Update No.
39
Volume 6: Issue 3: Autumn 2006
MARLEY BOOK ROUND UP
The Book of Exodus : Vivien Goldman (Three Rivers Press; ISBN 1-4000-5286-6)
Subtitled "The Making & Meaning Of Bob Marley & The Wailers' Album Of The Century," author Vivien Goldman delves intelligently into the historic events leading up to and culminating in the Wailers 1977 ground-breaking album.
Plotting the creation of the album from recordings in Jamaica in 1975 through to it's completion in London two years later, Goldman collates the story from band members memories, precious interview tapes and her own recollections of attending several of the London sessions. Such insider documentation of events are sadly very rare among the avalanche of Wailers literature, so Vivien's insight into what was a crucial period in Marley's continuing rise to worldwide stardom becomes an essential chapter in Bob's life story.
Aside from investigating the actual creation of the albums music, the book sets a juxtposition between the biblical tale of Exodus, Marley's life and the record itself, all told with an illuminating verve. Herein we also learn of Ernest Gold's film-epic soundtrack that inspired Familyman's equally epic arrangement of Marley's own Exodus - a tale itself that challenges the recent court claims against Barretts credibility as a Wailer.
The Book of Exodus is simply one of the best Marley books ever written. A worthy companion to Marley's masterpiece in which the author creates her own work of greatness.
Bob Marley - His Musical Legacy : Jeremy Collingwood (Cassel Illustrated - hardback; ISBN 1-84403-343-0)
Coming from the collectors point of view, Jeremy Collingwood's lavishly illustrated and weighty tome utilises a focused over-view of Marley's recorded output to tell the tale of rags to riches uprising.
Divided into two sections, "side 1" concentrates on the Jamaican years of 1962 through 1974, with the the second "side" taking in the international era 1973 to 1981and beyond. The book itself is designed in a similar style to Adrian Boot and Chris Salewicz's Songs of Freedom (1995, Bloomsbury Press), an attractive layout with plenty of photographic "eye-candy."
Each section follows Marley's career year-by-year, recording-by-recording, with a simple but informative assesment of each track providing a concise and accurate account of his entire recorded legacy, from Judge Not right through to the Uprising album of 1980.
As well as the two "sides," His Musical Legacy also provides interesting bonus essays, covering a brief history of Jamaica, Bob's early life, Sound Systems, Stardom and politics and religion. The posthumous years thankfully concentrate on the official releases, and a further essay mulls over the remixing of Marley's recordings.
The final pages are given over to a well thought out discography section. Here we have much more than just a dour listing of Marley's vinyl, but a user-friendly, easy-to-navigate reference containing collectors notes, a buying guide and even a Wailers timeline and tour guide. This section of the book is a worthy companion to Roger Steffens and Leroy Jodie Piersons Definitive Discography book.
Many of the photographic elements of His Musical Legacy will already be familiar to collectors of the 1967-1972 JAD sets released through Koch and Universal in recent years, and indeed the book also serves as a great companion to those various sets in particular, but while there are only a few rare to the eye images here, the overall presentation is just about faultless with pictures of rare singles, press photos and publications peppering the book.
His Musical Legacy acts as an excellent manual to Marley's career that fans both new and old will find compelling.
Bob Marley - His Musical Legacy by Jeremy Collingwod is published in paperback by Cassel Illustrated on 14th September 2006; ISBN 1-84403-505-0
Marley Legend : James Henke (Simon & Shuster; ISBN 0-7432-8551-4)
And here we have yet another take on the Marley Legend. Published to mark the 25th anniversary of Marley's passing (or maybe more cynically to cash in,) Henke repeats the formula he used on his previous book Lennon Legend. Housed in a hardback slipcase, the book proper is a treasure trove of replicated memorabilia and reproduction pull outs, all garnish to the much chewed over main course of Marley's life story told in the main text.
Nicely illustrated throughout, with a few genuinely rare pictures among the more common images, Marley Legend does a good if unspectacular job of recounting it's subjects life from ghetto zero to international hero and, ultimately, posthumous legend or if you prefer reggae martyr.
The books main attraction is of course the replicated memorabilia. First up is a miniture family-album with photos of Bob's mother Cedella Booker, his father Norval (on horseback) and Bob himself at the tender age of four.Nothing to get too excited about as all images have been seen elsewhere, but nicely presented. An invitation card to a 1959 Kingston street party is possibly a little irrelevent but holds a nice period charm, while the famous 1970 Tuff Gong poster and 1973 Matrix press release are welcome inclusions.
A couple of backstage passes, a Burnin' tour flyer, 1976 tour sticker, 1977 newspaper article and a partial repro of the 1980 Uprising tour program are among other delights to be found, but the real gems are the handwriten lyrics to Turn Your Lights Down Low and Waiting In Vain and the sketchbook obtained from Wailers art director Neville Garrick.Unfortunately two of the posters enclosed are well known fakes; the fantasy George Harrison-Bob Marley Lyceum 75 concert poster, and the fraudulent One Love Peace Concert poster (supposedly from 1978 but featuring a later shot of Bob.)
Marley Legend is an entertaining publication and one that is now widely available for half it's original recommended retail price, leaving no excuse for fans not to own a copy. The package also features an interview CD that features excerpts from the well known "Interviews" album and "restaurant 79" interview.
Before the Legend : Christopher John Farley (Amistad/Harper & Collins; ISBN 13-978-0-06-053991-7)
TO FOLLOW...
check back soon!
BUNNY TO TOUR WITH MARLEY SONS
By JAKE COYLE (AP Entertainment Writer)
From Associated Press
June 07, 2006 5:21 PM EDT
NEW YORK - Bunny Wailer, the reggae legend who was one of the original Wailers along with Bob Marley and Peter Tosh, will tour for the first time with a new generation of Marleys.
