Bob Marley & The Wailers - The prophet of reggae utopia

This is a universal story, telling the life and work of the first Third World musician to shine like a star in the firmament of songwriting. The story of an artist who, in just thirty-six years of life, managed to write an enormous number of songs that carried an entire sonic movement, reggae, to upend every logic of marketing as applied to the record industry — with a language capable of transcending race, color, and economic and social status. This is also the story of a sound nicknamed One Drop, when roots reggae overturned the rhythm section by having the drummer accent only the third of the four beats standard in classical Western music. From tiny Jamaica, a revolution that would sweep over rock and roll like a tropical storm. But this is also the story of a great songwriter, capable of harnessing the standard verse/chorus format to convey pure emotion in every word, under the relaxing Caribbean sun. A football fan and ganja smoker; a hypnotic, magnetic personality, closing his eyes and swaying his long dreadlocks on stages all over the world. This is the story of a musician who became a legend, with a star on the Walk of Fame, his Jamaican Order of Merit, millions of records sold, and above all, words that shaped the generations to come under the scorching sun of Kingston.

Chapter One – Growing Up in the Ghetto: Trench Town

Over a river of sugar cane to wash away my fear, on a rock I lay my head, there I see across the seas of oppression, don't make my life a prison, we come from Trench Town, Trench Town

Jamaica is one of the largest islands in the Caribbean, roughly two hundred miles south of the Florida Keys, its economy clinging mainly to the export of coffee, sugar cane, bananas and coconut. With a society split between the wealth of its urban centres, like the capital Kingston, and the fierce poverty of everything beyond them, Jamaica proved fertile ground for political instability and outbreaks of violence. It was in this setting that Nesta Robert Marley (the order of his names would later be reversed) came into the world, in the early afternoon of 6 February 1945. The baby was born in the civil parish of St. Ann, one of the fourteen into which Jamaica is divided. Nesta Robert was the fruit of a decidedly unusual love affair: Cedella Malcolm was just eighteen when she took up with Captain Norval Sinclair Marley, a member of the British army who was sixty years old. Smitten at first sight, the two married at her father's farm in the small rural mountain village of Nine Mile. No sooner had they said their vows than Norval was offered a government job in the capital, Kingston. He left Cedella and St. Ann, returning only to witness the birth of his son, then went back to Kingston for good. Unable to support the child on her own, Cedella began selling corn on her father's estate, while Norval tried to pressure her into handing the boy over to him.

At the age of four, Nesta Robert attended the local Stepney School, where he learned the basics of primary education, letters and numbers. Quickly singled out by his teachers for how fast he learned, the boy seemed too bright to stay in rural Nine Mile. Norval pushed the issue again, and this time won Cedella over: Kingston, he argued, would offer far better schools for the boy's future. But Captain Marley played a series of underhand cards, attempting to hide the child from his mother. A year after the move, Cedella discovered that the boy was not actually living with his father at all, and worse, that he was unhappy with life in Kingston. When she arrived in the capital in early 1952, Cedella found little Bob living in the house of a certain Mrs Grey, hired by Norval with the intention of securing his son a sizeable inheritance after his death. The scheme, however, had been uncovered: Cedella and Robert returned to Nine Mile. Back in the parish of St. Ann, it was back to the modest Stepney School, and above all back to helping out at the family's fruit and vegetable stall. It was during these working hours that Bob began singing the various street vendors' calls he'd picked up during his year of captivity in Kingston. In 1955 came a first major turning point in his life: the captain died of a heart attack at the age of 70, while Cedella was forced to take a job as a domestic servant in Kingston, leaving her son on his grandfather's farm.

At the age of 11, Robert grew close to his cousin Sledger, getting into constant trouble rather than keeping the goats in line. His grandfather Omeriah was forced to keep an eye on him for almost two years, until 1957, when Cedella was finally in a position to support him financially. The boy returned to Kingston once again, but instead of the wealthy Mrs Grey, he found his mother in the capital's west-side ghetto. Better known as Trench Town, this western district of Kingston was Jamaica's third world, a place of open sewers, violence and malnutrition. After the great sugar cane cutters' strike of 1938, the Caribbean island had fallen into a downward economic spiral, while independence from Britain, declared in 1962, pushed the country's two main parties, the Jamaican Labour Party (JLP) and the People's National Party (PNP), into a violent internal conflict. After several moves, Cedella and Bob settled at 19 Second Street.

