Bob Marley Born February 6, 1945

Robert Nesta MarleyBorn February 6, 1945 St. Ann Parish, Jamaica

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He was born to Norval and Cedella married in 1945. He spent his early life in a rural community of Nine Miles. The residents of Nine Miles preserved many of the customs from their African ancestry.

In keeping with tradition the art of story-telling is a way for them to share the past which are oftertimes overlooked in official historical sources.

During Bob's childhood he heard many proverbs and fables that were associated with his rural life, these would provide a deeper cultural context to his songwriting.

Quote"Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery; none but ourselves can free our minds." Bob Marley

Early Life in JamaicaA childhood friend named Neville Bunny ORiley Livingston inspired Bob to learn how to play the quitar, and they took vocal classes in the principles of rhythm, harmony and melody.

Marley and Livingston devoted much of their time to music and with the guidance of Joe Higgs(reggae musician), Marley worked on improving his singing abilities.

Bob met another student of Higgs named Peter Tosh who would play an important role in Marleys career.

In 1950 Bob moved to Trench Town where he had to learn how to defend himself from the rude boys and bad men. His fighting skills earned him the Respectful nickname Tuff Gang.

Trench Town

Trench Town was a culturally richcommunity where his musical talents were nurtured. Hearing the music over the radio from such artists as Ray Charles, Elvis Presley, Fats Domino and the Drifters, gave Marley inspiration.

A lifelong source of inspiration, Bob immortalized Trench Town in his songs "No Woman No Cry" (1974), "Trench Town Rock" (1975) and "Trench Town.

By 1960 the islands music industry was beginning to take shape and its development gave birth to an indigenous popular Jamaican music form called ska. This is a local interpretation of American soul and R&B, with an irresistible accent on the offbeat.

Up a cane river to wash my dread;Upon a rock I rest my head.There I vision through the seas of oppression, oh-oo-wo!Don't make my life a prison.

We come from Trench Town, Trench Town (Trenchtown) -Most of them come from Trench Town.We free the people with music (sweet music);Can we free the people with music (sweet music)?Can we free our people with music? - With music,With music, oh music!

Oh-y, my head,In desolate places we'll find our bread,And everyone see what's taking place, oh-oo-wo! -Another page in history.

Trench Town Audio

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Ska is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 50s, and was the precursor to rock n'roll and reggae. Ska combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm & blues. (SKA Scene.com)

By the mid 60s, the jaunty ska beat had metamorphosed into the slower paced rock-steady sound, which soon gave way to Jamaica's signature reggae rhythm around 1968. Bob, who, at twenty-one, married a beautiful Trench Town Sunday school teacher named Rita (and stayed married to her until his death), fathered an untold number of kids by an untold number of women. The general estimate puts the number of Marleys progeny at around twenty. The way he could tell his children, he said, was by the way each spoke out of the side of his or her mouth, the way he did.

Bob was also a professional level soccer player and played a wicked game of ping-pong.

Exploring his spiritual side Bob developed an interest in The Rastafarian Movement. This movement began in Jamaica in the 1930s and drew many of its believes from the Jamaican nationalist Marcus Garvey, the Old Testament, the Jamaicans' African heritage and the local culture.

When Rastafarian first emerged in Jamaica it allowed Africans to connect to their homeland ancestry. Thirty Five years after Bob's death, his enlightened lyrics, Wailers' accompaniment, powerful drum and bass continue to provide a voice for the suffering masses, the injustices of political corruption and the indignities of racial oppression, in the all-encompassing spirit of "One Love".

Bob Marley helped introduce reggae music to the world and remains one of the genre's most beloved artists to this day.

Wailing Wailers

In 1963, Marley, Livingston, and McIntosh formed the Wailing Wailers with their first single, Simmer Down. It went to the top of the charts in Jamaica.

Simmer Down AudioThe first single, Simmer Down, was Bobs way of cautioning the ghetto youths to control their tempers or the battle would be hotter, and the song reportedly sold over 80,00 copies.

In 1970 soaring unemployment, rationed food supplies, pervasive political violence and the IMFs stranglehold on Jamaican economy influenced the social consciousness that came to define Bobs lyrics.

In 1972 Bob Marley and the Wailers got their big break when they landed a contract with Island Records, founded by Chris Blackwell.

Their first album was called Catch a Fire and to support the record the Wailers toured Britain and the United States in 1973.Here are some of those lyrics from Slave Driver, it speaks for itself

Ev'rytime I hear the crack of a whip,My blood runs cold.I remember on the slave ship,How they brutalize the very souls.Today they say that we are free,Only to be chained in poverty.Good God, I think it's illiteracy;It's only a machine that makes money.Slave driver, the table is turn, y'all. Ooh-ooh-oo-ooh.

