View Full Version : BOOKS "I&I The Natural Mystics Marley Tosh and Wailer by Colin Grant (2011)
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51Uvdftr0HL.jpg
I and I The Natural Mystics Marley, Tosh and Livingston
Hardcover: 320 pages
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Co. (1 Aug 2011)
Language English
ISBN-10: 0393081176
ISBN-13: 978-0393081176
Product Dimensions: 25 x 15 x 1.5 cm
Author: Colin Grant
Publication date: 2011
Product Description: Over one dramatic decade, a trio of Trenchtown R&B crooners, Peter Tosh, Bunny Wailer and Bob Marley, swapped their 1960s Brylcreem hairdos and two-tone suits for 1970s battle fatigues and dreadlocks to become the Wailers - one of the most influential groups in popular music. From youth to early adulthood, they had been inseparable; united in their ambition, through musical harmony and financial reward, to escape Jamaica's Trench Town ghetto. On the cusp of success however, they'd been pulled apart by the elevation of Marley as first among equals and by the razor sharp instincts of Chris Blackwell, the shrewd and charming boss of Island Records. "I & I: The Natural Mystics" examines for the first time the story of the Wailers, arguing that these musicians offered a model for black men in the second half of the twentieth century: accommodate and succeed (Marley), fight and die (Tosh) or retreat and live (Wailer). It charts their complex relationship, their fluctuating fortunes, musical peak, and the politics and ideologies that provoked their split. Following their trail from Jamaica through Europe, America, Africa and back to the vibrant and volatile world of Trench Town, Colin Grant travels in search of the last surviving Wailer. He unravels the roots of their charisma, their adoption of the cult of Rastafari, their suspicion of race pimps and Obeah men (witch doctors), and illuminates why the Wailers were not just extraordinary musicians, but also natural mystics. "I & I" is a remarkable story of creativity, squandered talent and fierce ambitious rivalry - a mix of reportage and revelatory history by one of our best and brightest non-fiction writers.
Colin Grant is a BBC radio producer and independent historian. His first book, Negro with a Hat: The Rise and Fall of Marcus Garvey, was published in 2008 (Jonathan Cape/OUP). His memoir Bageye at the Wheel, an extract of which, ‘Lino’, will be printed in Granta 111: Going Back, will be published in February 2012.
the book is work in progess and this is another cover and another title:
the natural mystics marley tosh and wailer
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51%2BXBKUdk2L._SL500_AA300_.jpg
yes, some sources say january 2011, others february 2011, amazon august 2011!
also the number of pages is obscure: a source says 400, but 320 according to amazon
8 pages of b/w and 8 pages of colour photos
soulrebel2008
05-12-10, 06:08
nice nice, only problem with these book's is the lack of advertizment
in which is a damn shame, there are so many boook's out there
that have gone un noticed...due too that issue just like legend album
island had over 38,000£ left in pocket and they didnt know untill last minute and they used that too keep it at number one and from some band pushing album of number 1 spot, so advertisement goes along way !
and marco !!!!!!!!!!! ty for this post highly appreciated, well nearly all your post's
i appreicate in all what this board does and serve's and for that i use my fav forum smiley :drunk
TY
Author Colin Grant wrote to me:
"The book will be published in the UK and US with slightly different titles.
In the UK, I&I:The Natural Mystics, published by Jonathan Cape on 27 January 2011
In the US, The Natural Mystics, published by W.W Norton in June 2011.
There are 320 pages, and about 40 photos"
TY
Author Colin Grant wrote to me:
"The book will be published in the UK and US with slightly different titles.
In the UK, I&I:The Natural Mystics, published by Jonathan Cape on 27 January 2011
In the US, The Natural Mystics, published by W.W Norton in June 2011.