At 14, Robert left school for good, focusing on football and his friends in the ghetto. One friend in particular, Neville O'Riley Livingston, known as Bunny, was a serious music lover. The two enjoyed singing along to songs on the radio, accompanied by makeshift instruments cobbled together from bamboo and copper wire. In 1960, the Jamaican music scene was split between the sound of mento, the local take on calypso, and the r'n'b wind blowing in from the nearby United States. It was precisely the fusion of these two genres that gave birth to ska, with its breakneck beat, the first homegrown musical movement Robert experienced firsthand. Young Bob and Bunny, though, preferred American sounds, from Fats Domino to Curtis Mayfield, leader of the Impressions, among Robert's earliest major musical influences, as he now dreamed of forming a band of his own.

Cedella, who had spent years breaking her back scrubbing floors, was far from pleased with her son's new lifestyle, and pushed him to at least get a job at a welding shop. Ironically, it was there that Bob met another musician friend, Desmond Dekker, who already had his own group, the Aces, later known to international audiences for the single "Israelites" (1968).

While learning the basics of welding, Bob also spent time with another person who would prove crucial to his early approach to music. Joe Higgs was one half of the famous pre-ska duo Higgs and Wilson, respected on the Jamaican scene for his hits in the early Sixties, but above all known for holding frequent free singing and music lessons right on Second Street, in the Trench Town ghetto. Thanks to Joe's teaching, Bob and Bunny learned to coordinate their vocal harmonies, alongside a new friend, a tall lanky boy named Peter MacIntosh, later known as Peter Tosh. It was time to become a trio. Tosh was also the proud owner of a real guitar, and decided to teach Bob how to play it properly, without bamboo and copper wire. The first incarnation of the Marley-Tosh-Bunny Wailer trio was called The Teenagers, soon expanded with the addition of two female voices, Beverly Kelso and Cherry Smith, followed by another vocalist, Junior Braithwaite. Their vocal timbres were all very different: Bob's sat in the tenor range, Bunny's leaned toward falsetto, and Peter's toward the bass. The group worked constantly on blending harmonies across different styles, favouring above all covers from the repertoires of Sam Cooke, Ray Charles and The Impressions.

It was 1961 when Bob, having learned the basics of popular song structure from Higgs, began writing his first original material, hoping to land his first recordings. The Teenagers were turned down, however, by a local record producer, Leslie Kong, because the Jamaican industry was still too underdeveloped to waste time and money on groups or soloists without guaranteed commercial success. But Bob refused to give up, so he called on his friend Desmond Dekker, who went back to Kong and convinced him to listen to his Jimmy Cliff-style songs. Kong agreed to give young Marley a chance, and in 1962 he recorded three 45rpm singles, "Judge Not", "One Cup Of Coffee" and "Terror", for Kong's label, Beverley. Inevitably, with no radio promotion behind them, none of the singles made any impact. As a soloist, Robert also entered a few local talent shows, earning modest success, while his mother Cedella gave birth to a daughter, Pearl, fathered by the father of his friend Bunny Wailer. Still struggling with obvious financial hardship, Cedella decided to marry the better-off Edward Booker, leaving Bob with his first passport, on which his name appeared, for the first time, in reversed order: Robert Nesta Marley.

Having become effectively homeless, Robert went hungry in the Trench Town ghetto, and decided to re-establish contact with The Teenagers, abandoning the idea of a solo career. Enter now a Rastafarian drummer, Alvin "Seeco" Patterson, who taught the group how to structure rhythm, as well as their vocal harmonies. In the summer of 1963, Patterson brought the Teenagers before Clement "Coxsone" Dodd, owner of one of Jamaica's most important recording studios, known in the ghetto simply as Studio One. The audition was a disaster, and Dodd suggested the group go away and practise some more, but Peter Tosh shot back aggressively that they should play one more song, a ska anthem of the ghetto written by Bob Marley: "Simmer Down". Dodd suddenly changed his mind and agreed to record the single, which was laid down at Studio One under the band's new name, taken from a biblical passage: Wailing Wailers. With session musicians added, including Ernest Ranglin on guitar and Rico Rodriguez on trombone, "Simmer Down" was released as a single at Christmas 1963 and, in early 1964, climbed to number one on the Jamaican charts, where it stayed for two months running, suddenly turning the Wailing Wailers into local stars.

