Bob MarleyFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For the American comedian, see Bob Marley (comedian).

Nesta Robert "Bob" Marley, OM (6 February 1945 – 11 May 1981) was a Jamaicansinger-songwriter and musician. He

was the rhythm guitarist and lead singer for the ska,rocksteady and reggae band Bob Marley & The Wailers (1963–1981).

Marley remains the most widely known and revered performer of reggae music, and is credited with helping spread

both Jamaican music and the Rastafari movement to a worldwide audience.[1]

Marley's music was heavily influenced by the social issues of his homeland, and he is considered to have given voice to the

specific political and cultural nexus of Jamaica.[2] His best-known hits include "I Shot the Sheriff", "No Woman, No Cry", "Could

You Be Loved", "Stir It Up", "Get Up Stand Up", "Jamming", "Redemption Song", "One Love" and, "Three Little Birds",[3] as well

as the posthumous releases "Buffalo Soldier" and "Iron Lion Zion". The compilation album Legend (1984), released three years

after his death, is reggae's best-selling album, going ten times Platinum which is also known as one Diamond in the U.S.,[4] and

selling 25 million copies worldwide.[5][6]

Contents

  [hide]

1 Early life and career

2 Bob Marley & The Wailers

o 2.1 1963–1974

o 2.2 1974–1981

3 Personal life

o 3.1 Religion

o 3.2 Family

4 Final years and death

5 Legacy

o 5.1 Film adaptations

o 5.2 Crustacean species

6 Discography

7 Awards and honors

8 References

9 Further reading

10 External links

Early life and career

Bob Marley was born in the village of Nine Mile in Saint Ann Parish, Jamaica as Nesta Robert Marley.[7] A Jamaican passport

official would later swap his first and middle names.[8] His father, Norval Sinclair Marley, was a Jamaican of mixed English and

Syrian-Jewish descent whose family came from Sussex, England. Norval was a captain in theRoyal Marines,[citation needed] as well

as a plantation overseer, when he married Cedella Booker, an Afro-Jamaican then 18 years old.[9] Norval provided financial

support for his wife and child, but seldom saw them, as he was often away on trips. In 1955, when Bob Marley was 10 years old,

his father died of a heart attack at age 70.[10] Marley faced questions about his own racial identity throughout his life. He once

reflected:

I don't have prejudice against meself. My father was a white and my mother was black. Them call me half-caste or whatever. Me

don't deh pon nobody's side. Me don't deh pon the black man's side nor the white man's side. Me deh pon God's side, the one

who create me and cause me to come from black and white.[11]

The Bob Marley House in Nine Mile is a home that he shared with his mother during his youth

Although Marley recognised his mixed ancestry, throughout his life and because of his beliefs, he self-identified as a black

African, following the ideas of Pan-African leaders. Marley stated that his two biggest influences were the African-

centered Marcus Garvey andHaile Selassie. A central theme in Bob Marley's message was the repatriation of black people

to Zion, which in his view was Ethiopia, or more generally, Africa.[12] In songs such as "Survival", "Babylon System", and

"Blackman Redemption", Marley sings about the struggles of blacks and Africans against oppression from the West or

"Babylon".[13]

Marley and his step brother Bunny Wailer (Bob's mother had a daughter with Bunny's father, younger sister to both of them)

started to play music while he was still at school, which he left at the age of 14 to make music with Joe Higgs, a local singer and

devout Rastafari. At ajam session with Higgs and Livingston, Marley met Peter McIntosh (later known as Peter Tosh), who had

similar musical ambitions.[14] In 1962, Marley recorded his first two singles, "Judge Not" and "One Cup of Coffee", with local

music producer Leslie Kong. These songs, released on the Beverley's label under the pseudonym of Bobby Martell,[15] attracted

little attention. The songs were later re-released on the box set Songs of Freedom, a posthumous collection of Marley's work.

Marley was also known to use an Epiphone guitar for much of his career.

Bob Marley Epiphone guitar at his birthplace in Nine Mile, Jamaica.

Bob Marley & The Wailers

Main article: Bob Marley & The Wailers

1963–1974

Marley in concert in 1980, Zurich, Switzerland

In 1963, Bob Marley, Bunny Wailer, Peter Tosh, Junior Braithwaite, Beverley Kelso, andCherry Smith formed a ska and

rocksteady group, calling themselves "The Teenagers". They later changed their name to "The Wailing Rudeboys", then to "The

Wailing Wailers", at which point they were discovered by record producer Coxsone Dodd, and finally to "The Wailers". By 1966,

Braithwaite, Kelso, and Smith had left The Wailers, leaving the core trio of Bob Marley, Bunny Wailer, and Peter Tosh. [16]

In 1966, Marley married Rita Anderson, and moved near his mother's residence inWilmington, Delaware in the United States for

a short time, during which he worked as aDuPont lab assistant and on the assembly line at a Chrysler plant, under the alias

Donald Marley.[17]

Though raised in the Catholic tradition, Marley became captivated by Rastafarian beliefs in the 1960s, when away from his

mother's influence.[18] Formally converted to Rastafari after returning to Jamaica, Marley began to wear his

trademark dreadlocks (see the religion section for more on Marley's religious views). After a conflict with Dodd, Marley and his

band teamed up with Lee "Scratch" Perry and his studio band, The Upsetters. Although the alliance lasted less than a year, they

recorded what many consider The Wailers' finest work. Marley and Perry split after a dispute regarding the assignment of

recording rights, but they would remain friends and work together again.

