Bob Marley

Aston "Family Man" Barrett, one of the Wailers, has died at 77. RIP

Reggae legend, sadly died before his time, and currently being reappraised after a new film based on him, One Love, is due out this month. So it's clearly time (at last) for a thread on his musical contribution. Like with these:

One Love

Three Little Birds

Waiting In Vain

Is This Love? (live)

Iron Lion Zion

Rock Milestones: Legend - Bob Marley and the Wailers
A 1984 compilation which redirected Marley's legacy, and became one of the biggest-selling albums ever for the "Sly Stone of reggae". This show took a track-by-track approach. The only down notes were suggestions that his political material was omitted to offer a watered down version of the man, but a project like this wasn't intended to be definitive. So that's why it isn't.

Bob Marley: Freedom Road
A fairly impressive account of his life and music. He was compared to being a Jamaican MLK, and his cancer was an unlucky nemesis that took a few years to develop from its initial source. Two former Jamaican PMs were interviewed here, which is more impressive than is sometimes the case.

Bob Marley - Up Close and Personal
The usual stuff about his uniting the Wailers and his backing singers, meeting and signing with Chris Blackwell at Island Records, finding life more amenable (and less violent) in London, how he suffered what turned out to be his fatal foot injury in Germany, and how his prolific number of albums resulted in more dross than gold. Ah, but what gold!

Classic Albums: Catch A Fire - The Wailers
How Island Records polished up Bob Marley's 1st big record in the UK, with tracks like Stir It Up, Slave Driver and Concrete Jungle. There was archive of Bob and Peter Tosh, whilst other engineers and band members were able to speak for themselves, in this repeat from 1999.

Marley
Lengthy and familiar relating of the story of perhaps Jamaica's biggest musical export, with footage of the man himself, as well as many of his friends and family. That he had plenty of faults was never really considered for long (such as having fathered 11 kids via 7 different relationships), and the religion angle was pretty much left to stand too. It was possible that the cancer which killed him, had been inadequately treated at first diagnosis, but Bob was his own worst enemy in some respects.

Roots Reggae Rebellion
Young reggae star Akala recounted the all-too-familiar saga of how ska developed into rock steady and then reggae, how the Rastafari religion took hold in Jamaica, how Bob Marley became so bloody popular, and so on and so on. The music's interest, the Marley-thologising is boring me to tears now.

Bob Marley - The Making of a Legend
Actress Esther Anderson became connected to Bob Marley, and took early home movies of him and other band members in the early 70s. The tapes were believed lost for 37 years until they turned up in Canada, and hence this 2011 film with Esther relating her story. When Bob cheated on her with Cindy Brakespeare, she was philosophical about it, but when she learned Bob was in fact married to Rita, then she left him. I came away with admiration for her, and less for him.

When Bob Marley Came to Britain
The reggae legend made several trips in the 1970s, as he built up a reputation and audience, culminating in his 1977 album Exodus, and the fateful football match where a toe injury presaged later greater health issues.

Bob Marley - Reimagined
The Chineke Orchestra were joined by various singers from JP Cooper to Ruby Turner to Skip Marley, as they provided orchestral backing to Bob's songs, before all joined on a finale of One Love.

Rockpalast - Bob Marley and the Wailers
They went to Dortmund in 1980, on one of his last ever gigs, apparently, but they spent a long old time and did plenty of big hits too.

Bob Marley and the Wailers - The Capitol Session '73
In October 1973, as part of early attempts to impress an American record label, they went to a studio to perform several songs, sometimes more than once. A fairly intriguing look at the legend in a less polished phase.

Bob Marley - His Journey
Another cheap effort. from 2008, but with a wide spread of contributors. Part seemed to be shot in Jamaica, and a lot of the rest just the usual studio-based stuff.

Behind The Music: Bob Marley
This updated edition from 2002 was longer than the usual editions, but did include many family and friends, and even the celebrity fan inclusion of Keith Richards, obviously on a good day.