Chapter Two – With Peter and Bunny: The Wailers

Haile Selassie is the chapel. Power of the trinity. Build your mind in this direction. Serve the living God and live

With the national success of "Simmer Down", the Wailing Wailers became welcome guests at producer Clement Dodd's Studio One. Bob was even invited to live within the studio's walls, after leaving his mother's house once again. In 1964 came two more hits, first the slow, soulful "It Hurts To Be Alone", written and sung by Junior Braithwaite, then the smooth ska of "Lonesome Feeling", among the first songs credited to Marley, Tosh and Wailer. In 1965 came a fourth hit, "I'm Still Waiting", which echoed the harmonies of American doo-wop groups, bringing them under the Caribbean sun. Living at Studio One gave Bob the chance to practise guitar, listening to all of Dodd's r'n'b and soul records, a full immersion in the Motown sound. Meanwhile, ska was giving way to rock steady, a rhythm roughly halved in tempo, leaving the horns behind in favour of keyboards taking flight. The Wailing Wailers embraced this slower sound, pressing on toward success through radio shows and talent contests where Marley performed under the nickname "Tuff Gong". The big hit of this new rock steady phase was "Rude Boy", released as a single in 1965, replacing the horns with a bass-and-drums rhythm section, naturally an anthem to the ghetto youths who turned to violence to survive their social status.

At the end of 1965, producer Clement Dodd decided to release the group's first album, simply titled The Wailing Wailers, put out on his own label, Studio One, essentially an LP compilation of all the tracks the group had recorded since 1964. From "Simmer Down" to "Rude Boy", it contained all the hits that had climbed the national charts, alongside a few ska-flavoured covers such as "What's New Pussycat?" (made famous by Tom Jones) and "Ten Commandments Of Love", a gospel-tinged version of a song by the American R&B group The Moonglows. The album also included an early, sped-up ska version of "One Love". The Wailing Wailers, however, had a very short life: Junior Braithwaite left to move to Chicago, swiftly followed by the two vocalists, Kelso and Smith. What remained was the core trio of Marley, Tosh and Bunny, who decided to carry on under the shortened name The Wailers.

With the Wailing Wailers project behind him, it was time for Bob to press on with his musical path. In early 1965 he had met singer Rita Anderson, lead voice of the female trio The Soulettes. One of the most respected figures in the Trench Town ghetto, Rita wanted to make it in music just as much as Bob did, and he agreed to introduce her to Peter Tosh and, above all, to Dodd at Studio One. The producer wasn't entirely convinced, and asked Marley to mentor Rita and help her improve, a task the surprisingly soft-hearted Bob took on without complaint. Having grown tired of living in a recording studio, young Marley accepted Rita's own offer to come live with her and her very young daughter Sharon, at her aunt and uncle's house. Bob grew increasingly close to Rita, continuing to work with Dodd until a furious row broke out over royalties from the various hits produced with Tosh and Bunny. The producer threw the hospitality of his studio back in their faces, and only afterwards agreed to pay out a total of 60 pounds, to be split between the three surviving Wailers. It was the first, bitter lesson Bob learned about the business practices of record labels.

On February 10, 1966, Bob marries Rita, sealing the union between musicians that has Trench Town dreaming. For the moment, the marriage is just a symbol of intent, since Marley immediately leaves for the United States in search of work. His stint in Delaware lasts little more than six months, spent shuttling between manual jobs. Bob washes dishes, drives forklifts and manages a parking lot, while continuing to write new songs in his (scarce) free time. He can't wait to save up enough money to head back to Jamaica to his Rita, but it's precisely in that brief span of time that another major turning point in his life takes shape: his move from the Catholic faith to the other monotheistic religion, Rastafari. Marley's conversations become increasingly peppered with references to Haile Selassie, Ethiopia's last emperor from 1930 to 1974, regarded by Rastafarians as the new Messiah and the second incarnation of Christ. Followers known as Rastafarians are also known for their so-called dreadlocks, long, hardened locks of knotted hair. Though not mandatory, dreadlocks are the physical fulfilment of a biblical vow, the Nazirite vow, described in Mosaic law and preserved within Christianity solely by Ethiopian tradition.

With his new faith and long hair, Bob Marley returns home in the autumn of 1966, with plenty of new songs and a single goal: getting his recording career off the ground. Back in Jamaica, Rita tells her husband about her encounter with Selassie, who visited the Caribbean island and showed everyone the stigmata on his hands. The local music scene has changed too: the Soulettes have landed the hit "Pied Piper" for Studio One, while his friends Bunny and Peter have kept performing as The Wailers. Avid ganja smokers and devoted Bible readers, Marley's two bandmates have embraced Rastafari, but above all they've walked away from Clement Dodd's Studio One, accused of selling the UK rights to several hits without paying the songwriters a single cent. Back home, Bob chooses to replace Dodd with the Rastafarian Mortimer Planno, who effectively becomes the Wailers' manager. By the end of 1966 Rita is expecting a baby girl, Cedella, so Marley also decides to move back to the family farm in St. Ann, returning to Kingston only and exclusively for business.

