|
Stan the man. |
I first came across the music of
Bob Marley in 1977 when I was introduced to the album Rastaman Vibrations (1976). Between 1977 and 1978 I worked for a
company that described themselves as Environmental Planning Engineers, the work
included fitting office space in London with demountable partitioning for various
clients, including the government bodies. Part of the work included
redecoration for which we employed a team of subcontracting decorators, the
youngest of whom was a young black guy called Stan who smoked the biggest and
fattest spiffs I’d ever encountered and it was Stan that persuaded me to give reggae
music a listen. Thanks to him I began an appreciation of the music of the
Jamaican born genius.
|
The lion of Judah. |
Marley’s cult status is
unparalleled in modern history for some one that died at such a very young age.
His universal appeal is not only due to his music but also to his political legacy;
this is superbly demonstrated in Kevin Macdonald’s biographical portrait Marley
(2012). The documentary charts Bob’s life from his birth into poverty to a
white father, who originated from Sussex in England the self styled 60 year old
‘Captain’ Norval Sinclair Marley, and Cedella Booker an 18 year old
Afro-Jamaican, his subsequent move from Nine Mile Parish in St Ann, Jamaica to
Trench Town in Kingston with his mother, his father had already done a bunk
some years earlier, through his rather complicated love life (11 children by 7
different women), and his embracement of a black God through Haile Selassie and
the Rastafarian movement. It also gives you a detailed insight in to his
musical career from its earliest beginnings right up to height of his international
fame and his death from cancer at the age of 36 in 1981.
|
Bob and Rita with their young family. |
The film includes some very
interesting and informative interviews with various people including his wife
Rita, his son Ziggy and daughter Cedella along with ex-band members and other
people that helped make musical career what it is today. Macdonald has
interwoven some great performance footage into the biopic, with the early
material being the most intriguing. Even if, like me, you consider yourself
quite knowledgeable about the reggae stars life I can assure you that you will
find plenty in Macdonald’s very lively 145-minute film to interest you as well
as gaining a greater appreciation about how mankind lost a great charismatic peace-loving
hero.
|
The great Bob Marley seen in action. |
No comments:
Post a Comment