From hs meager rural begnnngs, Bob blossomed
nto a man of such sgnfcant mport and nfluence that hs attempted assassnaton n 1976 was poltcally motvated. Bob’s muscal nfluence
s stll felt. Hs was the frst reggae act to release a full-length LP, whch
mmedately changed the marketng model that had exsted for 30 years.
Beyond ts commercal mpact, Bob’s musc has a unversal qualty that transcends race, color, economc class, even language. For example, t s known that hs musc s lstened to by such dverse groups as the Maor people of New Zealand and the Hop Indans lvng n Amerca’s Grand
Canyon.
Although he lved a short lfe, only 36 years, Bob penned an enormous quantty of songs. And unlke some songwrters, Bob was nvolved n all aspects of the creaton of hs musc. He worked on each of the nstrumental parts, wrote the lyrcs, and had hs hand n the control room whle the
ntal tracks were beng lad down, n addton to beng nvolved n the edtng and overdubbng process that yelded the fnal product. Bob’s sound was so characterstc of reggae that t vrtually cornered the “roots reggae” desgnaton. Hs rhythm secton poneered the standard roots reggae groove, whch they called “one drop” rhythm. One drop rhythm was acheved when the drummer accented only the thrd beat of a four beat measure. The classcal musc of Western Europe typcally accented the frst and the thrd beat n a four beat measure, and Amercan rock and roll musc emphaszed beats two and four. Ths unque reggae rhythm separated t from the musc from whch t grew and made t dstnctly Jamacan
1

2

B OB MARLEY

n character. Bob so lked ths style of playng that he wrote a song that
llustrated the rhythm (the song s called “One Drop”) and ncluded lyrcs about the fne qualty of ths rhythm. In addton to hs achevements n formng the reggae sound, Bob was also an expert lyrcst. The equal of any contemporary hp-hop word slnger, Bob was able to craft emotonally powerful chans of words that are pleasng to lsten to on the surface but that pack a serous punch when ther meanngs are explored. He was able to draw the meanng and the emoton out of each word and then expertly hde them n relaxed “sland”-soundng musc. Bob dd ths on purpose. If hs musc was too overtly poltcal or venomous, t would not be commercal or rado frendly. Bob also knew hs way around a good rock and roll song. Hs musc s often delvered n the standard verse/chorus form wth addtonal weght added to the chorus materal. Ths s a tme-honored rock and roll form wth roots from Elvs to the Beatles.
Regardless of Bob’s poverty-strcken chldhood, hs adult lfe contaned the trappngs of success. At the heght of hs career n the late
1970s, Bob lved n a bg house n downtown Kngston, the captal cty of Jamaca. The house contaned all of the standard lvng spaces, plus rehearsal and recordng spaces so that Bob and hs band could work where they lved. A typcal day at ths house, 56 Hope Road, was to spend the mornng playng soccer and smokng ganja (Jamacan slang for marjuana), the afternoon conductng busness and meetng wth people who often wanted Bob to gve them money, and the evenng rehearsng and recordng, contnung well nto the nght. Bob dd acqure some of the symbols of a wealthy person. For example, he drove a BMW, whch was certanly an ndcaton of hs monetary standng. However, Bob dd not really care much for such symbols and reportedly bought the car because
BMW could stand for Bob Marley and the Walers. Lke hs chldhood home n St. Ann’s Parsh, the house at 56 Hope Road has been converted
nto a museum. The upstars bedrooms are now gallery space that house
tems such as a large map of the world wth push pns markng all of the places where Bob and the Walers toured. Bob’s son Zggy’s old room (hs son’s actual name s Davd) has been made nto a busness offce and a lbrary. Bob’s master bedroom s also on the second floor and t has been preserved just the way that t was when he ded.
As well as the attracton that Bob’s musc had, he also had a very magnetc personalty. Bob was descrbed as open, honest, and approachable, especally to hs ghetto brothers and ssters. However, when deceved by a busness assocate or cornered by an ntervewer, Bob could become qute nasty; he would quckly gve the person a serous look that made everyone understand that he should not be taken for granted. Another way that

C OUNTRY BOY TO G HETTO YOUTH

3

Bob separated hmself from the Western world was n hs speech. Whle
Englsh s the offcal language of Jamaca, most Jamacans actually speak a pdgn verson of the language ncludng words adopted from varous
Afrcan languages and a great deal of slang. So, f Bob wanted to be understood he spoke n plan Englsh, but f he wanted to confuse the person he was talkng to or wanted to purposely obscure hs meanng, then he swtched nto a thck Jamacan accent that was completely unntellgble to anyone who was not from the sland.
As a professonal performer, Bob presented a knd of front that manfested tself n the way he acted and the way he looked. He favored denm shrts and pants, boots, and stockng hats (called tams). On stage he often fell nto a trance-lke state whle sngng. He would keep hs eyes closed and flal hs arms whle swngng hs long dreadlocks. All of these components together created Bob Marley the legend.
Bob’s mpact was felt durng hs lfe and contnues to be felt today.
Snce 1991, Bob Marley and the Walers have sold n excess of 21 mllon records (these statstcs dd not begn to be collected untl 10 years after hs death). Further, Bob has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, he was
nducted nto the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, he receved the Grammy
Lfetme Achevement Award, and he was awarded the Jamacan Order of
Mert. Regardless of these (and many other) awards, the true test of Bob’s worth s tme. Twenty-fve years after hs death, the musc of Bob Marley and the Walers s as popular, mportant, and pertnent as t was the day
t was released.

Jamaica
Jamaca s one of the larger Carbbean slands and s located about two hundred mles south of the slands at the southern tp of Florda (the
Florda Keys). The sland tself s lttle more than a mountan stckng up through the surface of the ocean; however, due to ts clmate Jamaca
s an sland paradse. The low-lyng coastal areas contan the majorty of the sland’s populaton, and the majorty of the people lvng n the nteror have tradtonally lved off the land. In fact, much of the Jamacan economy has been based on the exportaton of ther crops, such as coffee, sugarcane, bananas, coconuts, ctrus fruts, and pmento. The populaton of the sland s sparse n ts nteror, but qute dense n the ctes of Kngston (the captal), Montego Bay, Negrl, and Ocho Ros. An nterestng dualty on the sland s the great dsparty between the wealthy and the poor. Jamaca s stll part of the thrd world as many of ts nhabtants do not have runnng water, electrcty, or telephone servce. Conversely, the

4

B OB MARLEY

sland’s ctes are as modern as any n the Unted States. Ths economc dvde also creates an unstable envronment that s often marked by poltcal unrest and volence. It was nto these crcumstances that Nesta
Robert (the order of hs names was later reversed) Marley was born at
2:30 p.m. on February 6, 1945.

Birth in nine mile
Bob was born n the rural nteror of the sland n a parsh called
St. Ann. Jamacan parshes are vaguely equvalent to countes n the
Unted States. Bob was born to a black Jamacan mother, Cedella Malcolm, and a whte Jamacan father, Captan Norval Snclar (or Sant Clar)
Marley. The two were an odd par as Cedella was only 18 and Norval, a member of the Brtsh army, was n hs early sxtes. Bob’s brth took place on hs maternal grandfather’s farm. Omerah Malcolm was a landownng black man who was a respected nhabtant of the vllage called Nne
Mle. Bob’s brthplace s a small rural communty that s located hgh n the nteror mountans of the sland. Bob’s mother and father had met on
Omerah’s farm, and the two were marred there on June 9, 1944. The weddng was not the usual happy occason, as Captan Marley announced that he would be departng Nne Mle the followng day. He had been offered a government job n Kngston and had no ntenton of returnng to
St. Ann. The captan dd return, however, on the occason of Bob’s brth.
After a week’s stay, the captan agan returned to Kngston and gradually lost touch wth hs wfe and son.
Because the captan was not takng fnancal responsblty for hs new famly, Cedella had to support her son. Her father allowed her to open a small grocery store on the famly property where she could sell the crops that she helped grow. There s some dsagreement about Cedella and Bob’s care durng hs early lfe. Stephen Davs noted n hs bography of the reggae superstar that Captan Marley left Omerah wth enough money to buld Cedella and Bob a small cabn to lve n and startup money for the grocery store. Regardless, Cedella and Bob were poor and barely scrapng by at ths tme. Whle Bob was stll a baby, the captan contacted Cedella to request that she send Bob to Kngston to lve wth hm. Bob’s mother wanted no part of ths separaton from her chld; however, the captan dd not let the ssue drop completely.
Bob began hs formal educaton at age four when he began attendng the Stepney School. Stepney was a basc school and provded Bob wth rudmentary educaton n letters and numbers. Durng hs early educaton, Bob was sngled out by hs teacher as beng a brght chld and

C OUNTRY BOY TO G HETTO YOUTH

5

a fast learner. When Bob was sx years old, hs father reappeared n Nne
Mle and agan tred to convnce Cedella that Bob would be better off
n Kngston. Ths tme, hs father added that Bob’s educaton would be better served at the bgger, better Kngston publc school. Cedella and
Omerah consdered the captan’s request and decded that t was n Bob’s best nterest to attend school n Kngston. Further, Cedella could not afford Bob’s school clothes and lunches. All ths havng been consdered,
Bob went to Kngston to lve wth hs father and attend publc school.
Cedella and the captan corresponded durng her separaton from her son and she was always reassured that Bob was dong well. After sx months, Cedella planned to rde the bus nto Kngston to vst her son.
The captan put her off, sayng that Bob was away on a school trp and ths evason foreshadowed Captan Marley’s decet. After a full year had passed,
Cedella had had enough of the captan’s stallng. She had learned from a frend that Bob was not n fact lvng wth the captan at all. She had also been told that Bob was unhappy wth hs Kngston arrangements and was watng for hs mother’s assstance.
In early 1952, Cedella arrved n Kngston to reclam her son. Ths presented a problem as she no longer knew where the captan or Bob lved.
Cedella had receved word that Bob was lkely lvng on Heywood Street, so she went there and began askng about her son. Soon she learned that
Bob had been lvng wth an elderly woman named Mrs. Grey, and as
Cedella searched out Mrs. Grey’s house, around the corner came Bob.
Reunted wth hs mother, Bob took her to meet Mrs. Grey, who nformed
Cedella that Bob had been lvng wth her snce hs arrval n Kngston.
The captan’s plan was that by lvng wth Mrs. Grey, Bob would become her her when she ded. Wth the captan’s plan exposed and foled, Bob and Cedella returned to St. Ann.
Back n hs rural brthplace, Bob agan studed at the Stepney School.
Whle not studyng, Bob helped hs mother run the grocery store. Whle workng at the store Bob began to exhbt hs sngng talent. Hs mother reported that Bob sang tradtonal Jamacan vendor songs that he had learned whle he was lvng n Kngston. In 1955, Bob learned that hs father had ded. In the same year, Bob was agan separated from Cedella.
The meager earnngs from the grocery store were not enough to support the two of them. Rural Jamacan lfe was and s very dffcult, and although slavery was abolshed n the 1830s, the sland stll has undertones of slavery.
Because she could not support Bob and herself, Cedella opted to take a job as a housekeeper n Kngston. She left Bob on Omerah’s farm and agan took the bus to the captal cty. Ths tme, nstead of searchng for her son she was searchng for the fnancal means to properly care for hm.

6

B OB MARLEY

When Bob was aged 11, Omerah moved Bob to Cedella’s older sster’s property, about ten mles away from the famly farm. Here Bob was n charge of a herd of goats that he had to care for and look after. Lackng any real supervson, Bob and hs cousn, Sledger, were constantly n trouble. These troublemakng ways got the par sent back to Omerah’s farm, and Bob spent the next two years under hs grandfather’s watchful eye.
In 1957, Cedella had acheved the fnancal stablty to allow for her to call for Bob. However, stablty and prosperty are qute dfferent. Bob arrved n Kngston to fnd that hs mother had been lvng n the cty’s west-sde ghetto. Whle rural Jamacan lfe s hard, the west Kngston ghettos were a testament to the underprvleged n the thrd world. Open sewers, malnourshed chldren, dsease, and volence were the characterstcs of the place that Bob came to know as Trench Town. Bob and hs mother were spared the harshest part of the ghetto, however, and nstead lved n the publc housng projects called the “government yard.”
Jamaca had earler enjoyed a tme of greater prosperty and economc stablty. Pror to the sugarcane cutters’ strke n 1938, the sland’s prosperous sugar and banana ndustres provded a decent lvng for most of ts nhabtants. However, ths age of prosperty was forever lost due to the strke. An outgrowth of the strke was the creaton of the frst Jamacan labor unons, and from the two strongest unons came the two
Jamacan poltcal partes. When Jamaca declared ndependence from
Brtan on August 6, 1962, these rval partes became locked nto a conflct that contnues today.
The two partes are the Jamacan Labour Party (JLP) and the People’s
Natonal Party (PNP), and snce the early 1960s each electon year has been marked by volence between the two sdes. The two partes are completely opposed n membershp and msson. The JLP was founded by the rght-wng labor organzer Alexander Bustamante, who went on to become Jamaca’s frst prme mnster. Bustamante’s party represented the whte Brtsh and Anglo-Jamacan colonal class, the mercantle mddle class composed of Chnese and Lebanese busnessmen and storeowners, and the elte black Jamacans who worked for them. The PNP represented the rest of the sland’s populaton, that s, the rural and urban underclass.
The PNP was begun by Norman Washngton Manley, who also went on to become a Jamacan prme mnster.
After Bob arrved n Kngston, he and hs mother moved several tmes, fnally settlng n an apartment at 19 Second Street. Whle Cedella was at work n the houses of Kngston’s wealthy, Bob attended several schools
ncludng Ebenezer, Wesley, and St. Aloysus. Although Bob remaned a strong student, he lost nterest n school and stopped attendng by the

C OUNTRY BOY TO G HETTO YOUTH

7

tme he was 14. He then spent hs days playng soccer, hangng out wth hs frends n the ghetto, and gettng nto trouble. He also began to get
nterested n musc. Another famly that lved n hs tenement yard had a son named Nevlle O’Rley Lvngston (b. 1947), who went by the name
Bunny. Together, Bob and Bunny began sngng cover versons of songs that they had learned on the rado and eventually even fashoned makeshft nstruments out of found materals. Ther przed possesson was a gutar made of copper wre, a sardne can, and a pece of bamboo.
An offshoot of Jamaca’s ndependence was the country’s collectve search for a new natonal dentty. Ths search created an envronment
n whch a true Jamacan sound emerged. Untl ths tme, Jamacan musc had conssted of mento (a ragged Jamacan calypso) and the Amercan rhythm and blues that was broadcast from Lousana and Florda. The development of a unquely Jamacan sound happened fast and took several forms. The frst style that developed was called ska. Ths style has a fast beat, shufflng rhythms, and a combnaton of elements from mento and rhythm and blues. Ska also had an assocated dance, whch was a sort of charade n whch the dancers acted out everyday domestc chores such as cleanng. Although ska was soon replaced by rock steady, whch was a slower, more electrc nstrument drven style, t dd not dsappear. In fact, there have been several ska revvals. Ska’s second wave flourshed n the
Unted States and the Unted Kngdom n the late 1970s and the 1980s and featured bands such as the Englsh Beat, Madness, the Selector, and the Specals. The md-1990s saw the rse of ska’s thrd wave, wth bands lke Less than Jake, the Urge, Sublme, No Doubt, and Reel Bg Fsh.
At the dawnng of the ska era, Bob and Bunny were most nterested n the Amercan rhythm and blues sound. Bob partcularly lked Fats Domno, Huey “Pano” Smth, and Earl Kng. He was also nfluenced by Lous
Jordan’s jump band style and the close vocal harmones of the Drfters and the Impressons. Curts Mayfeld, the leader of the Impressons, had a specal nfluence on Bob. Whle Bob rarely covered other people’s songs, he actually ncorporated Mayfeld’s song “People Get Ready” nto hs own song “One Love.” Once Bob embraced the sngng style of the Drfters and the Impressons, he knew that he wanted to form a sngng group and take a run at musc stardom.
Whle Bob dreamed of becomng a famous snger, Cedella worred about her hgh school dropout son. She managed to help Bob get a job n a weldng shop where he could learn a trade that could support hm. Whle
Bob never became a welder, the connectons that he made n the weldng shop altered the course of hs lfe. One of the other welders was a buddng muscan named Desmond Dekker. Dekker led the already modestly

8

B OB MARLEY

successful sngng group the Aces and he was connected to the Jamacan recordng ndustry. In fact, by the end of the 1960s, Dekker’s group had an
nternatonal ht wth the song “Israeltes.”

Grew Up wailinG
Bob followed hs mother’s wshes and worked n the welder’s shop for a tme, because he knew that n order to become a good snger he needed tranng. He needed to learn the rudments of how to sng properly and the theory behnd the constructon of musc. The man that was able to provde hm wth both of those sklls lved just around the corner from Bob and
Bunny’s Second Street yard. Joe Hggs (1940–1999) was half of the successful pre-ska sngng duo Hggs and Wlson. He had had success n the early 1960s and was a well-respected member of the Jamacan musc scene.
However, unlke other successful artsts from the ghetto, Hggs choose not to move out of Trench Town. Instead, he converted hs Second Street yard
nto an mpromptu musc school where asprng sngers were welcome to partcpate n sngng classes. Hggs had perfect ptch and was an expert at sngng n close harmony so he was a perfect match for Bob’s desres. More
mportantly, Hggs conducted hs classes for free and took all comers.

Bob, Bunny, and peter
Bob and Bunny began frequentng Hggs’s yard and soon were learnng how to sng n harmony wth each other. Hggs also ntroduced the par to a tall, slghtly older ghetto youth named Peter MacIntosh, who would soon go by the name Peter Tosh (1944–1987). On Hggs’s suggeston, Peter joned Bob and Bunny, makng the group a tro. Also, Peter had the dstncton of beng the only ghetto youth n Hggs’s yard to have a factory-made gutar, whch he soon taught Bob how to play. Together, the tro formed a sngng group called the Teenagers. The group also ncluded two female sngers, Beverly Kelso and Cherry Smth, and soon added a fourth male snger n the form of Junor Brathwate. The group worked well together to create vocal harmony as each snger’s voce was n a dfferent range. Bob sang tenor, Bunny sang n a natural-soundng hgh falsetto, and Peter sang bass. The group dd covers of those who had nfluenced them, ncludng Sam Cooke, Ray Charles, and the Impressons.
Along wth ther sngng tutelage, Hggs also taught Bob how to construct a song. Bob learned that there were three man song sectons, the verse (where the story of the song unfolded), the chorus (a secton that repeated the song’s most catchy materal), and the brdge (often composed

C OUNTRY BOY TO G HETTO YOUTH

9

of a gutar solo). These sectons worked n a specfc order n the constructon of a popular song. The verses and the chorus alternated untl about two-thrds of the way through the song, when the brdge was nserted.
After the brdge, there were typcally repettons of the chorus materal untl the song ended. Ths s the standard verse/chorus song form that was as popular then as t s now.
In 1961, Bob began wrtng hs own songs and the next natural step was to try to get them recorded. Decdng to try to be a solo snger, Bob approached Lesle Kong (1933–1971), who was a Chnese-Jamacan studo owner and who refused to record the Teenagers. The Jamacan recordng
ndustry was n ts nfancy n the early 1960s. There were only a few studos and the studo owners dd not want to waste money on a recordng that was not a guaranteed moneymaker. Also, the three man studos had
mmedately cornered the market n Jamacan recordng, so together Ken
Khour (Federal Studos), Duke Red (Treasure Isle Studos), and Clement “Coxsone” Dodd (Studo One) were already governng the style of
Jamacan popular musc. Havng been turned away by Kong, Bob enlsted the help of hs weldng shop coworker Desmond Dekker. Dekker already had an n at the studos and scored a ht for Kong’s Beverley’s label wth hs song “Honour Your Mother and Father.” Dekker took Bob back to
Kong and he audtoned agan. Ths tme, Bob sang for Kong’s most recent sensaton, the 14-year-old snger Jmmy Clff. Clff was suffcently mpressed by Bob’s sngng to persuade Kong to record a few of Bob’s songs.

Solo Singles
Bob recorded “Judge Not,” “One Cup of Coffee,” and “Terror” n 1962 on Kong’s Beverley’s label. Kong released these songs as 45-rpm sngles, but wthout any marketng or rado play the sngles were not successful.
At 16, Bob was a Jamacan recordng artst, although not a successful one.
At the tme of the release, t was assumed that the three songs were all orgnals wrtten by Bob. However, Chrstopher Farley has subsequently dscovered that “One Cup of Coffee” was actually a cover of a song by
Claude Gray, an Amercan snger/songwrter.
One aspect of the Jamacan musc scene n the 1960s was the rse of the talent contest. Lke the modern Battle of the Bands, varous Jamacan busnesses sponsored talent contests to try to fnd the next bg ht. Bob sang
n several of these contests n the early 1960s and had a modest amount of success. Even as hs career was begnnng to take off, however, Bob’s personal lfe was dffcult. Bob’s mother and Bunny’s father had an affar that yelded a baby grl whom they called Pearl. Because ths created an even

10

BOB MARLEY

more dffcult monetary stuaton, Cedella decded to marry a more stable man. In late 1962, Cedella marred Edward Booker, who was already establshed n a small Jamacan communty n Wlmngton, Delaware. Cedella and Pearl relocated to Delaware wth Booker, and Bob stayed n Jamaca.
Cedella dd not have enough money for all of them to go; however, she dd get Bob a passport and t was at ths tme that hs frst and mddle names were reversed. Now homeless, 18-year-old Bob was squattng n varous spots around Trench Town. By early 1963, Bob was lvng n the corner of a ktchen on Frst Street wth hs frend Vncent “Tartar” Ford. Poor and desttute, Bob and Tartar often sang to keep ther mnds off of beng hungry. Quckly runnng out of optons, Bob rejoned the other members of the Teenagers and abandoned all hope of beng a solo snger.
Another musc tutor entered the pcture when the Rastafaran hand drummer Alvn “Seeco” Patterson began teachng the Teenagers the ntrcaces of muscal rhythm. Patterson was already a professonal muscan and had deep connectons to the Jamacan musc ndustry. In the summer of 1963, Patterson took the Teenagers to audton for Clement “Coxsone”
Dodd, the owner of one of the best studos on the sland. Dodd’s studo was called the Jamacan Recordng and Publshng Company Lmted, but everyone n Trench Town knew t as Studo One. Patterson had already been talkng the band up to Dodd, and the producer knew the sngs that
Bob had cut for Kong. The group performed one orgnal and three cover songs, but Dodd dsmssed them, sayng that they needed more practce.
Peter, the most aggressve member of the group, told Dodd that they had another song he should hear. The group performed Bob’s orgnal composton, “Smmer Down,” and Dodd told them that he would record the song. “Smmer Down” was a tmely ghetto anthem that warned the youth to control ther tempers or the volence n the west Kngston ghetto would only get worse.
For the recordng sesson, the band needed to decde on a name that they could stck wth, and they chose the Walng Walers based on a passage n the Bble. As was the custom n the Jamacan recordng ndustry, the group was backed by a collecton of studo nstrumentalsts that ncluded some now legendary players such as Ernest Rangln on gutar, Rco
Rodrquez on trombone, Arkland “Drumbago” Parks on drums, and Cluett Johnson on bass. The product of the sesson was a fast ska verson of
“Smmer Down” that was domnated by horn lnes. All nvolved were convnced that the song would be a ht. The song was released n tme for Chrstmas 1963 and by early 1964 t had soared to number one on the Jamacan charts. The song sat at the top of the chart for two months and the Walng Walers were nstant stars.

c hapter 2

out oF the ghetto, i nto the liMelight

Wth the success of “Smmer Down,” the Walng Walers became a fxture at Studo One. The recorded regularly and Dodd even allowed Bob to lve at the studo. The Walng Walers followed up ther early success wth two more hts n 1964. The songs “It Hurts to Be Alone” and “Lonesome Feelng” were both emotonal songs about the pan of loss and lonelness. In 1965, “I’m Stll Watng” was the next Walng Walers ht. The song was recorded wth the close harmones of the Amercan doo-wop style. Another Walng Walers manstay was to cover Amercan hts and
nfuse them wth sland style. They dd ths wth songs by the Drfters,
Aaron Nevlle, and others. Although the group never got reproducton rghts from the orgnal songwrters, they never had legal problems because ther covers were never popular outsde Jamaca.

From Ska to rock Steady
Lvng n Dodd’s studo gave Bob the opportunty to practce the gutar for hours. It also allowed hm to lsten to Dodd’s rhythm and blues and soul records. Bob mmersed hmself n the Motown sound and spent hours lstenng to the products from the soul studos of the Amercan southeast.
As Bob was learnng Amercan muscal style, the Jamacan ska style was gvng way to rock steady. In rock steady, the beat speed s less than half as fast as n ska. Also, the ska horn lne s gone and s replaced by keyboards.
The gutar s emphaszng the second and fourth beat of a four beat measure and the bass s emphaszng beats one and three. The Walng Walers

11

12

BOB MARLEY

adopted ths style change and slowed ther songs down to accommodate the new style.
In addton to ther studo tme, the Walng Walers spent the md1960s playng lve. They appeared on Vere John’s “Opportunty Hour” and the Ward Theater’s “Battle of the Bands.” Growng up n the ghetto,
Bob had been gven the nckname “Tuff Gong” for hs no-nonsense street atttude. Bob dsplayed hs temper after losng one of these talent contests to a group called the Unques. Upon the announcement of the wnner,
Bob flew nto a rage and challenged a member of the wnnng band to a fght. An aspect of the new rock steady style was a subset of songs that were assocated wth the “rude boy” lfestyle. Jamacan rude boys were the ghetto youth who survved on ther wts and were often prone to short tempers and volence. Bob often njected that rude boy swagger nto hs songs. Addtonally, rude boy rock steady allowed the bass and drums to domnate the song and dd not use the typcal ska horns. The Walng
Walers created a ghetto anthem wth ther 1965 sngle “Rude Boy.” The song glorfed the rude boy atttude and ts lyrcs were flled wth boastng and rude boy slang. Agan, Bob and the group had a bg ht. Even wth ths orgnal musc success, the Walng Walers contnued to cover other artsts’ songs wth Tom Jones’s “What’s New Pussycat” and the Beatles’
“And I Love Her.” It was also at ths tme that Bob began the practce, whch lasted the rest of hs lfe, of nsertng Bblcal quotatons or paraphrases nto hs songs.
The end of 1965 also marked the end of the Walng Walers. Junor
Brathwate left the group to move to Chcago and Kelso and Smth also departed for greener pastures. Reduced to the core three members, the
Walng Walers also shortened ther name to just the Walers. Ths alteraton of the group sze foreshadowed the constantly changng lneup that marked the entre exstence of the Walers band.
In early 1965, Bob met the female snger Rta Anderson (b. 1950). Rta was the head of a female vocal tro called the Soulettes. She was also a
Sunday school teacher, church snger, and respected member of the ghetto communty. Lke Bob, Rta also ganed access to Studo One and aspred to be a recordng artst. Rta convnced Bob and Peter to arrange for an audton for her group. Dodd lked what he heard, but n hs shrewd busness manner told the grls that they needed more work. He brought them
n on probaton and made Bob ther sngng coach and manager.
At frst, Bob was very strct wth the grls and they were scared of hm.
Soon, though, Bob softened and even admtted that he was attracted to
Rta. Bob expressed hs feelng for Rta by wrtng her love notes that

O UT OF THE GHETTO , INTO THE L IMELIGHT

13

he asked Bunny to delver for hm. The par soon grew closer and the resultng love affar lasted the rest of Bob’s short lfe. At the same tme,
Bob tred of lvng n Dodd’s studo. Seeng no other soluton, Rta took
Bob n to lve wth her, her nfant daughter Sharon, and her aunt and uncle. However, her aunt and uncle were not agreeable to the stuaton and threw the par out. Cooler heads soon prevaled; a small shack was bult behnd Rta’s aunt and uncle’s house, and Bob, Rta, and Sharon all lved there. Bob spent the rest of 1965 workng for Dodd, gettng closer to
Rta and Sharon, and tryng to advance hs fledglng musc career. At the end of the year, the Walers learned ther frst mportant lesson about the record ndustry. When they went to collect your annual royaltes for ther record sales from Dodd, they were put off and told that ther lvng allowance was ther royaltes. A fght ensued and Dodd fnally relented, gvng the three sngers £60 to splt. Wth ths, Bob’s dstrust of record producers began; t contnued to grow worse for the rest of hs lfe.
Bob planned a moneymakng trp to Delaware for early 1966. However, he lad down one condton; before he left he wanted to marry Rta. On
February 10, 1966, Bob and Rta were marred. Frends of the par heralded the weddng as the unon of the two most promsng sngng groups on the sland. Just has hs father had done, Bob left Rta the day after the weddng to fnd work n the Unted States.

BoB and raStaFarianiSm
Bob’s stay n Delaware lasted for seven months. Durng ths tme, Bob worked a varety of menal jobs. He was a laboratory assstant for the Du
Pont Chemcal Company and he had part-tme jobs as a parkng lot attendant, fork lft drver, and dshwasher. The rest of Bob’s tme was spent wrtng new songs. He dd not partcularly care for the fast pace or the clmate n Delaware and looked forward to returnng to Jamaca and Rta.
Also whle n Delaware, Bob began hs converson from Catholcsm to belef n Rastafaransm. Hs mother was appalled by the change, but was powerless but to watch as Bob’s har grew nto dreadlocks and as he talked ever ncreasngly about Hale Selasse and Ethopa.
The wearng of dreadlocks s one aspect of the belefs of Rastafaran adherents. Sportng these uncombed locks of har has not been unversally adopted by members of the group, but Rastas fnd precedents for ths habt
n passages from the Bble. Rastas beleve dreadlocks to be supported by
Levtcus 21:5 (“They shall not make baldness upon ther head, nether shall they shave off the corner of ther beard, nor make any cuttngs n the flesh”) and the Nazarte vow n Numbers 6:5 (“All the days of the

14

BOB MARLEY

vow of hs separaton there shall no razor come upon hs head: untl the days be fulflled, n whch he separateth hmself unto the LORD, he shall be holy, and shall let the locks of the har of hs head grow”). One reason ths harstyle was adopted was to contrast the knky har of black men wth the straghter har of whtes. Ths vsble separaton was also a part of the Amercan cvl rghts movement when black Amercans worked ther har nto large Afros.
Rastafaransm s one of the many syncretc relgons found n the Carbbean; others nclude Santera n Cuba and Voodoo n Hat. Relgous syncretsm s the combnng of two dsparate relgous belefs, n ths case the combnng of Catholcsm and elements of varous Afrcan relgons.
The Rastafarans, and ultmately the Marley famly, beleved the then emperor of Ethopa, Hale Selasse I (hs name s translated as “Power of the Trnty”), was n fact a rencarnaton of Jesus sent to earth to rescue them from ther oppresson. Hale Selasse was baptzed Tafar Makonen and was gven the ttle/rank of ras, whch loosely translates to duke or head. He was a descendent of an old bloodlne that traced ts orgns back to Menelk, who was the frst son of Solomon and Makeba the Queen of Sheba. He was beleved to be the 225th descendant of ths bloodlne and was varously referred to as Neguse Negest (Kng of Kngs), Lord of
Lords, Conquerng Lon of the Trbe of Judah, Elect of God, Lght of the
Unverse, and Emperor of Ethopa. The pan-Afrcanst and leader of the
Unversal Negro Improvement Assocaton, Marcus Garvey, found a bass
n the Old Testament for the belef that Hale Selasse was a rencarnaton of Jesus and was the one who orgnally professed Selasse’s defcaton. Selasse dd nothng durng hs lfe to dscredt ths noton and perpetuated ths belef among Rastas all over the world.
Bob returned from Wlmngton n October wth plans to jump start hs
Jamacan recordng career. The Jamaca to whch he returned was dramatcally changed from the one he had left less than a year earler. In hs absence, Hale Selasse I had vsted the sland and ths vst was heralded by many as the comng of the Redeemer. Even Rta went to vew Selasse as he passed by n a motorcade. Upon hs return, Rta told Bob that she had seen the marks left on Selasse’s hands from beng hung on the cross, the stgmata.
In addton to the Rastafaran fever grppng Jamaca’s underclass, the musc of the sland had also changed. Whle Bob was n Delaware, the
Soulettes had scored a ht wth ther Studo One release “Ped Pper” and the Walers had contnued to perform. The group had success wth the sngles “Who Feels It,” “Dancng Shoes,” “Rock Sweet Rock,” “The
Toughest,” “Let Hm Go,” “Dreamland,” and others.