Bob Marley's flat in 1972 at 34 Ridgmount Gardens, Bloomsbury, London, his first UK address.[19][20]

Between 1968 and 1972, Bob and Rita Marley, Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer re-cut some old tracks with JAD

Records in Kingston and London in an attempt to commercialise The Wailers' sound. Bunny later asserted that these songs

"should never be released on an album ... they were just demos for record companies to listen to". Also in 1968, Bob and Rita

visited the Bronx to see Johnny Nash's songwriter Jimmy Norman.[21] A three-day jam session with Norman and others,

including Norman's co-writer Al Pyfrom, resulted in a 24-minute tape of Marley performing several of his own and Norman-

Pyfrom's compositions. This tape is, according to Reggae archivist Roger Steffens, rare in that it was influenced by pop rather

than reggae, as part of an effort to break Marley into the American charts.[21]According to an article in The New York Times,

Marley experimented on the tape with different sounds, adopting a doo-wop style on "Stay With Me" and "the slow love song

style of 1960's artists" on "Splish for My Splash".[21] An artist yet to establish himself outside his native Jamaica, Marley lived in

Ridgmount Gardens, Bloomsbury, London during 1972.[19][20]

In 1972, the Wailers entered into an ill-fated deal with CBS Records and embarked on a tour with American soul singer Johnny

Nash. Broke, the Wailers became stranded in London. Marley turned up at Island Records founder and producer Chris

Blackwell's London office, and asked him to advance the cost of a new single. Since Jimmy Cliff, Island's top reggae star, had

recently left the label, Blackwell was primed for a replacement. In Marley, Blackwell recognized the elements needed to snare

the rock audience: "I was dealing with rock music, which was really rebel music. I felt that would really be the way to break

Jamaican music. But you needed someone who could be that image. When Bob walked in he really was that

image."[22] Blackwell told Marley he wanted The Wailers to record a complete album (essentially unheard of at the time). When

Marley told him it would take between £3,000 and £4,000, Blackwell trusted him with the greater sum. Despite their "rude boy"

reputation, the Wailers returned to Kingston and honored the deal, delivering the album Catch a Fire.

Primarily recorded on eight-track at Harry J's in Kingston, Catch a Fire marked the first time a reggae band had access to a

state-of-the-art studio and were accorded the same care as their rock'n'roll peers.[22] Blackwell desired to create "more of a

drifting, hypnotic-type feel than a reggae rhythm",[23] and restructured Marley's mixes and arrangements. Marley travelled to

London to supervise Blackwell's overdubbing of the album, which included tempering the mix from the bass-heavy sound of

Jamaican music, and omitting two tracks.[22]

The Wailers' first major label album, Catch a Fire was released worldwide in April 1973, packaged like a rock record with a

unique Zippo lighter lift-top. Initially selling 14,000 units, it didn't make Marley a star, but received a positive critical reception.

[22] It was followed later that year by Burnin', which included the standout songs "Get Up, Stand Up", and "I Shot the Sheriff",

which appealed to the ear of Eric Clapton. He recorded a cover of the track in 1974 which became a huge American hit, raising

Marley's international profile.[24] Many Jamaicans were not keen on the new "improved" reggae sound on Catch a Fire, but

the Trenchtown style of Burnin' found fans across both reggae and rock audiences.[22]

During this period, Blackwell gifted his Kingston residence and company headquarters at 56 Hope Road (then known as Island

House) to Marley. Housing Tuff Gong Studios, the property became not only Marley's office, but also his home.[22]

The Wailers were scheduled to open 17 shows for the number one black act in the States, Sly and the Family Stone. After 4

shows, the band was fired because they were more popular than the acts they were opening for.[25] The Wailers broke up in

1974 with each of the three main members pursuing solo careers. The reason for the breakup is shrouded in conjecture; some

believe that there were disagreements amongst Bunny, Peter, and Bob concerning performances, while others claim that Bunny

and Peter simply preferred solo work.

1974–1981

Bob Marley & The Wailers live at Crystal Palace Parkduring the Uprising Tour

Despite the break-up, Marley continued recording as "Bob Marley & The Wailers". His new backing band included

brothers Carlton and Aston "Family Man" Barrett on drums and bass respectively, Junior Marvin and Al Andersonon lead

guitar, Tyrone Downie and Earl "Wya" Lindo on keyboards, and Alvin "Seeco" Patterson on percussion. The "I Threes",

consisting of Judy Mowatt,Marcia Griffiths, and Marley's wife, Rita, provided backing vocals. In 1975, Marley had his

international breakthrough with his first hit outside Jamaica, "No Woman, No Cry", from the Natty Dread album. This was

followed by his breakthrough album in the United States, Rastaman Vibration (1976), which spent four weeks on

the Billboard Hot 100.[26] On 3 December 1976, two days before "Smile Jamaica", a free concert organised by the Jamaican

Prime Minister Michael Manley in an attempt to ease tension between two warring political groups, Marley, his wife, and

manager Don Taylor were wounded in an assault by unknown gunmen inside Marley's home. Taylor and Marley's wife

sustained serious injuries, but later made full recoveries. Bob Marley received minor wounds in the chest and arm.[27] The

shooting was thought to have been politically motivated, as many felt the concert was really a support rally for Manley.

