Did you Know? Issue 2

60´s: SOCCER PLAYER
Alton Ellis said that as a young man he played pick-up matches with Bob in Trench Town, well before he became a reggae music icon. “As a matter of fact, he was a much, much better soccer player than a singer in those days,” said Ellis.

1962: ONE CUP OF COFFEE
A student of the Alpha Boy’s School, in Kingston ‘Deadly’ Headley Bennett was one of the school’s promising young prodigys. In his early years, Headley played in Coxsone Dodd’s Studio One Band as a featured saxophonist. The band was primarily responsible for dozens of the greatest reggae songs of all time. They backed every great artist of the 70′s, including The Wailers, Freddie McGregor, Dennis Brown, and Gregory Issacs. Headley can be heard on Bob Marley’s first recording, “One Cup of Coffee”.

1968: JIMMY NORMAN
When Bob Marley walked into the Bronx apartment of Jimmy Norman in early 1968, it was to get familiar with the African-American singer/songwriter he had met for the first time earlier that day. “He wasn’t wearing dreadlocks at the time, he was just a regular cat and he loved Rhythm and Blues,” Norman recalled. “All he wanted to talk about was music.” And play it. Marley and Norman had a songwriting jam session that day which Norman recorded on a “small tape machine”. Three of the songs (Falling In And Out Of Love, Stay With Me and You Think I Have No Feelings) on the tape were written by Norman and his songwriting partner, Al Pyfrom, who was at the session along with Marley’s wife Rita and Norman’s wife Dorothy. Marley wrote the other songs which include the popular I’m Hurting Inside and One Love, True Love. Over the years, the Norman/Pyfrom songs have appeared on several Marley compilations. In all, Norman says he wrote as many as 40 songs for Marley and reckons the reggae legend recorded and released 20 of them. However, he points out that the returns in terms of royalties have not been lucrative. “Periodically, I get chump change, nothing big. A lotta people have been making money off of it, not me,” said Norman. “I’m getting some money now, but there’s a lotta money out there that I should be getting.” Marley was reportedly so taken with Norman that he encouraged him to come to Jamaica the following week and sit in on recording sessions Sims and Nash were conducting with him. Norman accepted and ended up staying in Kingston for seven months, writing songs that would eventually be recorded by Peter Tosh, Byron Lee and the Dragonaires and Neville Willoughby. Willoughby recorded two Norman songs (Falling and When The Tide Comes In) which were both produced by Sims. Willoughby, who would forge strong ties with the Marley family remembers Norman as a “quiet, intense person, who wrote very good songs. The first time I heard When The Tide Comes In, I knew I had to record it.” Norman says his stay in Jamaica was not limited to music. He recalls Marley taking him to meet people like singer/producer Prince Buster, going to the Cane River Falls in St Thomas and to Rasta functions where he met Mortimo Planno, a major figure in the Rastafarian movement. It would be another 10 years before Norman saw Marley again. By then, Marley was a superstar, rubbing shoulders with heavyweights like Stevie Wonder and The Rolling Stones. “I saw him backstage at the Beacon Theatre (in New York) and he had all these people around him,” Norman related. “He jumped in my arms man, he just wanted to talk about what we used to do.”

1971: U-ROY
U-Roy: I did « Kingston Shuffle », my version of Bob Marley´s «Trenchtown Rock». Peter Tosh played the melodica on. Bob came to see me one day, and asked to me if I could do that for him. They had a record shop downtown Kingston…so we went in the studio and we did the “Kingston 12 Shuffle”. We did that, live, together, unite. -translation from french

1977: STEEL PULSE
Steel Pulse: “Bob Marley had come to pay a visit us in studio during the registration of the “Hansworth Revolution” album, in order to express his support and his interest for our work. An extraordinary encouragement for us!” . -translation from french

1977: DON LETTS
Don Letts: “Bob wasn’t into Punk style and fashion at first, like the designs Malcolm and Vivienne were putting out, but I just told him, yeah Bob, this is what people are doing now you know? He also tried to hit on my girlfriend of the time (Jeannette Lee, ex manager of Acme Attractions, ex-member of Public Image, and now king pin and prime mover at Rough Trade) every time I turned my back!”

1978: PUT THE MEDITATIONS PUN THE SHOW
Meditations: “It was Bob who wanted us to do ‘Rastaman Live up’ and ‘Blackman Redemption,’” says Winston. “He say, ‘So you are the Meditations, huh? Well, I got this little song here called ‘Blackman Redemption.’ I waan yuh to listen to it and see what we can do with it.” Winston recalls the power and respect which Marley commanded. “Once we were rehearsing for the One Love concert, and Bob say, ‘So you’re not on the show?’” The Meditations confirmed that they were not scheduled to perform in the 1978 peace concert, and an irritated Bob approached the concert’s promoter, Tommy Cowan. “Bob say, ‘Tommy, put the Meditations pon the show.’ So Tommy was blundering, ‘Well, you wanna see the list? The list is full.’ So Bob say, ‘Put Meditations pon the list!’ And Tommy was like, ‘Yes, Bob. Yes, Bob.’ And I say, ‘Oh ****, these guys afraid of the Gong.’ He was like a lion, like a god.”