O UT OF THE GHETTO , INTO THE L IMELIGHT

15

On Bob’s return, the Walers were also the frst Jamacan group to outwardly adopt the look of adherents of Rastafaransm. Bob’s har was already startng to knot nto locks, and Peter had stopped shavng and cuttng hs har; Bunny had been nterested n Rastafaran belefs earler than the other two. Addtonally, the group began followng other tenets of Rastafaransm. They adopted the strct Ital det, and engaged n actve
Bble readng and aggressve ganja smokng. Rasta sentments also began appearng n ther musc wth Hale Selasse themed songs and Rasta phlosophy njected nto lyrcs.
The Rastafaran use of ganja (marjuana) has been a pont of contenton wth the Western world snce Rastafaransm began. Rastas do not smoke ganja for the hgh; the drug s as llegal n Jamaca as t s n the
Unted States and smokng ganja has led to many Rastas beng jaled.
Instead, Rastas consder ganja the “wsdom weed” of Rastafaransm and smoke t to gan wsdom. It became part of ther relgous rtes (rtuals) as a means for brngng oneself closer to Jah (God). Rastas found a bass for the use of ganja n the Bble. Psalm 104:14 stated: “He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle and herb for the servce of man.” Smokng ganja became a sacrament of Rastafaransm. It was used at ther relgous meetngs, called grounatons, and has been descrbed as the “healng of the [Afrcan] naton.” Further, Rastas have a ceremonal approach to smokng ganja through the use of a “chalce” (a rudmentary water ppe that cools and flters the smoke). Ganja s not the only herb used n
Rastafaransm; there are numerous others used for medcnal and detary purposes. Another change that occurred wth Bob’s return from Delaware was that the Walers splt wth Dodd’s Studo One. Frcton between Bob and Dodd had long been gettng worse and the Walers’ Rastafaran ways dd not ft wth Dodd’s mage for the studo. Also, the Walers had released over a hundred sngles on the Studo One mprnt, fve of whch had reached the Jamacan top 10. However, they had seen very lttle money from all of ther record sales. Also, Dodd had been sellng Walers sngles for ressue n England and makng a healthy proft. None of ths money was gven to the Walers, and whle Dodd was gettng rch the Walers contnued to struggle for subsstence.
Bob then replaced Dodd wth hs new sprtual gude, a Rastafaran elder named Mortmer Planno. Planno dd not just ad Bob n understandng the ways of Rastafaransm; he also became the Walers’ manager. As
Bob’s fath grew, so dd hs famly. Rta was pregnant and Bob decded to move hs growng famly to the Malcolm famly farm n St. Ann. The
Marley famly stayed n St. Ann untl 1970. Durng ths perod, Bob only

16

BOB MARLEY

traveled to Kngston to conduct occasonal busness. The famly lved by subsstence farmng and soon Rta delvered a baby grl named Cedella.
Throughout ths perod, Bob contnued to wrte songs.
Snce the Walers had splt wth Dodd, they were n need of a record label. The group opted to form ther own label, whch they called Wal’N
Soul’M. The Walers released “Selasse Is the Chapel” and “Ths Man Is
Back.” For ther work n the studo, the Walers began employng the producer Clancy Eccles (1940–2005). They then released the sngles “Nce
Tme” and “Str It Up.” For a bref perod everythng went well. However, at the end of 1967, the stampng machne that actually made the Walers sngles broke and the Wal’N Soul’M mprnt folded. The group’s bad experence wth Dodd and the trouble wth ther recorded stamper foreshadowed the dffcultes that they would have for the rest of the band’s exstence. The year 1968 dd not treat the band much better. Peter was arrested for takng part n a protest aganst the whte supremacst government n
Rhodesa, Afrca, and Bob and Bunny were each temporarly jaled for marjuana possesson. Bob served a month n jal, but Bunny was sentenced to a year because he was caught wth a sgnfcant quantty of the drug. The group turned ths opposton nto the materal on whch they based ther songs, makng a postve out of a negatve stuaton. Also, the
Marley famly ended the year on a hgh note when Rta gave brth to a son that they named Davd. Although he was named Davd Marley, he quckly earned the nckname Zggy and that s how he s known to the world today.
The end of the 1960s was a tumultuous tme for Bob and the Walers. The group pad careful attenton to the cvl rghts movement n the
Unted States and dentfed wth the statements made by Martn Luther
Kng, Jr. They also deepened ther fath n Rastafaransm. Planno took
Bob to vst a Rasta enclave n Jones Town where he learned of a group of
Rastas who held themselves to an even strcter doctrne and set of practces. The members of the group called themselves the Twelve Trbes of
Israel and spent long hours n grounatons that were flled wth prayng, drummng, chantng, and smokng ganja. Bob gradually became closely assocated wth the Twelve Trbes. Because he was born n February, Bob became part of the trbe of Joseph. Through the Twelve Trbes, Bob met the Afrcan Amercan pop snger Johnny Nash. Nash had an nternatonal ht wth ths song “I Can See Clearly Now,” and through hs connectons, Nash helped the Walers reach a larger audence.
Nash and hs busness partner, Danny Sms, began operatng a record label n 1964. The orgnal label, called JoDa, was unsuccessful. However,

O UT OF THE GHETTO , INTO THE L IMELIGHT

17

wth ther growng connectons n the Carbbean, Nash and Sms opened the Cayman Musc label. The label was based n the Cayman Islands and due to the relatve cheapness of makng recordngs n the Carbbean,
Nash and Sms’s new company prospered. The par also realzed that they could make sgnfcant money exportng Jamacan musc to the rest of the world. Bob and the Walers audtoned for Nash and Sms and a recordng agreement was reached. However, the group could not go drectly nto the studo because Bunny was stll n jal.
The Walers were excted about the prospect of workng wth Nash and
Sms, as the par wanted to promote the band on an nternatonal level.
Wth the negotatng help of Planno, the Walers and Cayman Musc entered nto an agreement n whch the band members were hred as song wrters for the label. Wth Bunny’s release from prson n September of
1968, the group began recordng for Cayman Musc and over the next four years cut more than eghty sngles.
In early 1969, Sms launched the JAD Records label and used t to record more early Walers sngles, such as “Mellow Mood,” “Put It On,” “How
Many Tmes,” and “There She Goes.” These songs all fell nto the rock steady style and dd not dsplay the Rastafaran lyrcs that the group would become known for. Early 1969 brought another change to the Jamacan popular musc style. The rock steady beat slowed down even further and rock steady became reggae. The group Toots and the Maytals ushered n the new sound wth the song “Do the Reggay,” and soon the sound swept the sland. Concdentally, as the sound that the Walers would become famous for was startng to gel, the band was beng gven greater freedom from the constrants of ther Cayman and JAD contracts.
Wth ther freedom from Cayman and JAD, Bob and the Walers returned to the studo of Bob’s frst producer, Lesle Kong. Wth Kong, the
Walers recorded enough materal for an album. The Walers used Kong because he was recognzed as one of the hottest producers on the nland at the tme and he was also fosterng the new reggae sound. The newly recorded songs ncluded “Soul Shakedown Party,” “Stop That Tran,”
“Cauton,” “Go Tell It on the Mountan,” “Soon Come,” “Can’t You
See,” “Soul Captve” “Cheer Up” “Back Out,” and “Do It Twce.” Kong then ssued these songs as sngles n Jamaca and England, but none of them was commercally successful. Kong then nformed the group that he planned to release the materal as an album called The Best of the Wailers.
Ths news sent the Walers nto a rage as they all beleved that ther best materal was yet to come. Aganst the group’s protests, the album was released. However, before Kong could reap any benefts, he ded of a massve heart attack at age 38.

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BOB MARLEY

lee “Scratch” perry
Agan dsllusoned by the Jamacan record ndustry, Bob planned another trp to Delaware to make enough money to launch hs own record label and thereby retan control over the Walers’ musc. In the sprng of
1969, Bob agan went to lve wth hs mother. Ths tme Bob worked at a Chrysler automoble plant n addton to holdng down several other jobs. When he returned to Jamaca several months later, the money that he had made went to supportng hs famly. Nevertheless, Bob was ready to return to the studo and took the Walers back to Studo One to work for Clement “Coxsone” Dodd. The second seres of recordngs wth Dodd was even better than the frst, as Dodd had employed a new sound engneer, Lee “Scratch” Perry (b. 1936).
The unon of the Walers and Perry proved to be a good one and together they produced a unque sound. The producton was rougher than
t had been wth Kong, Bob’s vocals were left raw, and the bass and the drum were the lead nstruments. The gutar played offbeat chocked-chord chops and the sounds was more remnscent of the Walers’ rude boy days.
The backng band was Perry’s studo group called the Upsetters (the Upsetter was another of Perry’s ncknames). Two members of ths band ended up playng wth Bob untl he ded. The Barrett brothers, Aston (“Famly
Man”) on bass, and Carlton (“Carle”) on drums, became the rhythm secton for the Walers.
In late 1969 and early 1970, the Barrett brothers, Perry, and the Walers worked n the studo to create the classcs “Duppy Conqueror” and
“Mr. Brown.” Both songs were released as sngles wth ther own dub versons on the B-sdes. The Jamacan practce of dubbng referred to makng a sngle that had the orgnal song on the A-sde and the song wthout the lyrcs on the B-sde. Ths was done so that a DJ at sound system partes could “toast,” or supply hs own words, over the lyrc-less sde to whp the crowd nto a frenzy and then turn the record over and play the song n the complete verson. The sound systems were gant moble stereos that were used at partes around the sland.
At the begnnng of the 1970s, the Walers agan launched ther own record label. Called Tuff Gong, after Bob’s nckname, the new label faled as fast as the Wal’N Soul’M mprnt had. Perry, who had separated hmself from Dodd and opened hs own record shop and label, nvted the Walers to work on hs new Upsetter mprnt. The materal created by the Walers wth Perry was some of the band’s best early materal, ncludng “Small
Axe,” “Corner Stone,” “Don’t Rock My Boat,” and “It’s Alrght.” The
Walers/Perry collaboraton lasted through the early part of the 1970s and

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yelded over a hundred tracks. Mature Walers/Perry materal reflected the group’s Rastafaran nterests wth songs such as “Lvely Up Yourself,”
“Kaya,” and “400 Years.” “Trench Town Rock” was released n 1971 and agan put the Walers on the Jamacan charts.
In 1971, the Walers fnshed ther work wth Perry. The group was lookng for another creatve outlet. Bob learned that Nash was gong to work on a move soundtrack n Sweden and Nash asked Bob to come wth hm.
On the way, Bob dropped Rta and the chldren off at hs mother’s, and
Rta found work as a nurse n a Delaware hosptal.
After Bob and Nash’s work on the Swedsh flm score was complete, the par traveled to London, where Nash was tryng to broker a recordng contract wth the CBS. When the deal was struck, Bob brought the rest of the Walers to London, where he beleved that Sms was workng a smlar deal for the Walers. The Walers recorded n the CBS studos, where they worked as Nash’s backng band. Whle a separate deal dd not materalze for the Walers, they dd get more recordng experence and returned to
Jamaca wth hgh hopes for future Englsh success.
Back n Jamaca, the Walers recorded at Harry J’s studo and Dynamc
Sounds. For Harry J’s owner Harry Johnson, the Walers recorded at a vgorous pace for four months. At ths tme, the Walers ncluded Bob, Peter, and Bunny plus the Barrett brothers and a 15-year-old keyboard player named Tyrone Downe. An unoffcal member of the band was added n the form of Alan “Skll” Cole. Cole was one of Jamaca’s most talented soccer players and he was a great ft as Bob’s traner and confdant.
The success of “Trench Town Rock” created a great demand for the
Walers around the sland. It also marked the end to songwrtng that was not of substance. Also, for the frst tme the Walers made sgnfcant money from one of ther hts. Wth Bob’s share, Bob and Rta establshed
Tuff Gong Records, a record shop where they sold Walers releases. In addton to the money from “Trench Town Rock,” Perry was stll releasng
Walers sngles and cuttng the band n on the profts. Bob agan renvested hs share and opened Tuff Gong Productons, whch was meant to keep up wth the demand for Walers materal. There followed another perod of productvty that produced songs such as “Satsfy My Soul,”
“Mr. Chatterbox,” “Natural Mystc,” “Concrete Jungle,” and “Reggae on
Broadway.”
Whle Bob was busy makng records and runnng the producton company, he was kept n balance by Cole who had hm on a schedule of exercse that ncluded a great deal of soccer playng and physcal actvty. Bob was also a full-fledged Rastafaran and ate only accordng to the Ital det.
Ital was the Rasta det of organc foods, no meat other than fsh, no salt,

20

BOB MARLEY

and no alcohol. Durng ths perod of extreme actvty, the bond of the orgnal three Walers, Bob, Peter, and Bunny, started to fray.
It was also at ths tme that Bob began hs long and tumultuous relatonshp wth the Jamacan poltcal scene. He dd ths by gvng the
Walers’ backng to the People’s Natonal Party (PNP). At ths tme, the
PNP was led by Mchael Manley, who had been workng to create allances wth the underclass and the Rastafarans. Manley was the one who brought Hale Selasse I to Jamaca and some of Manley’s popularty wth the Rastas came from hs relatonshp wth the Ethopan ruler. As a show of support, Bob and Rta rode on the PNP Muscal Bandwagon, on whch they played and sang songs. Ths showed everyone on the parade route that the Walers were supportng the PNP n the 1972 general electon.

iSland recordS and chriS Blackwell
In the fall of 1971, Bob and the Walers returned to England to contnue the pursut of a CBS contact for the Walers. Wth Nash’s help, Bob and the Walers launched a three-week CBS-sponsored tour. The tour was successful, but dd not lead to record sales for the Whalers. Matters were complcated when Nash and Sms dsappeared unexpectedly. Ths left the Walers stranded n England wth no ncome or plans. In the face of ths bad stuaton, Bob took matters nto hs own hands and went to meet wth the head of the London-based Island Records Company, Chrstopher Blackwell. Blackwell already had a sold roster of talent ncludng
Steve Wnwood’s group Traffc, Cat Stevens, Free, Kng Crmson, and
Jethro Tull. Although Blackwell specalzed n rock and roll bands, he had a deep nterest n the Carbbean musc scene and he was already aware of the Walers’ musc.
In the wake of Bob and Blackwell’s meetng, the record producer fronted the band £8,000 sterlng, whch was enough money to get back to Jamaca and return to the studo. Blackwell’s deal wth the Walers was that they would produce a full-length reggae album n exchange for the money. Rta and the chldren returned from Delaware and wth everyone back n Jamaca, the Walers went back nto the studo.

catch a Fire
The 1972 recordng sesson yelded the Catch a Fire album. “Catch a Fre” was Jamacan slang for someone gettng n trouble or “catchng hell.” The album was recorded at Dynamc Sound, Harry J’s, and Randy’s studos. The result was a collecton of nne songs ncludng “Concrete

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21

Jungle,” “Slave Drver,” “400 Years,” “Stop That Tran,” “Baby We’ve Got a Date,” “Str It Up,” “Knky Reggae,” “No More Trouble,” and “Mdnght
Ravers.” The album tself was groundbreakng n format. Up to ths tme, reggae songs had been released as sngles wth an A and B sde. Wth
Catch a Fire, the format changed to the long-playng record, whch allowed greater coheson n the release of blocks of songs.
The orgnal pressng of the album reflected the Walers’ creatve sprt. The frst vnyl edton of the album depcted a large stanless steel
Zppo lght wth the ttle engraved on t. The album jacket was hnged on the left-hand sde and revealed a cardboard cutout of the trademarked
Zppo lghter wndproof mechansm wth a flame shootng out of ts top.
Illustratve of the album’s ttle, these flames also foreshadowed the Walers’ rse to nternatonal stardom. The Zppo lghter jacket was unque, but also expensve to produce. As a result, the Zppo lghter edton was held to only 20,000 unts. Subsequent pressngs of the album were released wth a tradtonal package that dsplayed a large pcture of Bob takng a ht off a large cone-shaped splff (Jamacan slang for a marjuana cgarette). For ths album, the Walers were Bob, Peter, Bunny, Aston and Carle
Barrett, and a varety of Jamacan studo nstrumentalsts. Addtonal vocals were added by Rta and her frends Judy Mowatt and Marca Grffths.
The collecton of three female backup sngers would later become known as the I-Threes. Wth the basc recordng done, Bob took the master tapes to London for mxng and overdubbng. At Blackwell’s request, rock and roll style overdubs were added by gutarst Wayne Perkns (who was famous for hs work at Muscle Shoals studos) and keyboard player John
“Rabbt” Bundrck (who was also well known for hs work wth Johnny
Nash and the rock bands Free and The Who). Overdubbng s the process of addng new tracks to an already “complete” recordng. Wth Perkns and Bundrck’s overdubs, the record took on a more manstream rock sound, whch Blackwell thought would allow t to reach a larger audence. Blackwell’s nstncts were correct and although t was not a bg commercal success, Catch a Fire brought the Walers to the manstream and changed the way that reggae musc was made and marketed.
Also n 1972, Rta gave brth to another son, whom the Marleys called
Stephen. Wth ths new addton, the famly moved out of Kngston to a small house n Bull Bay, east of the cty. Ths move sgnaled a change for the Marley famly; they had made t out of the ghetto and would never lve there agan. Sgnfcantly, Bob often preferred to stay n Kngston, at Blackwell’s house at 56 Hope Road, nstead of returnng to Bull Bay wth Rta and the chldren each nght. Ths tme spent apart from Rta

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BOB MARLEY

afforded Bob the opportunty to begn hs strng of extramartal affars.
Through hs adult lfe, Bob fathered chldren wth several women other than Rta, though the couple remaned marred untl Bob’s death. In the early 1970s, Bob fathered chldren wth Patrca Wllams (a son named
Robbe), Janet Hunt (a son named Rohan), and Janet Bowen (a daughter named Karen). The year 1972 also saw the electon of Mchael Manley as the prme mnster of Jamaca and wth hm came hopes for a brghter future for the Jamacan underclass.
Part of Bob’s deal wth Blackwell was that the Walers retaned all the
Carbbean rghts to ther recordngs. Ths left Bob free to ssue sngles from Catch a Fire on the sland through hs Tuff Gong record shop. Although hs success was stll modest compared to what t would be by the end of the decade, Bob was now recognzed everywhere he went on the
sland. Further, wth the release of Catch a Fire, t dawned on the Walers that they were now professonal muscans who would no longer have to work other jobs to make a lvng. In the wake of ther frst full-length album, the Walers prepared to mount a tour of England and the Unted
States. For ths, they needed a full-tme keyboard player, as Downe was stll too young to travel wth the band. The group found ts new keyboard player n the Now Generaton band wth the successful recrutment of
Earl “Wya” Lndo.

CatCh a Fire toUr
The Catch a Fire tour began n Aprl 1973 wth the group’s arrval n
London. Amazngly, the Walers found another release credted to them for sale. The African Herbsman album was a collecton of several of the group’s more popular songs that had been recorded for Lee “Scratch”
Perry. Perry had lcensed the materal to Lee Goptal, who had subsequently released the album wthout the approval of the band. The record
ncluded the songs “Lvely Up Yourself,” “Small Axe,” “Duppy Conqueror,” “Trench Town Rock,” “Afrcan Herbsman,” “Keep On Movng,”
“Fussng and Fghtng,” “Stand Alone,” “All n One” (a medley of “Bend
Down Low,” “Nce Tme,” “One Love,” “Smmer Down,” “It Hurts to be
Alone,” “Lonesome Feelng,” “Love and Affecton,” “Put It On,” and
“Duppy Conqueror”), “Don’t Rock My Boat,” “Put It On,” “Sun Is Shnng,” “Kaya,” “Rdng Hgh,” “Bran Washng,” and “400 Years.” Although the release of ths album was not sanctoned by the Walers, t dd help to mantan nterest n the band n between ts frst and second Island
Records releases. Whle n England, the Walers played 19 shows at clubs and unverstes.

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The Walers returned to London at the end of the tour and whle there, they made appearances on the BBC programs The Old Grey Whistle Test and Top Gear. Elated by ther newfound exposure, the Walers returned to
Jamaca for some much-needed rest. A problem had developed durng the
Englsh leg of the Walers’ tour, as Bunny suffered whle tourng due to hs strct adherence to the Ital det. Thus, when the Walers returned to Jamaca, Bunny nformed Bob that he would not be jonng the band for the
North Amercan leg of the tour. Bob consulted wth Peter and together they decded to recrut Joe Hggs, ther old sngng nstructor, to replace
Bunny for the tour. Another dffculty that the Walers faced was that they needed a full-tme manager to run the now busy band’s schedule.
Blackwell hred Lee Jaffe to fll ths role and Jaffe set off for the Unted
States to book shows for the upcomng tour. The Amercan leg of the tour featured a long stand at Paul’s Mall n Boston, Massachusetts, followed by a move to New York. The New York shows were all booked at Max’s
Kansas Cty, and the Walers played a week of ggs as the opener for Bruce
Sprngsteen.

Burnin’
By 1973, the Bob Marley and the Walers had a successful album out wth a major label and had mounted a tour of England and North Amerca. However, they stll had not acheved the type of manstream commercal success that Bob was convnced that they were capable of. The next step toward that success was taken wth the November 1973 release of the band’s second Island release, Burnin’. Ths release was less heavly modfed by Blackwell and reflected the Walers’ nterests n Rastafaransm and Jamacan poltcs.
The cover of the album was a slhouette of the sx core Walers’ heads burned nto the sde of a wooden box. The pcture ncluded Bob, Peter,
Bunny, the Barrett brothers, and Lndo, and the back of the record jacket had a large pcture of Bob takng a drag off a large splff. The tracks for ths album were recorded at Harry J’s n Kngston and mxed at the Island
Records studos n London. The only muscan on the album who was not pctured on the record’s cover was the hand drummer Alvn “Seeco”
Patterson.
The album conssted of 10 tracks that ncluded “Get Up, Stand Up,”
“Hallelujah Tme,” “I Shot the Sherff,” “Burnn’ and Lootn’,” “Put It
On,” “Small Axe,” “Pass It On,” “Duppy Conqueror,” “One Foundaton,” and “Rasta Man Chant.” Ths lst represented some old and some new materal. Addtonally, Bob, Peter, and Bunny each contrbuted songs that

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BOB MARLEY

they had wrtten separately. The album as a unt was a call to acton to the
Jamacan underclass. The Walers were warnng the ghetto dwellers that they needed to take charge of ther own destny nstead of leavng t n the hands of those who dd not have ther best nterests at heart.

Burnin’ toUr
After the album was released, the Walers agan mounted a tour to support t. In an attempt to boost the dsappontng sales of ths release n the Unted States, Bob and the Walers joned the n-progress Sly and the
Famly Stone tour of the country. Hggs agan replaced Bunny, as he had vowed not to tour after hs experence on the Catch a Fire tour. Ths tour was a lucky break for the group, as Sly and the Famly Stone were already a popular band n Amerca and they were tourng after ther successful
Fresh release. Unfortunately, the Walers were fred from the tour after just four shows. The reasons for the frng were twofold. Frst, the Walers were reportedly outplayng the headlners, and the Sly and the Famly Stone crowd were not acceptng of the Walers’ style of musc. The frng agan left the Walers stranded n a strange place.
Ths tme, the group was stuck n Las Vegas and needed to fnd a way to
Calforna to make a scheduled appearance on KSAN-FM. They dd manage to get to San Francsco and make ther appearance, beng met by an enthusastc audence that they had attracted on ther prevous tour. Audences on the Calforna coast mantaned a specal affnty for Bob and the Walers throughout the exstence of the band. The KSAN broadcast was presented from the Record Plant n Sausalto and comprsed a rousng set of songs. The broadcast began wth Bob, Peter, and Hggs performng
“Rasta Man Chant” acoustcally wth just tradtonal Rastafaran hand drums as accompanment. They then went nto full band versons of a seres of songs from the frst two Island albums.
The end of 1973 found the Walers back n Jamaca preparng to embark on the Englsh leg of the Burnin’ tour. Ths tme Hggs also stayed
n Jamaca, whch left Bob and Peter to front the band. The reducedstrength Walers played to small crowds who were not excted about the performances. The group played 11 shows n England, appearng at clubs and unverstes. The poor recepton was made worse when Bob and Peter got nto a fst fght and Lndo announced that he was leavng the group to return to the Now Generaton band. Wth ths, the Walers headed n opposte drectons, leavng Bob n London to contemplate hs next move.
The year 1974 dawned wth Bob back n Harry J’s studo n Kngston, where he was recordng new materal wth a backng band that conssted

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only of the Barrett brothers and a keyboard player named Bernard “Touter”
Harvey. The tradtonal tght vocal harmones usually produced by Bob,
Peter, and Bunny were now beng sung by the female vocal tro, the
I-Threes (Rta, Judy, and Marca.). Ths relatvely strpped down Walers unt worked on new songs that reflected on Bob’s ghetto youth as a means of escapng the troubles of the present.
The group caught a break when they were asked to open for Amercan
Motown sngng sensaton Marvn Gaye when he played a beneft show on the sland. The concert was sold out and was an excellent opportunty for the group to feature ts new materal. At show tme, the Walers band that took the stage agan ncluded Bob, Peter, and Bunny, plus the
Barrett brothers’ rhythm secton and Tyrone Downe on keyboards. The
Walers’ performance was a bg ht and afterward Marvn Gaye’s manager,
Don Taylor, offered to manage them. Taylor was able to gve Bob hs most elusve desre, a guarantee of success n the Unted States, and ultmately
Bob agreed to brng Taylor nto the fold as the Walers’ manager.

SearchinG For croSSover SUcceSS
Bob was excted about the possblty of crossover success n the Unted
States, but he was dsmayed that Peter and Bunny were now obvously plannng to leave the Walers permanently. Peter had long suffered from lack of exposure as Bob was the materal front man for the band, and
Peter’s own more mltant sentments were not beng used on the early
Walers records. Bunny also wanted greater freedom to release hs own songs, and ths, coupled wth hs refusal to tour, put hm at odds wth Bob’s plans for the band’s future.
Wth the band n a state of crss, Bob bused hmself preparng the next
Walers album. Ttled Natty Dread, the thrd Walers and Island product was the frst wthout Peter and Bunny. The record was a turnng pont for
Bob, as he was fnally strkng out on hs own as the prncpal songwrter of the band. In addton to Bob, the Barrett brothers, and Touter, the
I-Threes provded vocal harmony. Uncredted performers on the album
ncluded Lee Jaffe on harmonca, and three horn players named Glen da
Costa, Davd Madden, and Tommy McCook (the horn lne of the Zap
Pow band).
Wth Bob now actng as a vocal solost wth a backng band, the new album art reflected hs central role. He began the album wth hs approxmaton of a Yoruba lookout call that sgnaled the dawn of the new Walers band. The Yoruba are a group of people n West Afrca that make up about 30 percent of the populaton of Ngera, Benn, and Togo. The Natty

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BOB MARLEY

Dread album cover was an arbrushed pcture of Bob alone n the mddle of an abstract background of several colors, and the back of the album also depcted Bob only. As was the case wth the prevous Island Records releases, the recordng was done n Jamaca and the mxng was done n
London, under Blackwell’s careful supervson. An oddty of ths album was that t exhbted the Walers’ only use of a drum machne. Drum machne technology only became wdely avalable n the early 1970s and the
Walers’ experment wth t ndcated ther nterest n new technology.
Whle n London for the mxng sessons, Bob and Famly Man found the next Walers’ gutarst, Al Anderson. Anderson had been playng n an Afro-rock band called Shakatu. However, he agreed to supply some gutar overdubs on “Lvely Up Yourself ” and “No Woman, No Cry.” After ths studo experence, Blackwell offered Anderson the job of gutarst for the Walers. At frst Anderson dd not want to gve up hs poston
n Shakatu, but he soon realzed that the Walers were gong to be a bg success. When Anderson agreed to jon the Walers, he became the frst non-Jamacan member of the band. As such he had to learn the reggae style from the ground up and spent hours rehearsng wth Famly Man learnng the proper strummng style.

natty DreaD
Released n 1974, Natty Dread was a collecton of old and new songs.
The songs on the album were “Lvely up Yourself,” “No Woman, No
Cry,” “Them Belly Full (But We Hungry),” “Rebel Musc (Three O’Clock
Road Block),” “So Jah Seh,” “Natty Dread,” “Bend Down Low,” “Talkn’
Blues,” and “Revoluton.” The songs collected for ths release exhbt
Bob’s nterests most drectly, as they cast Bob as a Rasta preacher who
s dscussng prophecy and revoluton. Addtonally, Bob llustrated hs
Rasta-based dstrust of the Catholc Church. On the song “Talkn’ Blue,”
Bob dscussed bombng a church, as the Rastas beleve that the Pope, and by extenson standard Catholcsm, are part of the system n place to keep them down. Ths negatve system was descrbed by the Rastas wth the Bblcal language of Babylon. Thus, when Rasta sngers dscussed the
Babylon system, they were talkng about anythng that was oppressve to the Rastafaran fathful.
Another feature of Rastafaransm that Bob made great use of was the purposeful msuse of the Englsh language. Bob could speak plan Englsh when he chose to, but he often veled hs meanngs by sngng n the Jamacan dalect or through the Rastafaran practce of alterng language.
For example, Rasta beleved that Hale Selasse I was Jesus rencarnated

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to save them from the Babylon system. The fathful took the Roman numeral I at the end of Selasse’s name and renterpreted t as the captal letter I. Thus, when Rastas say somethng about “I and I” they are talkng about themselves and ther god. Many of Bob’s songs made use of ths
“I and I” language as a means of affrmng hs fath.
Bob’s growng mltant stance was also evdent on Natty Dread. The song “Revoluton” was self-explanatory. Smply, Bob was sayng that f the youth were gong to create a change n ther lves they had to do
t for themselves, and watng for the government, or anyone else, to do t for them was a waste of tme. “Rebel Musc (Three O’Clock Road Block)” was another of Bob’s more ncendary songs. The song was autobographcal and descrbed an ncdent n whch Bob and Famly Man got caught
n a road block and knew that ther car would be searched due to ther dreadlocks. As the song went, they had to throw away ther ganja to avod beng arrested. Other lyrcs n the song ncluded Bob tellng the lsteners that they can examne hs lfe because he knows that he s rghteous and fathful to Jah (the word used to refer to the Rastas’ God, Hale Selasse).
After the Natty Dread release, Bob was ntervewed by the Jamacan daly newspaper. The photographer present at the ntervew was a UCLA graduate named Nevlle Garrck. In the ntervew, Bob dscussed the need for more tourng to support the Walers records. After the ntervew, Bob and Garrck struck up a frendshp that resulted n Garrck becomng the art drector for the Walers.
In the wake of Natty Dread, the Walers began recevng some crtcal acclam n the Unted States. Ths was the type of support that dd not earn them any money n the short term, but lad the groundwork for future success. In late 1974, Bob lcensed the recordng rghts of hs song
“Slave Drver” to Taj Mahal, an Amercan blues snger who was enjoyng a perod of prosperty. Bob also lcensed “Guava Jelly” to Barbra Stresand for her 1974 Butterfly album. Ths dd not brng the band much money, but t certanly ncreased the level of exposure to ts musc. The most
mportant agreement that Bob made that year was grantng Erc Clapton
(the Brtsh blues gutar genus) the recordng rghts to the song “I Shot the Sherff,” whch appeared on Clapton’s 1974 album, 461 Ocean Boulevard. In Clapton’s capable hands, Bob’s song went on to be a number one ht n the Unted States and soared to number nne n the UK. Bob’s musc was played on Amercan and Englsh rado and he ganed serous respect from the rock and roll crtcs.
As Bob’s star contnued to rse, any hope for reconclaton wth the orgnal members of the vocal tro faded nto the dstance. Peter and
Bunny were both workng on solo materal of ther own. Peter was layng

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BOB MARLEY

the groundwork for the album that would become the 1976 Legalize It, and Bunny was puttng together the songs for hs 1976 Blackheart Man album. Addtonally, Peter launched hs own Intel-Dplo record label
(Intel-Dplo standng for Intellgent Dplomat).
Undaunted, Bob Marley and the Walers began 1975 wth a major gg.
The Walers were asked to open for the Jackson Fve when they played a concert n Kngston. Ths was Bob’s frst opportunty to really come to the front of the band and dsplay hs own personalty and charsma. The appearance also featured the debut of Al Anderson on lead gutar and was a huge success. In February 1975, Natty Dread was offcally released as the thrd Island/Walers product and the album receved postve feedback from the press n the UK and the Unted States. Wth ths success, the new and mproved Walers became an nternatonal success.
As the Walers’ fame grew, so dd Bob’s concerns for the management of the band and ts ncreasng revenues. Bob had already worked out a deal wth Don Taylor to become the Walers’ manager, but was concerned wth Taylor takng a cut of the band’s earnngs. Bob’s bad experences wth musc ndustry nsders had tanted hs opnon of Taylor, but he took a chance on the would-be manager. Now Bob also needed to be able to more carefully look after the band’s earnngs. Ths job was taken up by
Bob’s Jamacan lawyer Dane Jobson. The Walers also needed an operatons headquarters. For ths, Bob essentally took over Blackwell’s house at 56 Hope Road n Kngston. Here the band had rehearsal space and a central locaton for ts headquarters. Wth the band membershp and ts supportng forces establshed, the group prepared to tour n support of
Natty Dread.

c hapter 3

FroM top oF the roCk to top oF the world

Actng as the Walers’ manager, Taylor arranged a major North Amercan and a bref Englsh tour for the band. For the purposes of ths tour, Tyrone
Downe was agan recruted to work wth the group. As Bob was preparng to feature hs talents on the world stage, he was also ganng notorety wth regard to hs personal lfe. On February 26, 1976, Bob’s eghth chld was born. Ky-Man Marley was the product of Bob’s affar wth Anta Belnavs, who was a well-known Carbbean table tenns champon. Bob was also cultvatng a relatonshp wth the Jamacan beauty queen Cndy Breakspeare. Ths relatonshp produced another son n 1978, named Daman, and a huge scandal. Bob and Breakspeare’s relatonshp lasted for several years and n the course of ths tme the beauty queen went on to become
Mss World 1976. The meda whrlwnd that surrounded the couple was largely based on race. The mxture of whte and black, and Breakspeare’s beauty queen good looks coupled wth Bob’s ever-lengthenng dreadlocks, helped to fuel the meda crcus.
In June 1975, the Walers embarked on the North Amercan leg of the Natty Dread tour. In addton to Bob, the Barrett brothers, Downe, the I-Threes, and Seeco, the Walers’ entourage also ncluded Taylor and
Nevlle Garrck (as artstc and lghtng drector). A Rasta elder named
Mkey Dan also joned the group to provde Ital food, along wth Dave
Harper (equpment manager) and Tony “Tony G” Garnett (dsc jockey and hype man). The huge tourng retnue ndcated the level of fame that the Walers had already acheved. They were now tourng n style wth the type of support that allowed them to ext ther hotel room, be chauffeured

29

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BOB MARLEY

to the venue, and walk on stage to perform (a sound check was usually requred) wthout any settng up and tearng down.

natty DreaD toUr
Durng ths tour, Bob establshed hs on-agan/off-agan relatonshp wth the press. Bob’s frends and band mates have reported that he very rarely refused an ntervew, belevng that any press publcty was good for the band. However, he also had a reputaton as beng hard to ntervew.
He was always glad to dscuss the band and Rastafaransm, but when questons turned to hs personal lfe, Bob was more evasve. In fact, when questoned on ths topc, Bob was known for droppng nto such thck
Jamacan slang that the ntervewer was left wonderng what was beng dscussed. As the tour progressed, the Walers’ recepton grew more enthusastc.
Sold-out shows were frequent; for example, the band played for a crowd of 15,000 at the Schaefer Musc Festval, n New York’s Central Park. As the band toured the Unted States and traveled nto Canada, the set lst for the shows became standard, wth “Trench Town Rock,” “Burnn’ and
Lootn’,” “Them Belly Full (But We Hungry),” “Road Block,” “Lvely Up
Yourself,” “Natty Dread,” “No Woman, No Cry,” “I Shot the Sherff,” and
“Knky Reggae.” Other songs appeared on occason, such as “I Shot the
Sherff” and “Get Up, Stand Up.” At ths tme, the Walers gelled nto the tourng machne that they became known for. Bob was a serous taskmaster when t came to makng sure that the group performed well on stage, and mstakes were not tolerated. The appearance of the group also gradually became standard. Bob adopted hs characterstc denm jeans and shrt, and by 1975 hs dreadlocks stretched down to hs shoulders. The
I-Threes also began to soldfy ther standard look, wth heads wrapped n red, gold, and green fabrc and tradtonal Afrcan dress.
Whle the tour gave the band greater exposure to the Amercan audence, there were many problems. Taylor’s lack of experence showed, as he dd not retan a large enough road crew to handle all of the band’s equpment. Frequently there were not enough drvers or roades, and ths led to problems wth havng the nstruments ready when the performers arrved.
Taylor also treated the band, other than Bob, as employees nstead of as talented ndvduals, whch led to several fghts.
The Walers closed the North Amercan leg of the tour wth a show at the Roxy Theatre on Sunset Strp n Los Angeles, Calforna. The show was agan sold out and n attendance were members of the Rollng Stones n addton to Cat Stevens, Jon Mtchell, Herbe Hancock, George Harrson

