Bob's
Bio
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. Bob Marley And The Wailers are the sole Jamaican group to have
achieved global superstar status, together with genuine penetration
of world markets. The original group was formed during 1963. After
extensive tuition with the great vocalist Joe Higgs, they began their
recording career later that year for Coxsone Dodd, although Marley
had made two singles for producer Leslie Kong in 1962 - "Judge
Not" and "One Cup Of Coffee". 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 - from cover versions of US soul and doo-wop with ska
backing, to the newer, less frantic "rude-boy" sounds that
presaged the development of rocksteady, and including many songs that
Marley re-recorded in the 70s. In late 1965, Braithwaite left to go
to America, and Kelso and Smith also departed that year.
On 10 February 1966, Marley married Rita Anderson, at the time a member
of the Soulettes, later to become one of the I-Threes and a solo vocalist
in her own right. 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 (though it was actually self-produced and
released on their own label, Wail 'N' Soul "M"). 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; for the first time there were overtly Rasta songs. 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, who hit the UK charts in April 1972 with the 1968 Marley
composition, "Stir It Up". This association proved incapable
of supporting them, and they began recording for producer Leslie Kong,
who had already enjoyed international success with Desmond Dekker,
the Pioneers and Jimmy Cliff. 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 them. 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 group 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, although
the label had concentrated on the rock market since the late 60s.
Their first album for the company, 1973's Catch A Fire, was packaged
like a rock album, and targeted at the album market in which Island
had been very successful. The band arrived in the UK in April 1973
to tour and appear on television. In July 1973 they supported Bruce
Springsteen at Max's Kansas City club 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 signalled
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, not only on the series of albums recorded
for Island but also by extensive touring, the band moved from the
mainstream of Jamaican music into the global market. As the influence
of Bob Marley spread, not only as a musician but also as a symbol
of success from the so-called "Third World", the music made
locally pursued its own distinct course.
1975 was the year in which the group 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, comprising material
from the Lyceum concerts, 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, following a harmless incident
when he stubbed his foot during a game of football, he had an operation
in Miami to remove cancer cells from his right toe.
His albums Exodus and Kaya enjoyed 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 that took in
the USA, Canada, Japan, Australia and New Zealand. His own label,
Tuff Gong, was expanding its interests, developing new talent. The
album Survival was released to the usual acclaim, being particularly
successful in Africa. The song "Zimbabwe" was subsequently
covered many times by African artists. 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
with the controversial cancer specialist Dr. Josef Issels. By 3 May,
the doctor had given up. Marley flew 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.