There are 320 pages, and about 40 photos"
uhm..I will have to buy it through amazon.uk...
http://www.colingrant.info/#/i-and-i-natural-mystics/4532005691
Bob Marley's concern about heightening his Africanness
The headline in the article below in the British newspaper, The Independent, deserves a comment
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/news/bob-marley-blacked-up-to-blend-in-2151047.html
It's not a headline I'd have used if I'd written the article. But I do believe Bob Marley over-compensated for his fair complexion when living in Trench Town by embracing the culture and becoming as black as everyone else. Not that there would have been much choice. Not too many white folk re-located to Trench Town. It was a choice though that he willingly made, as Marley saw himself as unashamedly black. In I&I : The Natural Mystics, I riff on Bob Marley's sense of his identity.
"I didn’t think I would like a guy with his [fair] complexion,’ Rita said of Bob
Marley. Rita was dark-skinned, and, conversely, wondered whether her
blackness was part of her attraction to Bob. Marley was so racially
sensitised that she remembered him asking her ‘to rub shoe polish in
his hair to make it more black, make it more African."
This is only one section of a larger argument I make in the book about this vexed and complicated subject.
http://movies.ndtv.com/movie_story.aspx?Section=Movies&ID=ENTEN20100162209&subcatg=MOVIESINDIA&keyword=music&nid=70598
Bob Marley tried to 'black up' to fit in: New book
He spoke against racism in his songs, but reggae legend Bob Marley's angst over his mixed-race background led him to "blacken" his trademark dreadlocks with shoe polish.
A new book I&I: The Natural Mystics: Marley, Tosh and Wailer claims that the Jamaican-born icon was insecure over his race and desperately wanted to fit in, reported Guardian online.
In the book, his widow Rita Marley 0598&cprecalls how her husband, born to a white father and a black mother, asked her to "rub shoe polish in his hair to make it more black, make it more African."
The author, Colin Grant, interviewed some of the singer's relatives and those close to him for the book, which will be published in January.
Among those featured are Marley's late mother, Cedella Booker and Chris Blackwell, founder of Island Records, which released most of his music.
"When Marley moved to Trench Town in Kingston aged 13 he was thought of as a white man and would have got a lot of grief for that," said Grant.
"His father was a so-called white man who moved in white circles, and it was unusual to marry a black lady. But he did. It's interesting that Marley went on to do that as well. He married a very black lady, Rita, and that was a time when people married up and out of colour. He did exactly the opposite," added Grant.
Grant added that while this part of Marley's life was well known in Jamaica, it is the first time that the extent of his insecurities and prejudices he faced has been revealed.
Marley was born in 1945. His father, Norval Sinclair Marley, was a white Jamaican of English descent.
The Get Up Stand Up hit-maker once said of his background, "Me don't dip on nobody's side. Me don't dip on the black man's side not the white man's side. Me dip on God's side, the one who create me and cause me to come from black and white."
Marley, who died in 1981 was at the height of his fame in the mid-70s when he was diagnosed with cancer.
Read more at: http://movies.ndtv.com/movie_story.aspx?Section=Movies&ID=ENTEN20100162209&subcatg=MOVIESINDIA&keyword=music&nid=70598&cp
joalderson
13-12-10, 08:19
Hi Fabio,
I think this is the same story in Maurizo's earlier post. Seems the story had a bit of a viral life, even making it as far as Australia and the Sydney Morning Herald.
http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/music/bob-marley-darkened-himself-with-shoe-polish-20101206-18lmg.html
From the I&I Facebook page though it's clear that Colin was not happy with the headline reproduced in the newspaper articles. He was on BBC World News talking about it on Friday, though the link's expired. Will see whether there's some other way of resurrecting it.
This is the link to another interview:
http://www.colingrant.info/cgi-bin/download.cgi
this book looks like to be very interesting... look forward reading the advanced copy!
Marco..some days ago I pre-ordered this one..
the book is available from amazon.uk on january 31th 2011
only it's available from amazon.com on august 1th 2011
I will pay 20,86 pounds (book plus shipment)
is it high price?
I don't know.. usually a book goes from 20 to 30 euros so I think it's ok
the interview at BBc about this book is online at:
YouTube - I & I: The Natural Mystics - Colin GrantYouTube - I & I: The Natural Mystics - Colin Grant
one fine morning of february I will read this book :D
Bob Marley 'blacked up' to blend in
By Rob Sharp, Arts Correspondent
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/news/bob-marley-blacked-up-to-blend-in-2151047.html
souladventurer
01-02-11, 01:41
The book has just been released. I wonder how much new info will be in it.