Nonetheless, the concert proceeded, and an injured Marley performed as scheduled, two days after the attempt. When asked

why, Marley responded, "The people who are trying to make this world worse aren’t taking a day off. How can I?" The members

of the group Zap Pow, which had no radical religious or political beliefs, played as Bob Marley's backup band before a festival

crowd of 80,000 while members of The Wailers were still missing or in hiding.[28][29]

Marley left Jamaica at the end of 1976, and after a month-long "recovery and writing" sojourn at the site of Chris

Blackwell's Compass Point Studios in Nassau, Bahamas, arrived in England, where he spent two years in self-imposed exile.

Whilst there he recorded the albums Exodus and Kaya. Exodus stayed on the British album charts for 56 consecutive weeks. It

included four UK hit singles: "Exodus", "Waiting in Vain", "Jamming", and "One Love" (a rendition of Curtis Mayfield's hit,

"People Get Ready"). During his time in London, he was arrested and received a conviction for possession of a small quantity

of cannabis.[30] In 1978, Marley returned to Jamaica and performed at another political concert, the One Love Peace Concert,

again in an effort to calm warring parties. Near the end of the performance, by Marley's request, Michael Manley (leader of then-

ruling People's National Party) and his political rival Edward Seaga (leader of the opposing Jamaica Labour Party), joined each

other on stage and shook hands.[31]

Under the name Bob Marley and the Wailers eleven albums were released, four live albums and seven studio albums. The

releases included Babylon by Bus, a double live album with thirteen tracks, were released in 1978 and received critical acclaim.

This album, and specifically the final track "Jamming" with the audience in a frenzy, captured the intensity of Marley's live

performances.[32]

"Marley wasn’t singing about how peace could come easily to the World but rather how hell on Earth comes too easily to too many. His songs

were his memories; he had lived with the wretched, he had seen the downpressers and those whom they pressed down."

 – Mikal Gilmore, Rolling Stone Magazine [33]

Survival, a defiant and politically charged album, was released in 1979. Tracks such as "Zimbabwe", "Africa Unite", "Wake Up

and Live", and "Survival" reflected Marley's support for the struggles of Africans. His appearance at the Amandla

Festival in Boston in July 1979 showed his strong opposition to South African apartheid, which he already had shown in his

song "War" in 1976. In early 1980, he was invited to perform at the 17 April celebration ofZimbabwe's Independence

Day. Uprising (1980) was Bob Marley's final studio album, and is one of his most religious productions; it includes "Redemption

Song" and "Forever Loving Jah".[34] Confrontation, released posthumously in 1983, contained unreleased material recorded

during Marley's lifetime, including the hit "Buffalo Soldier" and new mixes of singles previously only available in Jamaica.[35]

Personal life

Religion

Bob Marley was a member of the Rastafari movement, whose culture was a key element in the development of reggae. Bob

Marley became an ardent proponent of Rastafari, taking their music out of the socially deprived areas of Jamaica and onto the

international music scene. He once gave the following response, which was typical, to a question put to him during a recorded

interview:

Interviewer: "Can you tell the people what it means being a Rastafarian?"

Bob: "I would say to the people, Be still, and know that His Imperial Majesty, Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia is the

Almighty. Now, the Bible seh so, Babylon newspaper seh so, and I and I the children seh so. Yunno? So I don't see how

much more reveal our people want. Wha' dem want? a white God, well God come black. True true."[36]

Observant of the Rastafari practice Ital, a diet that shuns meat, Marley was a vegetarian.[37] According to his biographers, he

affiliated with the Twelve Tribes Mansion. He was in the denomination known as "Tribe of Joseph", because he was born in

February (each of the twelve sects being composed of members born in a different month). He signified this in his album liner

notes, quoting the portion fromGenesis that includes Jacob's blessing to his son Joseph. Marley was baptised by

the Archbishop of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church in Kingston, Jamaica, on 4 November 1980.[38][39]

Family

Bob Marley had a number of children: three with his wife Rita, two adopted from Rita's previous relationships, and several

others with different women. The Bob Marley official website acknowledges eleven children.

Those listed on the official site are:

1. Sharon , born 23 November 1964, daughter of Rita from a previous relationship but then adopted by Marley after his

marriage with Rita

2. Cedella  born 23 August 1967, to Rita

3. David "Ziggy" , born 17 October 1968, to Rita

4. Stephen , born 20 April 1972, to Rita

5. Robert "Robbie", born 16 May 1972, to Pat Williams

6. Rohan , born 19 May 1972, to Janet Hunt

7. Karen, born 1973 to Janet Bowen

8. Stephanie, born 17 August 1974; according to Cedella Booker she was the daughter of Rita and a man called Ital with

whom Rita had an affair; nonetheless she was acknowledged as Bob's daughter

9. Julian , born 4 June 1975, to Lucy Pounder

10. Ky-Mani , born 26 February 1976, to Anita Belnavis

11. Damian , born 21 July 1978, to Cindy Breakspeare

Makeda was born on 30 May 1981, to Yvette Crichton, after Marley's death.[40] Meredith Dixon's book lists her as Marley's child,

but she is not listed as such on the Bob Marley official website.

