Black History Month

Bob Marley artist, singer, composer (1945-1981) Born Robert Nesta Marley on February 6, 1945, in Nine Milees, (st. Ann) Jamaica, from a middle age white father and a teenage Black mother, Robert Nesta Marley transcended the humility of his rural beginnings to become not only a million–selling artist and stadium filling entertainer, but a nearly religious figure whose pleas for brotherhood and justice achieved universal anthemic status. At the young age of 16, he started singing professionally, releasing his first single “judge Not” on the Beverley’s Label, under the names Robert Marley and Bobby Martell. However, “Judge Not” and its follow-up “One Cup of Coffee” were not successful. Due to his musical hunger he asked Joe Higgs to tutor him, Joe Higgs was a recording artist who coached local youngster like Marley, Bunny Livingstone, and Peter Tosh (who would become (The Wailers) for free. Signed in 1963 to Coxsone Dodd’s Studio One Label, The Wailers saw their first release, “Simmer Down,” become an instant number # 1 During the next two-and-a-half years, the group recorded over a hundred songs, and at one point in 1965, they held five of the top ten slots on the Jamaican charts. Noticing that they were not getting enough of the money made from their records, they formed their own label, Wail ‘n Soul in 1966. The Wailers continued a series of local hits, with little financial remuneration. Following the album “Best of the Wailers” with producer Leslie Kong (which may have led to his own death), they joined forces with the seminal oddball producer, Lee Perry, and produced an amazing series of singles that are collected under a variety of names and remain their finest hour. In 1972, Island Records president Chris Blackwell signed The Wailers to a record contract. Allowing them to release records under there new label, Tuff Gong, but after there first two albums with Island, the group broke up, leaving Marley at the head of the band (now named Bob Marley and the Wailers), to which he added a female backing trio, The Threes (Rita Marley, Judy Mowatt, and Marcia Griffiths). During his raise to fame, Marley made his beliefs in Rastafari, well known to the observing public. Most ignorant observers viewed Marley as a long haired, herb smoking troublemaker, but the young, more understanding youth saw him as humanitarian achievement. He headlined a Peace Concert that same year in Jamaica, bringing together Prime Minister Michael Manley and Edward Seaga, the leader of the opposition. However, his greatest honor came when hen was invited to headline the Zimbabwe Independence Celebrations in 1980. He outdrew the Pope in Milan, sold ten of millions of records worldwide, left a $30 million estate, and died at the young age of 36 from melanoma.