Salewicz book had a lot of new material, though it also had a fair bit of errors too.
It seems as if the colour/race angle of Bob's youth is now the new drive in the book's on Bob, and not so much his musical prowess at a young age.
three days ago I received this book...with UK cover :)
three days ago I received this book...with UK cover :)
did you like it? rare photos?
did you like it? rare photos?
not read yet..however no rare photos inside the book
souladventurer
02-02-11, 02:45
Do you know if any new interviews were done with Bunny for the book??
http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2011/feb/06/i-and-i-the-natural-mystics-review
the book is on my table
Look forward to read it
In the next days I'll write a review of it
At first sight it seems to be well documented
NEW FOOTAGE??????????????
PREVIOUSLY unseen footage of Bob Marley will be screened ahead of readings from a new book about the reggae superstar and the Wailers and Jamaican culture.
The event at Brixton Library in Brixton Oval on Wednesday night follows the 66th anniversary of the singer’s birth on February 6, 1945.
The book, I & I: The Natural Mystics, was written by Colin Grant, 49, from Brighton, who works as a BBC radio science producer.
His biography of the original Wailers – Bob Marley, Peter Tosh and Bunny Livingston – also looks at Jamaican culture, history, politics, religion and the author’s own trips to the island.
Mr Grant, who previously wrote a book about Jamaican activist Marcus Garvey, said: “The launch is being held in Brixton as I know there is a lot of interest in Marley and The Wailers in Brixton.
“It took three years to write the book, but as my parents are Jamaican I had been thinking about it for a long time.
“Bunny Wailer [Livingston], the last surviving member, proved to be difficult to track down. It took six or seven attempts and about two years.
“But he’s still touring and I managed to catch up with him ahead of a gig he played at Brixton Academy in October last year.”
The book’s story begins in 1990, after Tosh’s and Marley’s deaths, recalling Bunny Livingston’s appearance at the Sting festival in Jamaica.
With more lyrically aggressive artists such as Shabba Ranks superseding The Wailers, it seemed Livingston’s time, musically, had passed.
Mr Grant said: “The crowd jeer his old-school reggae and he is eventually bottled off stage. It really stung him and he became quite reclusive.
“The book then travels into the past to the late 1950s and early 1960s when this trio first started. I chart their evolution as musicians, in part by the way their look changed over time.
“They start off as Brylcreemed, two-tone suit-wearing, rhythm and blues crooners who adored Curtis Mayfield.
“In the course of 10 years they become these dreadlocked combat-gear-wearing Rastafarian reggae stars.
“That’s quite a transformation. “Especially considering they got their first break in a Jamaican equivalent of Britain’s Got Talent – a stage variety show which offered the winners a gig on the radio.” As well as following the trio’s evolution as The Wailers the book also charts Jamaica’s changing society as the country moved on from British colonial rule and established its own independent cultural identity.
Tomorrow evening will not only feature Mr Grant’s insights, readings and presentation, but an appearance by Jamaican-born actress and former model Esther Anderson.
Ms Anderson, 66, who had a relationship and worked closely with Marley in the 70s, still speaks fondly of the singer, who died in May, 1981.
A clip from a documentary she is helping to make, called The Making of a Legend, will be shown at the library.
The exclusive scenes, shot 38 years ago, are being used in the film about Marley’s first two solo albums and where his music came from.
Ms Anderson, who now lives in west London, said: “We started making the film just before Christmas after showing the BFI some of the clips.
“They are the first video clips ever shot of Bob Marley and some of The Wailers, long before he had dreads and when he looked liked Jimi Hendrix.
“He was quite an innocent, very kind and helpful person. He used to be a welder and was good at fixing things.
“He was very close with his male friends. I think because he never had a father he felt the brotherhood of men very strongly.
“We built a house together in Jamaica in 1974, which is also in the film, and some of the footage are the only shots of Peter Tosh and Bob Marley spending relaxed time together.