Various websites, for example,[41] also list Imani Carole, born 22 May 1963 to Cheryl Murray; but she does not appear on the

official Bob Marley website.[40]

Final years and death

Marley performing in Dalymount Park in the late 1970s

In July 1977, Marley was found to have a type of malignant melanoma under the nail of one of his toes. Contrary to urban

legend, this lesion was not primarily caused by an injury during a football match in that year, but was instead a symptom of the

already existing cancer. Marley turned down doctors' advice to have his toe amputated, citing his religious beliefs.[42]Despite his

illness, he continued touring and was in the process of scheduling a world tour in 1980. The intention was for Inner Circle to be

his opening act on the tour but after their lead singer Jacob Miller died in Jamaica in March 1980 after returning from a scouting

mission inBrazil this was no longer mentioned.[43]

The album Uprising was released in May 1980 (produced by Chris Blackwell), on which "Redemption Song" is particularly

considered to be about Marley coming to terms with his mortality.[citation needed] The band completed a major tour of Europe, where

they played their biggest concert, to a hundred thousand people in Milan. After the tour Marley went to America, where he

performed two shows at Madison Square Garden as part of the Uprising Tour.

The final concert of Bob Marley's career was held 23 September 1980 at the Stanley Theater (now called The Benedum Center

For The Performing Arts) in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The audio recording of that concert is now available on CD, vinyl, and

digital music services.

Shortly after, Marley's health deteriorated and he became very ill; the cancer had spread throughout his body. The rest of the

tour was cancelled and Marley sought treatment at the Bavarian clinic of Josef Issels, where he received a controversial type of

cancer therapy (Issels treatment) partly based on avoidance of certain foods, drinks, and other substances. After fighting the

cancer without success for eight months, Marley boarded a plane for his home in Jamaica.[44]

While flying home from Germany to Jamaica, Marley's vital functions worsened. After landing in Miami, Florida, he was taken to

the hospital for immediate medical attention. He died at Cedars of Lebanon Hospital in Miami (now University of Miami Hospital)

on the morning of 11 May 1981, at the age of 36. The spread of melanoma to his lungs and brain caused his death. His final

words to his sonZiggy were "Money can't buy life".[45] Marley received a state funeral in Jamaica on 21 May 1981, which

combined elements ofEthiopian Orthodoxy [46] [47]  and Rastafari tradition.[48] He was buried in a chapel near his birthplace with his

red Gibson Les Paul (some accounts say it was a Fender Stratocaster).[49]

On 21 May 1981, Jamaican Prime Minister Edward Seaga delivered the final funeral eulogy to Marley, declaring:

His voice was an omnipresent cry in our electronic world. His sharp features, majestic looks, and prancing style a vivid etching

on the landscape of our minds. Bob Marley was never seen. He was an experience which left an indelible imprint with each

encounter. Such a man cannot be erased from the mind. He is part of the collective consciousness of the nation.[50]

Legacy

Marley has remained popular for decades after his death—one of many memorials to him is this representation at Madame Tussaud Wax

Museum in Amsterdam

Bob Marley was the Third World's first pop superstar. He was the man who introduced the world to the mystic power of reggae.

He was a true rocker at heart, and as a songwriter, he brought the lyrical force of Bob Dylan, the personal charisma of John

Lennon, and the essential vocal stylings of Smokey Robinson into one voice.— Jann Wenner, at Marley’s 1994 posthumous introduction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame [51]

In 1999 Time magazine chose Bob Marley & The Wailers' Exodus as the greatest album of the 20th century.[52] In 2001, he was

posthumously awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, and a feature-length documentary about his life, Rebel

Music, won various awards at the Grammys. With contributions from Rita, The Wailers, and Marley's lovers and children, it also

tells much of the story in his own words.[53] A statue was inaugurated, next to the national stadium on Arthur Wint Drive in

Kingston to commemorate him. In 2006, the State of New York renamed a portion of Church Avenue from Remsen Avenue to

East 98th Street in the East Flatbush section of Brooklyn "Bob Marley Boulevard".[54] In 2008, a statue of Marley was

inaugurated in Banatski Sokolac, Serbia.[55]

Internationally, Marley’s message also continues to reverberate amongst various indigenous communities. For instance,

the Aboriginal people of Australia continue to burn a sacred flame to honor his memory in Sydney’s Victoria Park, while

members of the Native AmericanHopi and Havasupai tribe revere his work.[56] There are also many tributes to Bob Marley

throughout India, including restaurants, hotels, and cultural festivals.[57][58]

Marley has also evolved into a global symbol, which has been endlessly merchandised through a variety of mediums. In light of

this, author Dave Thompson in his book Reggae and Caribbean Music, laments what he perceives to be the commercialized

pacification of Marley's more militant edge, stating:

Bob Marley ranks among both the most popular and the most misunderstood figures in modern culture ... That the machine has

utterly emasculated Marley is beyond doubt. Gone from the public record is the ghetto kid who dreamed ofChe Guevara and

the Black Panthers, and pinned their posters up in the Wailers Soul Shack record store; who believed in freedom; and the

fighting which it necessitated, and dressed the part on an early album sleeve; whose heroes were James

Brown and Muhammad Ali; whose God was Ras Tafari and whose sacrament was marijuana. Instead, the Bob Marley who

surveys his kingdom today is smiling benevolence, a shining sun, a waving palm tree, and a string of hits which tumble out of

polite radio like candy from a gumball machine. Of course it has assured his immortality. But it has also demeaned him beyond

recognition. Bob Marley was worth far more.[59]

Bob Marley: The Untold StoryBy Chris Salewicz 8 July 2011Page 1 of 2Go to: 12     Next page: An Island of Heaven and Hell     Single pageTWEET

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Excerpted from Bob Marley: The Untold Story by Chris Salewicz, published in paperback in June 2011 by Faber and Faber, Inc., an affiliate of

Farrar, Straus and Giroux, LLC. Copyright © 2009 by Chris Salewicz. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or

reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.

