Something about summertime makes Bob Marley music pop up everywhere, but I recently realized I don’t actually know very much about Marley. The following is from The Encyclopedia of Popular Music by Colin Larkin. Read other Larkin posts here.
b. Robert Nesta Marley, 6 February 1945, St. Anns, Jamaica, West Indies, d. 11 May 1981, Miami, Florida, USA.
This legendary singer’s vocal group, the Wailers, originally comprised six members: Marley, Bunny Wailer, Peter Tosh, Junior Braithwaite, Beverley Kelso and Cherry Smith… The original group was formed during 1963…Their first record, ‘Simmer Down’, released just before Christmas 1963 under the group name Bob Marley And The Wailers, went to number 1 on the JBC Radio chart in January 1964, holding that position for the ensuing two months and reputedly selling over 80, 000 copies. This big local hit was followed by ‘It Hurts To Be Alone’, featuring Junior Braithwaite on lead vocal, and ‘Lonesome Feeling’, with lead vocal by Bunny Wailer. During the period 1963-66, the Wailers made over 70 tracks for Dodd, over 20 of which were local hits, covering a wide stylistic base…
On 10 February 1966, Marley married Rita Anderson, at the time a member of the Soulettes…The next day he left to join his mother in Wilmington, Delaware, USA returning to Jamaica in October 1966; the Wailers were now a vocal trio. They recorded the local hit ‘Bend Down Low’ at Studio One late in 1967… This and other self-produced output of the time is among the rarest, least reissued Wailers music, and catches the group on the brink of a new maturity…By the end of that year, following Bunny Wailer’s release from prison, they were making demos for Danny Sims, the manager of soft-soul singer Johnny Nash… This association proved incapable of supporting them, and they began recording for producer Leslie Kong… Kong released several singles and an album called The Best Of The Wailers in 1970.
By the end of 1969, wider commercial success still eluded the Wailers. Marley, who had spent the summer of 1969 working at the Chrysler car factory in Wilmington, returned to Jamaica, and the trio began a collaboration with Lee Perry that proved crucially important to their future development. Not only did Perry help to focus more effectively the trio’s rebel stance, but they worked with the bass and drum team of brothers, Aston ‘Familyman’ Barrett and Carlton Barrett (b. 17 December 1950, Kingston, Jamaica, d. 1987, Kingston, Jamaica), who became an integral part of the Wailers’ sound. The music Bob Marley And The Wailers made with Perry during 1969-71 represents possibly the height of their collective powers. Combining brilliant new songs such as ‘Duppy Conqueror’, ‘Small Axe’ and ‘Sun Is Shining’ with definitive reworkings of old material, backed by the innovative rhythms of the Upsetters and the equally innovative influence of Perry, this body of work stands as a zenith in Jamaican music. It was also the blueprint for Bob Marley’s international success.
The Wailers continued to record for their own Tuff Gong label after the Perry sessions and came to the attention of Chris Blackwell, then owner of Island Records. Island had released much of the Wailers’ early music from the Studio One period…Their first album for the company, 1973’s Catch A Fire, was packaged like a rock set and targeted at the album market in which Island had been very successful. The original Jamaican release was remastered and two tracks removed to make the album more palatable for the rock market, a decision reached with some unease by the members of the group. The band arrived in the UK in April 1973 to tour…In July 1973 they supported Bruce Springsteen…in New York. Backed by an astute promotional campaign, Catch A Fire sold well enough to warrant the issue of Burnin’, adding Earl Lindo to the group, which signaled a return to a militant, rootsy approach, unencumbered by any rock production values. The rock/blues guitarist Eric Clapton covered ‘I Shot The Sheriff’ from this album, taking the tune to the number 9 position in the UK chart during the autumn of 1974, and reinforcing the impact of the Wailers in the process.
Just as the band was poised on the brink of wider success, internal differences caused Tosh and Bunny Wailer to depart, both embarking on substantial solo careers, and Lindo left to join Taj Mahal. The new Wailers band, formed in mid-1974, included Marley, the Barrett brothers and Bernard ‘Touter’ Harvey on keyboards, with vocal harmonies by the I-Threes, comprising Marcia Griffiths, Rita Marley and Judy Mowatt. This line-up, with later additions, would come to define the so-called ‘international’ reggae sound that Bob Marley And The Wailers played until Marley’s death in 1981. In establishing that form…the band moved from the mainstream of Jamaican music into the global market…
1975 was the year in which the Wailers consolidated their position, with the release of the massively successful Natty Dread and rapturously received concerts at the London Lyceum. These concerts attracted both black and white patrons – the crossover had begun. At the end of the year Marley achieved his first UK chart hit, the autobiographical ‘No Woman No Cry’. His first live album…was also released in that year. He continued to release an album a year until his death, at which time a spokesman for Island Records estimated worldwide sales of $190 million. Marley survived an assassination attempt on 3 December 1976, leaving Jamaica for 18 months in early 1977. In July…he had an operation in Miami to remove cancer cells from his right toe.
Marley’s music career remained bright, with the albums Exodus and Kaya enjoying massive international sales. In April 1978, he played the One Love Peace Concert in Kingston, bringing the two leaders of the violently warring Jamaican political parties (Michael Manley and Edward Seaga) together in a largely symbolic peacemaking gesture. The band then undertook a huge worldwide tour… His label, Tuff Gong, was expanding its interests, developing new talent. The album Survival was released to the usual acclaim, being particularly successful in Africa…In 1980, Marley and the Wailers played a momentous concert in the newly liberated Zimbabwe to an audience of 40,000. In the summer of 1980, his cancer began to spread; he collapsed at Madison Square Garden during a concert. Late in 1980 he began treatment in Munich, Germany…By 3 May, the doctor had given up. Marley wanted to end his days in Jamaica but the severity of his illness meant his flight home was diverted to Miami, Florida, where he died on 11 May.
Marley was rightly celebrated in 1992 with the release of an outstanding CD box set chronicling his entire career, although his discography remains cluttered due to the legal ramifications of his estate. His global success had been an inspiration to all Jamaican artists; his name became synonymous with Jamaican music, of which he had been the first authentic superstar. His contribution is thus immense: his career did much to focus the attention of the world on Jamaican music and to establish credibility for it. In addition, he was a charismatic performer, a great singer and superb songwriter – an impossible act to follow for other Jamaican artists.
Peter Tosh was always the most talented and electric performer between the two IMHO – my first two concerts I ever saw. While Bob was singing “one love” Peter was singing “there can be no peace ’till man has equal rights and justice” – Peter was much more political and militant in his views and paid for it with his life. He was a devout human rights activist. Get Peter Tosh Captured Live if you ever want to hear the greatest live reggae recording.