F ROM T OP OF THE RO CK TO T OP OF THE WO RLD

31

and Rngo Starr of the Beatles, and members of the Grateful Dead and the
Band. Ths was an extraordnary dsplay of crtcal support for the Walers.
The group knew that they had made a sold mpresson on the Amercan audence and departed for London prepared to conquer another locaton.
In London, the band played a show at the Hard Rock n Manchester, another at the Odeon n Brmngham, and two at the Lyceum n London.
Blackwell attended the frst Lyceum show and notced how enthusastc the crowd reacton was. He quckly ordered moble recordng equpment so that the show the followng nght could be recorded. Modern sound engneerng technology makes lve recordng so easy that t s done automatcally at each show. However, n 1975, an entre truckload full of recordng gear had to be brought to the venue to capture the concert.
Blackwell used hs ndustry connectons to borrow the Rollng Stones’ moble studo, whch the band had ordered bult n the late 1960s. It allowed the Rollng Stones to record n remote locatons and ths movable equpment had been used to record Led Zeppeln, Deep Purple, and the Rollng
Stones albums Sticky Fingers (1971) and Exile on Main Street (1972).
Wth lve sound engneer Dave Harper sttng n the Rollng Stones’ moble recordng studo outsde the Lyceum Theatre, Bob Marley and the
Walers took the stage on July 18, 1975. The group tore through an abbrevated set lst that nght after an ntroducton by Tony Garnett. The recordng was a success and captured Bob and the group performng several of ther bggest hts. They were rushng the tempos just slghtly, and ths gave the musc an addtonal sense of urgency. After some further remxng at Island’s Basng Street studos, the recordng was released under the ttle Live!.

laSt oriGinal wailerS Show
An nterestng sde note wth regard to the year 1975 was that durng
November, Bob, Peter, and Bunny reunted for ther last tme on stage.
Amercan popular muscan Steve Wonder was slated to play a beneft concert at Jamaca’s Natonal Stadum. The concert was staged to rase money for the Jamacan Insttute for the Blnd and Steve Wonder was well aware of the Walers’ materal. The reconsttuted Walers performed at Wonder’s beneft concert and he was blown away. Wonder even joned the Walers on stage for a verson of “I Shot the Sherff.” Much has recently been made of the Walers/Wonder connecton and t s worth notng that after ther onstage meetng, Wonder wrote a song n trbute to
Bob called “Master Blaster.” In fact, often when Wonder performed the song, he began wth an mprovsatonal chorus, “We’re dong t for Bob

32

BOB MARLEY

Marley.” The song goes on to refer to themes n Bob’s lfe such as Jah, musc, and unty.
By the end of the summer, the Walers were back n Jamaca workng on more new musc. The group then returned to Harry J’s studo to begn recordng the tracks for ther next album. The process was nterrupted when on August 27, 1975, Hale Selasse I ded at age 83. The death of the Rasta redeemer sent the fathful nto a talspn. Many of the Rasta fathful took
Selasse’s death as the sgnal that Rastafaransm tself was flawed. However, others used the death to steel ther determnaton and deepen ther belefs; Bob was n ths second group. He called Lee “Scratch” Perry nto
Harry J’s and together the par created the scorchng song “Jah Lve.”
An nterestng crcumstance n relaton to Selasse’s death s that hs body was not recovered for formal bural untl 1991. Selasse had ded from complcatons followng a prostate operaton. Hs doctor dsputed the meda report that he was responsble for the death of the emperor.
There was also speculaton at the tme that Selasse was assassnated, as there had been repeated attempts to unseat the emperor begnnng n the early 1960s. The stuaton was further confused by the dsappearance of the body. Ths lack of a corpse convnced many Rasta fathful that Selasse had not ded. The cry went out n the Rastafaran terrtores: “You can’t kll God.” Informaton surfaced n 1991 revealng that Selasse’s remans had n fact been secretly bured at the tme of hs death. However, wth ths mystery accompanyng Selasse’s demse, many Rastas took the crcumstances to mean that ther relgous leader had not ded.
The product of Bob and Perry’s studo collaboraton was the sngle “Jah
Lve.” The song was as drect a statement of fath as has been uttered for any relgon. Here Bob proclamed that Jah (Hale Selasse) was stll alve.
He followed ths wth hs sentments on understandng fath, told through the metaphor of the shepherd. He also crtczed all who beleved that
Selasse had ded and professed that not only was he stll alve, but that he was powerful enough to scatter hs enemes and reman n power.
The fnal fve years of Bob’s lfe were flled wth constant actvty, creatng new songs, releasng semnal albums, and tourng n support of hs efforts. The Walers’ popularty contnually ncreased, and by the end of the 1970s the group was known n the most remote places n the world.
In 1976, Bob kcked off hs actvty wth a full schedule of concerts, ntervews, and recordng. Bob reached a sgnfcant mlestone n hs blossomng career when he appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone magazne and the magazne voted the Walers the “Band of the Year.” Also by 1976,
Bob and the Walers had taken over the house at 56 Hope Road, even though Blackwell was stll ts offcal owner.

F ROM T OP OF THE RO CK TO T OP OF THE WO RLD

33

Early 1976 was spent recordng new Walers’ materal and tryng to get comfortable wth fame. Now that the Walers were nternatonal stars,
Bob spent long hours n ntervews tryng to defne to the world what t meant to be a Jamacan, a person of mxed race, and a Rastafaran. Whle
Bob was quckly becomng the representatve of Trench Town, hs hardwon fame dd begn to provde hm some luxury that hs lfe had lacked.
For example, Bob was now makng enough money that Cole convnced hm to buy a BMW. Generally not nterested n the trappngs of wealth,
Bob was not orgnally comfortable wth ths purchase untl he notced that the BMW could stand for Bob Marley and the Walers, nstead of
Bavaran Motor Works.
Even wth all of the success carryng the Walers though 1976, there was sgnfcant unrest n the band. The nstrumentalsts were stll unhappy wth Taylor’s treatment of them, and ths resulted n Lee Jaffe and Al
Anderson leavng the group. To add nsult to njury, the par mmedately joned Peter Tosh’s band, called Word, Sound, and Power. So, n the mddle of the recordng sessons for ther ffth album, the Walers were agan reduced to Bob and the Barrett brothers. On the heels of these losses, Bob recruted new players for the group. He quckly recruted Earl “Chnna”
Smth to serve as rhythm gutarst, and wth Blackwell’s help the Amercan blues gutarst Don Knsey joned the Walers on lead gutar. The album credts for Rastaman Vibration reflect the performance of these new addtons to the group. However, wth the sessons already takng place,
Al Anderson was credted wth the lead gutar parts on the song “Crazy
Bald Head.” Also present on the album was Seeco on percusson and Tyrone Downe on keyboards.

rastaman ViBration
In the mdst of ths tumult, Bob Marley and the Walers ssued ther fourth Island Records album n May 1976. The album was ssued wth a drawng of Bob on the front of the record jacket. Hs dreadlocks had grown down past hs shoulders and he was strkng a contemplatve pose.
Also promnently dsplayed were the Rastafaran colors, red, yellow, black, and green. These colors were derved from the flag of Ethopa and the sgnfcance of the colors was defned wthn Rastafaransm as black for the people, red for the blood they shed protectng themselves, yellow for the gold stolen from ther ancestors, and green for the lost land of Afrca.
Hstorcally, there have been some dsagreements on the meanngs of the colors, but ther orgns n Ethopa are rrefutable. The background of the album jacket looked lke burlap fabrc and contaned the statement that

34

BOB MARLEY

the album jacket “s great for cleanng herb.” The other text was a quote from the Old Testament Blessng of Joseph. Because Bob was alled wth the Trbe of Joseph of the Twelve Trbes of Israel Rastafaran sect, ths passage professed hs strength and generosty.
Rastaman Vibration was the Walers’ bggest success yet. It clmbed to number eght on the Amercan pop charts. Bob sad of the album that on t he was not as concerned wth the musc as wth the message. The themes of the songs contaned on the album range from calls for revoluton to dscussons of poltcs. The tracks were “Postve Vbraton,” “Roots, Rock,
Reggae,” “Johnny Was,” “Cry to Me,” “Want More,” “Crazy Bald Head,”
“Who the Cap Ft,” “Nght Shft,” “War,” and “Rat Race.” Bob’s practce of wrtng autobographcal lyrcs was evdent on ths album. “Nght Shft” was about hs tme workng n Delaware and talked about hs tme spent drvng a forklft and pnng for Jamaca, hs wfe, and hs chldren. “Rat
Race” was Bob’s take on the role of the Rastas and poltcs. Here Bob warns that Rastas wll not be nvolved n any poltcal maneuverng. The song was wrtten as Jamaca was becomng embroled n the volence leadng up to the electon of 1976. Regardless of Bob’s antpoltcal convctons, the events surroundng the 1976 electon forever changed hs lfe.
The most sgnfcant Rastafaran song on the album was “War.” The lyrcs of ths song were taken from a speech that Hale Selasse delvered to the Unted Natons on October 4, 1963. In the speech, Selasse demanded equalty for people of all colors regardless of locaton or fath.
Bob’s Rastafaran fath, even n the wake of Selasse’s death, was also affrmed on the ttle track, “Rastaman Vbraton.” Also on the album, Bob made repeated use of quotatons from the Bble and bblcal paraphrases.
Ths use of Old Testament materal became a trademark of Bob’s mature lyrc wrtng and llustrated hs contnued adherence to the Rastafaran fath. rastaman ViBration toUr
The sprng and summer of 1976 brought another Walers tour. In Aprl, the group launched the Rastaman Vibration tour, whch was slated to cross
North Amerca and Western Europe. The tour was the most extensve to date and exposed an ever-growng audence to the group. The Walers’ tourng band was back up to full strength wth 10 members ncludng Bob, the Barrett brothers, the I-Threes, Seeco, Downe, Smth, and Knsey.
Added to ths were Taylor the manager, Bob’s traner Cole, the cook Tony
“Glle” Glbert, Garrck the art and lghtng drector, Garnett the band’s hype man and road manager, and Denns Thompson as soundman.

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35

The tour offcally began at the Tower Theater n Upper Darby, Pennsylvana. Bob’s mother, Cedella Booker, came to ths show and t was the frst tme that she saw her son perform lve n concert. Next the Walers played n Washngton, DC, Massachusetts, and New York. They crossed
nto Canada for shows n Montreal and Toronto and then returned to the Unted States to play Buffalo and Cleveland. Next, the group swept through the Mdwest before playng Texas and fnshng up the U.S. leg wth seven shows n Calforna. After a stop n Mam, the group pressed on to Western Europe and played n Germany, Sweden, the Netherlands,
France, and Wales. The tour ended wth 10 shows n England. On most of these stops, the Walers played sold-out houses and were now playng to people who already knew the songs.
The show on May 26 at the Roxy Theatre n Hollywood, Calforna, was a partcular hghlght. The Amercan snger/songwrtng legend Bob
Dylan was n the audence, and the Walers played a scorchng set. Bob
Marley was a self-professed fan of Dylan’s song wrtng, and the reggae superstar treated the folk con to one of the band’s best performances.
The concert was recorded and has subsequently been released n a twoCD boxed set. That nght the Walers’ set ncluded an enthusastc ntroducton by Tony “Tony G” Garnett followed by “Trench Town Rock,”
“Burnn’ and Lootn’,” “Them Belly Full,” “Rebel Musc,” “I Shot the
Sherff,” “Want More,” “No Woman, No Cry,” “Lvely Up Yourself,”
“Roots Rock Reggae,” and “Rat Race.” The band had ht ther tourng strde and played a wonderfully tght set. Bob spent the evenng center stage wth ths sgnature Les Paul gutar, dreadlocks flyng, and hands often rased defantly n the ar. The I-Threes were to Bob’s left n matchng black dresses and Afrcan head wraps. The show ended wth an encore performance of “Postve Vbraton” and a medley of “Get Up, Stand Up/
No More Trouble/War.”

GUn coUrt
At the end of the tour, the Walers returned to Jamaca to rest and refocus ther efforts on ther next recordng. The electon lead-up was stll comng to a bol and Kngston was n a state of emergency declared by
Manley. The Manley government had sgnfcantly weakened ts standng on the sland by makng moves that seemed to ally the sland wth Fdel
Castro’s Communst government n Cuba. Manley’s actons had destablzed Jamaca’s already weak economy and led to shortages of some of the
sland’s necesstes, such as cookng ol and food staples.

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BOB MARLEY

Further, a large quantty of hand guns had mysterously appeared on the
sland and were beng used to escalate the pre-electon volence. In Jamaca, possesson of a gun was an especally henous crme. The Jamacan government had been patterned on the Brtsh system when the sland acheved
ndependence n 1962. However, on Aprl 2, 1974, Jamaca establshed the Gun Court. The Gun Court was a combnaton court and prson establshed to prosecute and punsh anyone commttng a crme nvolvng a gun. The court was afforded the power to detan crmnals ndefntely and subject them to hard labor. Mandatory sentences were enforced untl
1983, when the practces of the Gun Court were ruled unconsttutonal.
Durng the Gun Court’s decade of unrestrcted operaton, countless ghetto youths were jaled wth no hope of returnng to regular socety.
Another oddty of the 1976 electon was that whle Manley was courtng Castro, the JLP opposton leader, Edward Seaga, was accused of allyng hmself wth the Amercan CIA. Ths was apparently done to help hm wn control of the sland, but resulted n further destablzng Jamaca to the pont that the sland practcally dssolved nto cvl war n the md-1970s.
Everyone on the sland was affected by the two Jamacan poltcal powers wrestlng for control. Recognzng the harm that was beng done, Bob proposed to stage a concert for Jamacans, to thank the sland’s populaton for ther support of the band. Dubbed the “Smle Jamaca” Concert, the event was scheduled to take place on Kngston’s Natonal Heroes Park on December 5, 1976. In order to stage such an event, Bob needed the approval of the prme mnster’s offce. Ths approval was granted, but n an act of pure poltcal maneuverng, the PNP announced the date of the next general electon as December 20. In so dong, the PNP created a stuaton n whch t seemed the Bob Marley and the Walers were backng the reelecton of Mchael Manley of the PNP.
Ths sent Bob nto a rage, but the concert had already been announced, supportng acts were already booked, and Bob and the Walers had already recorded the song “Smle Jamaca” wth Perry n hs Black Ark studos.
The concert was meant to defuse the volence on the sland and reduce the constant warrng between the two partes. Bob was essentally tryng to save hs ghetto brothers and ssters as the pre-electon volence was always hottest n the ghetto. Goon squads recruted by each party frequently clashed on ghetto streets, leadng to a great many “cvlan” deaths.

attempted aSSaSSination
Wth the warped percepton about the “Smle Jamaca” concert, the volence of the 1976 electon came drectly to Bob’s 56 Hope Road house.

F ROM T OP OF THE RO CK TO T OP OF THE WO RLD

37

Two days before the concert, Bob and the Walers were at the house on
Hope Road rehearsng for ther upcomng performance. The band took a break and one of the I-Threes, Judy Mowatt, asked Bob to have someone take her home. She was pregnant and not feelng well, so Bob asked Garrck to take the BMW and return Judy to her home. As they were pullng out of the drveway at 56 Hope Road, Don Taylor was pullng n to supervse the rehearsal. Bob, Taylor, and Knsey were relaxng n the ktchen watng for Blackwell, who was supposed to be comng to meet Taylor.
Unnotced by Taylor, hs car had been followed nto the drveway by two others. Sx gunmen slpped out of these two cars and opened fre on the house. The ktchen was stuated at the rear of the house, up a few stars. Bob, Taylor, and Knsey heard the gunfre and mmedately saw the barrel of a gun comng though the ktchen door. Everyone dved for cover as the gunman opened fre. Bob ducked for cover by the refrgerator, but
Taylor was left relatvely exposed n the mddle of the room. When the shootng stopped, Taylor had been rddled wth bullets; Bob had been shot once and the bullet was lodged n hs left forearm; and Rta had been shot once n the head but the bullet dd not perce her skull. A Walers’ assocate named Lews Smpson (or maybe Lews Grffths—sources conflct) was badly wounded.
Incredbly, no one was klled. Taylor was shot fve tmes n the mdsecton and had to be flown to Mam for surgery. Rta and Bob were both taken to the hosptal and treated. Rta was treated and released wth a bandage around her head. Bob was nformed that f the doctors removed the bullet from hs arm he could lose feelng n hs left hand. Bob refused to take the rsk, as he wrote hs songs accompanyng hmself on the gutar, so the bullet was left where t had lodged. Overall, thngs could have been much worse. The bullets that were spayed nto the ktchen had not been accurately amed. In fact, many of them rcocheted around the room leavng holes n the walls that are stll vsble today. Eventually, everyone made full recoveres from ther wounds over the course of tme.
Surprsngly, Jamacan Prme Mnster Mchael Manley vsted Bob whle he was beng treated at the hosptal. Manley placed Bob under the protecton of the Jamacan securty servce and he was taken away from the hosptal under armed escort. The prme mnster was stll plannng for a Walers appearance at the “Smle Jamaca” Concert, so protectng
Bob was protectng hs own poltcal nterests. Once Blackwell heard of the shootng, he made hs manson on Strawberry Hll avalable to the wounded Walers. Strawberry Hll s hgh n Jamaca’s nteror Blue
Mountans. Here Bob spent the nght tryng to sort out the stuaton and worryng about the future of hs band, all under heavy guard provded by

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BOB MARLEY

the government and by area Rastas. Bob’s mnd was heavy wth concern for hs wounded frends and famly; addtonally, he needed to decde f the band was stll gong to play the concert.
December 4, 1976, dawned as Bob was begnnng hs recovery at Strawberry Hll. Hs man actvty for the day was collectng the Walers, who had scattered n the wake of the shootng, and decdng whether or not to play the concert the followng day. Bob was further put on edge wth the news that the would-be kllers were stll at large. Bob spent the day tryng ftfully to make sense out of the shootng. It was agreed that the assassnaton attempt had been poltcally motvated, but by what poltcal facton was stll a mystery (the detals surroundng the event have never been fully explaned; the outcome was that Bob was not on the sland when the electon was held).
Regardless of hs remanng doubts, Bob took acton. He obtaned a set of powerful walke-talkes from the flm crew that Blackwell had hred to flm the concert. Wth these, Bob was able to round up the band and montor the stuaton n Kngston as he contnued to mull over the safety of playng the concert. Bob quckly learned that the news of the attempted assassnaton had crossed the sland. The supportng bands had all canceled ther appearances at the concert and the stuaton at Heroes Park was precarous. Bob took solace n the fact that hs old frend Stephen
“Cat” Coore, of the band Thrd World, was on the scene and that Coore’s band had agreed to perform and test the waters.
Soon, enough of the Walers were found to make a performance possble. Coore nformed Bob that there were already n excess of 50,000 people at the venue at 4:00 p.m. Stll at Strawberry Hll, Bob remaned undecded about performng. Hs resolve was further tested when Rta arrved wth her head stll bandaged and told hm that they should cancel the concert. Servng hs party’s own purposes, PNP Housng Mnster
Anthony Spauldng came on the scene to try to convnce Bob to perform.
Bob was even more conflcted because the concert had been hs own dea.
Gvng n to negatve crcumstances was not n Bob’s personalty, but selflessly gvng of hs gfts and prosperty was.

the “Smile Jamaica” concert
After much delberaton, Bob made the decson to perform the concert. He, Spauldng, and Rta rode down nto the cty under heavy guard and arrved at the venue to fnd 80,000 people watng for the Walers. In pure defance of those who sought to slence hs voce, Bob Marley and the Walers took the stage. Checkng to see who else was wth hm, Bob

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counted Carle Barrett hs drummer, Tyrone Downe hs keyboard player,
Cat Coore the gutarst for the Thrd World band, the horn secton from
Zap Pow, and fve of the hand drummers from the band Ras Mchael and the Sons of Negus. Bob began hs set wth a bref announcement n whch he sad that when he came up wth the dea of the concert there was not supposed to be any poltcs nvolved. He and the band then launched nto a searng 90-mnute set wth the ant-oppresson song “War.”
The Walers’ set was supposed to be short, but Bob was rapt wth the sprt of the event and pushed the band to contnue. A hghlght was the performance of “So Jah Seh,” whch was lkely the only tme that the group played ths song lve. The show contnued through the Walers’ set wthout dsturbance. Durng the Walers’ set, Knsey came on stage wearng a brown tunc to hde hs njures. Conversely, Bob lfted hs shrt to show the audence that the reports of the attempted assassnaton were true, but that he had not succumbed to hs wounds.
After the concert, Blackwell agan gave Bob the use of the house at
Strawberry Hll. Bob spent the nght plannng hs next move and stll grapplng wth the mplcatons of the attempted assassnaton. Bob beleved that the frst move to make to ensure hs safety was to leave the
sland. He and Garrck left Jamaca the next day, headng for the sland of Nassau n the Bahamas. Nassau s one several small slands off of the southeastern tp of Florda. The Nassau move was well thought out as
Blackwell had already moved hs Carbbean base of operatons to ths
sland due to the constant upheavals n Jamaca. Also, Blackwell was already workng on buldng the world-class Compass Pont Studos on Nassau (the studos opened n 1977 and are stll n use wth a clent lst of
nternatonal stars).

SelF-impoSed exile
Whle Bob assumed that Nassau would be a safe haven from the turmol of Jamaca, the mmgraton offcals on the sland were not sure f t was safe for them to have Bob on the sland. After much delberaton, Bob and Garrck were gven temporary permsson to stay n Nassau, wth the provso that they could be forced to leave the sland at any tme. The par then settled n at Blackwell’s Compass Pont house and began plannng the Walers’ next move.
Over the next few days, Rta and the Marley chldren along wth the rest of the Walers band arrved n Nassau. Everyone was glad to have made t to the relatve safety of Nassau and a perod of rest and healng began. Even as the band members were becomng rejuvenated, Don

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BOB MARLEY

Knsey qut the band and returned to Amerca. Knsey had been shot n the attack on the house at 56 Hope Road and beleved that the threat of volence perssted for Bob and those close to hm.
Although the Walers were not present to wtness t, the Jamacan natonal electon dd take place on December 15, 1976, and PNP head
Mchael Manley remaned the prme mnster of the country (a poston that he held untl 1980). The 1976 electon lead-up had been especally bloody. In addton to the volence perpetrated on the Walers and ther entourage, over two hundred Jamacans ded n the course of reelectng
Manley. The sland then descended nto another perod of smmerng unrest n the wake of the electon.
Whle the Walers were solated n Nassau, they were afforded a luxurous exstence for the month of ther stay. At the end of December, Bob’s grlfrend Cndy Breakspeare came and vsted the reggae superstar on
Paradse Island (a smaller land mass that s connected to the northeast coast of Nassau). Together, the par enjoyed each other’s company and
mmersed themselves n ther relatonshp. Soon, ths relatonshp produced Bob’s son Daman, hs nnth chld.
Although the lves of the Walers were n perl n Jamaca, they felt safer elsewhere. When the band members were prepared to begn recordng ther next album, they went to London to see Blackwell and get to work. As Blackwell had provded ther prevous gutarsts, he was the logcal choce for a recommendaton to replace Knsey. He gave Bob the name of a black blues gutarst named Junor Marvn (who worked under the names Junor Kerr, Junor Hanson, and others. Marvn was Jamacan born, but rased n the Unted States. Further, he had the rght muscal credentals, havng studed under Amercan blues legend T. Bone Walker.
When the Walers arrved n London n 1977, Marvn was already at Island Studos recordng wth Steve Wnwood. Marvn, Bob, and Blackwell met and Marvn was named the new Walers’ lead gutarst.
Through the early part of 1977, the Walers remaned n Blackwell’s
London studos workng on ther next record. The resultng tracks were pared down to 10 and ttled Exodus: Movement of Jah People. Although
n self-mposed exle from Jamaca, the group kept a careful watch on how muscal style was changng on the sland. New materal was beng released by bands such as the Itals, Israel Vbraton, and Junor Murvn (of “Polce and Theves” fame). Even more sgnfcantly, the band Culture released
ts ht “Two Sevens Clash.” The song became a huge ht n Jamaca and
England wth ts dscusson of Rastafaran mllenaransm. Rastafaransm
s one of several relgons wth mllenaran belefs that a major change wll occur at the end of each 100-year cycle. Rastas beleved that the current

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cycle was to end n 1977 and at that tme the oppressve rule of the Babylon system would end.

exoDus
Durng the Exodus sesson, Lee “Scratch” Perry turned up n London and Bob stopped the sesson to spend tme catchng up wth hs old frend and producer. Perry was able to update Bob on the evoluton of the Jamacan musc scene. He also asked Bob to record a song called “Punky
Reggae Party.” The song was wrtten by Perry and was meant to cement the relatonshp between reggae and Englsh punk musc. An mpromptu recordng sesson ensued, and Bob’s voce was backed by a collecton of
nstrumentalsts from the Thrd World band and the new Englsh reggae group Aswad.
The relatonshp between reggae and punk exsted from the md-1970s, when the punk style began. Many early punk muscans found a partcular knshp wth those on the reggae scene, because both groups felt margnalzed and oppressed by parlamentary-style governments that dd not relate to the underclass. Muscally, the two styles dd not share many characterstcs; however, several punk bands covered reggae standards and often adopted the reggae style. For example, Junor Murvn’s ht sngle “Polce and Theves” was covered by the Clash and was a ht for both groups.
After Bob had completed hs work wth Perry, the Exodus sessons resumed. The band had already recorded 20 tracks and added another 10
n the second flurry of recordng. The group then selected the 10 most expressve tracks for the album and on June 3, 1977, Exodus was released as the sxth Island Records/Walers band product. The album ncluded the tracks “Natural Mystc,” “So Much Thngs to Say,” “Gultness,” “The
Heathen,” “Exodus,” “Jammng,” “Watng n Van,” “Turn Your Lghts
Down Low,” “Three Lttle Brds,” and “One Love/People Get Ready.” The makeup of the band for the release was the same as t had been for Rastaman Vibration wth the substtuton of Marvn for Knsey on gutar. Also present on the album was the use of a new drummng style that was comng out of Jamaca. Popularzed by Sly Dunbar, of the legendary duo Sly and Robbe, the drummng technque of evenly accentng all beats n a measure created songs called “rockers,” and the ttle track of the album was of ths sort.
The sentments of the new record reflected Bob’s post–assassnaton attempt mood. The openng song was called “Natural Mystc,” whch was one of Bob’s ncknames and was used to herald hs reappearance after the shootng. Next was a tro of songs whose lyrcal content found Bob tryng

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BOB MARLEY

to come to a reconclaton wth the events of December 1976. Each song bult on ts predecessor, and through the three Bob casts the fnger of gult around the sland at those who sought to harm hm. Although Bob was known for hs kndness and hs nterest n unversal love, these songs reveal how deeply had been wounded, when he warned hs attackers that retrbuton would be swft and panful.
Bob also contnued hs prevously noted nterest n quotng Bble passages. The ttle track of the album took a serous tone that was enhanced through the rocker rhythm and the use of the Zap Pow horns. Here Bob decred the treatment of the Rastafaran fathful and calls for hs brothers and ssters to repatrate. The concept of repatraton runs through Rastafaran belef, but t was not ntended as a lteral nvtaton to return to
Afrca. Instead, t was meant as a phlosophcal return to Afrca, wth ts prde and majesty n one’s head, regardless of one’s locaton.
The rest of Exodus was a mxture of dance and love songs. “Jammng” was a lghthearted attempt to put the event of late 1976 behnd the band. “Watng n Van,” “Turn Your Lghts Down Low,” and “Three
Lttle Brds” were all love songs expressng Bob’s feelngs for Breakspeare. The fnal track was the mxng of Bob’s and Curts Mayfeld’s
(of the Impressons) songwrtng. “One Love/People Get Ready” expressed unversal love and unty wth a hnt of the Amercan cvl rghts movement. The Exodus release was another huge success for the Walers.
The reacton to the album was so strong that all but three of the songs were released as sngles, a feat that was not matched untl Mchael Jackson released Thriller.

exoDus toUr
As was now the custom, the Walers next prepared to tour n support of Exodus. The band spent tme preparng for what would be another long trp through Western Europe and North Amerca. Whle the preparatons for the tour were underway, Bob and Famly Man ran afoul of the London polce. The par was stopped whle drvng through northwest London.
They were searched and t was dscovered that both men had large ganja splffs n ther possesson. The polce then searched the apartment where
Bob had been stayng (away from the place where the rest of the band was housed) and they uncovered approxmately a pound of marjuana. Bob and Famly Man were ordered to appear n court on charges of possessng (large quanttes of) a controlled substance. Because nether man had been brought up on any prevous charges, they escaped wth a fne and a warnng not to appear agan n court for any reason.

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Whle dsapponted at hs bad luck at the hands of the polce, Bob’s mood was brghtened when he dscovered that the Ethopan royal famly was lvng n exle n London at ths tme. Bob had occason to meet
Crown Prnce Zere-Yacobe Asfa-Wossen, the pretender to hs grandfather’s throne (Hale Selasse I had been deposed on September 12, 1974; wth hs government n dsarray, a group of low-rankng mltary offcers had effectvely overthrown the weakened leader and removed hs famly from the rulershp of the country). The meetng had two outcomes.
Frst, Wossen gave Bob a gold rng emblazoned wth the golden Lon of
Judah emblem, a rng that the reggae superstar wore for the rest of hs lfe. Also, Bob’s nterest n Afrca (specfcally Ethopa) was deepened sgnfcantly. BoB’S Foot inJUry
The Walers launched the Exodus tour at Pavllon Baltard n Pars,
France, on May 10, 1977. The tour was off to an mmedate success, but tragedy struck when Bob’s rght bg toe was badly njured n a soccer game.
The game was a frendly match between members of the Walers’ entourage and a group of French journalsts. The njury was sgnfcant and upon closer nspecton, Bob realzed that he should see a doctor. The doctor noted that Bob had lost most of hs toenal and nformed hm that he needed to stay off of hs feet to gve the njury tme to heal. Bob dd not heed the doctor’s warnng as he was aware of the serousness of cancelng any prearranged tour oblgatons. Also, Rastafarans do not strctly adhere to modern medcne.
Despte the njury, Bob and the Walers contnued the European leg of the tour. The group played shows n Belgum, the Netherlands, and
Denmark, four shows n Germany, two shows n Sweden, and wrapped up the European leg wth fve shows n England. The Englsh dates ncluded an appearance on the BBC show Top of the Pops and four shows at the
Ranbow Theatre. Wth Marvn n the band, the Walers lve show was even more electrfyng than t had been. At the end of the London shows,
Bob was sufferng from hs falure to look after hs njured foot. The toe
njury had not been allowed to heal properly and Bob’s onstage dancng had reopened the njury. Wth the European leg completed on June 4 and the Amercan leg not scheduled to start untl the Palladum show n New
York n July, Bob went to hs mother’s house n Delaware to recuperate.
Wth the support of the tour, Exodus had shot to number one on the Englsh and German charts, and the pressure was on to make the record a ht
n the Unted States.

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BOB MARLEY

Bob’s foot seemed to be worsenng nstead of healng and he returned to
London to see a foot specalst. The doctor gave Bob’s foot a full examnaton, even collectng some skn cells for examnaton under a mcroscope.
The doctor then nformed Bob that the sample revealed mutated cancerous cells that could requre the amputaton of the affected toe. Bob asked the doctor to explore alternatves and soon learned that there was an alternatve, but t had accompanyng rsks. Instead of amputatng the toe, a small porton of t could be removed and the wound cleaned and redressed.
Ths alternatve stll dd not please Bob and he sought a second opnon
n Mam.
Bob’s toe was examned by Dr. Wllam Bacon, the doctor who had operated on Taylor after the shootng at 56 Hope Road. Bacon seconded the London doctor’s opnon, that a part of Bob’s foot needed to be removed. On July 20, the Amercan leg of the Exodus tour was postponed to allow Bob to undergo surgery. Although offcally the tour was only postponed, all tckets were refunded and no dates were rescheduled. Bob’s surgery was performed at Cedars of Lebanon Hosptal n Mam, and all of the cancerous cells were removed. Wth all of the mutated cells removed,
Bob recovered at a house that he purchased n Mam. The doctor’s recommendaton for Bob’s recovery nvolved the snger returnng to eatng meat, for ts proten. After two months of recovery and a new det, Bob was well agan and ready to return to the road.
Even wthout tour support, Exodus was a ht n the Unted States and the Walers were revered on a par wth Amerca rock and roll’s elte. Durng Bob’s recovery, the Walers had also joned hm n Mam, and once the snger had reganed hs strength, the group entered Crtera Recordng Studos, n Mam, to begn constructng a new record from the extra tracks recorded at the London sessons that had produced Exodus. The produce of these mxng and overdubbng sessons n Mam was the next
Walers album, Kaya. Also, Bob and Taylor were puttng together another Walers summer tour. Ths tour would span the world and attempt to make up for the canceled Amercan shows.
Whle plannng the Walers’ next actvtes and completng hs recovery, Bob was also wrtng new songs. Hs thoughts were also occuped wth concern for hs sland home. The unrest leadng up to the 1976 electon had contnued after the electon was held. The PNP’s socalst leanngs were only made worse through contnued control of the sland, and the growng lack of confdence n the Manley admnstraton was tearng the country apart. The Rastafarans on the sland, by belef a peaceful group, began the Jamacan peace movement at the begnnng of 1978 wth the hope that the ever-worsenng volence could be stopped.