Without Dodd, the Wailers decide to set up their own record label, Wail'N Soul'M, on which they record the acoustic soul liturgy "Selassie Is The Chapel". To record new material in the studio, the group hires producer Clancy Eccles, who works on two new singles: "Nice Time", dedicated to daughter Cedella, and above all the first true gem, "Stir It Up", suavely carried by the poised, elegant bass of Aston "Family Man" Barrett. The end of 1967 thus closes out a relatively stable and fruitful period for the Wailers, despite a number of technical headaches tied to running a label in amateurish fashion.

1968 begins in the worst possible way: Peter Tosh is arrested for taking part in a protest against Rhodesia's white-supremacist government, while Bob and Bunny are jailed for marijuana possession. Marley gets off with a month behind bars, while Bunny is handed a year's sentence due to a far larger quantity of ganja found on him. The trio's legal troubles go straight into the Wailers' new songs, while Rita gives birth to a boy, David, later known to everyone as Ziggy. The end of the decade sees, more broadly, an exponential deepening of the whole group's Rastafarian faith, drawing them closer to the civil rights movement in the States led by Martin Luther King Jr. Under Mortimer Planno's influence, Bob grows close to the religious group Twelve Tribes of Israel, who spend entire days praying, singing and smoking ganja from their enclave in Jones Town. It's during one of these sessions that Marley meets African-American pop singer Johnny Nash, who has already landed an international hit with "I Can See Clearly Now", and whose role soon proves crucial in bringing the Wailers to the attention of an audience far wider than Jamaica's.

Together with his partner Danny Sims, Nash had launched his own record label back in 1964, first known as JoDa and then, due to its Caribbean ties, as Cayman Music. Thanks to the favourable tax regime in the Cayman Islands, Nash's label starts turning a serious profit, so an audition is arranged for the Wailers with a view to exporting them, even without Bunny, still in prison. Marley and Tosh are over the moon, not least because they're all signed on as songwriters for Cayman Music under financial terms very different from those offered by Clement Dodd. The real turning point comes in September 1968, when Bunny gets out of prison and Sims founds the sister label JAD, which produces the reborn band's first singles in early 1969. From "Mellow Mood" to "Put It On", these are effectively the last tracks in rock steady style, before the genre slows down even further and morphs into reggae.

Ushered in by "Do The Reggay" from local band Toots and the Maytals, the reggae era heats up under the Caribbean sun, embraced by the Wailers, now free of any creative constraints under the Cayman + JAD label. Marley then returns to his first producer, Leslie Kong, respected throughout Jamaica and, above all, one of the leading champions of the new sound.

The work with Leslie Kong is significant: Marley, Tosh and Bunny record several tracks as a trio that Kong intends to export to the UK as well. It starts with the bluesy soul of "Soul Shakedown Party", with Tosh fronting the honeyed "Stop That Train" and Marley veering toward reggae's funkier side on "Caution". These are just a few of the early songs of this new chapter, and none make any commercial impact outside Jamaica. Kong gives the group a heads-up: he wants to release an album titled The Best Of The Wailers, but Bob and his bandmates object, believing they haven't yet recorded their best material. The producer won't listen and sends to print, in the summer of 1971, what looks like a compilation but is anything but. A week after the album's release, Leslie Kong dies suddenly of a heart attack at 38.

Recorded with the Beverley's All Stars — featuring, among others, Gladstone Anderson on piano and Paul Douglas on drums — The Best Of The Wailers is the album that smooths out reggae's rhythm into something more choral, in some ways mainstream, just as Leslie Kong intended in his bid to export the band to the UK. Tracks like "Soul Captives" and "Can't You See" glide gently between soul and doo-wop textures, while "Go Tell It On The Mountains" is a traditional arranged to the brink of gospel. From the funky reggae of "Soon Come" to the sinuous organ of "Do It Twice", The Best Of The Wailers marks a turning point in the band's career, the first building block in reggae's transformation into a universal genre.