Jamaica

The Caribbean island of Jamaica has had an impact on the rest of the world that is far greater than might be expected

from a country with a population of under three million. Jamaica’s history, in fact, shows that ever since its discovery

by Christopher Columbus, it has had a disproportionate effect on the rest of the world.

Bob Marley: The Untold StoryChris Salewicz

(Faber and Faber; US: Jun 2011)Amazon Faber and Faber, Inc.

In the seventeenth century, for example, Jamaica was the world centre of piracy. From its capital of Port Royal,

buccaneers under the leadership of Captain Henry Morgan plundered the Spanish Main, bringing such riches to the

island that it became as wealthy as any of Europe’s leading trading centres; the pleasures such money brought earned

Port Royal the reputation of ‘wickedest city in the world’. In 1692, four years after Morgan’s death, Port Royal

disappeared into the Caribbean in an earthquake. However, a piratic, rebellious spirit has been central to the attitude

of Jamaicans ever since: this is clear in the lives of Nanny, the woman who led a successful slave revolt against the

English in 1738; of Marcus Garvey, who in the 1920s became the first prophet of black self-determination and founded

the Black Star shipping line, intended to transport descendants of slaves back to Africa; of Bob Marley, the Third

World’s first superstar, with his musical gospel of love and global unity.

Jamaica was known by its original settlers, the Arawak peoples, as the Island of Springs. It is in the omnipresent high

country that resides Jamaica’s unconscious: the primal Blue Mountains and hills are the repository of most of Jamaica’s

legends, a dreamlike landscape that furnishes ample material for an arcane mythology.

On the north side of the Blue Mountains, in the parish of Portland, one of the most beautiful parts of Jamaica, is Moore

Town. It was to the safety of the impenetrable hills that bands of former slaves fled, after they were freed and armed

by the Spanish, to harass the English when they seized the island in 1655. The Maroons, as they became known,

founded a community and underground state that would fight a guerrilla war against the English settlers on and off for

nearly eighty years.

When peace was eventually established, the Maroons were granted semi-autonomous territory both in Portland and

Trelawny, to the west of the island. In Moore Town was buried the great Maroon queen, Nanny, who led her people in

battles in which they defeated the English redcoats. Honoured today as a National Hero of Jamaica, Nanny’s myth was

so great that she was said to have the ability to catch musket-balls fired at her – in her ‘pum-pum’, according to some

accounts.

Jamaica has always been tough. The Arawak peoples repulsed invasions by the cannibalistic Caribs who had taken

over most of the neighbouring islands. Jamaica was an Arawak island when it was discovered in 1494. ‘The fairest

island that eyes have beheld; mountainous and the land seems to touch the sky,’ wrote Columbus, although he may

not have felt the same nine years later, on his fourth voyage to the New World. In St Ann’s Bay, later the birthplace of

Marcus Garvey, Columbus was driven ashore by a storm, and his rotting vessels filled with water almost up to their

decks as they settled on the sand of the sea-bed.

Later placed into slavery by the Spaniards, the Arawaks were shockingly abused, and many committed suicide. Some

were tortured to death in the name of sport. By 1655, when the English captured the island, the Arawaks had been

completely wiped out.

Even after the 1692 earthquake, piracy remained such a powerful force in the region that a king’s pardon was offered

in 1717 to all who would give up the trade. Many did not accept these terms, and in November 1720 a naval sloop

came across the vessel of the notorious pirate ‘Calico Jack ’ Rackham anchored off Negril, in the west of Jamaica. Once

the crew was overpowered – with ease: they were suffering from the effects of a rum party – two of the toughest

members of Rackham’s team were discovered to be women disguised as men: Anne Bonny and Mary Read, who each

cheated the gallows through pregnancy.

Those Jamaican settlers who wished to trade legally could also make fortunes. Sugar, which had been brought to the

New World by Columbus on the voyage during which he discovered Jamaica, was the most profitable crop that could

be grown on the island, and it was because of their importance as sugar-producing islands that the British West Indies

had far more political influence with the British government than all the thirteen American mainland colonies.

Sugar farming requires a significant labour force, and it was this that led to the large-scale importation of African

slaves. For the remainder of the eighteenth century, the wealth of Jamaica was secured with the 1713 Treaty of

Utrecht, which ended the War of the Spanish Succession: one of its terms was that Jamaica become the distribution

centre for slaves for the entire New World. The first slaves shipped to the West Indies had been prisoners of war or

criminals, purchased from African chiefs in exchange for European goods. With a much larger supply needed, raiding

parties, often under the subterfuge of engaging in tribal wars, took place all along the west coast of Africa. The horrors

of the middle passage had to be endured before the slaves were auctioned, £50 being the average price.

Although the money that could be earned was considerable compensation for the white settlers, life in Jamaica was

often a worry. There were slave revolts and tropical diseases. War broke out frequently, and the island was then

threatened with attack by the French or the Spanish – Horatio Nelson, when still a midshipman, was stationed on the

island. Hurricanes, which invariably levelled the crop, were not infrequent; and earthquakes not unknown. In the late

seventeenth century Kingston harbour was infested with crocodiles, but it should be said that in those days

inhabitants of the entire south coast of the island always ran the risk of being devoured by them.