“To me they were definitely close friends, despite what other people may say.
“They were like reggae’s Lennon and McCartney.” The event will be held at Brixton Library in Brixton Oval from 7pm tomorrow. Entry is free. I & I: The Natural Mystics by Colin Grant was published on January 27.
(http://www.southlondon-today.co.uk/)
yes...I read about next footage too...but there is not :)
I & I: The Natural Mystics - Marley, Tosh and Wailer, By Colin Grant
Reviewed by Margaret Busby
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/i-amp-i-the-natural-mystics--marley-tosh-and-wailer-by-colin-grant-2218084.html
As a biography of the Wailers, "undisputed kings of reggae", this is a pretty good history book - as was Colin Grant's previous work, on Jamaica's first national hero, Marcus Garvey. An apt link is that Bob Marley's "Redemption Song" quotes a Garvey speech from 1937: "We are going to emancipate ourselves from mental slavery... none but ourselves can free the mind."
The mission of I & I: The Natural Mystics is to provide insights into the development of three young men who within a decade went from force-ripe countryboys to streetwise ghetto-dwellers to international music stars until their split in the mid-1970s. The trajectory was told in their evolving names: The Teenagers, The Wailing Rude Boys, the Wailing Wailers, and ultimately just The Wailers.
Grant's forte is setting the socio-political context that nourished and influenced them. He gives us lessons on the Frome Rebellion in 1938, a defining moment in Jamaica's colonial story; on the symbolic legacy of Garveyism; on the island's relationship with Britain and Empire; on Emperor Haile Selassie and the Rastafarian movement; on the banning of Guyanese academic Walter Rodney; and much else.
In terms of new information, others have already mined what is most accessible. The impoverished childhood, success in talent shows, the rip-offs by producers, the internal feuds, the seeking after spiritual truth are themes no less intriguing for being repeated, and the familiar trailblazing recordings no less impactful: "Get Up, Stand Up", "Nice Time", "War", "Simmer Down", "Stir it Up". Still, there are illuminating details and fresh revelations, as when Marley's muse Esther Anderson explains the controversial origins of "I Shot the Sheriff".
The shifting musical and personal dynamics are fascinating. Neville "Bunny" Livingston (he later changed his surname to Wailer) and Robert Nesta Marley were not just village neighbours; Marley's mother had a child with Wailer's father. In Kingston's Trench Town where they formed the nucleus of a band, Marley, Tosh and Wailer really were dirt-poor. When they later sang, "Cold ground was my bed at night and rock was my pillow too," it was not poetic licence.
The prickly Peter Tosh, who had fashioned his own guitar, could bring a session to a premature end by taking his instrument and going home. Thus far, Tosh was first among equals; but it was the elevation of Marley above the others, after the Wailers signed with Chris Blackwell of Island Records, that brought about the end – as if reggae was down to one man.
On Marley's death from cancer at the age of 36 in 1981, Peter Tosh was asked for a reaction. Well, if it so it just so," he said. "At least it leave a little space for all of us to go through now." Tosh himself died in 1987, shot by robbers who had targeted his house.
Grant argues (not entirely convincingly) that the three original Wailers represent ways of being for black men in the late 20th century: accommodate and succeed (Marley, his mixed race more acceptable to the mainstream); fight and die (Tosh, scary-looking tough guy in shades) or retreat and live (Wailer). That aside, in their different personalities were the seeds of their success and disbanding.
Interspersed throughout is Grant's own journey through the social layers of Jamaica, on the trail of the last man standing: Bunny Wailer. The changing fortunes of the elusive grey-bearded patriarch, now in his sixties, open and close this joint biography. In December 1990 at a festival in Kingston billed as "The Greatest One-Night Reggae Show on Earth", Wailer was one of 40 bands billed, the main attraction being a showdown between ragamuffin DJ Shabba Ranks and his rival for title of King of Jamaican Music, aka. Ninja Man. Wailer's contemplative start did not impress the crowd. In fury, he stopped playing but asked: "Don't you know who I am?" The answer was pelted bottles and cans.
