Ziggy Marley is hailing academy Award winning Director
Kevin MacDonald’s new movie as the definitive film of the life and music of his
father Bob Marley. And he’s probably
right. The extended family of the
legendary Jamaican musician and Rastafarian co-operated fully with the making
of the movie which gave McDonald access to both people and material which would
never have been available to him otherwise.
It is both a blessing (he manages to conduct some 60 interviews) and
also a disadvantage because there is very little dissent or argument from any
of them from the main proposition that the man was a God.
Born in St Ann’s a rural village in the hills of
Jamaica in 1945, Marley never met his father, a old white British adventurer
who seemed to wander the hills impregnating local women before moving on. All he left behind for his pale skinned son
was his name and the mystery as to who he actually was. At the age of 12, his mother upped sticks and
took Bob and his siblings to the capital Kingston for a better life, if that is what living in
a poor notorious shack village called Trench Town could be called. Then when
his was 17, his mother left for America and Bob was totally abandoned.
The details of his childhood are significant for the
fact that his own attempts at being a father later in life (only really alluded
to in the movie) resulted him having 11 children by seven different women.
Finding his feet as a musician and his eventual fame
was no easy path. He initially started playing ska and rock until he embraced
reggae music with the same passion that he had Rastafari once his catholic
mother was off the scene. He made both
of them very much his own. He met his
financial savior Chris Blackwell of Island Records in London after he ended up there
broke when an ill-conceived tour backing soul singer Johnny Nash fell apart. He persuaded
Blackwell to finance an album, and back in Kingston he recorded ‘Catch a
Fire’, the first ever reggae record to have been made in a state of the art recording
studio. It was a very big hit and the start of everything for Marley
Now after years of struggling he had Eric Clapton
doing a hit cover version of his ‘I Shot The Sheriff’, and Blackwell turned
over his luxurious Kingston mansion for Marley and his growing retinue. He had finally escaped Trench Town. International success however was much tougher to
crack. A US tour backing 'Sly & The
Family Stone' ended prematurely when they were fired (allegedly for being better
than the main act), and Bob's group The Wailers disbanded.
The 70’s saw Marley living and recording in London …
his album 'Exodus' was in the British charts for 58 consecutive weeks. Back home in Jamaica there was great social and
political unrest with armed gangs running amok and making everyday life in
Kingston completely dangerous. On his
return Marley was shot the day before a Benefit Concert he was doing for Manley
the Jamaican PM and he was subsequently hailed as a hero when he went ahead
with his appearance showing off his wounds.
On another occasion he agreed to headline the ‘One Love Peace Concert’
and in the middle of his act dragged on both Candidates running for Prime
Minister and had these bitter enemies acknowledge each other in public. It once and for all cemented Marley’s role as
the people’s hero.
Marley died of cancer at the age of 36 in 1981, exactly
one year after he had finally broken through professionally in the USA.
His wife Rita had been a part of his entire adult life
as the mother of 4 of the children, his main backing singer, and as his
guardian angel who had to get rid of the girlfriends when they overstayed their
welcome in his dressing room. She also waxed lyrically about the man, which
seemed a tad odd, and the only dismissive comment she makes on camera is her
disdain on how Bob and all the Rastafarians played homage to ‘their God’ Haile Selassie on his
rapturous visit to Jamaica and Rita claims they were crazy to do as he was
‘just a liddle man’.
So with what little prior-knowledge of the man I had I
have no idea if the wonderful rich and colorful picture McDonald has painted in this entertaining movie is close to the actual truth,
or if is a great deal of how the family would like him to be remembered. And how important is that anyway? Marley died a wealthy man, although he lived
in mansions, he simply wasn't that interested in all the ‘trappings’ he claimed
‘his richness was life’. His refusal to
write a Will has evidently left his enormous extended family (allegedly) using
what is left to sue each other for their share.
What is not in dispute is the legacy of his music. That will remain as joyous as it is for ever.
P.S. I attended the US Premiere of Marley here in
Miami with many of the family present. This
is , as his daughter Cedelia said in the Q & A, a second home to the
Marleys. It was also the place that Bob
finally left this earth. The movie is scheduled to open in the US on 04/12/12 but it has been announced that it will also be the very first movie to be available to view on Facebook the same day the DVD/Blu Ray will be released in the future. Be warned though it is 150 mins long!
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