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45

one love Jamaican peace concert
In a faled attempt to stem the volence on the sland, Manley declared martal law, sent the Jamacan natonal army nto the streets, and gave them the order that any known gunman should be mmedately arrested.
Two such poltcal goons who were arrested and detaned n the same cell were Bob Marley assocates. Claudus (“Claude” or “Jack”) Massop and
Bucky Marshall were both chldhood frends of Bob n addton to beng the ruthless enforcers for the two rulng partes (Massop for the JLP and
Marshall for the PNP). Tred of beng used as poltcal pawns and gun fodder, Marshall and Massop began dscussng the possblty of stagng another concert for peace n Kngston. The two vowed to get ther partes to commt to a ceasefre that would be accompaned by negotatons to end the bloodshed and a publc concert to celebrate the sland’s changng crcumstances. The plan behnd the plan was that f the level of volence was reduced then the army would be removed from the streets and the whole stuaton could cool off.
Whle the dea was a good one, Bob was justfably skeptcal, as he was sure that members of one or both of the partes that Marshall and Massop represented were responsble for the attempt on hs lfe. The two men promsed the reggae superstar that they could guarantee hs safety themselves. The crcumstances were made more complcated by the fact that
Bob had not yet returned to Jamaca. Marshall and Massop had a seres of dauntng obstacles to overcome. Frst, they had to get ther warrng, rval groups to agree to put asde ther dfferences and then they needed to get
Bob to return to the sland to headlne a concert.
To assst wth Bob’s return, Marshall and Massop spoke to the leader of the Twelve Trbes of Israel Rastafaran sect, Vernon “Gad the Prophet”
Carrngton. They beleved that f the nvtaton came from the Twelve
Trbes, t would be harder for Bob to refuse. Carrngton was convnced and he sent members of hs group to meet wth Bob n London to dscuss the peace accord and possble concert. By February, Massop was n
London for hs own meetngs wth Bob. Bob and Massop had grown up together and the two were frends. However, thngs became straned when
Bob contended that Massop and the JLP could not ensure hs health, even
f they had n fact not been responsble for the assassnaton attempt. Massop told Bob that the attempt on hs lfe had been for poltcal reasons and that the JLP was to blame.
In addton to members of the Twelve Trbes and Massop, Bob also dscussed the possblty of returnng to Jamaca wth PNP representatve
Tony Welsh, who had been sent to meet wth Bob when the PNP learned

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BOB MARLEY

that Massop was n London. Ths group met over the course of a week and dscussed the detals of a truce and the possblty of a concert. Bob fnally conceded and agreed to play the concert, whch effectvely ended hs exle from Jamaca. The concert was announced to the world press on
February 23. The One Love Jamacan Peace Concert was scheduled for
Aprl 22, 1978. Bob Marley and the Walers were booked to headlne. Other artsts that agreed to perform ncluded orgnal Waler Peter Tosh, Jacob
Mller and Inner Crcle, the Mghty Damonds, Trnty, Denns Brown,
Culture, Dllnger, Bg Youth, and Ras Mchael and the Sons of Negus.
As the Walers were gearng up for another tour, they decded to use the Jamacan Peace Concert as the kckoff event for the tour. The band agan went through a lneup change when Al Anderson returned on rhythm gutar and Earl “Wya” Lndo agan joned the group on keyboards.
In order to buld addtonal hype for the concert and tour, the Walers released ther seventh Island Records release, Kaya. Wth the momentum buldng for the concert, tour, and new album, Bob returned to Jamaca after hs 14-month exle.
Bob arrved back n Jamaca on February 26, 1978, wth the expressed msson of brngng peace back to the sland. The One Love Jamacan
Peace Concert was scheduled for Aprl 22 and the Twelve Trbes of Israel
Rastafaran brotherhood was the sponsor of record. The concert was not ntended for any poltcal posturng; nstead t was meant to undo years of damage caused by the nfghtng that had created the current state of meltdown. The fact that the warrng JLP and PNP factons had agreed to a tenuous ceasefre ndcated that even the poltcal goon squads were concerned about the level of bloodshed. The tenson n Kngston was ntense, llustrated by the constant presence of the polce, wearng bulletproof vests and carryng shotguns, n the yard of the house at 56
Hope Road.
The concert date dawned and all of Jamaca’s most sgnfcant bands were slated to perform. The tense mood of the perod leadng up to the concert was contnued at the show wth hundreds of polcemen n attendance. As band after band took the stage n front of the audence of more than 32,000 people, the antcpaton grew. Peter Tosh’s set was ncendary as he crtczed the government, callng t the “shtstem,” nstead of the system. Tosh also flaunted hs onstage freedom when he lt up a large splff from the stage, even as polce and government offcals looked on helplessly. He contnued hs rebellon, yellng at the crowd that he dd not want peace, but nstead wanted equalty. He blazed through seven songs and then Ras Mchael and the Sons of Negus played a fve-song set. The concert clmaxed when the Walers took the stage as the fnal act.

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Bob walked on stage dressed n a brown burlap pullover shrt wth a map of Afrca on the back, decorated n many colors. At hs entrance the crowd erupted n loud applause, havng been left doubtng that he would ever return to the sland. Bob and the Walers gave a legendary
50-mnute performance wth a nne-song set lst. That nght they played the songs “Lon of Judah” (whch they rarely played lve), “Natural Mystc,” “Trench Town Rock.” “Natty Dread,” “Postve Vbraton,” “War,”
“Jammng,” “One Love/People Get Ready,” and “Jah Lve.”
Durng the performance of the song “Jammng,” Bob began an extended skat vocal (skat sngng s vocal mprovsaton n whch the words are made up on the spot or nonsense syllables are used such as “doo” and
“wop”). Bob sang:
To make everythng come true, we’ve got to be together, yeah, yeah. And to the sprt of the most hgh, Hs Imperal Majesty
Emperor Hale Selasse I, run lghtnng, leadng the people of the slaves to shake hands. . . . I’m tryng to say, could we have, could we have, up here onstage here the presence of Mr. Mchael Manley and Mr. Edward Seaga. I just want to shake hands and show the people that we’re gonna unte. . . . we’re gonna unte. . . . we’ve got to unte.
Wth ths nvtaton, opposton leaders Seaga and Manley exted the front row of the audence, where they had been seated, and ascended the stars to the stage. Bob took one hand of each man and joned them over hs head n a show of unty. Whle both men were vsbly uncomfortable wth the stuaton, Bob reveled n the physcal unon of the two rval powers. In addton to the pleasure Bob got from the PNP and JLP peace meetng, he was overjoyed when hs chldren joned hm on stage durng the fnal song of the Walers’ set.

Kaya
After the One Love Peace Concert, the Walers geared up for an nternatonal tour n support of the Kaya record. The album represented a dfferent sde of Bob that he had not prevously revealed n such a systematc manner. Although the tracks on the album were recorded n London, durng the same sessons that yelded Exodus, the Kaya materal was not mltant and the album was nstead flled wth mellow dance musc. The name of the album s Rastafaran slang for marjuana and the album content pad homage to the Rastafaran wsdom weed. In fact, the frst song

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BOB MARLEY

on the album began wth the words “’cuse [excuse] me whle I lght my splff.” The album jacket showed a grany pcture of a smlng Bob, whle the back of the jacket dsplayed a colorful pcture of a large splff. Contaned on the album were the songs “Easy Skankng,” “Kaya,” “Is Ths Love,”
“Sun Is Shnng,” “Satsfy My Soul,” “She’s Gone,” “Msty Mornng,”
“Crss,” “Runnng Away,” and “Tme Wll Tell.” The persons performng on the album were the same as had been present on Exodus. In the wake of the album’s release, Bob went to New York to meet wth the press and musc crtcs.

Kaya toUr
The Walers then began ther world tour n support of the record. The tour had three parts, two North Amercan legs wth one European leg that separated them. Many houses were sold out, and several performances were recorded for posterty usng Blackwell’s own Island Moble Studo.
The tour was scheduled to begn n Mam, Florda, on May 5, 1978. However, the frst sx dates were canceled. Some reports ndcate that ths cancellaton was due to unspecfed problems wth Junor Marvn’s health; others speculated that the Waler gutarst was strugglng wth cocane addcton. The tour then began n earnest n Ann Arbor, Mchgan.
Shows followed throughout the Mdwest, followed by a swng out to the
East Coast and then north nto Canada for a par of shows. The group then returned to the Unted States for another seres of Amercan dates before departng for the European leg of the tour.
The European leg began n England wth a show at the New Bngley
Hall n Staffordshre. Next, the tour crossed nto France for three dates before t headed to Ibza, Span, Sweden for two shows, Denmark, Norway, and the Netherlands for two shows. The European leg ended wth a stop n Belgum and a return to England for another appearance on Top of the Pops.
The second North Amercan leg of the tour began n Vancouver, Brtsh Columba, and then came south nto Washngton, Oregon, followed by sx shows n Calforna. The hghlght of the Calforna shows was on
July 21, at the Starlght Amphtheater n Burbank, when Tosh jumped on stage durng the encore for an unexpected duet. The band then crossed the southern part of the Unted States, performng the sx shows that had been canceled at the begnnng of the tour. The popularty of Kaya was assured through the lengthy tour. The album yelded two ht sngles,

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49

“Is Ths Love” and “Satsfy My Soul.” These songs were also released as vdeos to further enhance ther promoton.
Stll n Mam at the end of the tour, Bob recorded a song by Jamacan producer Kng Sporty. The song was called “Buffalo Solder,” and ts lyrcs connected the Rastafaran struggles to those of the black solders n the
U.S. cavalry durng the Indan Wars. Noel G. Wllams, known as Kng
Sporty, owned hs own Tashamba and Konduko record labels and was a
Jamacan DJ and reggae muscan.

BaBylon By BUS
An offshoot of the recordng of several of the Walers shows from the
Kaya tour was the release of another lve album. Blackwell headed nto the studo wth the raw tapes of Walers shows from Pars, Copenhagen,
London, and Amsterdam. He emerged wth the master tapes for the lve album Babylon by Bus. Released n 1978, the album ncluded 13 exemplary lve performances ncludng the songs “Postve Vbratons,” “Punky Reggae Party,” “Exodus,” “Str It Up,” “Rat Race,” “Concrete Jungle,” “Knky
Reggae,” “Lvely Up Yourself,” “Rebel Musc,” “War/ No More Trouble,”
“Is Ths Love,” “The Heathen,” and “Jammng.”
The album began wth an ntroducton by Bob durng whch he contnued to assert hs fath n Hale Selasse I. He welcomed the crowd n the name of Ras Tafar. He went on to repeat that Selasse was “ever lvng” and “ever sure.” Bob further lnked hmself wth Selasse through repeated use of the “I and I” word choce of Rastafarans. He then engaged
n a bref call and response wth the audence that led nto the frst track.
The album captured the Walers at a new heght of lve performance, and the power of Bob’s sngng and hs vocal presence llustrated how far the snger had come snce the Live! album was released three years earler.
A strange crcumstance unfolded wth the release of the Babylon by Bus album: the Walers toured n support of a lve album wthout releasng any new studo materal. The group was capable of dong ths because ts nternatonal reputaton had grown to such a hgh level and there were stll parts of the world n whch t had not performed. In pursut of newer and larger audences, the Walers launched the Babylon by Bus tour, wth the
dea that they would play parts of the world that had not been prevously exposed to lve reggae musc.

50

c hapter 4

reggae international

The tour was booked and the Walers prepared to embark on ther frst tour of the Far East and the Pacfc Rm. The frst two dates of the tour were scheduled for Abdjan n the Ivory Coast. Both of these dates were canceled for unknown reasons. However, Bob contnued to pursue Walers appearances n Afrca, even wth ths ntal dsappontment. The tour then started on Aprl 5, 1979, wth a seres of eght shows n Japan. From
Japan, the Walers traveled to Auckland, New Zealand, for an appearance. Bob was greeted by a collecton of aborgnal Maors who treated hm lke a kng and related ther struggles wth an oppressve whte government to those of the Jamaca underclass. The New Zealand show was followed by an eght-show stand n Australa. Next, the group flew to
Hawa for two shows before returnng to Jamaca.
Bob now planned hs next move. He had several albums worth of materal n hs head that he had composed whle on the road. Also, he was obsessed wth bookng a Walers concert n Ethopa. Havng spent long hours thnkng about and dscussng the black fatherland, Bob beleved that the Walers’ next bg tour must nclude an Afrcan appearance. He had been hampered n hs efforts by the ongong war between Ethopa and the terrtory drectly to the north called Ertrea. The 30-year war for
Ertrean ndependence lasted from 1961 to 1991 and the war meant that
Bob could not get a vsa to travel to Ethopa.

BoB in aFrica
Concdently, as Bob was tryng to enter Ethopa, Alan “Skll” Cole had turned up n the Ethopan captal, Adds Ababa. Cole had apparently fled
51

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to Afrca n the wake of the assassnaton attempt n Kngston. He had used hs soccer-playng credentals to get a coachng job wth the Ethopan Arlnes soccer team. Bob was fnally awarded a vsa n late 1978 and together he and Cole planned a trp to Ethopa.
Bob left Jamaca and flew to London, then Narob, and then on to
Ethopa. Once there, he vsted several places of sgnfcance to hm, most
mportantly stes connected wth Hale Selasse I. Bob also spent tme on a relgous communal farm called Shashaman, attended a rally n support of the lberaton movement n Rhodesa, and spent tme soakng up the local nghtlfe. Based on these experences, Bob began to work on the song
“Zmbabwe,” the Afrcan name beng used for Rhodesa durng the struggle for nternatonally recognzed ndependence from long-standng whte mnorty rule.
Bob returned from Afrca refreshed and ready to get back to work. He had albums worth of materal n hs head ready for recordng, and hs renewed fath n black unty gave a serous edge to hs new musc. Whle he had been away, hs lawyer Dane Jobson ran the ever-growng Tuff Gong empre. Ths was no small task as she was charged wth the day-to-day management of the only multmllon-dollar musc company n the thrd world. The Walers returned to the studo and ther frst product was the sngle “Ambush n the Nght.” The song was released on the Tuff Gong
mprnt n early 1979 and reflected Bob’s steadfast resolve. Here, Bob agan addressed hs would-be assassns, holdng them n check because he was protected by Selasse’s dvnty.
Whle busy n the studo and wth Tuff Gong busness, Bob was stll aware that the tenuous post–One Love Freedom Concert peace had been broken. Hs old frend Claude Massop was returnng from a February soccer match when he was stopped at a polce roadblock. Reports ndcate that Massop was unarmed and approached offcers on the scene wth hs hands n the ar. The offcers opened fre and Massop was reportedly shot
44 tmes. Wth acts such as ths, the uneasy peace that had been present on the sland snce the One Love Peace Concert was shattered. The reasons for Massop’s executon were never substantated, but rumors swrled that he had stolen the money from the Peace concert.
Another of Bob’s long-tme sland frends, Lee “Scratch” Perry, suffered a nervous breakdown and was brefly nsttutonalzed at Kngston’s Bellevew Hosptal. However, amd the chaos of 1979, Bob worked dlgently to fnsh recordng hs next album. Another Walers tour had already been planned and Bob wanted to fnsh recordng the new materal before the tour began. Durng ths perod, even amd the turmol, Bob found some

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peace n hs lfe. He worked dlgently on hs new record, but also took long hours to play soccer and spend tme wth hs chldren. Also, wth
Yvette Morrs, he fathered hs 11th chld, a daughter named Makeba (the
Queen of Sheba) Jahnesta.

surViVal
Part of the 1979 recordng process was Bob’s ntroducton to a new
Blackwell-assgned producer, Alex Sadkn. Sadkn was traned as an audo masterng engneer and became a well-known musc producer through hs work at Crtera Studos n Mam and at Blackwell’s Compass Pont Studos n Nassau, Bahamas. Although he had a short lfe (he ded n 1987 n an auto accdent at age 35), he recorded materal for the Talkng Heads,
Joe Cocker, James Brown, Maranne Fathfull, and others. Hs work wth
Bob resulted n the Survival album. Released n the summer of 1979, the workng ttle of the album had been Black Survival, nspred by Bob’s trp to Afrca.
The album tself contaned songs on topcs such as rebellon, relgon, and escape from oppresson. Contanng 10 songs n all, the album collected some of Bob’s most personal commentary on hs lfe and the world surroundng hm. The tracks contaned on the album were “So Much
Trouble n the World,” “Zmbabwe,” “Top Rankn’,” “Babylon System,”
“Survval,” “Afrca Unte,” “One Drop,” “Rde Natty Rde,” “Ambush n the Nght,” and “Wake Up and Lve.” On ths record, Bob was the leader of the oppressed black man n the Western world. He sang of removng the oppressors’ chans and the dawnng of a new era n whch black freedom and global harmony for the black race exsted. He was the Rastafaran warror on a msson to reunte and brng peace to the Afrcan daspora.

reGGae SUnSplaSh
Wth the album complete, the Walers agan geared up for an extended summer tour. They kcked the tour off wth a headlnng appearance n the Reggae Sunsplash II concert held at Jarrett Park n Montego Bay n early July 1979. The Reggae Sunsplash concert seres had been n part
Bob’s dea and began n 1978. The Walers would certanly have partcpated n the naugural performance, but t took place whle the group was off the sland durng the Kaya tour.
Durng the second ncarnaton of the concert, the Walers were the natural headlners. The show was hstory-makng n qualty, although ran made the venue a mud puddle and hampered the group’s performance.

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The concert was a huge success wth an nternatonal audence n attendance. Because of ths success and the nternatonal appeal, the Reggae
Sunsplash concert seres contnues currently. Each year the best of Jamacan reggae talent s recruted for a show on the sland. Ths show then serves as the begnnng of an extensve tour promotng Jamacan musc around the world.
Hstorcally, the Reggae Sunsplash concerts have been enormously successful and have exposed the world to Jamacan musc start such as Thrd World, Culture, Steel Pulse, Toots and the Maytals, Fredde
McGregor, Morgan Hertage, Buju Banton, Beene Man, Elephant Man, and others. The seres of concerts stopped n 1999 when the drvng force behnd them, Tony Johnson, ded. However, the Reggae Sunsplash show reemerged wth a three-day festval held on August 3–6, 2006. The plans are agan to make the concert an annual event, and plannng for future festvals s already underway.

surViVal toUr
Wth ths auspcous start, the Bob Marley and the Walers’ 25-member member Survival tourng group left Jamaca for an extended Amercan tour. From Jamaca, the Walers traveled to Boston, Massachusetts, to perform n the Amandla Festval at Harvard Unversty. Amandla s a shorted form of the phrase meanng “power to the people” n the Shona language of Zmbabwe. Ths concert, called the Festval of Unty, was organzed by Chester England to beneft the Amandla group, whose msson was to support Afrcan lberaton and freedom fghters. The show ncluded lumnares from around the world, such as Amercan soul snger Patt
Labelle, and 25,000 people attended. The Amandla show started wth the song “Exodus” and ended wth “Zmbabwe” and “Wake Up and Lve.”
Throughout, Bob was the voce of Afrcan freedom. Durng “Wake Up and Lve,” Bob began to scat a speech to the audence that ncluded dscusson of brotherhood, unty, and concern over condtons n Afrca.
The concert earned almost a quarter of a mllon dollars for the cause of
Afrcan lberaton.
The tour then rolled on wth a seres of dates n the Unted States that began wth an appearance at Madson Square Garden wth the Commodores and the rap legend Kurts Blow. The band then had a four-day stand at New York’s Apollo Theater. Bob had purposely establshed ths set of shows n the hstorcally black and lower-class secton of New York.
By attractng the attenton of the resdents of Harlem, Bob beleved that hs musc could truly cross over to a black Amercan audence. Soon, he

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learned that these shows had had a deep mpact and he was beng talked about extensvely n black Amercan lstenng crcles.
Durng ths perod, the Survival album was offcally released. In contrast to the commercal fare that had been Kaya, Survival was pure mltant reggae and llustrated Bob at hs hghest potency. In addton to Bob’s longstandng dscussons of freedom for blacks n Jamaca, the new album now
ncluded dscussons of freedom for all black people regardless of locaton.
Ths Pan-Afrcan theme was woven nto the fabrc of Bob’s musc and lfe for the rest of hs tme on earth. Bob also contnued to delver hs message through hs long-evolvng preference for the quotaton of Bble passages.
The Survival album tself was a testament to Bob’s convctons. The front cover of the album contaned small-scale examples of the flags of all of the Afrcan natons crca 1979. At the top of the front cover was a banner dsplayng the layout for stowage of Afrcan slaves as they were transported n shps from Afrca to the Amercas. Supermposed over ths was the album’s ttle. The back cover contnued the slave shp banner and
ncluded the ttles of the songs contaned on the album.
The lneup for the album ncluded the Walers regulars from the prevous recordng. However, there was one sgnfcant addton: Carlton “Santa”
Davs played drums on several key tracks. Davs had played n several of the sland’s most famous bands n the pre-Marley era, such as Soul Syndcate. He s also credted wth appearances wth almost all mportant
Jamacan popular groups snce the 1970s, ncludng Jmmy Clff, Black
Uhuru, Burnng Spear, Bg Youth, Peter Tosh, In Kamoze, Bg Mountan, and many others. For the Survival sessons, Santa sat n wth the Walers on the song “Afrca Unte.” Santa s certanly a Jamacan reggae con n hs own rght, but hs assocaton wth the Walers on the Survival and
Uprising releases llustrated that he s among the most sought after muscans on the sland.

surViVal toUr continUed
The Survival tour contnued when the group headed north nto Canada before returnng to the Unted States for several East Coast appearances. Although unwllng to let t stop hm, Bob had been fghtng a cold snce startng the Survival tour. Incredbly, the cold would stay wth hm throughout the tour. In Phladelpha, on November 7, Steve Wonder joned the Walers on stage to sng “Get Up, Stand Up” and “Exodus.”
The Walers then pressed on nto the Mdwest on ther way to the West
Coast. The Mdwest dates ncluded stops n Mchgan, Wsconsn, Illnos, and Mnnesota.

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The Walers agan crossed the border for a show n Alberta, Canada, before begnnng ther trp south along the western coast of the Unted
States. As had been the case on prevous tours, the Walers were most enthusastcally receved n Calforna. They played eght Calforna concerts as the tour contnued through the fall. Whle n Calforna, Bob’s health mproved. However, he seemed constantly tred and ncreasngly passed off hs dutes, such as gvng ntervews, to other members of the band. The group then crossed the southern part of the country wth only a few stops. The Survival tour drew to a close as the year ended. The band played for the frst tme n Trndad and Tobago and concluded the tour n
Nassau wth an appearance at the Queen Elzabeth Sports Center.
In addton to the strong start to the tour, wth the headlnng appearance on the Reggae Sunsplash II concert and the Amandla success, the
Survival tour had several other hghlghts. The performance n Santa Barbara, Calforna, on November 25, was recorded and eventually released as on VHS (later remastered to DVD). Also, the concert n Oakland,
Calforna, on November 30, featured a guest appearance by Rollng
Stones gutarst Ron Wood. The fnal concert of the tour, at the Queen
Elzabeth Sports Center n Nassau, was presented as a beneft concert for the chldren n the Bahamas as part of the Internatonal Year of the Chld.
That nght, Bob donated the royaltes form the song “Chldren Playng
n the Streets” to the cause. Bob had wrtten the song for four of hs own chldren—Zggy, Stephen, Sharon, and Cedella—who went on to form ther own muscal group called the Melody Makers, and the group also recorded the song.

UpriSinG
Phlosophcally, the Survivor album was a part of a larger puzzle that
Bob was tryng to construct. Wth the sounds and messages of the album,
Bob lad the groundwork for hs “call to acton” for all black people. Ths message came n three nstallments as conceved by the songwrter. The second part of the trlogy was the next album, Uprising. The thrd, although released posthumously, was the album Confrontation. Bob was careful about how he delvered hs thoughts on black acton. The frst step was to survve four hundred years of persecuton at the hands of whte oppressors; next, the dsenfranchsed black populaton must band together and shake loose ther shackles (ether lterally or fguratvely); and thrd, they should make the move to a locaton where they could be free to lve n peace (Afrca). Even durng the Survival tour, Bob was wrtng the words for new songs that followed hs phlosophcal trajectory.

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Bob’s vson became a realty, at least n part. Due to the message n the song “Zmbabwe,” Afrcan freedom fghters adopted the tune as a rallyng pont. Zmbabwe’s Patrotc Front used the song to buoy ther sprts durng the long fght for freedom and consdered Bob a kndred sprt from whom they drew strength. The song gave word to the reasons why many of the solders were fghtng the war at all and unted them n a soldarty that would eventually lead to vctory. Ths type of prophecy through song went far to enhance Bob’s reputaton both durng hs lfe and n death.
Bob Marley was soon known as the nternatonal voce of freedom and he was quckly adopted by oppressed people everywhere (regardless of color) as a fgure to rally around.
As the Survivor tour and 1979 came to a close, Bob and the Walers worked to set up the band’s schedule for the new year. They had already planned a band trp to Afrca, tme n London, and recordng sessons for the next album. As expected, the release of Uprising would also spawn a massve tour. Ths had several purposes. Frst, t was meant to expose the
Walers’ musc to an even wder audence. Second, t served the purpose of keepng Bob out of Jamaca for the general electon of 1980. And thrd, t was to take the Walers to Afrca for the frst tme. The coordnaton of such a varety of actvtes was a major step. For these purposes,
Bob renamed hs company Tuff Gong Internatonal, as an ndcaton of ther ever-broadenng worldvew.

uprising toUr
Because the Walers toured n advance of the U.S. release of the Uprising album, offcally June 10, 1980, the band was already playng the new songs before the audence had heard them on the recordng. The Uprising tour entourage left Kngston on January 1, 1980, and traveled frst to
London and then on to Lbrevlle, Gabon, n western Afrca. The country of Gabon s on the west coast of the Afrcan contnent. It s bordered by
Equatoral Gunea, Cameroon, the Republc of Congo, and the Gulf of
Gunea. Offcally called the Gabonese Republc, the country acheved
ndependence from France only n 1960. Snce then, ts presdent has been
El Hadj Omar Bongo Ondmba (who currently has the dstncton of beng a very long servng head of state). The country has a lmted populaton and abundant natural resources that make t among the most prosperous
n the regon.
The Walers had been booked to play for the presdent’s brthday and the band’s exctement was palpable. Wth ths trp, Bob was realzng one of hs longest-sought goals. The show was also meant to expose

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the Walers’ musc to a prevously unntated group of people. The band was scheduled to play two shows. Bob was mmensely excted about performng n Afrca; he had ntally sad that he would pay for the tourng expenses hmself as long as the Bongo famly pad for the actual Walers appearance. He then left t to hs manager Don Taylor to make all of the approprate arrangements wth the ol-rch Bongo famly.

retUrn to aFrica
The Walers’ tourng unt, and ther opener Betty Wrght, arrved n
Afrca and were dsmayed to learn that they were not to play for the general publc at all. Instead, they had been slated to perform n a small tenns area for only 2,000 of the Gabonese elte. Although Bob was unhappy wth the arrangement, he was pleased when, durng the group’s two-week stay; young Gabonese ctzens approached hm to dscuss Rastafaransm. After the Walers had played the contracted two shows, the band prepared to leave. Ths meant that t was tme to be pad for the engagements. A dspute arose concernng the agreed-upon fee. Bob had establshed wth Taylor that the Walers would be pad a total of $40,000 for the two appearances. Taylor was apparently demandng a fee of $60,000, wth the suspected am of pocketng the other $20,000 for hmself.
A Bongo famly representatve heard that he was beng blamed for the msunderstandng and mmedately went to Bob to straghten thngs out.
Bob reasoned wth the man and learned of Taylor’s decet. Not only had
Taylor marred an otherwse good Afrcan experence for the Walers, but he had cast doubt on Bob’s character n the eyes of the Gabonese elte.
Bob straghtened everythng out wth the Bongo famly and ther representatve, and then he and Taylor had a huge fght.
Durng ther three-hour argument, Taylor reportedly blamed the whole thng on the Bongo famly representatve. Nevertheless, Bob was nconsolable. The exact facts of the blowup are not clear, but the result of Bob and Taylor’s fght was that Taylor fnally admtted to mshandlng Bob’s money. He had establshed a long-runnng practce of recevng as much as $15,000 per show as an advance and passng along only $5,000 to Bob and the band. Taylor also admtted to stealng from the Walers n another manner. Bob would gve Taylor money, sometmes as much as $50,000 at once, for Taylor to transfer to Famly Man back n Jamaca. Taylor then exchanged ths money on the black market for as much as three tmes ts face value. He then kept the ll-gotten gans and gave Famly Man only the orgnal amount. The Walers’ manager was apparently not ready to gve ths nformaton and whle reports conflct, t s possble that Bob

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had to beat a confesson out of hm. Once Bob knew the truth and the nature of the betrayal, he demanded that Taylor return the money. Of course, the crooked band manager could not produce hs llegal gans, sayng that he had lost all the money gamblng. Ths left Bob no choce: agan burned by the musc busness, Bob fred Don Taylor and he and hs band left Gabon.
The Taylor ncdent was just the worst of many examples of people n the musc ndustry preyng on Bob. He had had trouble gettng properly pad for hs musc snce he frst began recordng. Ths led to a general detestaton for members of the musc busness and worsened Bob’s dsdan for those n power. Over the course of hs career, Bob had only one successful relatonshp wth a musc ndustry nsder. Ths successful unon was wth Chrstopher Blackwell, the Island Records label boss. Although
Bob and Blackwell’s relatonshp sometmes fell on hard tmes, t was wth
Blackwell’s help that Bob reached nternatonal fame.
From Afrca, the Walers returned to Jamaca and set about the job of recordng new materal. Bob had enough new materal n hs head that these sessons produced suffcent tracks for two full-length albums. The frst record that was produced from these recordngs was ttled Uprising. It was released n June 1980 and represented Bob n one of hs more mltant phases. Hs lyrcal content was peppered wth bblcal quotes and hs messages spoke strongly of unty and redempton. Hs experence n Afrca was evdent n the new materal, and the band’s sound was heaver to reflect Bob’s mood.
The cover of the Uprising album depcted a trumphant dreadlocked black man wth hs hands rased n the tradtonal “V” for vctory stance.
Hs locks were so long that they framed the album ttle, whch appeared at hs wast. Behnd hm was an mage of the sun rasng over the top of a green mountan (possbly representng the Blue Mountans of Jamaca).
The album tracks have been crtcally acclamed as some of Marley’s best work. The songs on the album are “Comng n from the Cold,” “Real
Stuaton,” “Bad Card,” “We and Dem,” “Work,” “Zon Tran,” “Pmper’s
Paradse,” “Could You Be Loved,” “Forever Lovng Jah,” and “Redempton Song.”
The collecton was flled wth sold gold hts. In the years snce ts release, Uprising has become essental lstenng for all reggae and Bob
Marley fans. Performng on the album were Bob, the Barrett brothers as the rhythm secton, the I-Threes, Junor Marvn, Tyrone Downe, Alvn
“Seeco” Patterson, and Earl “Wya” Lndo. The songs were all recorded and mxed at Tuff Gong Studos n Kngston, Jamaca. The 10-song testament to Bob’s phlosophy has only grown more ntense wth age.

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The songs on the album reference Bob’s lfe and pont an accusatory fnger n the drecton of those who mstreated or wronged hm. Bob’s
Rastafaransm was evdent on almost all of the tracks. Bblcal quotatons and paraphrases were also present n most songs. Other themes present were unty, love, and cooperaton. Due to the rough qualty of Bob’s voce on ths album, several bographers have speculated that Bob knew that hs health was not good and that he would not lve much longer.
The album contaned several standout tracks wth autobographcal lyrcs. “Bad Card” was Bob’s chroncle of hs experences wth Don Taylor. Taylor was lterally the “bad card” that Bob drew and wth whch he “made wrong moves” n hs busness dealngs. “Work” was another of Bob’s calls to acton for all oppressed people. The song was structured as a reverse countng song n whch Bob counted down from fve. The countdown represented the perod untl the ultmate goal of freedom was reached. The song ended wth Bob declarng that Jah’s people can make
t work.
Bob’s use of bblcal quotatons and paraphrases n hs lyrcs reached a new heght on Uprising. Here Bob repeatedly evoked bblcal sentment, story, and prophecy through repeated use of the psalms. An example of ths was found n the most popular song from the Uprising album, “Redempton Song.” In ths song, Marley created a seres of mages. Frst he placed hmself n a colonal-era slave shp, then he quckly shfted to bblcal language from Psalm 88, descrbng beng cast nto a bottomless pt. Bob also made use of text from Matthew 24:34 n the song, when he referred to kllng prophets, and he agan alled hmself wth Joseph through the use of text from Geness 49:24. In the song, Bob was able to overcome these dffcult scenaros through the help of almghty Jah. Another nterestng feature of the song was that t was Bob’s only track recorded wthout a backng band. Here Bob was at hs most personal, sngng wth only an acoustc gutar for support. Although he dd not know t at the tme, “Redempton Song” was the last song that Bob would release durng hs lfe.
After the sessons that produced Uprising were completed, Bob brefly vsted Mam. He was tred and wanted to rest, plus he needed to straghten out hs management stuaton, as he was gearng up for another extended Walers tour. At the same tme, he was also acutely aware that hs most recent album fulflled hs record contract wth Island. So,
n addton to needng a new manager, he was also soon to be wthout a record deal. In Mam, Bob met wth Danny Sms, who made t clear that Bob’s recordng nterests would be better served by swtchng labels and movng to Polygram Records. Bob opted to stck wth Blackwell’s
Island Records label. Interestngly, Polygram eventually purchased Island

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Records n a 1989 merger. In 1998, Seagram bought Polygram and absorbed t nto the Unversal Musc Group.