Grant in turn poses a question for his book to answer: "if reggae music had delighted and enthralled so many around the world, transformed a tiny island into a musical superpower, and given a platform to the Wailers, a trio of extraordinarily poetic and powerful natural mystics, then how could it, in the space of 30 years, rise and fall so spectacularly and end so brutally?" Bunny Wailer, the reclusive survivor, became his quarry, a riddle to be solved. Several trips to Jamaica failed to track him down. Grant is at last accorded an audience with the man - at Gatwick airport. It takes no more than the final three pages of the book to report a happy ending, of sorts.
Margaret Busby edited 'Daughters of Africa' (Ballantine Books)
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/8313808/IandI-The-Natural-Mystics-by-Colin-Grant-review.html
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/feb/19/i-and-i-colin-grant-review
What I find hard to believe is there is another book of stuff to write about unless its from one of the real people involved who wouldn't ever write a book about Bob. Other then Skill Coles book has there been one to pick up?? I was told Wailing Blues is a nice read. I was just reading over Chis Salewich's book it seem pretty weak towards the end. The only people I would want to read about would be some one like Junior, Chris Blackwell, Diane Jobson, Seeco, Gilly Dread, Bird, Suzette Newman, Johnny Nash, Al Anderson, Bob's true women there are plenty and finally the Welsh Rodie Bob bought a farm before he died in 1981. He was supostly with Bob from 1973 on. Thats it! Everyone else might have a few stories but in general their books are very weak. Let me know what you think?
What I find hard to believe is there is another book of stuff to write about unless its from one of the real people involved who wouldn't ever write a book about Bob. Other then Skill Coles book has there been one to pick up?? I was told Wailing Blues is a nice read. I was just reading over Chis Salewich's book it seem pretty weak towards the end. The only people I would want to read about would be some one like Junior, Chris Blackwell, Diane Jobson, Seeco, Gilly Dread, Bird, Suzette Newman, Johnny Nash, Al Anderson, Bob's true women there are plenty and finally the Welsh Rodie Bob bought a farm before he died in 1981. He was supostly with Bob from 1973 on. Thats it! Everyone else might have a few stories but in general their books are very weak. Let me know what you think?
Yes, the Chris Salewicz book is weak, full of mistakes and wrong info, more urban legends than facts
Wailin' Blues on the contrary is one of the best book ever, may be really the best
This Colin Grant book doesn't expect to be considered a classic biographical book, it is quite a book of history (history of jamaica, history of rasta movement, history of music and, of course, the history of the wailers) and it live up to the expectations
I agree with you Jack, the people I would want to read about would be some one like Junior, Chris Blackwell, Diane Jobson, Seeco, Gilly Dread etc etc
And I think that no one really knew Bob because Bob was very shifty and each one can tell a different truth about Bob and each one could think only of their own interest (for example: I'm the true author of that song, I'm the only one friend of him, I played with him, I was with him from 1962 to 1981 and so on)
I trust Chris Blackwell, no proof, it's just my feeling, and I would like to know his truth on Bob
p.s. Jack, more about Suzette Newman and the Welsh rodie?
What I find hard to believe is there is another book of stuff to write about unless its from one of the real people involved who wouldn't ever write a book about Bob. Other then Skill Coles book has there been one to pick up?? I was told Wailing Blues is a nice read. I was just reading over Chis Salewich's book it seem pretty weak towards the end. The only people I would want to read about would be some one like Junior, Chris Blackwell, Diane Jobson, Seeco, Gilly Dread, Bird, Suzette Newman, Johnny Nash, Al Anderson, Bob's true women there are plenty and finally the Welsh Rodie Bob bought a farm before he died in 1981. He was supostly with Bob from 1973 on. Thats it! Everyone else might have a few stories but in general their books are very weak. Let me know what you think?
The best books on Bob were the ones more intimate, like Rita's, Cedella's and Don Taylor' book. The only care is to distinguish truths from lies.
