Bob Marley (1983) Stephen Davis

[joe]

http://www.bobmarleymagazine.com/public/forum_new/files_upload/sd_223.jpg

Title: Bob Marley
Author: Stephen Davis
Publisher: Arthur Barker Limited
Year: 1983
ISBN# 0213168553
Pages: 248
HB/PB: Hardback
Category: Bio
Size: 9" X 6"

Synopsis:

This may hold the record so far as the all time best biography on Bob. It has been published in 1983, 1985,1988, 1990 and 1993. This copy is the first edition which was published in the UK in 83'. My copy does not have a cover so all I can show in the picture is the spine. We will list separately the other editions

[jah live]

This is a very original book about the Tuff Gong. It traces Bob's evolvement as an infant-child, boy, pupil, "street rebel", struggling youngman, father, "lover", musician, poet, Rastafarian and beloved Freedon-Fighter we all know. It is a moving, evocative book. It starts almost like a mellow tale describing the humble, natural surroundings of the deep Jamaican interior into which Bob was born.
It almost immediately rises to a pre-climax of the hardships of Trenchtown, with Bob not only struggling to survive, but also hesitantly nourishing his dream of being a BIG musician, his tackle with the Rastafarian faith and his immediate deep conviction, his frequent "travels"; e.g. to visit his mother in Delaware, USA or his short stay in Sweden full of stress.

The book further on describes how Bob's talent and faith - in Jah and in himself - evolve into extraordinary, peerless musical craftsmanship, making Bob's music explode to the four corners of the earth ... almost like a miracle, in the twinkle of an eye! At the climax of this book, Bob is already a supertar, confident, uncompromising, mature, wiser and hard to equal, the wiry cult-hero from Trenchtown, Jamaica.

It's also interesting to observe Bob's relationship with the press, as the press was from the start of it all invariably attracted by his magnetic charm, which thing in turn really [directly or indirectly] raised him to the star of mythical and mystical prorportions that he REALLY is. Because he simply deserved it. Just at the climax of this book, Bob dies, and that's when - in retrospect - things really start looking like a tale, like an unended tale. Pathetic. Mystery. That's just when the "real universal meaning of being Bob Marley" comes to light and is understood: a mission.

Reading this book, one feels the sadness, the love, the hate, the pain, the hope, the godly determination, the fear, the doubt, the anger and the danger that escorted Bob throughout his astonishing rise to superstardom; he becomes almost a religious figure with his ever-growing numbers of fans and disciples, but much the same as his persona continues defying "classification". One can interpret him as a cult-hero, poet, prophet, revolutonary, "statesman", champion of human rights, supreme musician, or the painstaking musical craftsman who knows really well how to poetically "play about with words" in his compositions ...

... Yet, this book will show you how really simple, modest, serious, human, honest and humane Bob was and how this can be sometimes taken advantage of by others [including "friends"]. This is a very good, well-researched book, a must for all Marley fans

(taken from amazon.com)