BoB tUrnS 35
In the face of all of ths tumult, Bob decded to blow off a lttle steam and he threw hmself a massve 35th brthday party. The part was held on February 6, 1980, at the house at 56 Hope Road. For the bash, Bob surrounded hmself wth hs frends and famly and pad specal attenton to all of the chldren gathered n the Hope Road yard. Frequently
n Bob’s lfe, he was captured n photographs nteractng wth chldren.
It was clear from these mages that Bob’s often gruff exteror melted away when he was n the company of chldren.
Whle n Jamaca celebratng hs brthday, Bob agan notced a change
n the musc of hs sland home. The reggae style behnd whch he was the drvng force was beng nfluenced by a new style called “rub-a-dub.”
The most popular example of ths style n 1980 was the duo Papa Mchgan and General Smley. Mchgan and Smley were born Anthony Farclough and Erroll Bennett and emerged on the Jamacan popular musc scene as two of the earlest dual DJ outfts. They recorded wth Bob’s old producer
Clement “Coxsone” Dodd and had nstant success. Ther notable songs from ths tme were “Rub a Dub Style” and “Nce Up the Dance.” The par realzed Bob’s star power and swtched over to hs Tuff Gong Records
mprnt.
The rub-a-dub style was very popular n the early 1980s and was characterzed by a fast tempo, heavy use of the bass drum on beats two and four, and DJ toastng. Toastng was the Jamacan predecessor to rappng n
New York and was acheved when DJs delvered mprovsed lyrcs over a prerecorded beat. The beats were taken from “dub plates,” whch were the
B-sdes of Jamacan sngles released wth the words removed. The emergence of rub-a-dub, the shft of Mchgan and Smley to Tuff Gong, and the Jamacan practce of toastng were just of few of the exctng changes
n the Jamacan musc ndustry n the early 1980s.
At the same tme, Jamaca was agan descendng nto poltcally motvated volence. Bob was aware of ths dangerous stuaton and kept to hmself whle on the sland. Hs entourage and famly were always around hm, but he was careful to avod a repeat of the 1976 attempt on hs lfe.
Securty was mantaned around the reggae superstar through the help of the Twelve Trbes of Israel Rastafaran brotherhood. Durng the run-up to the electons of 1980, PNP and JLP clashes resulted n 750 deaths, and several pollng statons never opened on the electon day due to the fear

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of volence. Realzng that the Jamacan stuaton was gettng out of control, Bob retreated to Mam to plan hs next move.
Whle n Mam, Bob learned that Bucky Marshall had been shot and klled at a block party n Brooklyn, New York, whch made Bob uneasy even n the Unted States. Ths dffcult stuaton was quckly tempered by joy when Bob and the band were nvted to perform as part of the ndependence day celebratons for the newly establshed Afrcan country of
Zmbabwe.
Bob was aware that hs song “Zmbabwe” had become qute popular n
Afrca and that t was a rallyng cry for the dsenfranchsed on the Afrcan contnent. However, he was awed by the nvtaton to return to Afrca for the purposes of helpng to offcally declare the exstence of a new Afrcan naton. The leaders of the country formerly known as Rhodesa had realzed that the poltcal stuaton was too unstable to contnue. In the md-1960s, Ian Smth had set up a whte mnorty party and declared unoffcal ndependence from the Brtsh government. Smth was apposed by
Robert Mugabe and hs Zmbabwe Afrcan Natonal Unon (ZANU) and
Joshua Nkomo’s Zmbabwe Afrcan People’s Unon (ZAPU). In 1980, ths conflct came to a head and a general electon was held. Mugabe and
ZANU won a landslde vctory, England gave up any colonal tes to the country, and Rhodesa was offcally renamed Zmbabwe.
Bob Marley and the Walers were the proud headlners of the Independence Day celebratons that marked the offcal nauguraton of Zmbabwe as a free Afrcan naton. Mugabe’s general secretary, Edgar Tekere, contacted Bob to nvte hm to be one of the offcatng dgntares at the
ndependence celebratons, as hs musc had played such a key role n emboldenng the sprts of the Zmbabwean freedom fghters. After the formal nvtaton to attend the celebraton had been delvered, Bob was vsted by two Afrcan busnessmen who nvted hm and the Walers to perform as part of the event. Bob was so honored by ths that he made a commtment to havng the Walers perform and he promsed to pay the band’s travel expenses hmself. He lkely stll had the Don Taylor/Gabon fasco n hs head when he made these arrangements.
Although Bob and the band were ecstatc about ther nvtaton to
Zmbabwe, they were n serous dffculty. The nvtaton had arrved wth very short notce and the lack of a band manager had not yet been resolved. Regardless, Bob and the group pressed on, and three days later they landed at Salsbury Arport. The country’s captal cty was called
Salsbury, but was beng renamed Harare. The Walers were met at the arport by Joshua Nkomo, who had been the leader of the ZAPU movement and had been made Mugabe’s mnster of home affars. Bob was

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amazed that he was also greeted by Mugabe hmself and Brtan’s Prnce
Charles. Mugabe was on hand to offcally welcome Bob and the band and Prnce Charles was the Brtsh representatve who would lower hs country’s flag for the last tme durng the ndependence ceremony.

ZimBaBwe Freedom concert
Shortly after the Walers were welcomed n Salsbury/Harare, a Boeng 707 flled wth equpment arrved. Twenty-one tons of Walers’ gear, stagng, lghts, and a 25,000-watt amplfcaton system wth 20 foot tall speaker boxes were unloaded and set up by a 12-man road crew. Bob Marley and the Walers were preparng to gve one of ther most memorable performances n ther ancestral homeland. The concert appearance was marked by the members of the band as the hghest muscal honor of ther careers. The concert was set for Aprl 18, 1980, and durng the ndependence day celebratons Rhodesa offcally became Zmbabwe. The Walers agan assumed that they would be performng for the Afrcan masses and were dsapponted to learn that they were slotted to perform mmedately after the
ndependence ceremony for an audence of dgntares, ncludng Mugabe,
Prnce Charles, and Inda’s Indra Gandh. Bob Marley and the Walers took the stage at 8:30 n the evenng, mmedately after Zmbabwe’s new natonal flag was rased for the frst tme.
When the Walers played ther frst notes n the Rufaro Stadum on the edge of the captal cty, pandemonum broke loose. A massve crowd had assembled outsde the gates of the venue and when they heard the band begn to play they rushed the gates. Excted and expectant, the crowd was too bg to control, and the natonal securty force launched tear gas drectly nto the crush of gate crashers. Bob and the band were removed from the stage whle order was restored. Once the crowd had been controlled, the Walers retook the stage. They were told that they had only two more mnutes n ther allotted tme and mmedately cut
nto a scorchng performance of “War.” Wth ther tme elapsed, the band then broke nto “No More Trouble,” followed by the show stopper “Zmbabwe.” The Walers’ set ended wth all n attendance sngng along to the chorus of the de facto natonal anthem of the newborn country.
After ther set, the Walers agreed to play another concert the next day. Over 100,000 people saw the Walers perform the day after Zmbabwe acheved ts ndependence. The band staged a 90-mnute set of Walers classcs. However, Bob, who had been notceably shaken the prevous day by the tear gas ncdent, dd not seem hs usual self durng the performance.

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After the concerts n Zmbabwe, the Walers left Afrca, and on the plane several members of the entourage notced that Bob dd not appear healthy.
Hs complexon was ashen and he dd not look well.
After the performance n Zmbabwe n Aprl, the Walers launched the tour n support of ther Uprising album n May. The tour was slated to be the bggest Walers’ undertakng yet. They were set to play n a varety of locatons that they had not prevously vsted, such as Swtzerland, Ireland, Scotland, and Italy. The tour schedule was rgorous, wth sx shows per week and each show set for a dfferent cty. Over the course of the tour the band played for over a mllon people, a feat that few have repeated snce.
The tour began at the Hallenstadon n Zurch, Swtzerland. It was a frst for the band, whch was well receved by a new crowd. Next the group traveled to Germany for a show at the Horse Rdng Stadum n
Munch. The group was the openng act for Fleetwood Mac as part of the Munch Festval on June 1. The tour then alternated pars of shows between Germany and France for two weeks. The Dortmund, Germany, show on June 12 was staged at the Westfalen Stadum and was broadcast on German TV and recorded on vdeo for posterty. Whle tourng, Bob was agan wrtng new musc. One example was the song “Slogans,” whch was not released untl November 8, 2005, on the album Africa Unite:
The Singles Collection. The song was a testament to the poltcal les and posturng that contnually led Jamaca nto volent upheaval.
After leavng Germany for the thrd tme durng the tour, the Walers performed shows n Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Belgum, and Holland.
They reentered France for a par of concerts and then moved on to Italy.
Two shows n Italy exposed the band to another new audence before the
Walers moved on to Span, France agan, Ireland, England, and Scotland.
The concert n Mlan, Italy, on June 27 was performed for an audence n excess of 120,000 people who had crammed nto the sold-out San Sro
Stadum. Incredbly, ths show s stll regarded as the most hghly attended musc event staged n Italy. After a month of European dates, the Walers embarked for the Amercan leg of the tour.
Leavng Europe, Bob returned to Mam for two months between the two parts of the tour. Wthout management, Bob’s fnancal affars were n run and thngs were only gettng worse. Further, n the wake of the splt wth Taylor, Bob had sued hs ex-manager for a mllon dollars and Taylor had countersued. All of ths was made worse when Bob learned that he could not return to Jamaca to see hs chldren because the sland had agan been plunged nto volence leadng up to the electon. In Mam, Bob spoke to Danny Sms, who warned hm sternly of

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the negatve consequences of returnng to Jamaca. Sms beleved that
Bob’s reappearance on the sland at ths tme would be vewed as an endorsement of the Manley PNP government and hs lfe would agan be n jeopardy. Although ths news was grave, Sms dd tell Bob that he had been brokerng a deal for the Walers to move to Polygram Records, a deal that would be worth several mllon dollars.

BoB’S FailinG health
As the Walers were gearng up for the Amercan leg of the Uprising tour, there was ncreasng worry and dscusson about Bob’s health. The reggae superstar was even slmmer than he always had been, and hs features were drawn and gaunt. Members of the band blamed ths on the busy
European tourng schedule as they all had ther own malades or alments comng off the tour.
In September 1980, the band began the Amercan Uprising tour n Massachusetts then headed to Rhode Island and New York. The New York shows were held at Madson Square Garden as a supportng act to the
Amercan group the Commodores (Lonel Rche’s orgnal band). Even after two months of down tme, Bob stll appeared sck. Not one to talk about hs health, Bob brushed off any attempts by members of the band to dscuss how he felt. Only once dd he tp hs hand when he mentoned to hs gutarst Al Anderson that hs stomach and throat hurt. Hs voce was thn and hoarse, and rumors began to swrl about suspected drug use (that
s, other then the large quanttes of ganja that he regularly smoked).
As the Walers moved through ther frst Amercan shows of the Uprising tour, Bob’s health was begnnng to vsbly fal. In New York, on
September 18, the Walers band moved nto the Gramercy Hotel, but Bob stayed at the Essex House away from the group. Ths solaton was not specfcally a cause for alarm, as once n a whle Bob stayed at a locaton away from the band to gve hm a place n whch to conduct ntervews and band busness. On September 19, Bob sat for several rado ntervews and made an appearance at the Jamacan Progressve League. Next he went to
Madson Square Garden to prepare the group’s sound check.
The Walers’ sound check was postponed because the road crew was stll buldng the Commodores’ stage. To Bob’s dsmay, ths postponement eventually turned nto an outrght cancellaton. When the Walers took the stage that nght n front of 20,000 excted fans, ther road engneer had to arrange a decent mx whle the band was movng through ts actual set. The Walers played ther two-nght stand at Madson Square
Garden n support of the Commodores. After the second show, Bob was

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bedrdden. The exerton of beng on stage for the past two nghts had left hm completely draned and agan hs health was questoned.
Even though Bob was completely worn out, the tour contnued on around hm. Rta called hm to see f he would be nterested n gong to an Ethopan Orthodox Church, but he could not be rased out to bed to go anywhere. Shortly, though, Bob felt well enough to take Alan
“Skll” Cole up on an offer to go for a jog n Central Park. Whle joggng through the park Bob had a sezure and called out to Cole. He collapsed
nto Cole’s arms, unable to move, so Cole carred hm back to the hotel.
After restng for a whle, Bob reganed hs ablty to move, but stll dd not feel well.

The Wailers: (from left) Bunny,
Bob, Carlie, Peter, and Aston ca.
1971. Courtesy of Photofest.

Bob on stage wearing his signature denim shirt in 1976. Courtesy of Photofest.
66a

Bob in the hospital after being shot in 1976. Courtesy of Photofest.

Bob in a contemplative mood in 1978.
Courtesy of Photofest.
66b

The Wailers in 1980. Courtesy of Photofest.

Bob on stage in 1980. Courtesy of Photofest.
66c

Bob on stage in 1980 with his Gibson Les
Paul guitar. Courtesy of Photofest.

66d

c hapter 5

hoMe to Mount Zion

After hs collapse n Central Park, Bob rested for several hours. He was
mmedately joned by Rta and together they tred to reason out what was wrong wth hm. Bob deflected Rta’s fears sayng that he was feelng better and just needed to rest. Feelng assured that Bob was gong to be all rght, Rta agreed to meet hm later at a local dance club. The club, called
Negrl, was located n Greenwch Vllage, and whle Rta and the other
I-Threes were there they were told that Bob was not feelng well enough to jon them. Bob’s health had agan taken a turn for the worse.

BoB and cancer
The next week dawned wth plans to travel to Pttsburgh for the September 23 show at the Stanley Theater. Rta phoned Bob to meet hm and rde to the arport together. Bob told her that he would meet her n Pttsburgh as he stll had another ntervew to do n New York. As t turned out, there was no other ntervew. Bob, concerned about hs worsenng health, contacted hs personal physcan, Dr. Frazer, and went to have a checkup. Bob submtted to a varety of X-rays and a bran scan. The results of the tests stopped Bob n hs tracks. The doctor’s dagnoss was that
Bob had a large cancerous bran tumor. Further, the sezure he had had n
Central Park had n fact been a stroke.
The doctor drected Bob to cancel the remanng tour dates and mmedately submt to cancer treatment. The worst of the grm news was the doctor’s predcton that Bob had only two or three weeks left to lve.
In hs typcally defant manner, Bob met ths terrble news by sayng that
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BOB MARLEY

he wanted a second opnon. He then made plans to meet the tour n
Pttsburgh. Arrvng at the Walers’ hotel n Pttsburgh, Bob was met by
Rta. Able to read the stuaton n Bob’s face, Rta attempted to cancel the tour on the spot. However, sck or not, Bob was stll the leader of the group and would not hear of a cancellaton.
On September 23, 1980, Bob Marley and the Walers performed ther fnal lve show. Staged at the Stanley Theater, a medum-szed yet
ntmate venue that has subsequently been renamed the Benedum Center after substantal renovatons. The nght of the show, Bob came on stage and wthout hestaton tore nto an ncredble set ncludng “Natural
Mystc,” “Postve Vbraton,” “Burnn’ and Lootn’,” “Them Belly Full,”
“Heathen,” and “Runnng Away/Crazy Baldheads.” As part of the Walers’
90-mnute set, the Barrett Brothers moved the rhythms of the songs along at a faster than ordnary pace. Although deathly ll, Bob gave hs tradtonally energetc performance, followng the openng numbers wth
“War/No More Trouble,” “Zmbabwe,” “Zon Tran,” “No Woman, No
Cry,” “Jammng,” and “Exodus.” The crowed erupted n applause at the end of the standard set. The Walers then broke nto a seres of encores.
Typcally, Bob dd not entertan four encores, but he stayed on stage as long as he could ths nght.
The frst encore was performed by Bob alone, wth only hs gutar to accompany hm. Hs performance of “Redempton Song” was rendered more pognant wth the knowledge that ths was hs fnal show. After ths solo performance, the rest of the Walers retook the stage and the second encore was a performance of “Comng In from the Cold.” The end of ths song should have been the end of the concert. However, Bob motoned to the band to stay on stage and tore nto “Is Ths Love.” The fnal song of the nght was the Walers classc “Work.” Constructed as an oldfashoned countng song (countng down nstead of up), the performance of ths song was Bob markng the end of the band. As he sang “fve days to go, workng for the next day, four days to go now, workng for the next day,” the members of the band realzed that ther leader was countng down to the end of the band. Wth ths the concert ended, and Bob
Marley and the Walers left the stage for the fnal tme.
In the wake of the Pttsburgh show, the rest of the Uprising tour was canceled and the Walers’ tourng machne was dsmantled. The group and entourage refocused ther energes from performng to carng for and about Bob. Wth Rta, Bob went to hs mother’s house n Mam to consder the next move. Bob wanted to pursue a second opnon and to that end he submtted to addtonal testng at Cedars of Lebanon Hosptal. The doctors at Cedars referred hm to the Memoral Sloan-Ketterng Cancer

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Center n New York. In early October, Bob was tested by the experts at
Sloan-Ketterng. Bob’s hopes were that the orgnal dagnoss would turn out to be ncorrect. Instead, he quckly learned that hs condton was even worse than orgnally reported. He not only had a cancerous tumor
n hs bran, but he also had cancer n hs lungs and stomach.

more Bad newS
Wth ths more specfc dagnoss, Bob was nformed that he lkely had between four and fve weeks left to lve and that he should put hs affars
n order. As a means of relevng the pressure caused by the tumor n hs skull, Bob began recevng radaton treatments to try to reduce the sze of the bran tumor. An unfortunate result of the Sloan-Ketterng vst was that Bob’s condton was leaked to the meda. On October 8, 1980, news of Bob’s cancer was announced on varous rado statons n New
York. Staton WLIB was the frst to announce Bob’s health concerns over the rado. The news spread quckly and soon Bob’s condton was known
nternatonally.
In order to be near to hs place of treatment, Bob took up resdence n
New York. He checked nto the hstorc Wellngton Hotel. The hotel’s central locaton, just a few blocks south of Central Park, allowed Bob easy access to hs outpatent treatments as well as to anythng else he wshed to do. Intally, the radaton treatment that Bob had agreed to was successful n controllng hs dscomfort and he grew stronger. In fact, Bob felt well enough to attend hs frend Muhammad Al’s frst comeback fght aganst Larry Holmes. The fght was blled as the “Last Hurrah” and Al fought valantly, but at almost 39 years old, he was beaten by a techncal knockout by the much younger Holmes, who was n hs prme and had been champon for over two years. Bob also attended the New York performance of the rock band Queen, whch was tourng n support of ts
1980 album The Game.
At tmes, Bob even felt well enough to return to hs favorte pastme, soccer. He and Cole attempted to play, but Bob soon realzed that he was not strong enough to run and he could only st on the sdelne and watch. Although Bob was pushng hmself and generally feelng better, he took a turn for the worse when he had another mnor stroke. Wth the toll that ths took on hs body, Bob was no longer able to stand wthout assstance and he began to lose weght. Seeng ths, Bob’s doctors began admnsterng chemotherapy. An unfortunate outcome of ths treatment was that Bob’s lengthy dreadlocks began to fall out. When ths began,
Bob requested scssors to cut the rest of hs locks and resgned hmself to

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the loss of ths sgnature characterstc. As the chemotherapy progressed,
Bob contnued to lose weght and he took on an ashen appearance that seemed to sgnal that the end was near.

BaptiSm into the ethiopian orthodox chUrch
Realzng her son’s closeness to death, Cedella began pressurng Bob to be baptzed nto the Ethopan Orthodox church. At frst Bob ressted as he professed hs fath to Hale Selasse. However, Cedella remnded Bob that she had been so baptzed whle Bob was n utero. Bob contnued hs protest, notng that hs afflaton wth the Twelve Trbes made hm a natural rval of the Ethopan Orthodox followers. Despte ths argument,
Bob eventually agreed to be baptzed and on November 4, 1980, Bob became a member of the Ethopan Orthodox church. Wth ths move,
Robert Nesta Marley was chrstened Berhane Selasse. Bob’s new name meant “Lght of the Holy Trnty.” Even as Bob’s sprtualty grew, hs health contnued to declne. As a result of the cancer and strokes he was now paralyzed from the wast down and was stll losng weght. It began to seem that the chemotherapy tself was hastenng Bob’s death.

BoB and Unconventional cancer treatment
Realzng that the current course of acton was not gong to allow
Bob to lve much longer, Bob’s physcan referred hm to a German doctor named Josef Issels. Issels was known for hs success wth holstc cancer treatment. Although he had been blacklsted by the Amercan Cancer
Socety, hs unconventonal methods could do no greater harm to Bob than the cancer was already dong. Feelng as though there was lttle left to lose, Bob, Cole, and Dr. Frazer engaged Dr. Issels as Bob’s physcan of last resort.
In early November, Bob and a small group of supporters traveled to
Bad Wessee, Germany. There they located Issels’ clnc, called Sunshne
House, standng n the shadow of the Bavaran Alps. Bob’s condton upon arrval was so poor that there was concern that the trp tself could lead to hs death. Reachng Sunshne House, there was speculaton that
Bob would only lve for a few more days. Issels mmedately began treatng Bob. An mportant aspect of the treatment was to gan the trust of the wly Rasta.

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Gradually, Issels ganed Bob’s trust and the doctor set about several tasks. Frst, he had to stablze Bob’s quckly deteroratng condton and then he could work to control the cancer. The ntal step was to confrm
Bob’s earler dagnoss. Once Issels took an accountng of the cancer n
Bob’s head, lungs, and stomach, he began treatng these afflcted areas.
Issels’ unorthodox treatments nvolved hypertherma, blood transfusons, and njectons of THX. Hypertherma was artfcally rasng the patent’s temperature to heghts that the body normally dd not have to wthstand. Blood transfusons were used to cleanse the weak and overworked cells from the patent’s body. The use of THX was not avalable to Bob
n the Unted States as ths drug was not cleared for use n the county.
Interestngly nearly 30 years later, THX has stll not been proven to have any postve objectve effect on cancer. However, Bob’s condton began to mprove under Issels’ care and treatment.
Remarkably, Bob’s health contnued to mprove over the next several weeks. Durng ths perod, he and hs mother lved at Sunshne House n a small apartment. As hs condton mproved, Bob was agan able to walk short dstances. Hs daly routne ncluded two short walks to hs treatment sessons. For treatment, Dr. Issels contnued to use hypertherma sessons, whch nvolved shootng 180-degree beams of ultravolet heat at
Bob’s varous tumors. The dea behnd ths type of treatment was that the extreme heat would weaken the cancer cells and allow Bob’s own mmune system to fght them more effectvely. The treatments were long, frequent, and panful, but through t all the noble Rasta endured n slence.
Three months nto hs treatment, and sgnfcantly past when he was orgnally expected to de, Bob celebrated hs 36th brthday. On February 6, 1981, Bob entertaned many of the Walers band members at a brthday celebraton n Bad Wessee. All of the members of the band attended, wth the notable excepton of the Barrett brothers. Bob’s wellwshers had expected to fnd ther former leader near death. Instead, they were greeted by Bob n hgh sprts, at least passable health, and wth some returnng har. A by-product of ths gatherng was that Bob agan became part of the Tuff Gong Internatonal machne. Through correspondence wth hs lawyer, Dane Jobson, Bob began agan overseeng the work of hs busness. Ths flurry of actvty seemed to add to Bob’s strength, to the pont that he began to engage n lght exercse agan.
Even wth ths mprovement, Jobson noted that Bob weghed only about
100 pounds at hs brthday party.
Whle Bob’s early February health was encouragng, by the end of
March hs mother agan notced hs condton worsenng. Hs strength was quckly lost and hs ablty to walk unasssted went wth t Cedella

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was no longer able to rase her son from long hours of lyng n bed. Another dscouragng sgn came wth Bob’s refusal to eat or drnk. Wth ths, Cedella knew that Bob was not long for ths world. Helpless to postvely affect her son’s health, she nstead worked on rasng hs sprts. To ths end, Cedella spent tme sngng to Bob, remndng hm of ther good tmes together n the Jamacan hlls and Kngston.
Astonshngly, Dr. Issels choose ths pvotal tme to take a vacaton.
Cedella was amazed at the doctor’s cavaler atttude to her alng son’s health. Issels left Cedella and Bob n the hands of hs assstants n early
Aprl. At ths pont, Bob was a mere shell of hs former self. Hs weght was estmated at just over 70 pounds and he could not care for hmself n any meanngful manner. Bob’s lawyer Jobson protested the doctor’s decson to leave at ths tme, but to no aval.
Makng a bad stuaton worse was Bob’s fnancal stuaton. It was common knowledge that he dd not have a wll and everyone ncreasngly beleved that he could not lve much longer. Further compoundng these problems, members of the Walers were makng overseas calls pleadng for ther shares of the band’s earnngs. Wthout a wll, all of Bob’s earnngs, future royaltes, and song lcenses would pass to Rta on hs death.

BoB’S retUrn to miami
Late n Aprl, Dr. Issels returned to Sunshne House and decded to perform surgery on Bob to releve the pan that the tumor n hs stomach was causng. Bob’s Rastafaran convctons were agan aroused (n opposton to the nvasveness of surgery). However, Bob’s condton was so poor that there was lttle choce. In early May, Bob’s doctor admtted to Cedella and Jobson that the most famous Waler would lkely de wthn the next two weeks. Issels had lost hope n hs own treatments to assst Bob any further. In response to ths news, t was decded that Bob should be brought back to the home that he had purchased for hs mother n Mam.
Plans were made quckly to ensure that Bob was strong enough to make the trp. A plane was chartered and the small group made the trp back to the Unted States. Unable to care for Bob themselves, Cedella and Jobson checked hm back nto the Cedars of Lebanon Hosptal. The staff was not nstructed to treat Bob’s now numerous afflctons; nstead they were smply meant to keep hm comfortable n hs fnal days.
Bob survved the transatlantc trp, but contnued to weaken. On May 11,
1981, hs vtal sgns became erratc and Rta was summoned. She was told that Bob would lkely only lve for a few more hours and she should be wth hm. Rta sat wth Bob and sang hymns that she knew he would

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enjoy. Soon, Bob’s breathng became labored and Rta called for Cedella to come and be wth her son. By the tme she arrved, Bob’s condton had stablzed. Cedella and Rta prayed over Bob and he sad that he was feelng a lttle better. Durng ths short rally, Bob sad goodbye to hs sons
Zggy and Stephen. He also sad that he was thrsty. Cedella gave Bob a glass of water, whch he drank completely.
Shortly before noon, the nurses had Cedella help them roll Bob onto hs sde for an X-ray. Afterward, Bob slept for a short tme. When he awoke he asked hs mother to come close to hm. As she dd, he lost conscousness brefly and he quetly slpped away. At approxmately 11:45 on Wednesday,
March 11, 1981, the ncendary voce of the nternatonal reggae superstar
Robert Nesta Marley was slenced for the fnal tme.

BoB’S FUneral arranGementS
Bob was memoralzed n a servce held at hs mother’s Vsta Lane house
n Mam the followng day. The entre day frends of Bob’s streamed through the house, ncludng Sms, Taylor, Blackwell, and varous muscans who had played wth Bob. Bob’s body was on dsplay throughout the day. He was lad n a bronze casket that showed hs body from the wast up. In hs rght hand was a copy of the Bble opened to the TwentyThrd Psalm, and hs left hand rested on hs favorte gutar. The use of the Twenty-Thrd Psalm was ntentonal, as ths bblcal passage proclamed that the Lord s the shepherd and that those who dwell n the house of the Lord should fear no evl.
Next, Bob’s body was returned to Jamaca for a natonal funeral. On
Tuesday, May 19, Bob’s body was brought back to Jamaca for a twoday state funeral arranged by the offce of the prme mnster. In 1981,
Edward Seaga was the prme mnster, and Seaga’s offce arranged for Bob to receve Jamaca’s thrd hghest award, the Jamacan Order of Mert.
Bob was posthumously granted ths award and the assocated medal that reads, “He that does the truth comes nto the lght.” The award was presented to Bob’s eldest son, Zggy, on Bob’s behalf. Wth ths, Bob became the Honorable Robert Nesta Marley, O.M. Seaga also made May 20 a natonal day of mournng and Bob’s body lay n state. Throughout the day, the coffn was on dsplay for mourners to pay ther respects.
Due to Bob’s enormous popularty, hs body was on dsplay n the
Natonal Arena all of Frday, May 20. Ths allowed even more mourners to vew hs remans and reports ndcate that as many as 40,000
Jamacans passed through the gates of the arena durng the day. As the crowd grew and became uncontrollable, the polce unleashed tear gas on

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the mourners. Durng the chaos, Bob’s body was guarded by the Jamacan polce and members of the Twelve Trbes of Israel Rastafaran sect.
In lght of hs converson to the Ethopan Orthodox Church, the followng day Bob’s body was brought to that church’s headquarters on
Maxfeld Avenue. There Bob’s body receved the tradtonal Ethopan
Orthodox funeral. From Maxfeld Avenue, Bob’s body was taken by motorcade past hs house on Hope Road on ts way back to the Natonal
Arena. A publc servce was held, ncludng a performance by many of the Walers. A notable omsson was Tyrone Downe, who was too overwhelmed emotonally to perform. Bob’s mother, hs half-sster Pearl Lvngston, and a frend of the famly sang a song called “Hal,” whch was wrtten by Bob’s mother. The I-Threes then sang “Rastaman Chant” and
“Natural Mystc” wth the support of the Walers.
The publc funeral servce led by Archbshop Yesuhaq began at 11:00.
Yesuhaq was the Ethopan Orthodox offcal who had baptzed Bob the prevous year. The funeral party ncluded Bob’s mmedate famly,
Governor-General Florzel Glasspole, and former Jamacan Prme Mnster
Mchael Manley, Alan “Skll” Cole.” Glasspole, Manley, and Cole each read bblcal passages as assgned by Yesuhaq. Cole read lnes from Isaah and shouted to members of the Twelve Trbes who were n attendance and he thought were beng gnored. The archbshop read form
Matthew 5 and then all n attendance rose to ther feet for the Lord’s
Prayer. The fnal speaker was Prme Mster Edward Seaga, who delvered
Bob’s eulogy. Seaga’s words and sentments were partcularly pognant as he and Bob had opposte vews on how to run Jamaca. Regardless of ther dfferences, Seaga spoke the followng words:
Hs message was a protest aganst njustce, a comfort for the oppressed. He stood there, performed there, hs message reached there and everywhere. Today’s funeral servce s an nternatonal rght of a natve son. He was born n a humble cottage nne mles from Alexandra n the parsh of St. Ann. He lved n the western secton of Kngston as a boy where he joned n the struggle of the ghetto. He learned the message of survval n hs boyhood days n Kngston’s west end. But t was hs raw talent, unswervng dscplne and sheer perseverance that transported hm from just another vctm of the ghetto to the top rankng superstar n the entertanment ndustry of the thrd world.
After Seaga’s eulogy, Bob’s casket was loaded nto the open back of a blue and whte Chevrolet pckup truck by a mltary detal of sx men

H OME TO MOUNT ZION

75

clothed n whte coats wth black belts and black pants. A blue blanket was tacked to the top of the truck’s bed to shade the casket from the sun.
As Bob began hs last journey to hs ancestral home n Nne Mle, nyabngh hand drummers played as he went. The truck was followed for a short tme by a robed prest wth ncense. The long motorcade began wndng
ts way from Kngston to St. Ann’s parsh. On the 55-mle route, Bob’s body passed thousands of Jamacans on hand to bd ther natonal hero a fond farewell. Along the way, Bob’s body passed over the Blue Mountans and was wtnessed by a seemngly constant stream of people along the sdes of the road.
When the motorcade reached Nne Mle t was greeted by another teamng horde of well-wshers. Fve hours after leavng Kngston, Bob’s body was fnally comng to ts last restng place. On the grounds of Bob’s famlal homestead, a modest whte mausoleum had been bult. Bob’s body was enshrned wthn ths sngle-chamber tomb wthn sght of where he had been born. The tomb tself was blessed by offcals of the Twelve
Trbes and the Ethopan Orthodox Church. In the presence of hs famly and many onlookers, Bob’s tomb was sealed three tmes. The frst seal was a red metal plate wth a gold Star of Davd, the second was a metal grate that was bolted on, and the thrd was a layer of free concrete that was patted nto place by several Rastafarans wth ther bare hands.
Bob was lad to rest wth the knd of pomp and crcumstance that was only afforded to heads of state. Durng the funeral and the rde across the
sland, t was estmated that hs motorcade was vewed by n excess of one hundred thousand people. Snce hs enshrnement, Bob’s patrarchal home has become a place of plgrmage, to whch people travel from all over the world to vst the fallen reggae warror’s remans.

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c hapter 6

the legaCy and the legend

Bob receved many sgnfcant rewards durng hs abbrevated lfe. Two of the most sgnfcant were the 1976 Rolling Stone Magazine award for
Band of the Year and the 1978 Peace Medal of the Thrd World from the Unted Natons. However, n death, prase was vrtually heaped upon the reggae superstar. These awards are a testament to Bob’s legacy and llustrate the strength and nfluence of hs muscal style. In 1994, Bob was
nducted nto the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame n Cleveland, Oho. Wth ths he joned a small and elte group of Amercan musc superstars. Snce
t opened ts doors n 1993, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has nducted only 97 members and Bob Marley s one of them.
Bob has also been honored by recevng the 43rd Grammy Lfetme
Achevement Award. He has hs own star on the Hollywood Walk of
Fame, and n 1999 hs album Exodus was recognzed by Time magazne as the Album of the Century. The Brtsh Broadcastng Company (BBC) named Bob’s song “One Love” ther Song of the Mllennum. In 2004,
Rolling Stone Magazine ranked hm #11 on ther lst of the 100 Greatest
Artsts of All Tme. Also, the BBC has recognzed hm as one of the greatest lyrcsts of all tme. The Jamacan government annually bestows a Bob
Marley Award for Culture, and the Carbbean Musc Expo presents a Bob
Marley Lfetme Achevement award each year. Possbly hs hghest honor
s that snce hs death Bob has sold n excess of 21.3 mllon albums. For greater clarty on ths fgure, one must understand that such sales were not even counted untl 1991, when SoundScan became a relable entty.
Another dstnct and seldom bestowed honor was awarded to Bob after hs death. In 2002, the Gbson gutar company began ssung a lmted
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BOB MARLEY

edton Bob Marley Les Paul specal gutar. The Les Paul seres gutar was
Bob’s favorte electrc gutar for use on stage and n the studo. As a memento of the label’s apprecaton of Bob’s long assocaton wth the Gbson brand, the legendary gutar maker joned forces wth the legendary reggae muscan. The Marley Gbson Specal was bult to the exact specfcatons of Bob’s Les Paul on dsplay at the Bob Marley Museum. Bob had modfed hs Les Paul n a few mportant ways, and Gbson duplcated these characterstcs n the sgnature seres gutar. The ntal run of the
Bob Marley Les Paul Specal was lmted to 200 gutars.

poSthUmoUS releaSeS
Bob’s lfe after death has had almost as much actvty and nterest assocated wth t as dd hs mortal lfe. When Bob ded, he left behnd a prodgous lbrary of recordngs; however, there was also a large number of unreleased songs that have contnued to surface. Some of the more
mportant posthumous releases ncluded Legend, Confrontation, Chances
Are, Africa Unite: The Single Collection, Talkin’ Blues, Songs of Freedom,
Natural Mystic, the Legend Lives On: Bob Marley and the Wailers, and the
Deluxe Edton re-releases.