I don't think Seeco or Gilly or Bird are able to write a book on Bob and Johnny Nash didn't know Marley well, just business
Skill Cole, Chris and Diane Jobson are the ideal candidates to write another great intimate book on Bob: they knew Bob, they were with him from the beginning to the end and they are clever and sharp enough to write an intriguing story
You know who I forgot? The book called "Bob Marley the making of Exodus" what a great book!!!! By Vivian Goldman.. That is a really good book!!!
Yes, Colin Grant's work is most impressive ... he made some interesting inputs to the Reggae University debates at the ROTOTOM last month ... much respect. Gerry
NEW FOOTAGE??????????????
PREVIOUSLY unseen footage of Bob Marley will be screened ahead of readings from a new book about the reggae superstar and the Wailers and Jamaican culture.
The event at Brixton Library in Brixton Oval on Wednesday night follows the 66th anniversary of the singer’s birth on February 6, 1945.
The book, I & I: The Natural Mystics, was written by Colin Grant, 49, from Brighton, who works as a BBC radio science producer.
His biography of the original Wailers – Bob Marley, Peter Tosh and Bunny Livingston – also looks at Jamaican culture, history, politics, religion and the author’s own trips to the island.
Mr Grant, who previously wrote a book about Jamaican activist Marcus Garvey, said: “The launch is being held in Brixton as I know there is a lot of interest in Marley and The Wailers in Brixton.
“It took three years to write the book, but as my parents are Jamaican I had been thinking about it for a long time.
“Bunny Wailer [Livingston], the last surviving member, proved to be difficult to track down. It took six or seven attempts and about two years.
“But he’s still touring and I managed to catch up with him ahead of a gig he played at Brixton Academy in October last year.”
The book’s story begins in 1990, after Tosh’s and Marley’s deaths, recalling Bunny Livingston’s appearance at the Sting festival in Jamaica.
With more lyrically aggressive artists such as Shabba Ranks superseding The Wailers, it seemed Livingston’s time, musically, had passed.
Mr Grant said: “The crowd jeer his old-school reggae and he is eventually bottled off stage. It really stung him and he became quite reclusive.
“The book then travels into the past to the late 1950s and early 1960s when this trio first started. I chart their evolution as musicians, in part by the way their look changed over time.
“They start off as Brylcreemed, two-tone suit-wearing, rhythm and blues crooners who adored Curtis Mayfield.
“In the course of 10 years they become these dreadlocked combat-gear-wearing Rastafarian reggae stars.
“That’s quite a transformation. “Especially considering they got their first break in a Jamaican equivalent of Britain’s Got Talent – a stage variety show which offered the winners a gig on the radio.” As well as following the trio’s evolution as The Wailers the book also charts Jamaica’s changing society as the country moved on from British colonial rule and established its own independent cultural identity.
Tomorrow evening will not only feature Mr Grant’s insights, readings and presentation, but an appearance by Jamaican-born actress and former model Esther Anderson.
Ms Anderson, 66, who had a relationship and worked closely with Marley in the 70s, still speaks fondly of the singer, who died in May, 1981.
A clip from a documentary she is helping to make, called The Making of a Legend, will be shown at the library.
The exclusive scenes, shot 38 years ago, are being used in the film about Marley’s first two solo albums and where his music came from.
Ms Anderson, who now lives in west London, said: “We started making the film just before Christmas after showing the BFI some of the clips.
“They are the first video clips ever shot of Bob Marley and some of The Wailers, long before he had dreads and when he looked liked Jimi Hendrix.
“He was quite an innocent, very kind and helpful person. He used to be a welder and was good at fixing things.
“He was very close with his male friends. I think because he never had a father he felt the brotherhood of men very strongly.
“We built a house together in Jamaica in 1974, which is also in the film, and some of the footage are the only shots of Peter Tosh and Bob Marley spending relaxed time together.
“To me they were definitely close friends, despite what other people may say.
“They were like reggae’s Lennon and McCartney.” The event will be held at Brixton Library in Brixton Oval from 7pm tomorrow. Entry is free. I & I: The Natural Mystics by Colin Grant was published on January 27.
(http://www.southlondon-today.co.uk/) (http://www.southlondon-today.co.uk/%29)
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