Bob Marley #1056
$ 10.00
_Caption from poster:_
" Stand up for your rights."
Bob Marley's career stretched back over twenty years. During that time
Marley's growing style encompassed every aspect in the rise of Jamaican
music, from ska to contemporary reggae. That growth was well reflected
in the maturity of the Wailers' music.Bob's first recording attempts came
at the beginning of the Sixties. His first two tunes, cut as a solo artist,
meant nothing in commercial terms and it wasn't until 1964, as a
founding member of a group called the Wailing Wailers, that Bob first hit
the Jamaican charts. The record was "Simmer Down," and over the next
few years the Wailing Wailers Bob, Peter Mclntosh and Bunny Livingston,
the nucleus of the group put out some 30 sides that properly established
them as one of the hottest groups in Jamaica. Mclntosh later shortened
his surname to Tosh while Livingston is now called Bunny Wailer. Despite
their popularity, the economics of keeping the group together proved too
much and the two other members, Junior Braithwaite and Beverley Kelso,
left the group. At the same time Bob joined his mother in the United States.
This marked the end of the Wailing Wailers, Chapter One. Marley's stay
in America was short-lived, however, and he returned to Jamaicato join
up again with Peter and Bunny. By the end of the Sixties, with the legen-
dary reggae producer Lee "Scratch" Perry at the mixing desk, The
Wailers were again back at the top in Jamaica. The combination of the
Wailers and Perry resulted in some of the finest music the band ever
made. Tracks like "Soul Rebel, " "Duppy Conquer," "400 Years," and
"Small Axe" were not only classics, but they defined the future direction
of reggae. It's difficult to properly understand Bob Marley's music without
considering Rastafari. His spiritual beliefs are too well known to
necessitate further explanation. It must be stated, however, that
Rastafari is at the very core of the Wailers' music. In 1970 Aston
Familyman Barrett and his brother Carlton (bass and drums, respectively)
joined the Wailers. They came to the band unchallenged as Jamaica's
HARDESTrhythm section; a reputation that was to remain undiminished
during the following decade. Meanwhile, the band's own reputation was,
at the start of the Seventies, an extraordinary one throughout the Carib-
bean. However,the band was still unknown internationally. That was to
change in 1972 whenthe Wailers signed to Island Records. It was a
revolutionary move for an international record company and a reggae
band. For the first time a reggae band had access to the best recording
facilities and were treated in the same way as a rock group. Before the
Wailers signed to Island,it was considered that reggae sold only on
singles and cheap compilation albums. The Wailer's first album, Catch
A Fire broke all the rules: it was beautifully packaged and heavily
promoted. And it was the start of a long climb to international fame
and recognition. The Catch A Fire album was followed a year later by
Burnin', an LP that included some of the band's older songs, such as
"Duppy Conquerer," "Small Axe," and "Put In On," together with tracks
like "Get Up Stand Up" and "I Shot The Sheriff" (which was also recorded
by Eric Clapton, who had a #1 hit with it in America). In 1975 Bob Marley
& The Wailers released the extraordinary Natty Dread album, and toured
Europe that summer. The shows were recorded and the subsequent live
album, together with the single, "No Woman No Cry," both made the UK
charts. By that time Bunny and Peter had officially left the band to pursue
their own solo careers. Rastaman Vibration, the follow-up album in 1976,
cracked the American charts. It was, for many, the clearest exposition yet
of Marley's music and beliefs, including such tracks as "Crazy Baldhead,"
"Johnny Was," "Who The Cap Fit" and, perhaps most significantly of all,
"War," the Iyrics of which were taken from a speech by Emperor Haile
Selassie. In 1977 Exodus was released, which established Marley's
international superstar status. It remained on the British charts for 56
straight weeks, and netted three UK hit singles, "Exodus," "Waiting In
Vain," and "Jamming." In 1978 the band released Kaya, which hit
number four on the UK chart the week of its release. That album
saw Marley in a different mood -- Kaya was an album of love songs,
and, of course, homages to the power of ganja. There were two more
events in 1978, both of which were of extraordinary significance to
Marley. In April that year he returned to Jamaica (he had left in 1976
after the shooting that had almost cost him his life), to play the One
Love Peace Concert in front of the Prime Minister Michael Manley, and
the then Leader of the Opposition
Edward Seaga. And at the end of the year he visited Africa for the first time,
going initially to Kenya and then on to Ethiopia, spiritual home of Rastafari.
Marley returned to Africa in 1980 at the official initation of the Government
of Zimbabwe to play at that country's Independence Ceremony. It was the
greatest honor afforded the band, and one which underlined the Wailers'
importance in the Third World. In 1979 the Survival LP was released. A
European tour came the following year: the band broke festival records
throughout the continent, includinga 100,000 capacity show in Milan. Bob
Marley & the Wailers were now the most important band on the road that
year and the new Uprising album hit every chart in Europe. It was a period
of maximum optimism and plans were being made for an American tour, an
opening slot with Stevie Wonder for the following winter. At the end of the
European tour, Bob Marley & The Wailers went to America. Bob played two
shows at Madison Square Garden but, immediately after wards he was
seriously ill. Cancer was diagnosed. Marley fought the disease for eight
months. The battle, however, proved to be too much. He died in a Miami
Hospital on May 11,1981. A month before the end Bob was awarded
Jamaica's Order of Merit, the nations' third highest honor, in recognition
of his outstanding contribution to the country's culture. On Thursday, May
23,1981, the Honorable Robert Nesta Marley was given an official funeral
by the people of Jamaica. Following the funeral -- attended by both the Prime
Minister and the Leader of the Opposition -- Bob's body was taken to his
birthplace where it now rests in a mausoleum. Bob Marley was 36 years old.
His legend lives on.