Chapter Three – From Lee "Scratch" Perry to Chris Blackwell

Hey, happy people, here's something new. I know you'll like it. So let me now tell you what we're gonna do

After yet another disappointment caused by the, to say the least, dubious conduct of Jamaican record producers, Bob Marley decides to go back to Delaware to save up enough money to start a label of his own. He leaves again in the spring of 1969, ending up working at a Chrysler car factory. Returning home several months later, Bob has only enough money to provide for his family, which is why he makes an unexpected decision: he takes the Wailers back once again to Clement Dodd's Studio One, which has in the meantime hired a promising sound engineer, Lee "Scratch" Perry. The pairing of the Wailers and Lee Perry is magic from the start, as the band's sound becomes far rawer and chiefly driven by the rhythm section, abandoning the more mainstream, choral approach pursued by Leslie Kong with the Beverley's. In short, it's a return to the themes of "Rude Boys", backed by the Upsetters, who include brothers Aston "Family Man" and Carlton "Carlie" Barrett: the best possible rhythm section for Marley, Tosh and Bunny. The work with Perry and the Barrett brothers begins in late 1969 and continues non-stop into early 1970, yielding two new singles: "Duppy Conqueror", which immediately establishes the perfect alchemy between bass-and-drums and vocal harmonies, and "Mr. Brown", which instead reveals just how significant Lee "Scratch" Perry's work would become, with innovative ideas that pave the way for dub music. "Duppy Conqueror" and "Mr. Brown" are indeed also released in dub form as lyric-free B-sides, to encourage local DJs' toasting during parties, also known as sound systems, a name borrowed from the enormous speaker stacks used in Jamaica to party to a reggae beat.

At the start of 1970, Marley and his bandmates try once again to launch a record label of their own, Tuff Gong, taken from Bob's nickname. It's another failure. The good news is that Perry has left Dodd to found Upsetter, naturally inviting the Wailers to record more material. This yields the sun-drenched "Small Axe" and the pure melody of "Corner Stone", just a couple among at least a hundred tracks forged during an intensely creative period.

The first album released on Upsetter — and, crucially, the first to reach beyond Jamaica thanks to the UK's Trojan Records — Soul Rebels comes out at the end of the year and in part sums up the work done with Perry since the close of the previous decade. It opens with Marley, co-credited with Perry himself, on the title track, fusing reggae's core principle with dub arrangements. Bob picks up the pace on the following "Try Me", moving through soul and doo-wop moods ("It's Alright" and "No Water") and also working on the excellent funk-rock of "Soul Almighty". Lee Perry's production strips out the horn section entirely, arriving at a sound that's thoroughly unconventional by the standards of classic Jamaican reggae. "No Sympathy" and "400 Years", the album's tracks penned by Peter Tosh, land on a downbeat, or "dub-beat", rarely heard before in the Caribbean. The Wailers rework James Brown ("My Cup") and, above all, their idol Curtis Mayfield, on the loose-limbed groove of "Rebel's Hop". Ultimately, the album's freshness lies in its loose, free-wheeling play with early reggae, nearly upended by Marley's sharp pen and Lee "Scratch" Perry's more innovative arrangements.

During 1971, the Wailers decide to end their fruitful collaboration with Perry in order to pursue new creative directions. Bob learns that Johnny Nash is heading to Sweden to work on a film soundtrack, so he decides to temporarily leave Rita, who around the same time decides to move to Delaware to work as a nurse. Released under the English title "Want So Much to Believe", the film comes out in September with Nash himself in the lead role. Once the soundtrack work is finished, the two fly to London, where Johnny hopes to land a lucrative record deal with Cbs. He succeeds, and goes on to convince Marley to bring the whole group over to English soil for the same purpose.

The Wailers record a few tracks at the Cbs studios as Nash's backing band, but don't get the result they were hoping for, and head back home shortly after. Once back on home soil, the band holes up at Harry J's studios, run by producer Harry Johnson. It's a new period of intensive recording, which sees the addition of then-15-year-old Tyrone Downie on keyboards and a new unofficial member, talented Jamaican footballer Alan "Skill" Cole, who effectively serves as Marley's personal trainer.

In 1971, Jamaica was rocked by the new hit "Trench Town Rock", which marked the Wailers' definitive breakthrough at home, finally able to support themselves financially on the earnings of the past few years. Bob and Rita decided to invest in the Tuff Gong Records record shop, and later in Tuff Gong Productions, with the sole aim of spreading the group's music even further. The Wailers kept churning out songs, from the hypnotic groove of "Satisfy My Soul" to the breezy fifties flavour of "Mr. Chatterbox". It was during this period that Marley threw himself into sport, football in particular, and above all into politics, backing Michael Manley's People's National Party (PNP), which was seeking alliances with the poorer classes and the Rastafarians. Bob and Rita made their support public, singing and playing for the election campaign that would lead to the 1972 vote.