`70s: COAST TO COAST
Aston Barrett : “My first tour was in 1969, before I met Bob. It was not Bob who took me on the road, it was me that took him on the road! In 1970, we went to England to discuss and to negotiate. Bob was dealing with people who were not in the Reggae scene: his manager was Danny Sims, the Johnny Nash´s manager, who had the single “I can see clearly now.” At that time we usually said: “It is Johnny Nash and Danny Cash! ” (laughters). There was another guy (Brent Clarke n.d.t.) with them who worked with Danny Sims when they did the promotion of “I can see clearly now” and that was going to promote on the radios… He and I were near (friend). We went to play in the night-clubs and at the Centers for Youth, places like that. And also in studio where we could put good duplates, that we could sell to the guys of sound-systems. Dubplates of my own jamaican production that I brought back from Jamaica on tracks… The guy said to me how good it would be to see The Wailers and the Upsetters work together, and that he could make a good “package”. I told to him “Let´s go”. Bob, Peter and Bunny didn´t do this business, I organized all that! And we went to Chris Blackwell, at Island Records. But when the contract has been signed, my brother Carlton and me we were not there. We had walked away to see some friends. It is for that that the first contract has been signed only by Bob, Peter and Bunny. Because Bob Marley alone would never have signed it, he surely has been convinced by Bunny and Peter. But it is not very important all that, I still love Bob from the bottom of my heart. But on the first tour, Bunny Wailer cleared off! And Peter Tosh too! And my keyboard (Wire Lindo) left to play with a percussionist in Jamaica… and we said “What can we do now?”. Then, Bob said that we had to book session time at Harry J´s Studios, and to take two horns men, Tommy Mc Cook and Roland Alphonso. He told to me that I had to create a rhythmic section. So I went to look for Winston Wright who was known as Brubeck, to play the organ. And I went to look for Gladstone Anderson for the piano, the musical arranger at Treasure Isle. And owe started to work on “Natty Dread “. When we finally finished to record but not to mix it, we received an invitation by Taj Mahal in San Fransisco. He was working on an album called “Mo Roots” and he liked our musical style and he wanted to cover a song from the album “Catch a Fire”, “Slave Driver”. Se we went there to help him on his album and to do the cover of “Slave Driver”. I even played the piano on that version. Once the work was finished, we flew off to Los Angeles to see the musical scene of the west coast. To Oklahoma, to see Lynn Roseland and his Shelter Records. They had a group called the Gap Band. I listened to the Top 20 of this West Music, I listened to the Country, JJ Keller, Curtis Mayfield, Rufus. I also listened to Jim, Michael Jackson. I knew that they did great things, and that it was interest for me. We didn´t need of Bunny, nor Peter for “Natty Dread”. Peter and Bunny had not changed, while the Wailers had changed. The whole concept of the Wailers had become enormous. The Wailers became Bob Marley & the Wailers, from” Natty Dread “. Them (Peter and Bunny) left, they are not part of the Wailers anymore. They are the Wailers of the beginning, the years 60 and the beginning 70. I brought up the Wailers to the international level. And even the Wailers name belongs to me! They had not been called themselves the Wailers, it was Clement Dodd who called them The Wailers for the first time. When Alvin Patterson introduced them to Coxsone, he said that they would sound better with this name. But the name didn’t belong to them, until I decide that it belongs to us. When we finished to record, we went to Taj Mahal, in L.A.. We were four. Bob, me and two other friends. Notably Lee Jaffe. Lee Jaffe is the one who gave to Eric Clapton the idea to realise the cover of “I shot the Sheriff”. Eric Clapton had come to see us at Oklahoma. And the Shelter Records had bought a church and had transformed it in Record Studio. I made two songs there. I played and jammed with the drummer of Clapton Eric, Jamie Oldaker, and Richie, a guitarist, who is always a musical arranger for Lee Jaffe. And Lee Jaffe played the harmonica “I rebel music… “. There was Bob’s other friend, Alan “Skill” Cole, a great footballer in the `70s in Jamaica. When we left to L.A., Bob and Allan went to New York, with Lee Jaffe. I come back to Oklahoma then to L.A. and then in New-York to see Bob. But he already left to London. I said “Bob, give me the telephone number”. I called him and Bob told to me “Come here”! Come to mix the album, quickly! “. I went there as soon as possible. I was in studio with Bob. And one day, we went for a walk in the street in Chelsea and I saw this guy who walked with a bass and a six-pack… it was Allan! I told to him “Don’t you know where we can find some herb? ” (laughters). Then we left to the studio to listen to our overdubs to see if good. We thinked that we needed more lead guitar. And we came back to the same guy to look for more herb -translation from french