ChanCes are and ConFrontation
In 1981, Danny Smms released the nne-song album Chances Are.
Ths record contaned prevously unreleased materal and new versons of prevously released materal. In 1983, Tuff Gong Internatonal and Island Records released Confrontation. Ths album was conceved of by Bob toward the end of hs lfe. He recorded the tracks durng the Uprising sessons and had hs hand n all parts of makng ths release, except choosng the specfc songs ncluded and the order they appeared n. Rta stepped
n to make these decsons.
The album was a testament to Bob’s career. The album cover depcts the reggae superstar rdng a whte horse slayng a dragon wth a lance n the tradtonal mold of St. George. The back of the jacket ncluded a pantng of the frst battle between the Ethopans and the Italans. Called the Battle of Adowa, ths 1896 battle foreshadowed the fghtng that eventually drove Hale Selasse nto exle. The album contaned the songs “Chant
Down Babylon,” “Buffalo Solder,” “Jump Nyabngh,” “Mx Up, Mx Up,”
“Gve Thanks and Prases,” Blackman Redempton,” “Trench Town,” “Stff
Necked Fools,” “I Know,” and “Rastaman Lve Up.” The songs represent an excellent cross secton of Bob’s wrtng at the apex of hs abltes.

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legenD
The next major ttle released under Bob’s name was ttled Legend. Released n 1984, the album was subttled The Best of Bob Marley. However, due to the sheer quantty of Bob’s song output, 14 songs could not complete the proposed purpose. However, the album dd an admrable job of presentng a pcture of Bob’s output over the course of hs career. In typcal Walers fashon, the remanng members of the group prepared a tour n support of the album. Downe and Marvn shared the sngng dutes and Zggy joned the tour to lead the group for the Los Angeles show. Legend spent over two years on the Amercan Top 200 Albums charts and t was on the UK charts for 129 weeks. Incredbly, the album spent just over 11 years on Bllboard’s
Top Pop Catalogue Album chart. Ths album went on to become the bestsellng reggae release of all tme and has been certfed platnum 10 tmes.
As of 2006, Legend had sold n excess of 12 mllon copes and contnues to sell at a brsk pace.

songs oF FreeDom
Another mportant release was the 1992 four-CD boxed set Bob Marley:
Songs of Freedom. An offcally lcensed product of Tuff Gong and Island
Records, the orgnal pressng of ths set was lmted to one mllon copes.
In 1999 there was a second pressng n a slghtly dfferent format, whch dd not change the fact that ths was the defntve collecton of Bob’s songs, spannng hs entre career. The release began wth several of Bob’s earlest sngles and came forward n tme to the acoustc verson of “Redempton Song.”

the singles ColleCtion
Africa Unite: The Singles Collection was released n November 2005. Unlke many of the other posthumous releases, ths album had a defned purpose and delberate desgn. Released for Bob’s 60th brthday celebraton, the collecton revels n much of Bob’s most outstandng materal. The album was unque n that t contaned materal that spanned Bob’s career
n addton to ncludng two hp-hop remxes and a prevously unreleased track. The fnal three tracks were the most sgnfcant on the release, as they were not avalable elsewhere.
Wll..am, a member of the Amercan hp-hop group the Black Eyed
Peas, was responsble for the remxng of “Afrca Unte.” Completed n December 2004, the song took on a new lfe n the hands of a contemporary

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producer/songwrter. The Black Eyed Peas added a stronger beat presence, addtonal nstrumental textures, echoes on some vocals, and new words sung by Wll hmself. Overall, the remx clocked n at twce the orgnal song’s length and receved a hp-hop generaton upgrade that brought n
nto the new mllennum.
The other remx was really a contemporary mashup. The dea of a mashup song s takng two exstng songs and combnng them n a manner that creates a thrd song that s a hybrd of the frst two. Here the Englsh
DJ Ashley Beedle mashed together Bob’s fre-and-brmstone classc “Get
Up, Stand Up” and Bob’s son Daman’s hot 2005 sngle “Welcome to
Jamrock.” The combned verson of the song began wth the DJ reversng a record and then the beat from “Jamrock” dropped. However, nstead of stayng wth Daman’s words, the DJ supermposed Bob’s words. An especally nterestng twst was the nserton of the word “Jamrock” at the end of each phrase of Bob’s lyrcs. An addtonal treat was the presence of Peter Tosh. Tosh sang the second verse n the orgnal song and that performance was repeated here (although only n recordng: Tosh has been dead snce 1987). Wth ths song, Bob’s message was agan updated for the hp-hop generaton, but ths tme passed through the lens of hs own son’s song.
The only truly prevously unreleased song on the album was ttled “Slogans.” The song was orgnally recorded n 1979 whle Bob was n Mam.
The orgnal tape of the song was found n Cedella’s house, and conssted of lttle more than vocals and a drum machne beat. Bob’s sons Zggy and
Stephen took the raw tape materal and bult the rest of the song. They added nstrumental lnes that complete the texture and the fnal product sounds much lke other materal completed by ther father. The two Marley sons enlsted the assstance of the rock gutar legend Erc Clapton to supply the lead gutar lnes. The message of the song was stll as mportant n 2005 as t was n 1979. Bob sang of hs contempt for the constant propagandzng of the Catholc Church and the Jamacan government.
The slogans that he referred to were those empty promses made from the pulpt of the church and the grandstand of the poltcal rally.

the delUxe editionS
Another seres of releases that have come out after Bob’s death and are exemplary n qualty and detal are the Deluxe Edtons. Island and
Tuff Gong records began re-releasng the classc Walers’ materal n 2001 and, thus far, have ssued Catch a Fire, Exodus, Legend, Rastaman Vibration, and Burnin’. These re-releases are unque n that they all contan the

T HE LEGACY AND THE LEGEND

81

orgnal album materal n remastered clarty by producer Dll Levenson.
The second CD of each set dffers from one release to the next. For Catch a Fire, released n 2001, the second CD contaned the prevously unreleased Jamacan versons of the songs that appeared on the orgnal album.
Addtonal songs on the frst CD ncluded versons of “Hgh Tde or Low
Tde” and “All Day, All Nght.”
The Exodus Deluxe Edton was also released n 2001. Agan, the frst dsc contaned the remastered versons of the orgnal songs. However, n ths case, Levenson added fve alternate songs and versons of “Roots,”
“Watng n Van,” “Jammng,” “Jammng (long verson),” and “Exodus.”
The second dsc contaned a combnaton of studo and lve cuts. The studo offerngs were recorded and produced by Lee “Scratch” Perry. Studo songs on dsc two ncluded two versons of “Punky Reggae Party,” two cover versons of the Curts Mayfeld song “Keep On Movng,” and
“Exodus.” The lve songs were recorded at the Ranbow Theater show of the Exodus tour on June 4, 1977. Included were “The Heathen,” “Crazy
Baldhead,” “War/No More Trouble,” “Jammng,” and “Exodus.”
The next Deluxe Edton came out n 2002 wth the re-release of Rastaman Vibration. Agan the frst dsc of the two-CD set contaned the remastered versons of the songs on the orgnal album. To ths Levenson added eght addtonal songs recorded n Kngston or London at the same tme as the orgnal materal was recorded. The second dsc contaned lve performances from the Walers May 26, 1976, show at the Roxy Theatre.
Recorded durng the Rastaman Vibration tour, the lve materal was an excellent testament to the qualty and potency that Bob had acheved wth ths band. Addtonal tracks on the second dsc of ths set were two versons of the song “Smle Jamaca,” one labeled part one and the other labeled part two.
The Deluxe Edton of Legend was also released n 2002. The frst dsc of dgtally remastered tracks was accompaned by a second dsc contanng alternate versons of the orgnal 16 songs. These versons were collected from remxng sessons datng from 1980 to 1984. The producers that remxed the materal on the second dsc nclude Paul “Graucho” Smykle,
Errol Brown, Alex Sadkn, and Erc “E.T.” Thorngren. In keepng wth the orgnal release of ths album, the Legend Deluxe Edton has been a consumer favorte.
The most recent Deluxe Edton was released n 2004. The Burnin’
nstallment n ths seres contaned the remastered tracks on the frst dsc wth the addton of fve songs produced at the tme of the orgnal sessons, but omtted at the tme. Because Burnin’ was such an early album, two of the addtonal songs were wrtten by other members of the orgnal

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Walers tro. “No Sympathy” was wrtten by Peter Tosh and Bunny Waler wrote “Rencarnated Souls.” The second dsc ncluded a 12-song lve set.
The lve tracks were recorded va the Island moble studo at the Leeds show on November 23, 1973. All of the versons on ths dsc were prevously unreleased and represent the Walers durng ther transtonal phase after Peter and Bunny left the group.
Although Bob has been dead for over 25 years, posthumous releases from the artst contnue. The reggae superstar’s catalog s now several tmes the sze t was at hs passng and shows few sgns of slowng down. Imports, bootlegs, lve shows, and varous types of complatons surface progressvely. In 2006 alone there were more than 12 full-length releases n
Marley’s name. The market s completely flooded wth Bob’s materal and the commodfcaton of the reggae legend s completely staggerng.

BoB’S eState
The topc of money turns to the handlng of Bob’s busness affars after hs death. As mentoned above, Bob ded ntestate (wthout a wll). Ths left control of the largest thrd world musc legacy and a multmllon-dollar estate n the hands of hs wfe Rta. There followed years of nasty legal battles for the proper dstrbuton of royaltes, property, and ownershp. In the wake of Bob’s death, Rta moved the Tuff Gong Recordng studos and producton offces to 220 Marcus Garvey Drve, Kngston 11. The home offces of the Tuff Gong Internatonal are stll at ths locaton.
Rta’s next step was the converson of the house at 56 Hope Road nto a museum and lbrary where nternatonal guests are welcome to take guded tours of the property and house. Bob’s former dwellng now hosts thousands of toursts each year. The structure of the house remans unchanged snce Bob’s passng, but several rooms have been altered to sut ther specfc purposes. The upstars bedrooms have been converted nto gallery space that contans a world map wth all of Bob’s concert tour performance locatons marked wth colored thumb tacks. The second-story room that was once Zggy’s bedroom has been converted nto a makeshft busness offce and lbrary. Here, books and newspaper artcles about Bob and the Walers are preserved and made avalable to nvestgators.
Bob’s upstars master bedroom remans n the same condton as t was when he last slept there. Although Bob was a very publc person, ths space gves tour partcpants a glmpse nto the more prvate sde of the man. The man floor of the house contans part of the orgnal Tuff Gong recordng studos. The studos reman n workng order and are stll n occasonal use. Of partcular nterest s the ktchen. Preserved snce the md-1970s,

T HE LEGACY AND THE LEGEND

83

the ktchen at the back of the house stll exhbts the holes n the walls created by the bullets sprayed nto the room durng the 1976 assassnaton attempt. The grounds around the house at 56 Hope Road are now qute crowded.
Durng Bob’s lfe, these grounds were used for parkng spaces and as a soccer feld. Now the grounds are covered wth a varety of tourst attractons.
At the edge of the yard s Rta’s Queen of Sheba Restaurant, where tradtonal Ital food and frut drnks are served. Behnd the house, where there used to be rehearsal space, there s now a newer buldng used to house the
Bob Marley Theatre. Along the sde of the property s another relatvely new buldng that houses the Thngs from Afrca Boutque.
Beyond the management of the property at 56 Hope Road, Rta suffered from lack of experence when handlng Bob’s estate. Trouble arose wth vrtually every facet of the management of Bob’s vast empre.
Money was msapproprated, relatonshps wth members of the Walers band were tarnshed, and a great deal of tme and money was spent tryng to fgure everythng out. One serous msstep was taken n 1986, when the remanng members of the Walers band were essentally forced nto sgnng away ther rghts to future royaltes for a flat fee. The amounts of money ended up beng pennes on the dollars of the future, but were
mmedate payoffs.
In 1987, Rta’s handlng of the Marley estate agan took a turn for the worse. Rta, her accountant Martn Zolt, and her lawyer Davd Stenberg were collectvely accused of fraud. Rumors had been swrlng around
Jamaca that Rta was hdng money n the Caymans and thus separatng Bob’s estate nto taxable and untaxed ncome. At ths pont, Rta was taken out of the management role and replaced by a court-apponted bank admnstrator. Ths led to many problems n the Marley famly, as ther collectve assets were frozen and even Cedella’s house n Mam was temporarly sezed.

the leGal Battle
The detals of much of the early proceedngs from Rta, Zolt, and
Stenberg’s tral are murky. However, t was found that the tro was gulty of fraud, breach of fducary duty, and volatons of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organzatons Act (RICO). Because Bob ded ntestate, Jamacan law ruled that Rta was responsble for 10 percent of hs estate outrght, plus 45 percent held as a lfe nterest. Bob’s 11 chldren were each enttled to equal shares of the remanng 45 percent outrght, plus a remander nterest n Rta’s 45 percent lfe estate.

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Also dscovered durng these ntal proceedngs was the fact that from
1981 to 1986, those controllng Bob’s estate mplemented several schemes that allegedly dverted foregn musc assets and royalty ncome away from
Bob’s estate and nto accounts held outsde the estate. Rta, Zolt, and
Stenberg protested, sayng that these dverted funds were used to establsh new corporatons for the purposes of mnmzng tax lablty and leavng more money for Bob’s benefcares. Lawyers for the State named at least four schemes and produced sgned documents provng the colluson of the three mplcated n the sut. In short, Rta and her representatves were not reportng the majorty of the royaltes that Bob’s musc was earnng.
For a tme, lawsuts, decet, and chaos overshadowed Bob’s muscal legacy. The end result of these legal machnatons was that the Bob Marley estate was put up for sale as a unt by the Jamacan government. Chrs
Blackwell, Bob’s longtme frend and record company boss, purchased the ownershp of the estate for the mnuscule sum of 8.6 mllon dollars.
Blackwell’s company, Island Logc Inc., was successful n the aucton for
Bob’s estate aganst the opposton of members of Bob’s own famly. For
8.6 mllon dollars, Blackwell ganed the rghts to all of Bob’s songs, hs recordngs, and hs future royaltes. Subsequently, Blackwell sold the rghts to Bob’s catalogue to the German record company Polygram n 1989. Polygram was absorbed by Seagrams n 1998, and the new musc collectve was named the Unversal Musc Group. Thus, Bob’s musc changed hands yet agan. Even through all of the legal dffcultes and troubles wth defnng ownershp, Bob’s legacy perssted. Although the ntal lcensng was lost,
Bob’s famly has remaned well off fnancally, as they control all other aspects of hs output. Also, unreleased materal was not covered by the orgnal court arrangement and through the surfacng of many addtonal versons and studo outtakes; much of Bob’s musc s agan controlled by hs famly. Regardless of where the ownershp of Bob’s musc les, n hs own words, hs truest legacy was n hs chldren.

c hapter 7

the Marley FaMily

The two remanng matrarchs of the Marley famly are the prncpal keepers of the famly legacy. Bob’s mother Cedella and wfe Rta contnue to carry on Bob’s work even more than 25 years after hs death. Although
Cedella was not always actve n Bob’s career durng hs lfe, she has become qute actve after hs death. As the oldest member of the Marley famly, she s the protector of hs legacy.

cedella marley Booker
Cedella Marley Booker (born July 23, 1926) stll lves n the house that
Bob bought her n Mam, Florda. She acts as the offcal matrarch of the famly and s stll nvolved n much of the busness of the famly. She has taken equal care of the chldren that Bob bore to Rta and hs chldren born outsde the marrage. As part of her nurturng of her son’s legacy, hs mother has released two albums of her own musc. In 1991, she ssued
Awake Zion on the RIOR label wth the assstance of Bob’s old bass player,
Aston “Famly Man” Barrett. In the followng year, she ssued her second album, called Smilin’ Island Song.
Cedella has also wrtten several books on her son’s lfe. She authored the book Bob Marley: An Intimate Portrait by His Mother and another book, Bob
Marley My Son. In addton, mother “Cddy” has also toured wdely, speakng on the mportance of her famous son and sngng her own songs. Her tours have taken her across the Unted States, through much of Western
Europe, nto Afrca, around Mexco, and throughout the Carbbean. More

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recently, she has taken to producng hand-crafted dolls, whch are sold though several Web stes.

rita marley
Rta Marley, born Alpharta Anderson n Cuba n on July 25, 1946, was the other prncpal leader of the Marley famly. After Bob’s death, Rta’s legal problems mounted and she lost control of the Marley famly fortune.
However, n the aftermath of ths ntal loss, Rta was able to support herself and the famly and to buld a new fortune. One aspect of Rta’s furtherng of Bob’s legacy was the release of her own musc. In 1981 she released the album Who Feels It Knows It, n 1988 she released Harambe, and n 1988 she ssued We Must Carry On. Rta began her muscal career as the leader of her own band, and she returned to front woman form after her years sngng backup to Bob.
In the 1990s, Rta agan ssued a seres of albums. These records were on the Shanache mprnt. Among these were Beauty of God, Good Girls
Cult, and One Draw. These were followed by Sings Bob Marley . . . and
Friends, Play Play, Sunshine After Rain, and Gifted Fourteen Carnation, all
ssued n the new mllennum. Rta also released a book on her lfe wth
Bob that has the unque perspectve of a woman nteractng n a very male-domnated scene. The book, called No Woman, No Cry: My Life with
Bob Marley, was co-authored wth Hette Jones.
Recently, Rta has remaned actve n the musc busness largely through the actvtes of her many chldren. She s engaged n the furtherng and protecton of her husband’s legacy and attends annual worldwde brthday celebratons concerts n hs honor. Rta has also establshed the Rta Marley Foundaton to provde much needed supples and nfrastructural mprovements to underdeveloped parts of Afrca. The man goal of the group s to provde safe drnkng water to the thousands of Afrcan people strugglng for subsstence.
In January 2005, Rta announced her ntenton to have Bob’s body removed from the mausoleum n Nne Mle and rebured n hs sprtual home n Ethopa. Ths news came as part of the month-long celebraton of Bob’s 60th brthday. The move was backed by Ethopan church and government offcals. At the tme, Rta asserted that t was part of Bob’s msson to return to Afrca and the movement of hs casket would fulfll the fallen reggae superstar’s ntentons. Rta proposed to have Bob’s body rebured n Shashaman, about 155 mles south of Adds Ababa. Bob had vsted ths Rastafaran enclave on hs frst trp to Afrca.

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87

Rta’s announcement was met wth strong dsagreement from many
Jamacans. Representatves of the Bob Marley Foundaton mmedately refuted Rta’s clams, sayng there were no plans to move Bob. In fact, the news of a possble rebural created such a wdespread outcry n opposton that Rta was forced to retract her earler statement. Frst Rta sad that no decson was yet made, and she eventually moved to the poston that Bob’s remans would stay n Nne Mle. The uprsng about the possble move dd create a renewed nterest n all thngs Marley leadng up to hs 60th brthday celebraton, but the concern was that ths nterest was more negatve than postve. Regardless of possble mssteps, Rta remans the focal pont of the Marley famly. She remans qute hands on wth the management of the Marley legacy and has taken over the role of mother of all of Bob’s chldren wthout concern for Bob’s extramartal affars.
Durng hs lfe, Bob contnuously professed hs love for chldren. He
ncluded n ths not just hs own chldren but the chldren of the world.
Wth ths n mnd, one could see Bob’s most lastng legacy as hs 11 chldren. Bob’s own thoughts on ths were captured n hs statement that he wanted to have as many chldren as there were shells on the beach.
Regardless of moral codes, Bob fathered three chldren wth Rta and accepted two other chldren of hers as hs own. Bob adopted Rta’s daughter
Sharon, whose brth father was an unnamed man wth whom Rta conceved her daughter pror to her meetng Bob. Rta’s daughter Stephane was also unlkely to have been fathered by Bob. It has been generally accepted that Stephane’s father was a Rasta called Ital. Regardless of who ther fathers were, Bob cared for these chldren as hs own.
Durng ther marrage, Bob had several often hghly publczed affars.
Many of these affars yelded chldren who were eventually accepted, by
Rta, nto the extended Marley famly unt. Other chldren that Bob fathered were Daman, Rohan, Robbe, Karen, Julan, Ky-Man, and Makeda
Jahnesta. Each chld had a unque poston n Bob’s lfe and several of hs chldren, both from hs marrage to Rta and outsde t, contnue Bob’s muscal legacy.

Sharon marley
Although Bob was not the genetc father of Sharon (known as Sharon
Marley Prendergrass), he treated her as a daughter throughout hs lfe. He adopted her when he and Rta got marred and doted on her constantly.
Often descrbed as Bob’s “favorte,” Sharon has spent her lfe forwardng many aspects of Bob’s vson. From 18 months of age onward, Bob was
Sharon’s father, and as any good father would do, he attempted to gude

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her n her lfe’s pursuts. As she was growng up, the Marley household was always flled wth musc. As Bob’s fame grew, Sharon was ncreasngly aware of lfe n the musc world. However, her father cautoned her aganst gong nto musc as a professon as he knew frst hand how dffcult a busness t s.
Even wth her father’s advce rngng n her ears, as an adult Sharon has had several jobs related to the musc ndustry. She has helped to preserve Bob’s muscal legacy as a member of the Marley chldren’s band, the Melody Makers. She s currently the drector of the Bob Marley Museum n Kngston, Jamaca, and she has pursued an actng career as part of the cast of the Denzel Washngton/Robert Townshend move The Mighty
Quinn. Other aspects of Sharon’s professonal lfe nclude her work wth the Carbbean busness Ghetto Youths Internatonal and her work n attemptng to open a day care tranng center n Jamaca. The center would be the frst of ts knd on the sland and reflects Bob’s nterest n carng for chldren.

cedella
The frst chld born of Bob and Rta’s marrage was named Cedella, after Bob’s mother. Cedella was born n August 1967 n Kngston and her brth corresponded wth the release of the Walers sngle. “Nce Tme.”
As a result, she was gven the ttle of the song as a nckname. She grew up
n a farly tradtonal manner, attendng attended publc schools. Just as wth Sharon, Bob wanted Cedella to become a doctor or a lawyer, but she followed her father’s footsteps nto musc.
Muscally, Cedella took a lead role n formng the Marley chldren’s group, the Melody Makers. She s known for her beautful sngng voce and s also a talented dancer. In addton to the Melody Makers, Cedella formed a splnter group called the Marley Grls. Her professonal nvolvement wth Bob’s legacy centers on her role as the CEO of Tuff Gong Internatonal. In addton to her recordng, sngng, and management of Bob’s record label, Cedella fnds tme to be actve n rasng her own group of
Marley chldren. Known for her tenacty, Cedella aggressvely works to safeguard and develop her father’s legacy.

david (ZiGGy)
Sharon and Cedella’s next younger sblng s a brother, Davd, born on
October 17, 1968. Although Davd was hs gven name, he was almost
mmedately ncknamed Zggy and has been known by ths name ever

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snce. Agan warned aganst followng n hs father’s muscal footsteps,
Zggy was btten by the muscal bug as a youth. He grew up lstenng to hs father’s musc along wth the materal of legendary Amercan artsts such as Steve Wonder.
Musc ndustry nsders consder Zggy the natural her to hs father’s muscal throne. He shares many of hs father’s facal features and hs voce
s smlar to Bob’s. Also, due to hs age, he was able to wtness and partcpate n parts of Bob’s muscal odyssey. Zggy was n Zmbabwe wth hs father for the concert celebratng the freedom of that country. Further, he became the de facto head of the famly on hs father’s passng. As such, he receved Bob’s Order of Mert on behalf of hs father.
As a muscan, Zggy was the muscal head of the Melody Makers. Ths pont was made clear when the band began to be known as Zggy Marley and the Melody Makers. Snce hs father’s death, Zggy has been on an extended muscal odyssey of hs own. He worked wth the Melody Makers through the release of seven studo albums (and several greatest hts collectons) and has pursued a solo career, unlke many of the other Marley chldren. The premer Marley chldren’s muscal group s the Melody Makers.
The group conssts of Sharon, Cedella, Zggy, and Stephen. The group got ts formal begnnng when the members recorded a song that Bob had wrtten for and about them n 1979, called “Chldren Playng n the
Streets.” However, the group had unoffcally been formed n 1981 to sng at Bob’s funeral. Snce ts ncepton, the Melody Makers have consstently put out salable reggae musc that preserves ther father’s legacy. Although the muscal product of the group swerves from pop offerngs to more serous roots-soundng works, collectvely the group’s output has been a testament to ts members’ muscal hertage.
Over the course of several decades, the Melody Makers have released several albums. Addtonally, they have toured nternatonally and been part of the Reggae Sunsplash concert seres that ther father helped start.
Ther releases began n the md-1980s wth the album Play the Game
Right. Ther second release was 1986’s Hey World! Ths was followed by
One Bright Day n 1988 and Conscious Party n 1989. The style of reggae musc that the Melody Makers were puttng out at ths tme was nspred by ther father’s materal, but dd not sound much lke t. However, the
Melody Makers’ products were commercally vable and of hgh enough qualty that they were n demand as sngers and songwrters.
Albums from the group contnued to come out n the 1990s. Jahmekya was released n 1991 and was followed by Fallen Is Babylon n 1997. The
1999 album, Spirit of Music, was heralded as a return to conscous reggae

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roots for the group. Throughout these many releases, the Melody Makers have contnued to forward ther father’s, and by extenson reggae musc’s, cause of brngng conscous musc to the masses. Interestngly, after Bob’s death, the prevalent type of Jamacan popular musc turned way from roots reggae and toward the dancehall style. Dancehall has much more n common wth Amercan hp-hop than t does wth the socal or poltcal themes n conscous reggae. Wth ther musc, the Melody Makers contnued to blaze the tral started by ther father nstead of fallng n wth the new style of the tme.
Wthn ths context, Zggy matured as a snger and songwrter. Takng a page from hs father’s book of ambton, Zggy set about the task of wrtng musc that could reach a global audence. As a testament to hs success, he has reached that audence and acheved an Amercan Top 40 sngle. To say that Zggy got an early start s to state the obvous. He was the natural front person for the Melody Makers wth hs father’s good looks and attractve voce, but he ended up frontng an nternatonally vable group at the tender age of 17. One mght thnk that followng n Bob’s footsteps made Zggy’s movement nto the musc world easy. On the contrary, hs father had establshed astonshngly large shoes to fll and Zggy’s youthful songwrtng sklls were held up n comparson to Bob’s mature work.
Early on, n order to carve out hs own nche, Zggy allowed hs musc to move more nto popular manstream crcles. Ths resulted n harsh crtcsm from the roots reggae core; however, t was speculated that the young Marley was smply fndng hs own voce and separatng hmself from the enormous pressure of hs father’s songwrtng legacy. Another problem n Zggy’s lfe at the tme was the marked desre of EMI (the
Melody Makers’ record label) to push Zggy as a solo artst, nstead of the leader of a group of hs sblngs. Ths conflct caused the group to swtch to the Vrgn Records label.
The move to Vrgn resulted n ther most popular materal to date.
The songs on Conscious Party were a great success for the group. Produced wth the assstance of Talkng Heads band members Chrs Frantz and Tna
Weymouth, ths release was both commercally and crtcally acclamed.
The album clmbed to number 39 on the Amercan popular musc charts and affrmed that the Melody Makers were not just rdng on ther famous father’s coattals.
The 1989 follow-up to Conscious Party, ttled One Bright Day, was another bg success for Zggy and the Melody Makers. The album clmbed
nto the Amercan Top 20 and showed that the prevous album had not been a fluke. Both of these late 1980s offerngs won the group Grammy
Awards for Best Reggae Album of the Year. The early 1990s brought

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contnued success wth the release of the Jahmekya album. The release sold well and made t nto the Top 20; however, t dd not have radofrendly sngles, unlke the prevous two albums. The follow-up album, Joy and Blues of 1993, contaned some dancehall style materal that featured
Stephen. The album dd not sell well and marked the group’s departure from Vrgn Records and ther move to Elektra Records.
For Elektra, the group released 1995’s Free Like We Want 2 B. Wth ths,
t seemed that Zggy and the Melody Makers had reganed some of ther prevous form. In 1997, Fallen Is Babylon won the group another Grammy
Award and showed that Zggy’s songwrtng sklls were stll n top form.
Through the course of these later releases, Zggy emerged from the group as a solost. The Melody Makers are stll a group n name, but Zggy had begun to work on ndvdual recordng projects.
In addton to hs solo work, Zggy was becomng a leadng poltcal voce. He was named a Goodwll Youth Ambassador for the Unted Natons and spoke publcly on topcs of njustce, poverty, and the thrd world.
Addtonally, he launched hs own record label, called Ghetto Youths
Unted (Ghetto Youth Crew), whch he s usng to foster the talent of the next generaton of reggae artsts. Hs charty work s well known and he has been nvolved n Unted Resources Gvng Enlghtenment (URGE), whch performs communty servce n Jamaca.
In the new mllennum, Zggy contnued to emerge as a solo artst and leader of the next generaton of Jamacan musc. On Aprl 15, 2003, he released hs frst offcal solo album, ttled Dragonfly. The album cover depcts Zggy wth dreadlocks to hs wast and a dragonfly on a yellow background. He was credted as the wrter and snger for all 11 songs ncluded on the release, whch was met wth a degree of success. Zggy followed ths up wth a second solo release n 2006, called Love Is My Religion.
In addton to musc, Zggy has pursued a vared career n the entertanment ndustry. In 2004, he voced a Rasta jellyfsh n the move Shark Tale and together wth Sean Paul created a new verson of hs father’s song
“Three Lttle Brds” for the move’s soundtrack. Zggy also sang the theme song for the PBS show Arthur and contnues to come nto hs own as a solost. As he ages, hs voce becomes more and more lke hs father’s as he grows nto a leadershp role n the nternatonal reggae communty.
Lke Bob, Zggy has fathered a sgnfcant group of chldren. Wth longtme companon Lorrane Bogle, Zggy has three chldren, Danel (a son),
Justce (a daughter) and Zour (a daughter). Zggy s now marred to Orly
Aga, wth whom he has had several other chldren. Judah Vctora s ther daughter, born on Aprl 7, 2005, and ther son Gdeon Robert Nesta
Marley was born on January 5, 2007. Whle contnung to pursue hs own

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career, chartable and phlanthropc endeavors, and famly nterests, Zggy remembers the words of hs father: “every man has to stand up for hs rghts.” Stephen
The next Marley chld, and Bob’s second son, was Stephen, born
Aprl 20, 1972. Stephen was born n Wlmngton, Delaware, whle Rta was lvng there wth Cedella. The youngest member of the Melody Makers, Stephen has become an accomplshed snger, DJ, wrter, and producer. Hs earlest recordngs were made at age sx when he helped lay down the vocal tracks for “Chldren Playng n the Streets.” The song was recorded as a charty endeavor and the proceeds from the sngle were donated to the Unted Natons n support of the Internatonal Year of the Chld. Addtonally, Stephen danced and partcpated n Bob’s lve shows, spendng tme on stage. In addton to an early lfe spent on stage wth hs father, at age seven Stephen began learnng the acoustc gutar.
Because of ths early exposure to musc, Stephen has been mmersed
n the art form and has been a professonal muscan for the majorty of hs years. In addton to hs performng, he has been an ntegral part of the record label Ghetto Youths Unted. As a producer, Stephen has made several well-known remxes of hs father’s work and coupled these wth famous lvng sngers such as Lauryn Hll (one of the three members of the
Fugees). Hs work wth Hll led to the Melody Makers performance wth the Fugees at the 1997 Grammy Awards Show n New York Cty.
Stephen’s producton work began n 1996 when he flled the producer role for tracks on albums by hs brothers Daman and Julan. Hs producton work has also allowed Stephen to cross styles of musc extensvely.
He has mxed reggae, hp-hop, and rhythm and blues. Work wth hp-hop artsts such as Krayze Bones (from Bone Thugs-N-Harmony), Eve (of the hp-hop set the Ruff Ryders), and Erykah Badu has ncreased hs credentals and connected hs father’s legacy to current styles of musc.
As a producer, he worked on hs brother Daman’s album Halfway Tree, released n 2001. The album was a huge success and scored a Grammy for the Best Reggae Album of the Year. Hs verson of Steve Wonder’s Bob
Marley trbute song “Master Blaster” was of such qualty that t was placed on the 2005 Wonder trbute album, Conception. As a songwrter, Stephen has not been as productve as some of hs sblngs.
He began work on an album n 2002, but ths was delayed by hs work wth the Ghetto Youths Internatonal producton house. The album was meant to come out n 2006 under the ttle Got Music? Although the tracks

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were complete, Stephen opted not to release the album. Some speculaton crculated that the album was put on hold to avod conflctng wth other
Marley famly records. Stephen s makng 2007’s Mind Control hs frst offcal album-length release. He s currently streamng the album’s ttle track on hs Myspace page and hopes are hgh for a successful, longantcpated release.
Although n hs md-thrtes, Stephen already boasts a nearly threedecade-long career n musc. As such, the release of hs album has created sgnfcant nterest. The album blends reggae, rock, rhythm and blues, nyabngh, flamenco, and hp-hop nto a unque and unnamed hybrd.
As s customary n contemporary Amercan hp-hop, the Mind Control album features varous cameo appearances ncludng those of Ben Harper,
Mos Def, Daman Marley, Maya Azucena and Illestr8, Spragga Benz, and
Mr. Cheeks.
Through the course of hs career, Stephen has done wonders to enhance Bob’s muscal legacy n the area of ntroducng hs father’s musc to a whole new audence. Stephen s a fve-tme Grammy wnner n hs own rght and s stll at the begnnng of what promses to be a long and frutful career. Stephen’s defant atttude and dstaste for underhanded poltcal dealngs are present n hs lyrcs and he puts forward hs father’s message throughout. To help preserve the legacy, Stephen was part of two Amercan tours n 2006. Most notable was the crtcally acclamed Bob Marley
Roots, Rock Reggae Festval, whch also ncluded hs brother Zggy. Ths tour placed Stephen on stage wth one of hs father’s oldest frends and one-thrd of the orgnal Walers sngng tro, Bunny Waler.
As s true of most of the Marley chldren, Stephen has chldren of hs own. For a tme he was marred to Kerte DaCosta and together they had a son, Jeremah, and a daughter, Sasha. Addtonally, he had four other chldren from varous relatonshps. Hs other chldren are sons Joseph,
Stephan, and Yohan, and a daughter called Summer. Stephen’s current relatonshp s wth fashon desgner and snger Krstna Marawsk, wth whom he recently had a daughter called Zpporah.