While major changes were about to hit the Wailers, the fruitful recording period with Lee Perry brought to the Jamaican market the album Soul Revolution, the second record produced by the Upsetter and the first of two companion works that would only later be combined into a single set, known as Soul Revolution I & II. The original album carries on the creative path begun with Soul Rebels, opening with a fresh tribute to their idol Curtis Mayfield, "Keep On Moving". The following "Don't Rock My Boat" is instead an early version of "Satisfy My Soul", while "Put It On" fits within the dub-style arrangements pursued by producer Lee Perry. It's no coincidence that the companion record, Soul Revolution II, strips away the vocal parts, as on the bluesy "Memphis", in keeping with the practice of building the riddim concept. The whole Soul Revolution project, in fact, thrives on cut-and-paste, as in the fourth version of "Duppy Conqueror", partly stripped, at least of Marley's vocal.

The Wailers weren't even fully aware that Perry himself intended to distribute the record through Trojan in the UK, a fact that lends it a certain aura of uniqueness, making it a real collector's item for fans of the band and of reggae in general. The inclusion of the soul-jazz number "Riding High", credited to Bunny Wailer with a "contribution" from Cole Porter, points exactly in this direction of the album's singularity; it would be released internationally years later also under the title "African Herbman", with cover art by Richie Havens, which would also contain the calypso rhythm of "Kaya". The record closes with an early dub incarnation of "Sun Is Shining", Marley's signature at the end of an unrepeatable creative streak.

Autumn 1971. The Wailers returned to London to try once again to land a record deal with CBS. With Nash's backing, the group managed to put together a roughly three-week tour, sponsored precisely by one of the biggest international record companies. The run of shows was a modest success, but didn't bring the sales they'd hoped for. On top of that, Nash suddenly vanished, leaving the band holding the bag. But Bob never gave up, and so he arranged a new meeting with Island Records boss Christopher Blackwell. Born in London to an Irish father and a Costa Rican mother, Blackwell knew Jamaica well, simply because he'd grown up on the Caribbean island before being sent to England for his studies. His Island Records was founded in 1959 with the specific aim of producing artists popular in Jamaica, particularly those of the early ska movement. Back in London in 1962, Chris began selling records to Afro-Jamaican Britons, later branching out into white acts starting with the Spencer Davis Group with Steve Winwood. Over time, Island Records grew into one of the hottest independent labels, working under contract with artists of the calibre of Traffic, King Crimson, Nick Drake and Free. By the end of 1971, the deal with the Wailers was this: in exchange for £8,000, they would go back to Jamaica and start work on the first album of a new chapter.

Bob Marley's persistence would pay off, because this very agreement set off numerous recording sessions in various Jamaican studios: Dynamic Sound, Harry J's, Randy's. The new Wailers line-up working through most of 1972 consisted of the Marley-Tosh-Bunny triad, the now-settled Barrett brothers, rounded out by Bob's wife Rita Marley together with fellow singers Judy Mowatt and Marcia Griffiths. It was precisely this second trio of female voices that would later be nicknamed the I-Threes. The record was released in Jamaica by Tuff Gong and (crucially) internationally by Island Records. Its title is Catch A Fire, taken from the Jamaican slang expression meaning roughly "to get into trouble".

Beyond its crucial importance in launching the Wailers to global fame, the work contains several new elements, or rather breaks with the recent past alongside Lee Perry. Catch A Fire is, first and foremost, a true reggae album, in the sense that it wasn't conceived as a collection of singles - usually paired with a B-side that's often a wordless dub version - but as a work composed entirely to exist within the format of an LP. A single block of nine songs that opens with the hypnotic electric-folk intro of "Concrete Jungle" and closes on the relaxed reggae march masterfully driven by the rhythm section, "Midnight Ravers". After recording the basic tracks, Bob decided to bring them to London for mixing and overdubbing. The second novelty brought by Catch A Fire lies in Blackwell's decision to hire several musicians closer to the rock world, such as guitarist Wayne Perkins and keyboardist John "Rabbit" Bundrick, who had already worked with Johnny Nash and The Who. Chris was in fact convinced that adding a more mainstream rock touch to the Wailers' reggae was the key to international success.