Wailer will play alongside Marley's sons, Stephen and Ziggy, on the Roots, Rock, Reggae Festival, a month-long tour that opens Aug. 6 in Redway, Calif., after a year hiatus.
The 59-year-old Wailer, whose real name is Neville O'Riley Livingston, said in a phone interview from Jamaica that he considers it his "responsibility and duty" to tour with the Marley family.
"I'm the foundation of all of this stuff," he told The Associated Press. "And I remain; someway, somehow I've been sustained to be here. And there's a new generation that's now being established musically that's coming from the Wailers' family."
Stephen Marley, 34, will headline the tour, which will make stops including Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Boston and Philadelphia. Ziggy Marley, 37, will also perform, as will the group Ozomatli.
Wailer, who last released the album "Communication" in 2000, is the lone surviving member of the Wailers. Marley died of cancer in 1981; Tosh was murdered in 1987.
As such, Wailer has long been an elder statesman to the Jamaican music scene. Of the Marley children, he remembered, "In our time, they were babies."
"This is like another dimension," he said. "The legend continues - let's put it that way."
While Stephen and Ziggy Marley have combined new musical styles to fit their father's reggae, Wailer also fused genres through the `80s and `90s, and plans to continue to do so.
"A lot of people have been hearing Bunny Wailer singing reggae music, but they're not aware of other musical cultures that Bunny Wailer is inclined to present," he said. "I have to at least let (the new generation) know that I've been listening."
Wailer said he's been steadily writing music and has recently been working on an album to be titled, "Cross Culture," that will include hip-hop and R&B influences.
NEW YORK ROAD TO BE NAMED AFTER MARLEY
published: Tuesday | May 23, 2006
http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20060523/news/news2.html
Brooklyn, NY:
A SECTION of Church Avenue, extending from East 98th Street to Remsen Avenue in Brooklyn, New York, is to be co-named Bob Marley Boulevard in honour of the late reggae singer.
The New York City Council, under the sponsorship of Charles Barron, Council member for the 42nd district, voted for the co-naming following a proposal from Community Board 17 earlier this year.
Chairman of Community Board 17, Jamaican-born Michael Russell, welcomed the vote, but said the board had hoped that Bob Marley Boulevard would have extended several more blocks to Bedford Avenue. He, however, thanked the City Council for making the co-naming effort a reality.
HELP TO ENERGISE, REVITALISE
"Bob Marley is an iconic image, an image reproduced on postage stamps, on posters, clothing and many other mediums. The co-naming of Church Avenue, which is the cultural hub of the Caribbean community, will help to energise and revitalise the commercial strip of Church Avenue," he said.
Among the community leaders and elected officials who praised the decision to co-name Church Avenue are Assemblyman Nick Perry.
POSITIVE MESSAGE
"As East Flatbush residents shop and travel on Church Avenue and see Marley's name on those signposts, it will always remind them of the profound message of the lyrics of one of his more popular songs, One Love; that in these times of violence and terrorism and the abundance of guns in our streets, if we can get together and love each other, everything will be alright."
Chairman Russell concludes that it was also a profound recognition of Marley's life and work, adding that it will "serve to remind everyone who travels along the busy thoroughfare of those who came before us and dedicated their lives to create positive and meaningful change."
A commemorative committee will be created to put the mechanisms in place for the unveiling at a later date at which time the Marley family, elected officials, the entertainment community and the general public will be invited.
MARLEY'S DENY JAMIE FOXX FILM CLAIMS
Rumours that Oscar winning American actor Jamie Foxx is set to play Bob Marley in a film of the legendary Jamaican stars life have been denied by the Bob Marley Foundation.
Responding to earlier claims that Foxx was to play the lead in Algerian-born director Rachid Bouchareb film of Marley's uprising, the Marley Foundation told the Jamaica Observer that any film project was "underway or under discussion." The Observer reports that "the representative then said that Mrs Marley was presently in Gambia, Africa, participating in a cultural festival, and could not comment. Efforts to contact the Marleys' overseas publicist, Paula Witt at Shore Fire proved unsuccessful."
An earlier project to film Bob Marley's life-story fell through in the late 1990's.
GET TOGETHER AND FEEL ALRIGHT
The messageboard at www.bobmarleymagazine.com has fast developed into the ultimate meeting place on the internet for any self respecting fan to meet and discuss all things related to Bob and the Wailers.
Thanks to a solid, and ever growing community, the exemplary work of Marco and Ivan, and of course the inspiration of Jah, it is possible for fans to discuss the music and life of Bob, Peter, Bunny and the Wailers band members, set up trades for unreleased live and demo material, and just generally meet with like minded spirits - not to mention the fantastic interviews that appear on the sites main pages .
If you haven`t registered to the forum yet, I strongly urge you to leave this page now and do so - you won`t regret it. Just don`t forget to return here once in a while!
Site compiled by Andy Clayden with thanks to Emily Sharp.
Previous Updates:
Number 37, Spring 2006
Number 35, Autumn 2005
Number 33, Spring 2005 Number 32, October/December 2004
Number 31, August/September 2004 Number 30, May 2004
Number 29, April 2004 Number 28, January 2004
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Bob Marley Magazine Django! Ska, Rocksteady & Reggae
http://robertnestamarley.free.fr http://intelligentdiplomat.free.fr
www.melodymakers.de bobmarleyshop.com
www.wailer.de The Wailers News
www.bobmarley.freeserve.co.uk http://go.to/bobmarleyshows
www.mentomusic.com http://membres.lycos.fr/semayat
Contact: jahlight@wailers.co.uk