Despite such disadvantages, it has always been hard for Jamaica not to touch the hearts of visitors, with its

spectacular, moody beauty. The island contains a far larger variety of vegetation and plant life than almost anywhere

in the world (as it is located near the centre of the Caribbean Sea, birds carrying seeds in their droppings fly to it from

North, Central, and South America). Jamaica’s British colonisers added to this wealth of vegetation, often whilst

searching for fresh, cheap means of filling the bellies of its slaves. The now omnipresent mango, for example, was

brought from West Africa, and it was on a journey across the Pacific to bring the first breadfruit plants to Jamaica that

the mutiny on the Bounty took place.

Slavery was eventually abolished in 1838. From the 1860s, indentured labour from India and China was imported; the

Indians brought with them their propensity for smoking ganja, itself an Indian word (interestingly, sometimes spelt

‘gunjah’), as well as the plant’s seeds. In the 1880s, a new period of prosperity began after a crop was found to

replace sugarcane – the banana. In 1907, however, this new prosperity was partially unhinged by the devastating

earthquake that destroyed much of Kingston. The economy recovered, and the next wave of financial problems

occurred in the late 1930s, as the worldwide depression finally hit the island. A consequence of this was the founding

of the two political parties, the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) under Alexander Bustamante and the People’s National

Party (PNP) under Norman Manley, which would spearhead the path towards independence in 1962.

On 6 August 1962 Jamaica became an independent nation. The Union Jack was lowered and the green, gold, and black

standard of Jamaica was raised. Three months previously, the JLP had won a twenty-six-seat majority and taken over

the government under Prime Minister Bustamante. Paradox is one of the yardsticks of Jamaica, and it should be no

surprise that the Jamaica Labour Party has always been far to the right of its main opposition, the People’s National

Party.

Beneath this facade of democracy, the life of the ‘sufferah’, downcast in his west Kingston ghetto tenement, was

essentially unchanged. In some ways things were now more difficult. The jockeying for position created by self-

government brought out the worst in people. Soon the MPs of each of the ghetto constituencies had surrounded

themselves with gun-toting sycophants anxious to preserve their and their family’s position. In part this was a spin-off

from the gangs of enforcers that grew up around sound systems: back the wrong candidate in a Jamaican election and

you can lose not only your means of livelihood, but also your home – and even your life. Political patronage is the

ruling principle in Jamaica.

During the 1960s, Jamaican youth, who felt especially disenfranchised, sought refuge in the rude-boy movement, an

extreme precursor of the teenage tribes surfacing throughout the world. Dressed in narrow-brimmed hats and the kind

of mohair fabrics worn by American soul singers, rude boys were fond of stashing lethal ‘ratchet’ knives on their

persons, and bloody gang fights were common. Independence for Jamaica coincided with the birth of its music

business; in quick succession, ska, rock steady, and then reggae music were born, the records often being used as a

kind of bush telegraph to broadcast news of some latest police oppression that the Daily Gleaner would not print.

Bob Marley: The Untold StoryBy Chris Salewicz 8 July 2011Page 2 of 2Go to: 12     Single page

An Island of Heaven and Hell

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In 1972, after ten years in power, the JLP was voted out of office. Michael Manley’s People’s National Party was to run

Jamaica for the next eight years. Unfortunately, Manley’s efforts to ally with other socialist Third World countries

brought the wrath of the United States upon Jamaica, especially after the prime minister nationalised his country’s

bauxite industry, which provides the raw material for aluminium – and had been previously licensed to the Canadian

conglomerate Alcan.

A policy of destabilisation began that turned Jamaica into a battle-ground, especially after Manley was returned to

power in December 1976 in the subsequent election. Soon the country was almost bankrupt. Bob Marley played a part

in attempting to restore peace, forcing Manley and his opposition rival, Edward Seaga, to shake hands publicly at the

1978 One Love Peace Concert in Kingston, and bringing opposing gunmen together. But the 1980 election, won by

Edward Seaga, in power until 1989, was the bloodiest of them all.

The story of Jamaica is that of an island that can be simultaneously heaven and hell – as indeed described in the Bob Marley song ‘Time Will Tell’, in its line ‘Think you’re in heaven but you’re living in hell’.

In recent years, a measure of peace seems to have been brought to the island. A positive relationship with the nearby

United States has been forged, and there is a previously unsurpassed national pride, following the Jamaican soccer

team’s qualification for the 1998 World Cup and an unprecedented run of successes at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Still, the story of Jamaica is that of an island that can be simultaneously heaven and hell – as indeed described in the

Bob Marley song ‘Time Will Tell’, in its line ‘Think you’re in heaven but you’re living in hell’; a country that could suffer

the devastating economic bullying of the United States’ Caribbean Basin Initiative during the 1970s but that now,

against expectations, is experiencing economic growth and a resultant rise in self-esteem that lets it serve as a model

for developing nations in the first years of the twenty-first century. And at least its inhabitants rarely forget that

Jamaica is a land whose blessings are surely God-given.

Bob Marley is seen by the world as the personification of the rebellious island nation of Jamaica – not without

considerable justification. For Bob Marley was a hero figure, in the classic mythological sense. From immensely

humble beginnings, with his talent and religious belief his only weapons, the Jamaican recording artist applied himself

with unstinting perseverance to spreading his prophetic musical message; he only departed this planet when he felt

his vision of One World, One Love, which was inspired by his belief in Rastafarianism, was beginning in some quarters

to be heard and felt. For example, in 1980, the European tour of Bob Marley and the Wailers played to the largest

audiences a musical act had ever experienced there. And as much as the late Bob Marley continues to personify

Jamaica, so he also embodied the soul of what the world knows as the odd, apparently paradoxical religion of

Rastafari, the only faith uncritically accepted globally as an integral aspect of popular music.