Slave driver, uh! The table is turn, baby, now; (catch a fire)Catch a fire, so you can get burn, baby, now. (catch a fire)Slave driver, the table is turn, y'all; (catch a fire)Catch a fire: so you can get burn, now. (catch a fire)

Following the successful "Catch A Fire" tour, the Wailers promptly recorded their second album for Island Records, "Burnin", which was released in October, 1973. Featuring some of Bob's most celebrated songs, "Burnin" introduced their timeless anthem of insurgency "Get Up Stand Up" and "I Shot The Sheriff", which Eric Clapton covered and took to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 in 1974; Clapton's cover significantly elevated Bob Marley's international profile, the same year that Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer left the group.

Get Up, Stand Up

I Shot the Sheriff

The Wailers band included Rita Marley, Marcia Griffiths and Judy Mowatt, Family Man and Carly Barrett, Junior Marvin on rhythm guitar, Al Anderson on lead guitar, Tyrone Downie and Earl "Wya" Lindo on keyboards and Alvin "Seeco" Patterson playing percussion.

Characterized by spiritually and socially conscious lyrics, the "Natty Dread" album included a rousing blues-influenced celebration of reggae, "Lively Up Yourself", which Bob used to open many of his concerts. The struggles of his Trench Town youth are poignantly conveyed on "No Woman No Cry", while the Natty Dread title track played a significant role in introducing the Rastafarian culture and philosophies to the world.

No Woman No Cry

Bob Marley catapulted to international stardom in 1976 with the release of "Rastaman Vibration", his only album to reach the Billboard Top 200, peaking at #8. With the inclusion of "Crazy Baldhead", which decries "brainwash education" and the stirring title cut, "Rastaman Vibration" presented a clearer understanding of Rastafarian teachings to the mainstream audience that was now attentively listening.

Also included was "War", its lyrics adapted from an impassioned speech to the United Nations General Assembly in 1963, delivered by Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie, I whom Rastafarians consider a living God. Thirty-five years after its initial release "War" remains an unassailable anthem of equality, its empowering spirit embraced by dispossessed people everywhere.

POLITICS Being a supporter of the Peoples' National Party, with its influence in his native land was seen as a threat to the party. This may have led to the assassination attempt in 1976, The band was rehearsing on December 3 when a group of gunmen attacked. Marley was hit in the sternum and the bicep, his wife was hit in the head. They were not severly injuried. His manager Don Taylor was not so lucky, he was shot five times and underwent surgery to save his life.

If the ambush was an attempt to stop the Smile Jamaica concert of as a warning to silence the revolutionary spirit within his music, it had failed. He defiantly performed "War" at this concert, which drew in about 80,000 people. He went into seclusion shortly after this concert and few people knew where he was.

He went to work on his Exodus album. This album draws on the biblical story of Moses and the Israelites leaving exile and his own situation. This album is considered to be one of the best ever made.

The Exodus title track provided a call for change, the movement of Jah people. Incorporating spiritual and political concerns into its groundbreaking mixture of reggae, rock and soul-funk.

Exodus Audio

Bob released "Survival", his ninth album for Island, in the summer of 1979. His definitive statement on the 1976 assassination attempt, "Survival" is a brilliant, politically progressive work championing pan-African solidarity. "Survival" also included "Africa Unite" and "Zimbabwe", the latter an anthem for the soon-to-be liberated colony of Rhodesia. In April, 1980 Bob and the Wailers performed at Zimbabwe's official Independence Ceremony at the invitation of the country's newly elected president Robert Mugabe. This profound honor reconfirmed the importance of Bob Marley and the Wailers throughout the African Diaspora and reggae's significance as a unifying and liberating force.

Africa Unite Audio

The final album to be released in Bob's lifetime, "Uprising", helped to fulfill another career objective. Bob had openly courted an African American listenership throughout his career and he made a profound connection to that demographic with "Could You Be Loved", which incorporated a danceable reggae-disco fusion. "Could You Be Loved" reached #6 and #56 respectively on Billboard's Club Play Singles and Black Singles charts. "Uprising" also included contemplative odes to Bob's Rastafarian beliefs, "Zion Train" and "Forever Loving Jah", and the deeply moving "Redemption Song" a stark, acoustic declaration of enduring truths and profoundly personal musings.

Could You Be Loved Audio

Upon his return to Jamaica in 1978 his one love peace concert, was another attempt to stop the rampant violence stemming from the Peoples' National Party and their rivalry with the JLP party. The event featured 16 reggae acts and was called a "Third World Woodstock".

In the concerts most memorable scenario Bob had the JLP leader Edward Seaga and Prime Minister Michael Manley come onstage. As they played "Jamming" Bob urged the politicians to shake hands.

In 1978 he returned to Jamaica to perform his One Love Peace concert.. The event was another effort aimed at curtailing the rampant violence stemming from the senseless PNP-JLP rivalries; the event featured 16 prominent reggae acts and was dubbed a "Third World Woodstock". In the concert's most memorable scenario

He clasped his left hand over theirs, and raised their arms and chanted "Jah Rastafari". In June 1978 he traveled to the United Nations in New York where he received the Medal of Peace for recognition of his courageous attempt to bridge Jamica's political divide.

Also in 1978 he made his first trip to Africa, an especially important nation to him as it is viewed as the spiritual homeland to Rastafarians. This trip may have inspired his next album Survival (1979) which was seen as a call for greater unity and an end to oppression on the African continent.