Stephanie
Another Marley daughter was Stephane, born n 1974. There are several conflctng reports concernng her lneage. Some say that Bob was her father, and others report that her father was a local Rasta called Ital.
Rta reported, n her book No Woman No Cry: My Life with Bob Marley, that Stephane’s father was probably Bob. However, at ths tme, Rta and
Bob were not gettng along and Rta had entered nto a relatonshp wth

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a local Rasta called Tacky. Ths local Rasta called Tacky was, n fact, the
Jamacan soccer star Owen Stewart. In the account n her book, Rta was very careful never to say that she and Tacky had had a sexual relatonshp; however, t was mpled.
Regardless of who her bologcal father was, Stephane was born on
August 17, 1974, and Bob was her father to all ntents and purposes. She grew up n Kngston and was educated n Jamacan prmary and secondary schools. She moved to England and completed her A-level studes n psychology and socal studes n London. Next, Stephane studed psychology at the Unversty of Western Ontaro, Canada. She earned her bachelor’s degree wth honors and durng her studes she was actve wth local chldren’s groups. She pad extra attenton to chldren wth specal needs.
After unversty, Stephane returned to Jamaca and became part of the famly busness. She became the managng drector of the Bob Marley Foundaton, Bob Marley Museum, Tuff Gong Internatonal, Tuff Gong
Recordngs, URGE,. and the Rta Marley Foundaton. Wth ths work
Stephane also fostered her father’s legacy. Now lvng n Nassau n the
Bahamas, Stephane s drectng the constructon of the frst Marley Resort and Spa. Although more attuned to the busness end of thngs, Stephane promoted concerts through Tuff Gong Productons and she stages the annual Reggae All-Star Concert n Nassau. In addton, Stephane has four chldren, all boys.
The rest of the Marley chldren were fathered by Bob, but n relatonshps outsde hs marrage. Each chld had a dfferent mother; however, snce Bob’s death, Rta has become the mother fgure to most of Bob’s offsprng. Bob had extramartal affars wth seven women who produced chldren. Some of hs relatonshps were hghly publczed, such as the
“Beauty and the Beast” unon wth Cndy Breakspeare. Other chldproducng encounters were fleetng and poorly documented, such as those wth Evette Morrs (Crchton) and Janet Hunt (Dunn). The chldren that were produced by these unons have been equally responsble for fosterng ther father’s legacy and many of them have made ther own deep mpact on the musc world.

rohan
Bob met Janet Hunt (or possbly Dunn) n the early 1970s. Janet was a dancer n a club and caught Bob’s eye. Lttle was documented about ther encounter; however, Janet gave brth to Bob’s son Rohan as a result.
Rohan Anthony Marley was born n May 1972, and hs mother turned the boy over to Bob and Rta to rase when he was four. From ths tme,

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Rohan offcally became a Marley. He went to the same school as Zggy and Stephen. Unlke hs brothers, however, Rohan was more nto sports than musc. The Marley famly had trouble keepng track of ths actve youth and he was sent to lve wth Bob’s mother n Mam.
Cedella adopted Rohan and he flourshed under her care. He graduated from Mam Palmetto Senor Hgh School n 1991 and he enrolled at the
Unversty of Mam where he played lnebacker for the Hurrcanes football team. Rohan then had a short stnt wth the Ottowa Rough Rders professonal football team n the Canadan Football League. After hs tme playng football, Rohan decded to settle down and refocus hs energy.
More recently, Rohan marred Lauryn Hll and began workng n the
Marley famly busnesses. For hs part, Rohan preserves Bob’s memory through hs work wth the Tuff Gong Clothng Company. Rohan styles clothes that are meant to have unversal appeal, just lke hs father’s musc.
In addton to hs work wth the clothng lne, Rohan spends tme wth hs own group of Bob’s grandchldren. He has four chldren wth Lauryn, sons Zon Davd, Joshua, and John, and a daughter named Selah Louse.

roBert (roBBie)
Bob’s next chld was born of hs affar wth a woman named Pat Wllams. Wllams was a woman from Trench Town and lttle s known of her. In fact, there are conflctng reports on her frst name: some say Pat, some say Luclle. However, the story of her short tme together wth Bob was documented n hs song “Mdnght Ravers.” The reports of the evenng and the song tself descrbed the scene. Bob had apparently been standng naked n the moonlt nght at the house at 56 Hope Road. He was approached by Wllams at that tme and she seduced hm. The next day, Bob woke up and wrote the lyrcs to “Mdnght Ravers” on a Kngston phone book. Robert Nesta Marley II, known as Robbe, was the product of ths rendezvous.
Robbe, lke many of the other chldren produced by Bob’s affars, came under the care of Rta. Wth Rta’s and the Marley famly’s support, Robbe attended the Unversty College of the West Indes, where he studed computer graphcs. Snce then, Robbe has been nvolved n several actvtes. He runs a clothng store n Mam, Florda, called Vntage Marley.
He took up motorcycle rdng and has subsequently become an accomplshed stunt rder. Ths led hm to a bt role n the 2003 move, 2 Fast 2
Furious. Addtonally, he has a motorcycle rdng club called the Mam
Warrors. The Marley famly tree contnues to grow wth Robbe’s four chldren: Kaya, Ekta, and twns Regal and Robert.

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karen
Bob’s tryst wth a woman named Janet Bowen led to another Marley famly chld. Agan, detals on Janet are sketchy, but she s referred to as “Janet n England” n several sources. Janet gave brth to a daughter named Karen n 1973. Janet and Karen both reman shrouded n mystery, as nether has sought out the spotlght. Janet lved n Jamaca wth her great-grandmother n Harbor Vew, St. Andrews. Ths s where she grew up and went to school. Her nvolvement wth the Marley famly has been slght. She was a reportedly a regular vstor to the Marley home n Kngston, but Karen dd not fall n wth the other chldren.
When Bob’s health faled, he asked Rta to look after Karen and she sent Karen to school wth Stephane. Because Karen has pursued a lfe outsde the glare and scrutny of the publc eye, lttle else s known about her present lfe.

JUlian
Lucy Pounder was a resdent of Barbados and, whle lttle s known of her tme wth Bob, t dd produce Julan Marley on June 4, 1975. Julan was born and rased n London, but often spent tme wth Rta and the other Marley chldren n Jamaca and Mam. Followng n ths muscal famly’s footsteps, Julan studed bass, drums, and keyboard from an early age. He also became an accomplshed songwrter as a youth. Hs frst sngle, at age fve, was a verson of hs father’s song “Slave Drver,” recorded at the Marley famly’s Tuff Gong Studos n Kngston. Ths was just the frst step n a busy and frutful career.
In the 1990s, Julan asserted hs muscal strength at full potental. He formed hs own band, called the Uprsng band, and released the 1996 album Lion in the Morning. Julan was credted wth wrtng or co-wrtng all of the songs on the album, whch receved crtcal acclam. In hs father’s mold, Julan toured n support of the release and played nternatonally as a solost backed by the Uprsng band and as a member of Ghetto
Youths Internatonal. As a member of Ghetto Youths, he nteracted wth hs brothers Stephen and Daman and learned a great deal. Wth Daman,
Julan opened for Zggy Marley and the Melody Makers on the 1995 tour and was a featured artst on the 1999 Lollapalooza Festval Tour (whch was qute a coup as ths was a rock-orented tour).
The new mllennum found Julan ready for the next challenge. Julan worked wth hs Marley brothers to produce the platnum-sellng Chant
Down Babylon album, whch pared modern artsts wth Bob from beyond

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the grave. He was also a part of the “Master Blaster” Steve Wonder trbute song wth hs brothers Stephen, Daman, and Ky-Man. Julan’s more recent project was the 2003 album Time and Place. The sound of the album was a mxture of roots reggae and lght jazz. Accordng to Julan hmself, the album was another step n hs songwrtng progresson begun wth
Lion in the Morning. Wth the conscous and poltcally charged lyrcs of hs father and brothers rngng n hs ears, Julan forwarded hs Rastafaran and often mltant messages. Also n keepng wth the Marley famly mold, the songs on ths release are a vared blend of reggae, funk, hp-hop, and rhythm and blues.
The Time and Place album was produced by Julan, Stephen, and Daman. Zggy and Rohan both appeared on the album, supplyng percusson lnes. Bob’s old Walers band compatrot, Bunny Waler, also suppled some percusson materal. The Uprsng band also appeared on the album.
In the wake of the release, Julan toured to support the album and the
Uprsng band backed hm up. Julan s outstandng among the Marley chldren for hs personalty, presence, and muscal talent. He apples hs energy trelessly to the furtherng of hs father’s muscal legacy.

ky-mani
Ky-Man Marley was a product of the affar that Bob had wth Anta
Belnavs. Belnavs was a well-known Carbbean table tenns champon.
Ky-Man means “adventurous traveler” and so far that s exactly what he has been. Belnavs’s lfe went largely undocumented, but much s known about her famous son. Ky-Man Marley was born n Falmouth, Jamaca, where he lved untl age nne. At that tme he moved to the nner cty of Mam, where he spent tme engaged n sports. As a youth, he began studyng musc, takng pano and gutar lessons, and he played trumpet n hs hgh school band. Although he studed musc, hs frst love was sports and he played hgh school football and soccer.
Growng up, Ky-Man spent summers wth hs father, Rta, and the other Marley chldren. In fact, n 1992, Ky-Man moved to Jamaca to be closer to the Marley famly. Hs frst excurson nto musc came whle he was stll n Mam. He began rappng and DJ-ng and actually recorded a sngle called “Unnecessary Badness.” On hs move back to Jamaca,
Ky-Man dedcated hmself to musc. He worked wth Stephen, Julan, and Daman to produce hs own muscal product.
Early n hs muscal growth, Ky-Man released several sngles on the
Shang Records mprnt. He dd a verson of “Judge Not” wth dancehall queen Patra, whch was followed by the song “Dear Dad.” Ths second

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sngle was an open letter to hs fallen father. Sentmental and thought provokng, “Dear Dad” was an early testament to Ky-Man’s songwrtng ablty. Pckng up momentum, Ky-Man teamed up wth a thrd of the
Amercan band the Fugees when he worked wth Praswell on a cover of the Eddy Grant ht “Electrc Avenue.” Major nternatonal exposure came when Ky-Man performed at the Mdem (short for Marché international de l’édition musicale), the world’s largest musc ndustry trade far. Hs Mdem performance was ared lve by the Carbbean News Agency and Ky-Man was nstantly exposed to audence members n 36 countres.
Ky-Man’s nternatonal televson appearance created unprecedented
nterest n the young snger. A label bddng war ensued, and Ky-Man sgned wth Gee Street/V2 Records. For Gee Street, he teamed wth P.M.
Dawn on the sngle “Gotta Be Movn On Up,” whch only ncreased KyMan’s already rsng stock. He further ncreased the nterest n hs musc wth the release of hs 1999 solo debut album, Ky-Mani Marley: Like Father Like Son. Ths was followed the next year wth The Journey, whch
llustrated beautfully Ky-Man’s versatle style. Movng between Spansh gutar, rock steady, and lovers rock, the songs on the album are as eclectc as Ky-Man’s taste.
The next album released by Ky-Man was Many More Roads n 2001
Here the talented snger/songwrter presented materal dpped n the roots reggae, dancehall, and rhythm and blues styles. Throughout ths album, Ky-Man delvered a message of conscousness and stayed true to hs Rastafaran fath.
More recent projects found Ky-Man tryng hs hand n show busness.
He played the lead role n the ht underground Jamacan move Shottas,
n whch he worked opposte Wyclef Jean (of Fugees fame) and dancehall manstay Spragga Benz. He also starred n the move One Love, a romantc comedy that pared hm wth Cherne Anderson. In 2004, Ky-Man landed another move role, playng John the Baptst n the Frank E. Flowers move Haven. Here the young Rasta played alongsde Bll Paxton and
Orlando Bloom. Ky-Man remans enthusastc about hs role n mantanng Bob’s muscal fame. He has already done much to preserve the famly name and further work s antcpated.

damian
Cndy Breakspeare was the woman most often assocated wth Bob apart from Rta. Breakspeare was from a whte, upper-class background and was workng n Kngston n the md-1970s when she met Bob. As a teenager, she worked at the Kngston Sheraton and met Bob as they

T HE M ARLEY FAMILY

99

were both tenants n Blackwell’s house at 56 Hope Road. At frst, Bob and Breakspeare dd not nteract much. It was rumored that Bob made many attempts at ganng Breakspeare’s affecton, but she rebuked hm.
Bob’s song “Watng n Van” was sad to be about these rejected advances. However, as Bob’s success ncreased, Cndy gradually warmed to hs attenton.
Breakspeare’s rse to fame paralleled Bob’s. A classc beauty, through the md-1970s Breakspeare went from Mss Jamacan Bkn to Mss Unverse Bkn to Mss World. She was also accused of beng a home wrecker due to her assocaton wth Bob. However, hstory s clear that Bob pursued Breakspeare and early on she dd not know that he was marred. The perod durng whch the two spent the most tme was Bob’s self-mposed exle from Jamaca after the assassnaton attempt.
Bob’s nterest n Breakspeare was somewhat contradctory to the phlosophy of the rest of hs lfe. Breakspeare was all thngs representng Babylon, n that she came from a wealthy whte famly and she surrounded herself wth ssues of vanty. As such, she was more concerned wth wnnng beauty contests, such as Mss Jamaca Body Beautful and Mss
Unverse Bkn, than wth the plght of the black Jamacan underclass.
However, Bob was not attracted to her only physcally, but also because of her honesty. Because of ths, Bob lavshed attenton on her that he dd not on lavsh any other woman. He bought her a house n the Cherry
Gardens secton of Kngston and gave her money to start her own busness. Unlke hs relatonshp wth anyone other than Rta, when Bob and
Breakspeare’s sexual relatonshp ended they remaned frends for the rest of Bob’s lfe.
Breakespeare went on to marry jazz gutarst and plot Rupert Bent.
They lve n the Stony Hll area of Jamaca and she remans busy. In addton to a sngng career, through whch she met her current husband, she mantans the Ital craft shop that Bob gave her the captal to start.
Addtonally, Cndy s the mother of Bob’s son Daman “Junor Gong”
Marley. Daman was born n 1978 n Jamaca and has carved out qute a nche n the Jamacan musc ndustry. The Junor Gong s the youngest
Marley chld by any mother.
Lke hs brothers and ssters, Daman got an early start n musc. He began performng at age 13 when he formed the Shepherds band. The group had local success and even performed at Reggae Bash n 1992 and at the 1992 nstallment of Reggae Sunsplash. Daman often performed around hs older brothers and ssters as he frequently served as the openng act for Melody Makers concerts. By 1994, Daman was already workng to establsh a solo reputaton. In 1996, he released hs solo debut album,

1 00

BOB MARLEY

Mr. Marley. Although t was a solo album, Daman’s brother Stephen appeared on several songs and served as the producer. The release came out as an offerng from the Ghetto Youths Internatonal label.
In 2001, Daman came nto hs own wth hs second solo record, Halfway Tree. The album earned the young snger a Grammy Award for the
Best Reggae Album of the Year and saw Daman flexng hs now powerful songwrtng muscles. The bggest dffculty wth the release was that t was largely gnored by the record-buyng publc. That all changed when
Daman released Welcome to Jamrock n 2005. Ths release was afforded sgnfcant pre-release buzz and was mmedately popular when t ht the streets. The ttle track came out n remxes and alternate versons rght away, and the album made t nto the Top 10. The album mxed hardhttng lyrcs about the realtes of lfe wth eclectc musc that blended reggae, hp-hop, rhythm and blues, and dancehall.
Agan t was a solo release, but Daman credted Stephen as the coproducer of the album. The producton style s remnscent of roots reggae stalwarts Sly and Robbe. The album was agan released on the famly’s
Tuff Gong/Ghetto Youths Internatonal label and revealed another of the
Marley chldren comng nto ther own. In the lght of hs father’s legacy,
Daman’s latest release mxed songs of protest wth songs of love and agan forwarded Bob’s musc and message.
Daman’s most popular (and as yet most commercally vable) materal echoed the sentments of hs father at hs most mltant. “Welcome to
Jamrock” was a fery and outraged descrpton of the underprvleged held
n bondage by the poltcal system n Jamaca. Ths has not escaped the youngest Marley’s attenton. Daman has worked long and hard to make hs musc resonate on the streets and he has acheved that goal wth hs most recent offerngs.

makeda JahneSta
The last of the recognzed Marley chldren was born n 1981. Makeda
Jahnesta Marley was the product of an encounter between the reggae superstar and a woman named Yvette Crchton. Nothng was documented about ths unon beyond the notable product. The frst name of the youngest of Bob’s chldren was taken from the Bble and was also the Ethopan name for the Queen of Sheba. Her mddle name combnes the Rastafaran word for God and her father’s mddle name. Makeda does not seem to have made a lfe n the lmelght and lttle s known about her other than the fact that by 1992 she became an offcal benefcary of the Marley estate and from that tme forward was a regular at Rta’s house.

T HE M ARLEY FAMILY

1 01

recent developmentS
A partcularly strange twst n Bob’s lfe after death was announced n late 2006. Rta has planned a new Bob Marley bopc that wll cover hs lfe pror to hs becomng famous. Oscar Award–nomnated drector Rachd Bauchareb (Dust of Life) has been tapped as the drector. However, the bggest pont of contenton has been Rta’s choce of Jame Foxx to play the young Bob. Whle Foxx receved crtcal acclam for hs portrayal of Ray Charles, t s unlkely that he can carry off a 16-year-old Marley.
Due to ths dubous choce, the flm s already beng heavly crtczed and has only just gone nto pre-producton n early 2007.
And stll the legend lves on. Beyond hs fame, hs legacy, hs chldren, and hs musc, Bob’s name tself contnues to be prased and celebrated. The memory of the man contnues to draw nterest around the world. In fact, each year there are nternatonal concerts commemoratng hs brthday.
Contrary to conventonal wsdom (that eventually Bob wll be forgotten), the concerts grow large and swell wth more and more attendees annually.
One partcularly nterestng example was the celebraton of Bob’s 60th brthday n 2005. The offcal, and largest, celebraton took place n Adds
Ababa, Ethopa, and was accompaned by a three-day conference about all thngs assocated wth Bob. Lumnares who were actve n the conference ncluded Amercan actor Danny Glover, members of the Ethopan government, Madame Wnne Mandela, Cedella Marley, Maya Angelou,
Inda Ire, Zggy Marley, and Angelque Kdjo. Performers who graced the stage durng the celebraton ncluded Baaba Maal, Youssou N’Dour, Angelque Kdjo, Tagass Kng, and Rta and Zggy Marley. The event centered on the conference n Ethopa, but there were smultaneous celebratons around the world. The Bob Marley Foundaton promoted 60th brthday events n the Unted States, Italy, Sweden, Germany, and South Afrca.
The 2007 Bob Marley 62nd brthday celebraton was another major event. For ths, Stephen, Julan, Daman, and Ky-Man staged a concert on February 10 called “Smle Jamaca.” The concert was staged at the
Marley ancestral home n Nne Mle, St. Ann Parsh, Jamaca. The Marley sons took the concert’s name from a lke performance that ther father gave n 1976. At that orgnal concert, Bob was spreadng the message of peace and now hs sons have taken up that msson. The concert was purposely set to concde wth Bob Marley week, when the largest number of toursts vst Jamaca. Wth ths, the joy and the message of Bob’s lfe and musc contnue. Hs legacy s n the capable hands of hs chldren and he
s not forgotten. Robert Nesta Marley’s musc lves on n a varety of forms from Nne Mle to Kngston, from Mam to New York, from Jamaca to the rest of the world.

1 02

s eleCted disCography

The Best of the Wailers 1970/ Kong / Beverley’s/BLP 001
Soul Shakedown Party, Stop That Tran, Cauton, Soul Captves, Go Tell It on the Mountan, Can’t You See, Soon Come, Cheer Up, Back Out, Do It
Twce
Catch a Fire 1972 (Aprl)/Marley and Blackwell/Island/ILPS 9241
Concrete Jungle, Slave Drver, 400 Years, Stop That Tran, Baby We’ve Got a Date, Str It Up, Knky Reggae, No More Trouble, Mdnght Ravers
Burnin’ 1973 (November)/Walers and Blackwell/Island/ILPS 9256
Get Up, Stand Up, Hallelujah Tme, I Shot the Sherff, Burnn’ and Lootn’,
Put It On, Small Axe, Pass It On, Duppy Conqueror, One Foundaton, Rasta
Man Chant
African Herbsman 1973/Perry/Trojan/TRLS 62
Lvely Up Yourself, Small Axe, Duppy Conqueror, Trench Town Rock, Afrcan Herbsman, Keep On Movng, Fussng and Fghtng, Stand Alone, All
n One, Don’t Rock My Boat, Put It On, Sun Is Shnng, Kaya, Rdng Hgh,
Bran Washng, 400 Years
Natty Dread 1974 (October)/Blackwell and the Walers/Island/ILPS 9281
Lvely Up Yourself, No Woman, No Cry, Them Belly Full (But We Hungry),
Rebel Musc (Three O’Clock Road Block), So Jah Seh, Natty Dread, Bend
Down Low, Talkn’ Blues, Revoluton
Live! Bob Marley and the Wailers 1975 (May)/Steve Smth and Blackwell/Island/
ILPS 9376
Trench Town Rock, Burnn’ and Lootn’, Them Belly Full (But We Hungry), Lvely Up Yourself, No Woman, No Cry, I Shot the Sherff, Get Up,
Stand Up
103

1 04

SELECTED D ISCOGRAPHY

Rastaman Vibration 1976 (Aprl)/Marley and the Walers/ I LPS 9383
Postve Vbraton, Roots, Rock, Reggae, Johnny Was, Cry to Me, Want
More, Crazy Baldhead, Who the Cap Ft, Nght Shft, War, Rat Race
Exodus 1977 (May)/Marley and the Walers/Island/ILPS 9498
Natural Mystc, So Much Thngs to Say, Gultness, The Heathen, Exodus,
Jammng, Watng n Van, Turn Your Lghts Down Low, Three Lttle Brds,
One Love/People Get Ready
Kaya 1978 (March)/ Marley and the Walers/Island/ILPS 9517
Easy Skankn’, Kaya, Is Ths Love, Sun Is Shnng, Satsfy My Soul, She’s
Gone, Msty Mornng, Crss, Runnng Away, Tme Wll Tell
Babylon by Bus 1978 (December)/Marley and the Walers/Island/ISLD 1298
Postve Vbraton, Punky Reggae Party, Exodus, Str It Up, Rat Race, Concrete Jungle, Knky Reggae, Lvely Up Yourself, Rebel Musc, War/No More
Trouble, Is Ths Love, The Heathen, Jammng
Survival 1979 (October)/Marley, Walers, and Alex Sadkn/ Island/ILPS 9542
So Much Trouble n the World, Zmbabwe, Top Rankn’, Babylon System,
Survval, Afrca Unte, One Drop, Rde Natty Rde, Ambush n the Nght,
Wake Up and Lve
Uprising 1980 (June)/Marley and the Walers/Island/ILPS 9596
Comng n from the Cold, Real Stuaton, Bad Card, We and Dem, Work,
Zon Tran, Pmper’s Paradse, Could You Be Loved, Forever Lovng Jah, Redempton Song
Chances Are 1981/Sms, Nash, Perkns/Cotllon/SD 5228
Reggae on Broadway, Gonna Get You, Chances Are, Soul Rebel, Dance Do the Reggae, Mellow Mood, Stay wth Me, (I’m) Hurtng Insde
Confrontation 1983/Blackwell and the Walers/Island/7 90085–1
Chant Down Babylon, Buffalo Solder, Jump Nyabngh, Mx Up, Mx
Up, Gve Thanks and Prases, Blackman Redempton, Trench Town, Stff
Necked Fools, I Know, Rastaman Lve Up
Legend: The Best of Bob Marley 1984/Island/7 90169–1
Is Ths Love, No Woman, No Cry, Could You Be Loved, Three Lttle Brds,
Buffalo Solder, Get Up, Stand Up, Str It Up, One Love/People Get Ready,
I Shot the Sherff, Watng n Van, Redempton Song, Satsfy My Soul,
Exodus, Jammng
Bob Marley and the Wailers: Rebel Music 1986/varous producers/Island/ ILPS
9843
Rebel Musc, So Much Trouble n the World, Them Belly Full (But We
Hungry), Rat Race, War, Roots, Slave Drver, Rde Natty Rde, Crazy Baldhead, Get Up, Stand Up
Bob Marley and the Wailers: The Birth of a Legend 1990/varous producers/Epc/
ZGK 46769

S ELECTED D ISCOGRAPHY

1 05

Smmer Down, It Hurts to Be Alone, Lonesome Feelngs, Love and Affecton,
I’m Stll Watng, One Love, I Am Gong Home, Wngs of a Dove, Let Hm
Go, Who Feels It Knows It, Maga Dog, I Made a Mstake, Lonesome Track,
Nobody Knows, The Ten Commandments of Love, Donna, Do You Remember, Dancng Shoes, I Don’t Need Your Love, Do You Feel the Same Way
Talkin’ Blues 1991/Island-Tuff Gong/422–848 243
Talkn’ Blues, Burnn’ and Lootn’, Knky Reggae, Get Up, Stand Up, Slave
Drver, Walk the Proud Land, Lvely Up Yourself, You Can’t Blame the Youth,
Stop That Tran, Rastaman Chant, Am-A-Do (prevously unreleased)
Bob Marley: Songs of Freedom 1992/varous producers/Island-Tuff Gong/TGCBX1
CD 1: Judge Not, One Cup of Coffee, Smmer Down, I’m Stll Watng, One
Love, Put It On, Bus Dem Shut, Mellow Mood, Bend Down Low, Hypocrtes, Str It Up, Nce Tme, Thank You Lord, Hammer, Cauton, Back Out,
Soul Shakedown Party, Do It Twce, Soul Rebel, Sun Is Shnng, Don’t Rock
My Boat, Small Axe, Duppy Conqueror, Mr. Brown
CD 2: Screwface, Lck Samba, Trench Town Rock, Craven Choke Puppy,
Guava Jelly, Acoustc Medley, I’m Hurtng Insde, Hgh Tde or Low Tde,
Slave Drver, No More Trouble, Concrete Jungle, Get Up, Stand Up, Rastaman Chant, Burnn’ and Lootn’, Iron, Lon, Zon, Lvely Up Yourself, Natty
Dread, I Shot the Sherff
CD 3: No Woman, No Cry, Who the Cap Ft, Jah Lve, Crazy Baldhead,
War, Johnny Was, Rat Race, Jammn’, Watng n Van, Exodus, Natural
Mystc, Three Lttle Brds, Runnng Away, Keep On Movng, Easy Skankn’,
Is Ths Love, Smle Jamaca, Tme Wll Tell
CD 4: Afrca Unte, One Drop, Zmbabwe, So Much Trouble, Rde Natty
Rde, Babylon System, Comng n from the Cold, Real Stuaton, Bad Card,
Could You Be Loved, Forever Lovng Jah, Rastaman Lve Up, Gve Thanks and Prase, One Love, Why Should I, Redempton Song
Bob Marley: I Shot the Sheriff 1993/lve performance/On Stage CD/12037
(Recorded at the Quet Knght Club, Chcago, June 10, 1975)
Trench Town Rock, Rebel Musc, Natty Dread, Mdnght Ravers, Slave
Drver, Concrete Jungle, Talkn’ Blues, I Shot the Sherff
Bob Marley Interviews: So Much Things to Say 1995/RAS/varous producers/RAS
3171
Natural Mystc, Trench Town Rock, Redempton Song, Babylon System,
Tme Wll Tell, Natural Mystc, Revoluton, Survval, One Drop, Roots,
Rock, Reggae, Guava Jelly, Rat Race
Bob Marley and Friends: Roots of a Legend 1997/varous producers/Trojan/
CDTAL 901
CD 1: Shocks of Mghty, part 1, Shocks of Mghty, part 2, Don’t Let the Sun
Catch You Cryng, Upsettng Staton, Zg Zag, Run for Cover, Long Long

1 06

SELECTED D ISCOGRAPHY

Wnter, All n One, Copasetc, One n All, More Axe, Shocks 71, The Axe
Man, Send Me That Love, Man to Man, Ncoteen, Don’t Rock My Boat, I
Lke It Lke Ths, Love Lght Shnng, I Gotta Keep On Movng, Movng
(alternatve verson), Ranbow Country
CD 2: Dreamland, Dreamland (verson), Dreamland (verson 2), The Crmson Prate, Arse Blackman, Rghtful Ruler, The Return of Alcapone, Maga
Dog, Skanky Dog, Boney Dog, Downpresser, Moon Dust, Rudes Medley,
Rude Boy (verson), Dun Valley, Brand New Second Hand, Brand New Second Hand (verson), Romper Room, Them a F Get a Beaten, Get a Beaten,
Selasse Serenade, Leave My Busness
The Complete Bob Marley and the Wailers, 1967–1972, Part 1 1997/Sms/JAD/
JAD-CD-1002
CD 1: Rock to the Rock, Rockng Steady, How Many Tmes, Touch Me,
Mellow Mood, There She Goes, Soul Rebel, Put It On, Chances Are, Love,
Bend Down Low, The World Is Changng, Nce Tme, Treat You Rght,
What Goes Around Comes Around, What Goes Around Comes Around
(verson)
CD 2: Don’t Rock My Boat, The Lord Wll Make a Way, Chances Are,
Selasse Is the Chapel, Tread Oh, Feel Alrght, Rhythm, Rockng Steady,
Adam and Eve, Wsdom, Ths Tran, Thank You Lord, Gve Me a Tcket,
Trouble on the Road Agan, Black Progress, Black Progress (verson), Tread
Oh (verson)
CD 3: Sugar Sugar, Stop the Tran, Cheer Up, Soon Come, Soul Captves,
Go Tell It on the Mountan, Can’t You See, Gve Me a Tcket, Hold on to
Ths Feelng, Mr. Chatterbox, Soul Shakedown (verson), Soon Come (verson), Mr. Chatterbox (verson), Hold on to Ths Feelng (verson)
The Complete Bob Marley and the Wailers, 1967–1972, Part II 1997/Sms/JAD/
JAD-CD-1004
CD 1: Try Me, It’s Alrght, No Sympathy, My Cup, Soul Almghty, Rebel’s
Hop, Corner Stone, 400 Years, No Water, Reacton. Dub tracks: My Sympathy, Soul Rebel (verson), Try Me (verson), It’s Alrght (verson), No Sympathy (verson), My Cup (verson), Soul Almghty (verson), Rebel’s Hop
(verson), Corner Stone (verson), No Water (verson), No Water (verson),
Reacton (verson), Rebel (verson)
CD 2: Keep On Movng, Put It On, Fussng and Fghtng, Memphs, Rdng Hgh, Kaya, Afrcan Herbsman, Stand Alone. Dub tracks: Bran Washng (verson), Keep On Movng (verson), Don’t Rock My Boat (verson),
Fussng and Fghtng (verson), Put It On (verson), Duppy (verson), Memphs (verson), Rdng Hgh (verson), Kaya (verson), Afrcan Herbsman
(verson), Stand Alone (verson), Dun Is Shnng (verson), Bran Washng
(verson 2)

S ELECTED D ISCOGRAPHY

1 07

CD 3: Kaya, Love Lght, Second Hand, Jah Is Mghty, Run for Cover, Man to
Man, Downpresser, Don’t Rock My Boat, More Axe, Long Long Wnter, All
n One, Turn Me Loose. Dub tracks: Kaya (verson), Battle Axe (verson),
Long Long Wnter (verson), Second Hand (verson); Downpresser (verson), Shocks of Mghty (verson), Axe Man (verson), Ncoteen (verson)
The Complete Bob Marley and the Wailers: 1967 to 1972, part III 1999/Sms/JAD/
JAD-CD-1005
CD 1: All n One (medley of Bend Down Low/One Love/Smmer Down/
Love and Affecton), All n One (part 2: medley of Love and Affecton/
Put It On), Keep On Skankn’, Dreamland, Love Lght, Brand New Second
Hand (false start), Brand New Second Hand, Shocks of Mghty, Keep On
Movng (also known as I’m Gonna Keep On Movng), Keep On Movng
(extended verson), Keep On Movng (extended verson 2), Concrete Jungle,
Screwface, Satsfy My Soul, Send Me That Love, Comma Comma, Jungle
Dub (dub verson of Concrete Jungle), Dracula (dub verson of Mr. Brown),
Love Lght (dub verson), Dreamland (dub verson), Face Man (dub verson of Screwface), Satsfy My Soul (dub verson)
CD 2: Screwface, Redder Than Red, Lvely Up Yourself, Trouble Dub, Dub
Feelng, Satsfy My Soul, Kngston 12, Pour Down the Sunshne, Gonna Get
You, Cry to Me, Reggae on Broadway, I’m Hurtng Insde, Oh Lord, Got to Get
There, Dance Do the Reggae, Stay wth Me, Guava Jelly, Guava (dub verson of Guava Jelly), Red (dub verson of Redder Than Red), Lve (dub verson of Lvely Up Yourself), Samba (dub verson of Lck Samba), Screwface (dub verson), Groovng Kngston (dub verson of Trench Town Rock), Choke
(dub verson of Craven Chock Puppy), Satsfy My Soul (dub verson)
Bob Marley and The Wailers: The Complete Soul Rebels and the Upsetter Record Shop
1999/Lee Perry/Culture Press/CP 017
CD 1: Soul Rebels, Soul Rebels (verson), No Water, No Water (verson),
Rebel Hop, Rebel Hop (verson), No Sympathy, No Sympathy (verson), It’s
Alrght, It’s Alrght (verson), Reacton, Reacton (verson), Corner Stone,
Corner Stone (verson), 400 Years, 400 Years (verson), Make Up, Make Up
(verson), Try Me, Try Me (verson), Soul Almghty, Soul Almghty (verson)
CD 2: Concrete Jungle, Concrete Jungle (verson), Screwface, Screwface
(verson), Love Lfe, Love Lfe (verson), Satsfy My Soul, Satsfy My Soul
(verson), Ranbow Country, Ranbow Country (verson), Long Long Wnter, Long Long Wnter (verson), Put It On, Put It On (verson), Don’t Rock
My Boat, Don’t Rock My Boat (verson), Keep On Movn’, Keep On Movn’
(verson)
Bob Marley and the Wailers: Climb the Ladder 2000/Dodd/Heartbeat/11661–7751–2
Dancng Shoes, Put It On, Lonesome Track, Clmb the Ladder, Love Won’t
Be Mne Ths Way, Dreamland, Lemon Tree, Nobody Knows, Wngs of a