Although Catch A Fire wouldn't spark a dramatic surge in sales, the idea was an absolute winner, because the rock-reggae sound was on its way to conquering the world. Songs already recorded, like "400 Years" and "Stop That Train" - both written by Peter Tosh - now benefited from more sophisticated, polished arrangements, enriched by the choral backdrop of the I-Threes somewhere between soul and gospel. As Aston "Family Man" Barrett would later say: "Some of the songs on the record had already been recorded, in different studios and with different musicians, but with these tracks we managed to get that right timing, pulling out an even stronger feeling". The sinuous, soulful "Baby We've Got A Date (Rock It Baby)" is in fact a reworking of "Black Bitter", recorded in earlier years. On Catch A Fire, Marley crafted new lyrics attacking political injustice against the poorest classes in the cities, as on the gem "Slave Driver". But the album is also a message of universal love, as on the other funk-rock reworking, "Stir It Up".

Listening to tracks like "Kinky Reggae", ultimately, you can hear with your own ears how the whole record doesn't sanitize but rather makes more accessible the Jamaican language of reggae, lighting the fuse that would carry Bob Marley among the superstars of the century. The album's second cover, after the limited edition one featuring the steel Zippo lighter, shows Bob smoking a marijuana joint, elevating the Rastafarian cult of ganja to iconic status beyond the borders of the Caribbean.

Chapter Four - Angry Mob: From Burnin' to Natty Dread

⟦Q1⟧

Year 1972. Rita gave birth to the newest member of the Marley family, Stephen. The house in Kingston had become too small, so the couple decided to move east of the capital, to Bull Bay. Having now definitively left the ghetto behind, Bob increasingly preferred the company of Chris Blackwell, who had an apartment in Kingston and could obviously cover for him in his various extramarital affairs. Although Rita would stay by his side for the rest of his life, there were several relationships that had already produced at least three children outside the marriage. But this wasn't the time to worry about any of that: Michael Manley had just been elected Prime Minister of Jamaica, unleashing a powerful wave of hope among the poorer classes.

1972 was a good moment: Tuff Gong held the rights to sell the songs from Catch A Fire in Jamaica, and the Wailers no longer had to work for a living - they could just play. The first tour across England and the United States was about to kick off, so new keyboardist Earl "Wya" Lindo was brought on board, setting off with the band in spring 1973 bound for London. The Catch A Fire Tour kicked off, among other things, with an unwelcome surprise: Bob discovered that Lee Gopthal, boss of Trojan Records, was marketing the album "African Herbsman" in the UK, which was essentially a British edition of the Soul Revolution record, courtesy of Lee "Scratch" Perry. The Wailers didn't take it well, but the record played its part in continuing to spread reggae music across the UK, bringing the band solid audience success over 19 shows between clubs and universities.

When they returned to London, Bob and co. also appeared on two BBC programmes, The Old Grey Whistle Test and Top Gear, before heading home to recharge ahead of the North American leg. Bunny, however, was worn down by the strain, partly due to the strict dietary regime imposed by Rastafarianism. Bob and Peter therefore decided to replace him, at least for the upcoming shows, with Joe Higgs, their old vocal coach. Meanwhile, Blackwell was convinced that Lee Jaffe was the right person to oversee the Wailers' entire operation, particularly the logistics of the live shows. The American tour kicked off at Paul's Mall in Boston, Massachusetts, before landing in New York, where the Wailers opened for Bruce Springsteen for a sold-out week at the famed Max's Kansas City.

By the end of 1973, the Wailers could call themselves only half satisfied: the commercial success Bob had been craving for years still hadn't arrived. A new turning point came in October, when Island Records released the new album Burnin', another milestone in Marley's discography and in reggae at large.

With new keyboardist Earl Lindo on board, Burnin' is certainly a work less shaped by Blackwell's hand, that is, one more directly steered by the Wailers themselves, free to give full vent to Rastafarian faith and political ideals on the Jamaican scene. Recorded once again at Harry J's studios in Kingston - before being polished up in London at Island's studios - the album, from its very cover, is steeped in an atmosphere of deep brotherhood, like a mystical union of purpose in which the musicians' heads form a kind of graffiti carved in fire onto wood. "Wake up, stand up for your rights" is the anthem of reggae rebellion that echoes through the opening "Get Up, Stand Up", written by Marley with Peter Tosh and destined for immortality in the canon of Third World music. Described by some music critics as "perhaps a sort of futuristic slow funk" - probably true of "Hallelujah Time", lifted from the repertoire of Jamaican singer Jean Watt - Burnin' gears up to conquer the world with the falsetto of "I Shot The Sheriff", which would break through to the mainstream thanks to the later soft-rock cover by Eric Clapton on the hit album "461 Ocean Boulevard".