70´s: DAVID RODIGAN
In 1973 David Rodigan and his girlfriend went to see Bob Marley at his very first show in London. At the end of the show Rodigan knew there was no way he was going to get past the hundreds of fans waiting outside the stage door. He and his girlfriend left. “I came out and walked down Fulham Place Road where I saw this enormous cloud of smoke come out of a shop doorway. When the smoke cleared, there was Bob Marley on the end of a big spliff”. Rodigan stood frozen, his mouth dropped open and he squeaked “That´s Bob Marley!”. He was stupefied. He didn´t know what to do or say. His girlfriend stared at him. “What do you mean?” she said. “Go and say hello. I´ve heard you go on for years about this man!”. So Rodigan walked up to Bob and said: “You don´t know me but I know you” – or something equally inane. “I just want to say thank you” – he continued, mouth dry, heart palpitating – “I´ve waited so long for this night. I as in that ram jam session and it was just absolutely brilliant and thank you for everything”. Bob replied “One Love. Rasta” and shook Rodigan´s hand. Shortly after, a car roaded up and Bob got in but as it drove off, he turned round and waved at the dazed David Rodigan. The stunned teen just stood there, waiving back. In 1980 Rodigan met Bob again. He had gone to Island Records´ office where Marley was rumoured to be hanging out, having just returned from Zimbabwe´s indipendence celebration. Rodigan spotted him coming down the stairs, surrounded by his ubiquitous entourage. The two were introduced by an Island official. But instead of shaking Marley´s hand, muttering a platitude and then begging Marley´s manager for an interview, as was the custom, Rodigan said to the superstar: “Will you come on my show on Saturday night?” There was a collective gasp at his audacity. Minders looked uncomfortable and mumbled that he wasn´t doing interviews. Bob Marley looked at Rodigan, looked around at a couple af his people and then back at him and said: “Alright”. Sure enough, the following Saturday night, Marley showed up at Capital Radio´s Studios. Rodigan took him into a small room before the sow and said: “Bob, I don´t want to talk about politics, religion or anything like that. I just want to talk about the music. Is that okay?” Marley grinned and said “Yes!” So they talked about music and the tunes Marley made and why he made them. “I was nervous as a kid” says Rodigan “My voice was like (he squeacks in a falsetto), Bob Marley, Oh my God! I was shaking like a leaf. It was 1980 and I was interviewing Bob Marley! It doesn´t get much better than that” (by Nazma Muller)

1979: NEW ZELAND
When Bob Marley chose to not talk to journalists at the press call at the White Heron Hotel, other journos went home but Dylan Taite was prepared to put the whole day into pursuing his story. He came prepared, he knew Bob was also a soccer fan. Dylan had his soccer boots with him. When Bob and his entourage were ready to play soccer in the park adjacent to the Parnell hotel, Dylan was ready to join a team. By the end of the afternoon, Bob had agreed to do one of his few interviews where he spoke relatively clearly in English. Dylan had a journalistic scoop. And as a music fan, a goddam awesome experience.

1979: WAIKIKI (1)
David Gulpilil, aboriginal actor: “The first time I smoked weed was with Bob Marley at Waikiki, USA, Hawaii,”

1979: WAIKIKI (2)
Wendy Russell: “It was the summer of ’78 when Bob Marley and the Wailers played at the Shell Amphitheater in Waikiki. Benjamin Mon attended that Bob Marley and the Wailers concert. Mon remembers that within the first five minutes of the concert the entire crowd of over 5,000 jumped up from their chairs and danced into the evening. Back then, reggae was just becoming popular on the mainland, but the islanders were onto that island rhythm, so it was a sold-out event. There was definitely plenty of Rastaman vibration in the air. The Wailers began playing in the early evening and when the sun set, a full moon illuminated the throng of irie Hawaiians. Photographer Steve Crocker was there too, taking photos for a now defunct Waikiki weekly called Sun Bums. Unfortunately, the article was not to be. Twenty years later, Crocker passes the photos along to Ben Mon. Mon remembers that Marley donned a Rasta-colored knitted sweater, jeans and cowboy boots, and he was lei’d with bright pink and yellow plumerias around his neck. Mon said Bob looked like he was on fire, with his feet barely touching the ground. The I Three appeared like majestic queens of Rasta in their colorful African-style wraps. Mon said they looked ten feet tall with their beehive hairdos. Now even though Ian didn’t get to go to the show, he did participate in bringing this historic event back to life. Ian happened to be going to Jamaica around the time Mon was given the photos of Marley. Mon asked Ian to take them to Neville Garrick, manager of the Bob Marley Foundation and Marley’s lifelong friend, to share with him. The photos made Neville Garrick swell with memories and tears. Garrick remembers being at the show, and he was especially touched when he saw the picture of Bob wearing the Rasta sweater. He smiled gently and said that he gave Marley the sweater and that it was one of Marley’s favorites. One of Crocker’s never- before-published pictures appears here in The Reggae Festival Guide 2001. (See all of them in full color on www.reggaefestivalguide.com)