Redemption Song The song urges listeners to "Emancipate yourself from mental slavery," because "None but ourselves can free our minds". These lines were taken from a speech given by Marcus Garvey in Nova Scotia during October 1937 and published in his Black Man magazine.

We are going to emancipate ourselves from mental slavery because whilst others might free the body, none but ourselves can free the mind. Mind is your only ruler, sovereign. The man who is not able to develop and use his mind is bound to be the slave of the other man who uses his mind ...

In 2009, Jamaican poet and broadcaster Mutabaruka chose "Redemption Song" as the most influential recording in Jamaican music history.

Two days after Marley learned that the cancer that started in his big toe from a football injury in 1977, had spread throughout his body. He fought the disease for eight months, traveling to Germany to undergo treatment at the clinic of Dr. Josef Issels. In the beginning of May 1981 he left Germany to return to Jamiaca but did not complete the journey, the cancer had taken his life in a hospital in Miami.

The Bob Marley influence throughout the world remains unparalleled, irrespective of race, color or creed. His music challenged colonialism, racism,has had profound effects. He fought against ism and scism as he sang in "One Drop", even in countries that did not speak English. August, 2008, two musicians from war scarred countries of Serbia and Croatia unveiled a statue of Bob Marley during a rock music festival in Serbia. The monument inscription read, "Bob Marley, Fighter for Freedom Armed with a Guitar". "Marley was chosen because he promoted peace and tolerance in his music," said Mirko Miljus, an organizer of the event.

In Koh Lipe, Thailand on February 6th Bob Marley's birthday is celebrated for three days. On Waitangi Day in New Zealand honoring the unifying treaty signed between European and the indigenous population Bob Marley's life and music are essential components.

April 6, 1979 the Maori greeted Bob with a traditional song and dance ceremony usually reserved for visiting dignitaries. Don Taylor referred to the welcoming ritual as one of the most treasured memories for reggae music on the world. This ritual had a big impact on Bob, knowing that he had made a difference on the world.

On April 17, 1980 the former British colony of Rhodesia was liberated and officially renamed Zimbabwe and the flag was replaced with the red, gold, green and black flag we see today. It is said that the first words officially spoken in the new nation were "ladies and gentlemen, Bob Marley and the Wailers".

For the Zimbabwean freedom fighters who listened to Bob Marley, drew inspiration and strength from his lyrics. Marley penned a tribute to their efforts, "Zimbabwe", which was included on the most overtly political album of his career, 1979's "Survival" and he was invited to headline their official liberation celebrations.

Zimbabwean police used tear gas to control the crowds that stampeded through the gates of Harare's Rufaro Stadium to get a glimpse of Marley onstage. As several members of Marley's entourage fled for cover, he returned to the stage to perform "Zimbabwe", his words resounding with a greater urgency amidst the ensuing chaos: "to divide and rule could only tear us apart, in everyman chest, there beats a heart so soon we'll find out who is the real revolutionaries and I don't want my people to be tricked by mercenaries."

Every man gotta right to decide his own destiny,And in this judgement there is no partiality.So arm in arms, with arms, we'll fight this little struggle,'Cause that's the only way we can overcome our little trouble.

Brother, you're right, you're right,You're right, you're right, you're so right!We gon' fight (we gon' fight), we'll have to fight (we gon' fight),We gonna fight (we gon' fight), fight for our rights!

Natty Dread it in-a (Zimbabwe);Set it up in (Zimbabwe);Mash it up-a in-a Zimbabwe (Zimbabwe);Africans a-liberate (Zimbabwe), yeah.

No more internal power struggle;We come together to overcome the little trouble.Soon we'll find out who is the real revolutionary,'Cause I don't want my people to be contrary.Zimbabwe Lyrics.

Bob Marley achieved many great accomplishments during his life, including serving as a world ambassador for reggae music, which earned him induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994. He sold more than 20 million records making him the first international superstar to emerge from the so called third world.

Marley made a commitment to fight oppression which continues today through an organization established in his memory by the Marley family called "The Bob Marley Foundation" and is devoted to help people and organizations in developing nations.

Bob Marleys last words to his fans video: Bob Marley's Last Words

Bob Marley. Bob Marley Website. 2013. Web. 13 Oct. 2013

Bob Marley Biography. Bio. True Story. 2013. Web. 13 Oct. 2013

Music

Marley, Bob Zimbabwe. Survival. Internet. 2013 Africa Unite. Survival. Internet. 2013 Redemtion Song. Legend. Internet 2013 Could You Be Loved. Uprising. Internet 2013 Exodus. Exodus. Internet 2013 No Woman No Cry. Natty Dread. Internet. 2013 I Shot the Sheriff. Catch A Fire. Internet. 2013 Get Up, Stand Up. Catch A Fire. Internet. 2013 Slave Driver. Catch A Fire. Internet. 2013 Simmer Down. The Wailing Wailers. Internet. 2013 One Love. One Love. Internet 2013 Trench Town. Trench Town Rock. Internet. 2013