Bob Marley’s story is that of an archetype, which is why it continues to have such a powerful and ever-growing

resonance: it embodies, among other themes, political repression, metaphysical and artistic insights, gangland

warfare, and various periods in a mystical wilderness. It is no surprise that Bob Marley now enjoys an icon-like status

more akin to that of the rebel myth of Che Guevara than to that of a pop star. And his audience continues to widen: to

westerners, Bob’s apocalyptic truths prove inspirational and life-changing; in the Third World, his impact is similar,

except that it goes further. Not just amongst Jamaicans, but also amongst the Hopi people of New Mexico and the

Maoris of New Zealand, in Indonesia, in India, even – especially – in those parts of West Africa from which slaves were

plucked and taken to the New World, Bob Marley is seen as the Redeemer figure returning to lead this planet out of

confusion. Some will come out and say it directly: that Bob Marley is the reincarnation of Jesus Christ long awaited by

much of the world. In such an interpretation of his life, the cancer that killed Bob Marley is inevitably described as a

modern version of the crucifixion.

Although the disease probably did have its origins in assorted injuries to his right foot, conspiracy theories still persist.

Was Bob’s body poisoned still further when going for medical check-ups in Babylonian cities, such as London, Miami,

and New York? Were his hotel rooms or homes bombarded with cancer-inducing rays? Or, more simply, was Bob’s

system slowly poisoned by the lead from the bullet that remained in his body after the 1976 attempt on his life? (All of

these were suggested to me by his mother as possible causes of her son’s death.)

Prior to the US leg of the Uprising tour in the autumn f 1980, Bob Marley had been given a complete physical

examination, allegedly passing with flying colours –though this is odd, as the musician was certainly in the latter

stages of suffering from cancer. In Miami, before the tour kicked off, he played a game of football for America Jamaica

United against a team of Haitians, in which his fluid skills seemed unabated.

But yes, you think, the cancer probably was the consequence of the injuries to his foot. And then you remember that

this was a time when the forces of darkness thought nothing of killing a woman such as Karen Silkwood, who was

endeavouring to expose a nuclear risk. How much more must they have been threatened by a charismatic, alternative

world leader who in widely accessible popular art was delivering warnings about the wickedness of the world’s

institutions?

Thanks to the tireless efforts of Timothy White, the author of Catch a Fire, the wonderful Bob Marley biography

published in 1984, the extent of the CIA files on Bob has become widely known. Chris Blackwell, who signed Bob to his

Island Records label, had personal experience of this. ‘There are conspiracy theories with everything, especially out of

Jamaica, because Jamaicans have such fertile imaginations. The only thing I will say is that I was brought in by the

American ambassador in Jamaica to his office, and he said that they were keeping an eye on me, on what I was doing,

because I was working with this guy who was capable of destabilising. They had their eye on him.’

Bob’s end was very sad. After his collapse whilst jogging in New York’s Central Park on 21 September 1980, he

received radiation treatment at the city’s Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center; his locks fell out, like a portent.

Even confronted by a future of such grim uncertainty, Bob Marley managed never to lose his wry view of life. Two

weeks after his collapse, his death was being reported in the US media; he put out a statement in which his

characteristic dry sense of humour was clearly still in evidence: ‘They say that living in Manhattan is hell, but ...’

With a similar attitude, he strove to make light of his illness to his children. Whilst he was being treated in New York,

they flew up from Jamaica to see him at the Essex House hotel on Central Park South, where he habitually stayed

when in Manhattan. ‘He told us what was wrong with him,’ said Cedella. ‘His hair was gone. We were like, “Where’s

your hair? ” He was making it to be such a big joke: “Oh, I’m Frankenstein.” We said, “That’s not funny.”

‘I knew Daddy had a bad toe, because I would have to clean it sometimes. But I just thought it was a bad toe. I didn’t

expect anything else but for maybe the nail to come off.’

By November 1980, the doctors at the Sloan-Kettering admitted they could do no more. A number of alternative cures

were considered: the apricot kernel therapy attempted by the actor Steve McQueen; a spiritual cure by journeying to

Ethiopia; a simple return home to Jamaica – though this plan was abandoned when the island was seen to be in the

grip of the most violent general election it had ever known.

After the options had been weighed up, Bob travelled to Bavaria in West Germany, to the Sunshine House Cancer

Clinic in Bad Wiessee. A holistic centre, it was run by the controversial Dr Josef Issels, a former SS officer. Issels only

took on cases that had been proclaimed incurable, and he claimed a 20 percent success rate.

The environment, however, was hostile and alien. The house of the dread who would never tour Babylon during the

winter months was surrounded by thick snow. Bob would go to Issels’s clinic for two hours of treatment each day then

return to spend time with the several visitors who flew in to be with him – his mother, his wife, members of the

Wailers, old friends. Much of his time was spent watching videotapes of soccer matches, particularly those played by

the Brazilian team.

But Bob never stopped songwriting. He seemed to think he could make it. His weight went up and for a time he

seemed in better spirits. But the sterile, picture-postcard atmosphere of Bad Wiessee hardly nurtured Bob’s soul. ‘It

was a horrible place,’ thought Chris Blackwell. ‘It must have been very disorientating for him. He had virtually no hair,

just scraggly bits, and was so thin: he must have weighed a hundred pounds or something like that. He looked terrible.