1 08

SELECTED D ISCOGRAPHY

Dove, Snner Man, Ten Commandments of Love, Sunday Mornng, I Made a Mstake, I Don’t Need Your Love, Donna, The Jerk, Just n Tme
Bob Marley and the Wailers: Catch a Fire (Deluxe Edition) 2001/Marley and Blackwell/UMe/314548635–2
CD 1: Concrete Jungle, Str It Up, Hgh Tde or Low Tde, Stop That Tran,
400 Years, Baby, We’ve Got a Date, Mdnght Ravers, All Day, All Nght,
Slave Drver, Knky Reggae, No More Trouble
CD 2: Concrete Jungle, Slave Drver, 400 Years, Stop That Tran, Baby,
We’ve Got a Date, Str It Up, Knky Reggae, No More Trouble, Mdnght
Ravers
Bob Marley and the Wailers: Exodus (Deluxe Edition) 2001/Marley and Blackwell/
UMe /314586408–2
CD 1: Natural Mystc, So Much Thngs to Say, Gultness, The Heathen,
Exodus, Jammng, Watng n Van, Turn Your Lghts Down Low, Three Lttle Brds, One Love/People Get Ready
Addtonal tracks: Roots, Watng n Van (alternate verson), Jammng (long verson), Jammng (verson), Exodus (verson)
CD 2: The Heathen, Crazy Baldhead/Runnng Away, War/No More Trouble,
Jammng, Exodus, Punky Reggae Party, Punky Reggae Party (verson), Keep
On Movng, Keep On Movng (verson), Exodus
Bob Marley and the Wailers: Rastaman Vibration (Deluxe Edition) 2002/Marley and
Blackwell/UMe /440063446–2
CD 1: Postve Vbraton, Roots, Rock, Reggae, Johnny Was, Cry to Me,
Want More, Crazy Baldhead, Who the Cap Ft, Nght Shft, War, Rat Race
Addtonal tracks: Jah Lve, Concrete Jungle, Roots, Rock, Reggae (verson),
Roots, Rock Dub, Want More, Crazy Baldhead (verson), Johnny Was
CD 2: Introducton, Trench Town Rock, Burnn’ and Lootn’, Them Belly
Full (But We Hungry), Rebel Musc, I Shot the Sherff, Want More, No
Woman, No Cry, Lvely Up Yourself, Roots, Rock, Reggae, Rat Race, Smle
Jamaca Sessons (late 1976), Smle Jamaca (part one), Smle Jamaca
(part two)
Bob Marley and the Wailers: Live at the Roxy 2003/Suha Gur/UMe /B0000516–02
Introducton, Trench Town Rock, Burnn’ and Lootn’, Them Belly Full (But
We Hungry), Rebel Musc, Want More, No Woman, No Cry, Lvely Up
Yourself, Roots, Rock, Reggae, Rat Race
Encore: Postve Vbraton, Get Up, Stand Up/No More Trouble/War
Bob Marley and the Wailers: Burnin’ (Deluxe Edition) 2004/Marley and Blackwell/
UMe /B0003359–02
CD 1: Get Up, Stand Up, Hallelujah Tme, I Shot the Sherff, Burnn’ and
Lootn’, Put It On, Small Axe, Pass It On, Duppy Conqueror, One Foundaton, Rasta Man Chant

S ELECTED D ISCOGRAPHY

1 09

Bonus tracks: Rencarnated Souls, No Sympathy, The Oppressed Song, Get
Up, Stand Up (unreleased alternate take), Get Up Stand Up (unreleased sngle verson)
CD 2: Duppy Conqueror, Slave Drver, Burnn’ and Lootn’, Can’t Blame the
Youth, Stop That Tran, Mdnght Ravers, No More Trouble, Knky Reggae,
Get Up, Stand Up, Str It Up, Put It On, Lvely Up Yourself
Africa Unite: The Singles Collection 2005/Marley and Blackwell/Island/
B0005723–02
Soul Rebels, Lvely Up Yourself, Trench Town Rock, Concrete Jungle, I Shot the Sherff, Get Up, Stand Up, No Woman, No Cry, Roots, Rock, Reggae,
Exodus, Watng n Van, Jammn’, Is Ths Love, Sun Is Shnng, Could You
Be Loved, Three Lttle Brds, Buffalo Solder, One Love/People Get Ready,
Afrca Unte, Slogans, Stand Up/Jamrock
Bob Marley and the Wailers: Gold 2005/Marley and Blackwell/Island/B0004008–02
CD 1: Str It Up, Slave Drver, Concrete Jungle, Get Up, Stand Up, I Shot the Sherff, Burn’ and Lootn’, Lvely Up Yourself, Rebel Musc, Trench
Town Rock, No Woman, No Cry, Jah Lve, Postve Vbraton, Roots, Rock
Reggae, Crazy Baldhead, Natural Mystc, Exodus, Jammn’
CD 2: One Love/People Get Ready, Watng In Van, Punky Reggae Party, Is
Ths Love, Sun Is Shnng, Satsfy My Soul, Knky Reggae, Medley: War/No
More Trouble, So Much Trouble n the World, Afrca Unte, One Drop,
Could You Be Loved, Comng n from the Cold, Redempton Song, Buffalo
Solder, Rastaman Lve Up, Iron, Lon, Zon
One Love at Studio One: 1964–1966 2006/ Marley/ Heartbeat/CBHBEA319
CD 1: Ths Tran, Smmer Down, I Am Gong Home, Do You Remember, Mr. Talkatve, Habts, Amen, Go Jmmy Go, Teenager n Love, I Need
You, It Hurts to Be Alone, True Confessons, Lonesome Feelngs, There She
Goes, Damond Baby, Playboy, Where’s the Grl for Me, Hoolgan Ska, One
Love, Love and Affectons, Tell The Lord
CD 2: And I Love Her, Rude Boy, I’m Stll Watng, Ska Jerk, Somewhere to
Lay My Head, Wages of Love (rehearsal), Wages of Love, I’m Gonna Put It
On, Cry to Me, Jalhouse, Snner Man, He Who Feels It Knows It, Let Hm
Go, When the Well Runs Dry, Can’t You See, What Am I Supposed to Do,
Rollng Stone, Bend Down Low, Freedom Tme, Rockng Steady
Bob Marley: The Anthology 2006/varous/Golden Lane Records/1580
CD 1: Natural Mystc, Ranbow Country, I Know A Place, Concrete Jungle,
Trench Town Rock, Sun Is Shnng, Keep On Skankng, Satsfy My Soul,
Keep On Movng, Long Long Wnter, Don’t Rock My Boat, Dr. Brown, My
Cup, Love Lght Shnng, Who Colt the Game
CD 2: Lvely Up Yourself, Small Axe, More Axe, Duppy Conqueror, Kaya,
Kaya (verson), Turn Me Loose, Soul Rebel, Run for Cover, Pcture on the

1 10

SELECTED D ISCOGRAPHY

Wall, Afrcan Herbsman, Man to Man, Jah s Mghty, Stand Alone, Send
Me That Love
The Very Best of Bob Marley 2006/varous/Mastersong / B000FFJ7EU
CD 1: Afrcan Herbsman, Lvely Up Yourself, Fussng and Fghtng, Soul Rebel,
Soul Shakedown, 400 Years, Sun Is Shnng, Natural Mystc, Soul Almghty,
Kaya, Reacton, No Sympathy, Mellow Mood, Trench Town Rock, Cheer Up,
Small Axe, Rebel’s Hop, Cauton, Ranbow Country, Can’t You See
CD 2: All n One, There She Goes, My Cup, It’s Alrght, Treat You Rght,
Mr. Brown, Bran Washng, Stand Alone, Corner Stone, Duppy Conqueror, Chances Are, Put It On/Don’t Rock My Boat, You Can’t Do That to Me, Hammer, No Water
Bob Marley Forever 2006/varous/Madacy Records/B000JMK68U
CD 1: Rebel’s Hop, Soul Almghty, Trench Town Rock, Afrcan Herbsman,
Stand Alone, Mr. Brown, Bran Washng, 400 Years, All n One, Cauton,
Soon Come, Go Tell It on the Mountan
CD 2: Kaya, Soul Rebel, It’s Alrght, My Cup, Mellow Mood, Touch Me,
No Water, Soul Captves, Don’t Rock My Boat, Try Me, Ranbow Country,
Fussn’ and Fghtn’
CD 3: How Many Tmes, Memphs, Rdng Hgh, Corner Stone, Hammer,
You Can’t Do That to Me, Chances Are, Stop the Tran, Duppy Conqueror,
Lvely Up Yourself, Sun Is Shnng, Do It Twce
Bob Marley and the Wailers: Trilogy 2006/varous/Musc Brokers Arg/B000F2BNYK
CD 1: There She Goes, Can’t You See, Cheer Up, Back Out, Satsfy My
Soul, Redder Than Red, Mellow Mood, Soul Shakedown Party, Mr. Brown,
Soul Captves, Go Tell It on the Mountan, Soon Come, Do It Twce, Stop the Tran, Mr. Chatterbox, Power and More Power, Touch Me, Treat You
Rght
CD 2: Try Me, It’s Alrght, No Sympathy, My Cup, Soul Almghty, 400
Years, No Water, Reacton, Keep On Movng, Don’t Rock My Boat, Put
It On, Rdng Hgh, Rdng Hgh, Kaya, Sun Is Shnng, Concrete Jungle,
Screw Face, Love Lfe
CD 3: Lvely Up Yourself, Ranbow Country, Natural Mystc, Small Axe,
Fussn’ and Fghtn’, Corner Stone, Chances Are, Cauton, Hammer, Rebels
Hop, All n One (medley), Soul Rebel, Trench Town Rock, You Can’t Do
That to Me, How Many Tmes, Bran Washng, Duppy Conqueror, Rasta
(nstrumental), I Shot the Sherff (nstrumental), Try Me (nstrumental)
Bob Marley: 400 Years 2006/varous/Dbk Works/B000EUMK8Q
Soul Shakedown Party, Lvely Up Yourself, Trench Town Rock, Stand
Alone, Fussn’ and Fghtn’, Memphs, Bran Washng, Duppy Conqueror,
Rdng Hgh, Reacton, Soul Almghty, Sun Is Shnng, Small Axe, All n
One (medley), 400 Years, Mr. Brown

S ELECTED D ISCOGRAPHY

1 11

Bob Marley: Reggae Master 2006/varous/Immergent/B000I0N6PE
Lvely Up Yourself, Trench Town Rock, Afrcan Herbsman, Kaya, Stand
Alone, Soul Rebel, 400 Years, It’s Alrght, No Sympathy, Rebel’s Hop, Corner Stone
Bob Marley: No Sympathy 2006/varous/Dbk Works/B000EUMK86
Kaya, Ranbow, Soul Rebel, Afrcan Herbsman, Try Me, It’s Alrght, There
She Goes, You Can’t Do That To Me, Touch Me, Hammer, My Cup, Chances
Are, Treat You Rght, No Water, Corner Stone
Bob Marley: Stop That Train 2006/varous/Dbk Works/B000CC4VZ6
Natural Mystc, Keep On Movng, Soul Captves, How Many Tmes, Stop
That Tran, Go Tell It on the Mountan, Cauton, Back Out, Mellow Mood,
Rebel’s Hop, Do It Twce, Put It On, Don’t Rock My Boat, Cheer Up, Soon
Come, Can’t You See
Bob Marley: Soul Shakedown Party 2006/varous/Ground Floor/B000FBG0JO
CD 1: Soul Shakedown Party, Small Axe, Back Out, Do It Twce, Trench
Town Rock, Natural Mystc, 400 Years, Mr. Brown, Soul Rebel, Ranbow
Country, Kaya, Keep On Movng, Don’t Rock My Boat, Put It On, There
She Goes, Mellow Mood, Chances Are, Hammer, You Can’t Do That to Me
CD 2: Afrcan Herbsman, Stand Alone, Sun Is Shnng, Bran Washng,
Lvely Up Yourself, Go Tell It on the Mountan, Duppy Conqueror, Fussn’ and Fghtn’, Rdng Hgh, Try Me, No Sympathy, My Cup, Corner Stone,
No Water, Reacton, Cheer Up, Soon Come, Rebel’s Hop, Put It On, Soul
Captves
Bob Marley: Keep On Skanking 2006/varous/Atom/B000EHTO3I
Satsfy My Soul, Don’t Rock My Boat, Kaya, 400 Years, Duppy Conqueror,
Jah Is Mghty, Keep On Movng, Screw Face, Ths Tran, Soul Rebel, All In
One, Go Tell It on the Mountan, Afrcan Herbsman, Hey, Happy People,
Pcture on the Wall, Corner Stone, Soul Shakedown Party, Trench Town
Rock, Thank You Lord, Lvely Up Yourself, Small Axe, Concrete Jungle, Put
It On, Keep On Skankng, My Cup, Ranbow Country, Dracula, Long Long
Wnter, Mr. Brown, Natural Mystc, I Lke It Lke Ths, Stop That Tran,
Wsdom, Ncoteen, Man to Man, Sun Is Shnng
Bob Marley and the Wailers: Definitive Gold 2006/varous/Déjà vu Italy/
B000IMV3ZQ
Trench Town Rock, Soul Rebel, Kaya, Go Tell It on the Mountan, Try Me,
It’s Alrght, No Sympathy, No Water, Ranbow Country, There She Goes,
Mellow Mood, Treat You Rght, Chances Are, Hammer, Touch Me, Cauton,
Soul Captves, Can’t You See, Reacton, 400 Years, Natural Mystc, Lvely
Up Yourself, Soul Shakedown Party, Soon Come, Cheer Up, Back Out, Do
It Twce, Keep On Movng, Don’t Rock My Boat, Put It On, Fussn’ and
Fghtn’, Duppy Conqueror, Small Axe, Rdng Hgh, Afrcan Herbsman,

1 12

SELECTED D ISCOGRAPHY
Stand Alone, Sun Is Shnng, Mr. Brown, Str It Up, Stop That Tran, Keep
On Skankng, Bran Washng, Corner Stone, All n One, Man to Man,
Wsdom, Mr. Chatterbox, One n All, Dreamland, Run for Cover, I Lke It
Lke Ths, Turn Me Loose, Brand New Second Hand, Ths Tran, There She
Goes, How Many Tmes, Treat You Rght, Love Lght Shnng, Rebel’s Hop,
Satsfy My Soul, Pcture on the Wall, Shocks of Mghty, Shocks of Mghty
(part 2), My Cup, Adam and Eve, Downpressor, Long Long Wnter, Thank
You Lord, Tell Me, Soul Almghty, Send Me That Love, Make Up, Concrete Jungle, Screw Face, Love Lfe, Nce Tme, Power and More Power,
Redder Than Red, Hypocrtes, All n One/One Love, Sun Is Shnng Dub,
No Sympathy Dub, Kaya Dub, Concrete Jungle Dub, Soul Rebels Dub, No
Water Dub, 400 Years Dub, Don’t Rock My Boat Dub, Corner Stone Dub,
Soul Almghty Dub, Rebel’s Hop Dub, It’s Alrght Dub, Keep On Movn’
Dub, Ranbow Country Dub, Satsfy My Soul Dub, Fussn’ and Fghtn’ Dub,
Afrcan Herbsman Dub, Duppy Conqueror Dub, Dracula/Mr. Brown Dub

B iBliography

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Booker, Cedella, and Anthony Wnker. Bob Marley: An Intimate Portrait by His
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Boot, Adran, and Vvan Goldman. Bob Marley—Soul Rebel—Natural Mystic.
London: Eel Pe Publsher, 1981.
Boot, Adran, and Mchael Thomas. Jamaica: Babylon on a Thin Wire. London:
Thomas and Hudson, 1976.
Bordowtz, Hank, ed., Every Little Thing Gonna Be Alright: The Bob Marley Reader.
Cambrdge, MA: Da Capo Press, 2004.
Bradley, Lloyd. “Uprsng.” Mojo, March 2005, 69– 81.
Bramwell, Osula. “ ‘Redempton Song’: Protest Reggae and Jamaca.” PhD dss.,
Unversty of Waterloo, Canada, 1984.
Burnett, Mchael. Jamaican Music. London: Oxford Unversty Press, 1982.
Campbell, Horace. Rasta and Resistance: From Marcus Garvey to Walter Rodney.
Trenton, NJ: Afrca World Press, 1987.
Campbell, Howard. “Jammng wth Jmmy Norman.” Jamaica Observer, November 22, 2002.

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1 14

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Campbell, Howard. “Reggae Icon Remembered.” Jamaica Gleaner, February 7,
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———. “The Walers Band: Stll Rockn’ n the Nnetes.” Reggae Report 14, no. 4 (Aprl 1996): 24 –25.
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Carb-Arawak, 1976.
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———. Bob Marley. Reprnt, Rochester, VT: Schenkman Books, 1990.
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———. Reggae International. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1983.
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———. “How Marley Caught Fre: Repackagng the Reggae Kng as a Rock
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Chroncle Books, 2006.

B IBLIOGRAPHY

1 15

Howard, Denns. “Professor Rex Nettleford on the Creatve Power of Bob Marley.” Reggae Report 14, no. 4 (Aprl 1996): 20 –21.
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Potash, Chrs. Reggae, Rasta, Revolution: Jamaican Music from Ska to Dub. New
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1 16

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B IBLIOGRAPHY

1 17

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IReggae. http://www.reggae.com/reggae1.htm.
JAD Records: Where the Legend Began. http://www.jadrecords.com/.
Jmmy Clff Musc. Biography. http://www.jmmyclffonlne.com.
Lee “Scratch” Perry Musc. http://www.upsetter.net/scratch/.
Peter Tosh Musc. The Man: His Story. http://www.ptosh.com/story.html.
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Reggae Tran. Artists. http://www.reggaetran.com/ste_artsts.asp.
Roots Archve. http://www.roots-archves.com.
Taj Mahal Musc. Biography and Discography. http://www.taj-mo-roots.com/ dscography/bo.html. Teacher and Mr. T. Reggae Vbes Productons. http://www.reggae-vbes.com.
Toots and the Maytals Musc. Extended Biography. http://www.tootsandthemaytals. net/toots/tootsbographylong.aspx. Trojan Records. Man. http://www.trojanrecords.net.
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Shop. http://www.tuffgong.com/.
Unversal Musc Group. Artist Index: Bob Marley and the Wailers. http://new.umusc. com/Artsts.aspx?Index=1. 1 18

i ndex

(Song ttles n quotes, album ttles n talcs)
“Afrca Unte,” 53, 55
Africa Unite: The Singles
Collection, 64, 78–79
Al, Muhammad, 64
“Ambush n the Nght,” 52–53
Amsterdam, 49
Anderson, Al, 26, 28, 33, 46, 65
Anderson, Rta. See Marley, Rta
Anderson, Sharon, 87–88
Apollo Theater, Harlem, 54
Aswad, 41

Barrett, Carlton “Carle”, 18, 21, 39
Belnavs, Anta, 29, 97
“Bend Down Low,” 22, 26
Beverley’s record label, 9
Bg Youth, 46, 55
Black Ark studo, 36
“Blackman Redempton,” 78
Blackwell, Chrstopher, 20–23,
26, 28, 31–33, 37– 40, 48–50,
53, 59– 60, 73, 84, 99
Booker, Cedella, 4–7, 10, 16, 35,
56, 70–73, 80, 83, 85, 88, 92
Brathwate, Junor, 8, 12
Breakspeare, Cndy, 29, 40, 42,
94, 98–99
Brown, Denns, 46
Brown, James, 53
“Buffalo Solder,” 49, 78
Bundrck, John “Rabbt”, 29
Burnin’, 23–24, 30, 35, 68, 80–81
“Burnn’ and Lootn’,” 23, 30, 35,
68
Burnng Spear, 55

Babylon by Bus, 49
Babylon System, 26–27, 41
“Babylon System,” 53
“Baby We’ve Got a Date,” 21
“Bad Card,” 59–60
Bad Wesse, Germany, 70–71
Barrett, Aston “Famly Man”, 18,
21, 72, 85, 90
Barrett Brothers (rhythm secton),
18–19, 23, 25, 29, 33–34, 60,
68, 71
119

1 20

INDEX

Catch a Fire, 20–22, 24, 80–81
“Cauton,” 17, 88
Cayman Musc, 17
CBS, 19–20
Central Park, New York, 30,
66–69
Chances Are, 78
“Chant Down Babylon,” 78, 96
Charles, Prnce, 63
Charles, Ray, 8, 101
“Cheer Up,” 17
CIA, 36
Clapton, Erc, 27, 80
Clff, Jmmy, 9, 55
Cole, Alan “Skll”, 19, 33–34,
51–52, 66 – 67, 69–70, 74
“Comng n from the Cold,” 68
Commodores, the, 64, 65
“Concrete Jungle,” 19, 49
Confrontation, 56, 78
“Corner Stone,” 18
Cooke, Sam, 26
Coore, Stephen “Cat”, 38–39
“Could You Be Loved,” 59
“Crazy Baldhead,” 68, 81
“Crss,” 48
“Cry to Me,” 34
Culture, 40, 46, 54, 77
Da Costa, Glen, 25
Dekker, Desmond, 7–9
Dllnger, 46
Dodd, Clement “Coxsone”, 9–10,
18, 61
“Do The Reggay,” 17
Downe, Tyrone, 19, 22, 25, 29,
33–34, 39, 59, 74, 79
Drfters, the, 7, 11
“Duppy Conqueror,” 18, 22–23
Dynamc Sound studos, 19–20

Eccles, Clancy, 16
Essex House Hotel, 65
Ethopa, 13–14, 20, 33, 43,
51–52, 66, 70, 74–75, 78, 86,
100–101
Ethopan Orthodox Church, 66,
70, 74–75
“Exodus,” 41
Exodus, 41–44, 47–49, 54–55, 68,
77, 80–81
Famly Man. See Barrett, Aston
Fats Domno, 7
Federal Studos, 9
“Forever Lovng Jah,” 59
Ford, Vncent “Tartar”, 10
Fugees, the, 92, 98
Funeral, Bob Marley’s, 73–75, 89
Gabon, 57–59, 62
Garnett, Tony, 29, 31, 34–35
Garrck, Nevlle, 27, 29, 34,
37, 39
Garvey, Marcus, 14, 82
Gaye, Marvn, 25
Germany, 35, 43, 64, 70, 101
“Get Up, Stand Up,” 32, 30, 35,
55, 80
Ghetto Youths Crew, 91
Ghetto Youths Internatonal, 88,
92, 96, 100
Ghetto Youths Unted, 91–92
Glbert, Tony “Glle”, 34
“Gve Thanks and Prases,” 78
Glasspole, Florzel, 74
Gray, Claude, 9
Grffths, Marca, 21, 37
Grounatons, 15–16
“Guava Jelly,” 27
“Gultness,” 41

I NDEX

1 21

Hale Selasse, Emperor, 13–15,
20, 26–27, 32, 34, 43, 47, 49,
52, 70, 78
Harare, 62–63
Harper, Ben, 93
Harper, Dave, 29, 31
Harry J’s studo, 19–20,
23–24, 32
“Heathen,” 41, 49, 61, 81
Hbbert, Toots, 17, 54
Hggs, Joe, 8, 23–24

“Kaya,” 19, 22, 48
Kaya, 44, 46–49, 53, 55
Kaya, 78
“Keep On Movng,” 22, 81
Kelso, Beverley, 8, 12
Khour, Ken, 9
“Knky Reggae,” 21, 30, 49
Knsey, Donald, 33–34, 37, 39–41
Kong, Lesle, 9–10, 17–18
KSAN rado, 24
Kurts Blow, 54

Impressons, the, 7–8, 42
“I’m Stll Watng,” 11
Inner Crcle, 46
Intel-Dplo record label, 28
“I Shot the Sherff,” 23, 27,
30–31, 35
Island Records, 17, 20, 22–26, 28,
31, 33, 40–41, 46, 48, 59–60,
65, 78–80, 82, 84–85
Issels, Dr. Josef, 70–72
“Is Ths Love,” 48–49, 68
Ital, 15, 19, 23, 29, 83, 99
I-Threes, 21, 25, 29, 30, 34–35,
37, 59, 67, 74
“It Hurts to be Alone,” 22

Legend, 78–81
Lndo, Earl “Wya”, 22–24, 46, 59
Live!, 31, 49
“Lvely Up Yourself,” 19, 22, 26,
30, 35, 49
Lvngston, Nevlle (aka Bunny
Waler), 7–9, 13, 15–17, 19–21,
23–28, 31, 82, 93, 97
Lvngston, Pearl, 9–10, 74
“Lonesome Feelng,” 11, 22
Los Angeles, 30, 79
Lyceum Ballroom, London, 31

Jackson, Mchael, 42
Jackson Fve, 28
“Jah Lve,” 32, 47
Jamacan Labour Party (JLP), 6,
36, 45–47, 61, 49, 68, 81
“Jammng,” 41–42, 47
Japan, 51
Jobson, Dane, 28, 52, 71–72
“Johnny Was,” 34
Jones, Tom, 12
“Judge Not,” 9, 97
“Jump Nyabngh,” 78

Madden, Davd, 25
Madson Square Garden, 54, 65
Malcolm, Cedella. See Booker,
Cedella
Malcolm, Omerah, 4, 15
Manley, Mchael, 20, 22, 35–37,
40, 44–47, 65, 74
Manley, Norman, 6
Marjuana, 2, 15–16, 21, 42, 47
Marley, Cedella, 88–89, 101
Marley, Ky-Man, 29, 87, 97–98, 101
Marley, Norval, 4
Marley, Rta, 6, 12–15, 19–22, 25,
37–39, 54, 63, 66–68, 72–73,
78, 82–89, 92–101

1 22

INDEX

Marley, Robbe, 22, 41, 87, 95, 100
Marley, Rohan, 22, 87, 94–95, 97
Marley, Zggy (Davd), 2, 16, 56,
73, 79–80, 82, 88–93, 95 –97,
101
Marshall, Bucky, 45, 62
Marvn, Junor, 40 –41, 43, 48,
59, 79
Massop, Claude, 46 –46, 52
Mayfeld, Curts, 7, 42, 81
Maytals, the, 17, 54
Max’s Kansas Cty, New York, 23
McCook, Tommy, 25
McIntosh, Peter. See Tosh, Peter
“Mellow Mood,” 17
Memoral Sloan-Ketterng Cancer
Center, 68–69
Mento, 7
Mchael, Ras, 39, 46
“Mdnght Ravers,” 21, 95
Mghty Damonds, 46
“Mx Up, Mx Up,” 78
“Mr. Brown,” 18
“Mr. Chatterbox,” 19
“Msty Mornng,” 48
Montego Bay, Jamaca, 3, 53
Morrs, Yvette, 53
Mos Def, 93
Mowatt, Judy, 21, 37
Nash, Johnny, 16–17, 19–21
Nassau, 39–40, 53, 56, 94
Natonal Heroes Park, Kngston,
36
“Natty Dread,” 30, 47
Natty Dread, 25–30
“Natural Mystc,” 19, 41, 47, 68,
74
Natural Mystic, the Legend Lives On:
Bob Marley and the Wailers, 78
Nevlle, Aaron, 11

New York, 23, 30, 35, 43, 48, 54,
61–62, 65, 67, 69, 92, 101
New Zealand, 1, 51
“Nght Shft,” 34
Nne Mle, 4–5, 75, 86–87, 101
Nkomo, Joshua, 62
“No More Trouble,” 21, 35, 49,
63, 68, 81
Now Generaton Band, 22, 24
“No Woman, No Cry,” 26, 30, 35,
68, 86
Nyabngh, 75, 78, 93
Old Grey Whistle Test, 23
“One Cup of Coffee,” 9
“One Drop,” 2, 53
One Drop rhythm, 1
“One Foundaton,” 23
“One Love,” 7, 22, 41–42, 47
One Love Peace Concert, 45–47,
52
Pars, 43, 49
Parks, Arkland “Drumbago”, 10
“Pass It On,” 23
Patterson, Alvn “Secco”, 10, 23,
59
People’s Natonal Party (PNP), 6,
20, 36, 38, 44–47, 61, 65
Perry, Lee “Scratch”, 18–19, 22,
32, 41, 52, 81
Phladelpha, Pennsylvana, 55
“Pmper’s Paradse,” 59
Pttsburgh, Pennsylvana, 67–68
Planno, Mortmer, 15–17
Polygram Records, 60–61, 65, 84
“Postve Vbraton,” 34–35, 47,
49, 68
“Punky Reggae Party,” 41,
49, 81
“Put It On,” 17, 22–23

I NDEX

Queen (band), 69
Queen of Sheba Restaurant, 14,
53, 83, 100
Rangln, Ernest, 10
“Rastaman Chant,” 74
“Rastaman Lve Up,” 78
“Rastaman Vbraton,” 33
Rastaman Vibration, 33–34, 41,
80–81
“Rat Race,” 34–35, 49
“Real Stuaton,” 59
“Rebel Musc,” 26–27, 35, 49
“Redempton Song,” 59–60, 68, 79
“Reggae on Broadway,” 19
Reggae Sunsplash II, 53, 56
Red, Duke, 9
“Revoluton,” 26–27
Rche, Lonel, 65
“Rde Natty Rde,” 53
“Road Block,” 26–27, 30
Rodrguez, Rco, 10
Rockers, 41–42
Rock steady, 7, 11–12, 17, 98
Rolling Stone, 32, 77
Rollng Stones, the, 30–31, 56
“Roots Rock Reggae,” 34–35, 93
Roxy Theatre, Los Angeles, 30,
35, 81
“Rude Boy,” 12, 18
Rude boy lfestyle, 12
“Runnng Away,” 48, 68
St. Ann’s Parsh, Jamaca, 2, 75
Salsbury (Harare), 62–63
San Francsco, Calforna, 24
“Satsfy My Soul,” 19, 48–49
Seaga, Edward, 36, 47, 73–74
“Smmer Down,” 10–11, 22
Sms, Danny, 16–17, 19–20, 60,
64–65, 73

1 23

“She’s Gone,” 48
Ska, 7–12
“Slave Drver,” 21, 27, 96
Slavery, 5
Sly and the Famly Stone, 24
“Small Axe,” 18, 22–23
Smle Jamaca Concert, 36–38
Smth, Cherry, 8
Smth, Huey “Pano,” 7
“So Jah She,” 26, 39
“So Much Thngs to Say,” 41
“So Much Trouble n the World,”
53
Songs of Freedom, 78–79
Sons of Negus, 39, 46
“Soon Come,” 17
Soulettes, 12, 14
Sound system, 18
Spauldng, Anthony, 38
Sprngsteen, Bruce, 23
Stanley Theater, Pttsburgh,
67–68
Stepney All Age School, 4–5
“Stff Necked Fools,” 78
“Str It Up,” 16, 21, 49
“Stop That Tran,” 17, 21
Stresand, Barbra, 27
Studo One, 9–12, 14–15, 18
“Sun Is Shnng,” 22, 48
Sunshne House Cancer Center,
70–72, 86
“Survval,” 53
Survival, 53–56
Sweden, 19, 35, 43, 48, 64, 101
“Talkn’ Blues,” 26
Talkin’ Blues, 78
Taj Mahal, 27
Taylor, Don, 25, 28, 37, 58–60, 62
Teenagers, the, 8–10
Tekere, Edward, 62

1 24

INDEX

“Terror,” 9
“Them Belly Full,” 26, 30, 35, 68
Thrd World Band, the, 38–39,
41, 54
Thompson, Denns, 34
“Three Lttle Brds,” 41–42, 91
“Tme Wll Tell,” 48
Top Gear, 23
Top of the Pops, 43, 48
“Top Rankn’,” 53
Tosh, Peter, 8, 10, 12, 15–16,
19–21, 23–27, 31, 34, 46, 55,
80, 82
Tower Theater, Phladelpha, 35
Treasure Isle studos, 9
“Trench Town,” 6, 8, 10, 33, 95
Trnty, 46
Tull, Jethro, 20
“Turn Your Lghts Down Low,”
41–42
Twelve Trbes of Israel, 16, 34,
45–46, 61, 70, 74–75
“Two Sevens Clash,” 40
Unques, the, 12
Uprising, 55–57, 59–60,
64–65, 68
Upsetter Records, 18
Upsetters, 18

Waler, Bunny. See Lvngston,
Nevlle
Walng Walers, 10–12
Wal’N Soul’M, 16–18
“Watng n Van,” 41–42, 81, 99
“Wake Up and Lve,” 53–54
“Want More,” 34–35
“War,” 34–35, 39, 47, 49, 63, 68,
81, 95
“We and Dem,” 59
“What’s New Pussycat,” 12
“Who the Cap Ft,” 34
Wllams, Patrca, 22
Wlmngton, Delaware, 10, 14, 92
Wnwood, Steve, 20, 40
Wonder, Steve, 31, 55, 89, 92, 97
“Work,” 59–60, 68
Wrght, Betty, 58
Yesuhaq, Archbshop, 74
Zap Pow horns, 25, 39, 42
“Zmbabwe,” 54, 62
Zmbabwe (Afrca), 54, 57, 62–64,
68, 89
Zmbabwe Afrcan Natonal
Unon (ZANU), 62
“Zon Tran,” 59, 68
Zurch, Swtzerland, 64

About the Author
DAVID V. MOSKOWITZ s assocate professor of muscology and graduate coordnator n musc at the Unversty of South Dakota. He s the author of the
Greenwood reference book Caribbean Popular Music: An Encyclopedia of Reggae,
Mento, Ska, Rock Steady, and Dancehall and The Words and Music of Bob Marley, whch s part of The Praeger Snger-Songwrter Collecton.

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