1980: BERNARD LOUPIAS
Journalist Bernard Loupias, who followed Bob in tour for “Le Matin”, recalls his last meeting with the Rastaman. Wendy Russell: “It is 2 o´clock in the morning. I´m in my hotel room. Someone knoks at my door; I suddendly wake up. I open the door: it is Tommy Cowan, the Jamaican manager who told me: “Bob wants to see you, now! Under a lighting pallid neon light, Marley waits, alone, sats close to a table, his prominent cheekbones and the feverish eyes. I cannot believe that he is the same young musician full of energy and health that I had already met three years earlier in London, but I think that his physical transformation is due to the hard Tour. He inspires deeply: about what do you wanna speak? “Bob Marley is in France for a Tour that begins in Grenoble to promote his new album “Uprising ” Now we are in Bordeuax; the concert has been fantastic: two hours of pure magic. After the concert, in spite of tiredness, Marley received a group of African students. Two month earlier, April 17 1980, Bob Marley performed a historic concert in Zimbabwe that celebrated the independence day, and this night the questions concerns on the struggle against the apartheid, on the liberation fight and on the future of the black continent. Marley answers with the biggest seriousness, while gathering distractedly his towel. At 2 o´clock, I unhook, sure that I don’t have no luck to stay with him. But Marley had not forgotten me… “You have just performed in Zimbabwe”, I say, and during half an hour, of a tired voice, pondering his words, he let explode his anger talking about the cynicism of the Jamaican politiciens struggling to achieve the power. – What about the future of Jamaica? B. Marley. “I see a lot of inactivity. People who have the power could make a lot of things. The newspapers, the press also. There are people who provide poor some weapons so that they kill each other, but the newspapers will never say it! Newsapapers says that the police fight against armed youths, but where youths take these weapons? The politicians give weapons to them!, and then youths go to jail. It´s a dirty political war, man! – And, in this situation, you think that only the Rastas can play a positive role? B. Marley: Yes, Rasta people is the only ones to be able to help the people. But Rasta is well more that this, Rasta is the right government for the world, it is the people’s government. -What´s happen after the election? B. Marley: After the elections? It will be the time of the decisions. -For whom? For the people? B. Marley: You know, at One Love Concert I brought these two poor men on the stage so that they stop the war, but they break the treaty, do you understand? They have broken the pact! Then, it is easy to imagine what it will happen: the prophecy of Marcus Garvey will come true, and one day the head of one of these men will roll in King’s Street. To acghieve political power, some politicians used Rasta and they became very strong. Prime minister, for example… And when they win elections, no more help for the Rasta people! False words! Politicians are talkative and corrupt people. That politicians [NDLR. Michael Manley and his socialist government] had the power to change the things but they didn´t. They had the power and the did nothing. They could defend Rasta and they could make something strong and right things. They want all the money of the big powers, and us, we say merely: “Be yourself” – Do you invest a big amount of your money in communal projects: farms, clothes etc etc? B. Marley: Yes, We help. We do everything that we can, we do what the politicians should do: to help the people. Those who has the power make nothing to help the development. It is necessary that people know it. The Rasta know it. – Last questions: What is the main theme of Uprising whose sleeve represents a Rasta fists raise and a rising sun? Marley stop for a moment and the he say these simple words: “The conscience… The elevation of the conscience level. ” Now it´s four o´clock in the morning . Marley gets up and greets me. I don’t know that it is an adieu. -translation from french

2000: GIBSON LES PAUL
Gibson celebrates the late Bob Marley with a limited-edition, Bob Marley Les Paul Special, a reissue built to the exact specifications of his guitar on display at the Bob Marley Museum in Kingston, Jamaica. The solidbody mahogany guitar from Gibson’s Custom, Art & Historic division replicates a number of unique appointments including Marley’s trademark white binding on the headstock and fingerboard – now yellowed with age – and small pearl block inlays similar to a mid-1960s ES-335. Bob Marley modified his Les Paul Special by removing the original wraparound tailpiece and inserting dowels in the fill holes, substituting a stop bar tailpiece. Gibson duplicates these characteristics as well as the aluminum pickguard and aluminum football-shaped switchwasher around the 3-way selector switch. A carefully aged Cherry finish as well as marks and scratches copied from the original instrument complete the well-worn look and feel of the guitar; Marley’s signature appears on the headstock.

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