But there was something ... He was still so proud. He chatted for a bit. He was very strong somehow still.’ 6

The atmosphere where he was staying was even worse: vicious psychological warfare was taking place between, as

Mortimer Planner, the Rastafarian elder, described it, ‘the Orthodox and Twelve Tribes factions’. It seems demeaning

to everyone involved, including Bob, to describe this in further detail. Sufficient to heed Planner’s words: ‘A terrible

misunderstanding has gone on. For allthese people loved Bob.’

He developed a craving for plantain tarts, and it was arranged for a carton of them to be flown to him from Jamaica.

Before they arrived, he decided he wanted to go home. He had had enough of Bad Wiessee. He knew what was going

to happen. Bob Marley asked Chris Blackwell to rent him a plane. Blackwell said he would send one for him

immediately. ‘But even then, Bob hadn’t lost his sense of humour,’ smiled the Island Records boss. ‘Bob always

thought I was kinda cheap, so he said, “ Don’t send me one with propellers now.”’

Accompanied by two doctors, Bob was flown across the Atlantic. He made it no further than Miami.

Judy Mowatt, one of the I-Threes, was at home on the morning of 11 May 1981. A little after 11.30 she heard a loud

clap of thunder and saw lightning fork through a window of her house and flash on a picture of Bob on the wall. And

Judy knew exactly what this foretold.

At a little after 11.30 a.m., in the Cedars of Lebanon hospital in Miami, Bob surrendered his soul to the Almighty Jah.

Rastafarism

BackgroundRastafarianism dates back to the early 1930s when the Prince Regent, Ras ('Prince') Tafari, was crowned as Emperor Haile Selassie 1 of Ethiopia (1930-74). Indeed, it is from Ras Tafari that this Revivalist Movement gained its name. Rastafarians believe in one God (Jah) and that they and all Africans who have migrated are but exiles in 'Babylon'. They are destined to be delivered out of captivity by a return to Zion or Africa - the land of their ancestors. There are believed to be about 250,000 adherents to this religion world-wide, of whom approximately 5,000 live in the United Kingdom.

Fundamental beliefsThe modern characteristics of the Rastafarian movement include a loosely defined belief system, due to its lack of a single authoritative voice. Some consider the Rastafarian movement to be influenced by Marcus Garvey's own set of beliefs. He established the Universal Negro Improvement Association in 1914 in both the United States and Jamaica. This organisation was the vehicle for Garvey's aim to return Black to Africa. His teaching remains the key influence upon this Black religion. Garvey was thought to have predicted the coronation of Emperor Haile Selassie with his alleged phrase "Look to Africa when a Black king shall be crowned, for the day of deliverance is near."

Tenets of faithDespite the lack of a central authority, Rastafarianism is guided by key tenets of faith. The Bible is the main religious text of Rastafarianism. The African race is one of God's chosen races, one of the twelve Tribes of Israel. Jamaica is the biblical 'Babylon', although all the places to which Africans have been exiled are also included. 'Babylon' is the place which will never see spiritual reform and liberation. 'Jah' is believed to reside in each person and there is 'Oneness' between the individual and God. Revivalism, the belief that they are destined to be delivered out of captivity by a return to Zion or Africa, is the key tenet of faith held by the adherents to Rastafarianism.

Rites and observancesWorship takes place at various times depending upon each Rastafarian commune. Nevertheless, a service is conducted at least once a week. Central to the service is music and, sometimes I-TAL (vegetarian, organic and natural food prepared in the colours red, green and gold). Fasting is observed, sometimes as often as twice each week or simply on the first Saturday of every month. On these days, nothing whatever is consumed from noon until evening. Adherents to

Rastafarianism consider Saturday to be the Sabbath day. Cutting of hair is prohibited. Dreadlocks symbolise the 'mane of the Lion of Judah' (reference to the divine title of Emperor Haile Selassie).

Main religious festivalsBirthday of Emperor Haile Selassie- 23rd July. Ethiopian Christmas-7th January.

Social life and the role of womenWithin Rastafarian communities, men and women play distinct roles and have different status. Traditional Rastafarianism, in its attitude and expectations of women, is very similar to traditional Judaism and Islam. Just as women's equality has become a serious issue in other faiths, Rastafarianism is adopting more open-minded and progressive ideas about women. Abortion or birth control are opposed. Women undergo certain restrictions during menstruation, a time perceived as being 'impure'.

Language, culture and dietSince the Second World War, the influence of Rastafarianism on Jamaican society has been very significant. Music, language and cultural styles of dress have become symbolic of both Jamaica and Rastafarianism. As a consequence, it is difficult to ascertain where Rastafarianism ends and Jamaican culture begins. It would be a mistake to assume that everybody wearing their hair in dreadlocks or even the 'Tam' (a woollen hat used by 'Dreads' to cover their locks) is an adherent of Rastafarianism. Nevertheless, some adherents choose to express themselves in music rather than religious observance. Furthermore, the vocabulary of Rastafarianism is largely that of Jamaican Patois. Rastafarianism has, in the past, played a significant role in the politics of Jamaica. Indeed, Rastafarians remain very critical of many aspects of Jamaican. politics and way of life.

Most adherents of Rastafarianism are vegetarian and avoid stimulants such as alcohol, tea and coffee. However, marijuana (ganja) is consumed and plays a significant role within Rastafarianism.