
Bob Marley - Jamaica Music Legend
With his majestic flashing dreadlock, Bob Marley and his wailing Wailers put reggae front and center on the world music scene in the mid 1970's. Since then his name has become synonymous with reggae music the world over. But who is Bob Marley and how did this country boy from a small district in Jamaica became a world-renowned music icon and the crowned the king of reggae?
Robert Nesta Marley was born in North Western Jamaica in a town named Nine Miles to a white British Marine officer and a native Jamaican Woman. In his early teen, Bob Marley moved with his mother to look for work in the capital Kingston. They settled in Trench Town in West Kingston - so named because it was located along a trench that carried sewage out of the city. In Kingston, Bob met two youths that shared his interest in music - Neville (Bunny wailer) Livington and Peter (Tosh) Macintosh and the three became good friends. The three friends got their first break after Bob Marley auditioned for a producer and recorded their first two songs, neither of which fared well. Not to be discouraged, they hooked up with Clement Dodd, a well known producer and recorded "Simmer Down" their first hit. The group called themselves, the "Wailing Wailers" with Bob Marley becoming the lead singer and lead songwriter.
In 1966, Bob Marley married his longtime girlfriend Rita Anderson, and shortly after that left for the United States. He lived with is mother in Delaware long enough to earn money to finance his music business. He return to Jamaica only to find the music had evolved from ska to a new sound called reggae. The group formed their own label and released a couple of singles that did relatively well, but the label was short-lived. They then join up with producer Lee Perry and recorded some of their best early music with hits such as "Small Axe", "Duppy Conquerer", and "Soul Rebel".
Although the Wailers were enjoying some measure of success, it was not until 1970 when Perry introduced two of the best studio musicians - Aston "Family Man" Barret (bass) and his brother Carlton (drums), that the Wailers really became a musical force locally. The Wailers, however, were still unknown abroad. In 1972 after a tour to London, the Wailers signed with Island Records and produced their first album "Catch a Fire" which was a huge success. This was soon followed a year later by "Burnin'".
In 1975 Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer left the group for solo careers and were replaced by the I-Threes - Rita Marley (Bob's wife), Marcia Griffiths, and Judy Mowatt. The group was then renamed Bob Marley and the Wailers and was poised for the big time and greatness. The group released "Natty Dread" in 1975 with hits such as "No Woman No Cry", "Talking Blues", and "Revolution". They followed this with an extensive tours consisting of sold-out shows all across Europe. It was two of these shows at the Lyceum Ballroom that the album "Live" was recorded.
1976 was a great year for Bob Marley and the Wailers except for one incident. The group released the album "Rasta man Vibration" and was named band of the year by Rolling Stone. This propelled Bob Marley and the Wailers to international stardom and established reggae as one of the music industry's popular genre. But as the sun was shining brightly in their neighborhood, near tragedy struck. the group.
In December 1976, Bob Marley and the Wailers were scheduled to perform at a free concert promoting peace between the Jamaica's political parties. However two days before the concert, Bob Marley along with wife Rita and two others were shot by gunmen who broke into his house and then home of Tuff Gong studio. Everyone survived and despite being hurt, Bob Marley and the wailers put on a memorable show at the concert as scheduled. Two years later Bob Marley successfully brought the Prime Minister and opposition leader together on state at One Lover Peace concert and was awarded a medal of peace by the United Nations.
In 1977, the group once again tour Europe and while on tour recorded "Exodus", arguably one of their best. It was during this tour that Bob Marley injured his toe while playing soccer and discovered he had cancer in his toe. His doctors recommended surgery to remove the injured toe but Bob refused, saying it was against his religion. Bob Marley illness did not seem to affect his creativity because in 1978 the Wailers released "Kaya" - a more soulful and introspective work to his previous albums. That same year Bob Marley and the wailers visited Africa and was invited to perform at Zimbabwe 25th anniversary celebrations. His visit to the Africa, inspired the album "Survival" about the struggles and survival of his brothers and sisters in his motherland.
The album "Uprising" was released in 1980 and Bob Marley and the Wailer continued to tour. It was during a US tour that Bob Marley collapsed while jogging in New York Central Park. It was then it was discovered that he had a cancerous brain tumor and had but a few months to live. Despite his prognosis, he gave one final performance in Pittsburgh before canceling the remainder of the tour. Bob Marley finally died on May 11, 1981 at a young age of 36.