Interview with Anita Waters

ivan

– 29/10/2002Posted in: Magazine Interviews

Hello there! If you are new here, you might want to subscribe to the RSS feed for updates on this topic.

On September 18, 1980, Anita Waters had the honor of meeting Bob Marley who was in New York City for shows at Madison Garden, and from there was embarking on a national tour. Anita met Bob in his Essex House Hotel room on Central Park South.

BMM: You interviewed Bob at Essex House Hotel in 1980. Is there a particular moment or a special memory that out from the interview for you?
AW: When I interviewed Bob, I was very nervous at first. But he was very nice and kind. At one point in the interview I was frustrated by the way I had worded my own, and he reassured me by saying, “Say it same way,” meaning, just ask the question as it was written. My favorite quote came when I asked him about reggae produced in Brooklyn and in England. He said something like, “In every music there is you must like.” It was sort of like a prediction and demand at the same time. I’ve often quoted that when I hear students country music, or hear myself saying something negative some genre of music. There is something in every music you must like. Music is human expression, and whenever humans express themselves, there’s something must like.

BMM: How did you manage to arrange to interview Bob?
AW: I had the opportunity to interview him because I had done a number interviews of other clients represented by a certain public relations firm, the name which escapes me now.

BMM: Was anyone besides Bob in the room when you conducted the interview?
AW: Present in the room were the public relations person, Skill Cole and a photographer who had come along with me.

BMM: What were your impressions of Bob as a person and a musician? Do still listen to Bob and keep up with the latest releases?
AW: I have some ambivalent feelings about Bob. As much as I love him and his music, I am uncomfortable with a sort of “cult of Bob” that has formed. example, I saw Roger Steffens’ program a couple weeks ago and he that last year, i.e. 2000, fully fifty percent of all recorded reggae music sold was Bob Marley music. That fact really bothers me. There is so much great music coming out of now, by people who are struggling and really need a bread. I have a little radio show on my college’s radio station and for the first whole year I didn’t play any Bob Marley music, except for his birthday in February. Then I always also play Macka B’s “Support them” — do you know that one, it says “Support them when they are living, don’t just big them up when them gone…” Now I do play Bob’s music when I feel like hearing it, not just in February. It is awesome still.

BMM: Do you believe he did good works?
AW: Yes, I think mostly Bob led a righteous life and his through music was an inspiration to so many people all over world that it almost doesn’t matter how he conducted his personal life. But I don’t think we should sanctify him. To me he represents the potential in so many street kids Jamaica, who need to have the opportunity to express themselves and live up to their potential.

BMM: What is your favourite Bob song?
AW: The first favorite that comes to mind is “Duppy Conqueror.”

BMM: Were you fortunate to see Bob perform in concert? If so what shows you present at and can you remember anything from the concerts?
AW: In 1977 I heard his music for the first time, and in 1979 I saw him concert at Sunsplash in MoBay. I saw him a couple more times in concert; the best was at the Apollo in Harlem. What I remember best about Bob in concert was once when I had binoculars and could see him still when he went sort of bakstage; he never stopped dancing, even when he was off-stage. He was mesmerized by the music.

BMM: Did you have the chance to talk to or meet any of the Wailers besides Bob?
AW: I never interviewed other Wailers but did interview a number of great musicians, including Winston Rodney (Burning Spear), Dennis , Michael Rose, Steel Pulse, and others. I published these in a magazine called .L.A.S.S. that came out of the New York City Caribbean-American . The Marley interview however was by Herman Hall in Everybody’s Magazine.

BMM: Is there anything you would like to share with the public about Bob?
AW: I think what I would most like to share with the public about Bob that he would agree: support living artists, especially young artists. Bob’s family doesn’t need another CD royalty, but there are plenty of hard-working, thoughtful, talented and struggling musicians who really really need it. Bob was not an isolated individual, but his work is an expression of Afro-Jamaican culture, which is still there to appreciate as living art.

BMM: thank you for taking time to share your memories of your interview Bob with us.