Compared to Catch A Fire, the Island production work is less heavy-handed, as Blackwell chooses to give more space to the reggae sound without "rock touches", as in "Burnin' And Lootin'" and "Put It On", which rely solely on the Barrett brothers' precise rhythm section and Earl Lindo's unobtrusive keyboards. On the second side of the record come the more polished renditions of older tracks like "Small Axe" and "Duppy Conqueror". The Wailers pay tribute to Jean Watt once again in the choral "Pass It On" before closing the album with the moving tribal prayer "Rasta Man Chant", a kind of "Amazing Grace" for reggae music.

Ten years on from the single "Simmer Down", Bob and his bandmates' approach to music has been turned upside down, now light years away from Caribbean carefreeness, increasingly sharp and forceful in its political and social message. Still alongside Blackwell and Island Records, ready to conquer the world with a wonderfully crafted sound, as in the elastic Hammond organ of "One Foundation", another cornerstone penned by the perhaps too-underrated Peter Tosh.

The call to action issued by Burnin' sends the Wailers back out on tour, especially in the United States, where they join Sly & The Family Stone to make up for the album's poor sales in the country. After leaving the Catch A Fire tour, Bunny is once again replaced by Higgs. Fresh off the success of their latest album "Fresh", Sly & The Family Stone look, on paper, like the perfect band to introduce the Wailers' music to a wider audience. Unfortunately, though, the audience doesn't approve: several artistic disagreements emerge, leading to Marley and co. being abruptly "fired". Literally stranded in Las Vegas, the Wailers have to make it in time for a radio performance on San Francisco's KSAN-FM. The stop at Record Plant in Sausalito is a crucial one, because - unlike the rest of the US - California audiences had shown great interest in reggae in recent years. For the occasion, the Wailers record an acoustic version of "Rasta Man Chant" along with several studio-live versions of the most significant tracks from their last two Island albums.

The US run ends here. The Wailers return to Jamaica before flying to the United Kingdom, also losing Higgs along the way. During eleven shows across English clubs and universities, a sudden, explosive rupture occurs: Bob and Peter have a furious falling-out, while Earl Lindo decides to go back to playing with his old band. 1973 closes like this, with two great albums produced and the reggae trinity split apart: Marley stays in London planning his next move, while Tosh returns to Jamaica in search of new creative inspiration.

Early 1974. Bob Marley is back at Harry J's studios in Kingston working on new tracks with just the Barrett brothers and new keyboardist Bernard "Touter" Harvey. The trio's vocal harmonies, once shared with Bunny and Tosh, now rest solely with the I-Threes. A major event is being prepared for May on the Caribbean island, a concert with the new Motown sensation Marvin Gaye. With the National Stadium sold out, what some have already called "Jamaica's greatest R&B event" brings Marley, Bunny and Tosh together for one dreamlike night: the Wailers are hailed by the crowd, and Don Taylor, Gaye's manager, asks Marley to let him take over management of the band. The goal remains the same as ever: to conquer the United States, and thus the world.

But if you want to conquer the world, you always need the right allies. Marley, however, is living an increasingly contradictory relationship with his bandmates. Peter can't stand playing second fiddle, accusing Bob of often neglecting his more militant songs, especially during the early creative period. Bunny has issues with live shows and, in any case, wants greater artistic independence. The time has come to make a clear decision.

Although no official decision has yet been made, the release of the new Island Records album, Natty Dread, is a strong statement: the first record without Peter and Bunny, credited to Bob Marley & The Wailers. With the addition of new musicians – Lee Jaffe on harmonica and the entire horn section of reggae band Zap Pow – Natty Dread paints, right from the cover art, the image of Marley as the one and only lider maximo, completely free to pursue his musical vision loaded with political and social messages. Opened by the sinuous blues arrangements of new guitarist Al Anderson – “Lively Up Yourself” is an ode to life, sex and unrestrained dancing – the album would become best known, especially in the UK, thanks to the later single “No Woman, No Cry,” a gospel ballad written by Marley's childhood friend Vincent Ford, which nostalgically recalls the troubled years of growing up in the Trench Town ghetto. In the following “Them Belly Full (But We Hungry),” Marley's message is aimed at every nation in the world, warning them to be careful not to let anger build among the hungriest people (“a hungry mob is an angry mob”).

Natty Dread swiftly turns toward a more assertive reggae on the long march of “Rebel Music (3 O'Clock Roadblock)” – with excellent work from the I-Threes and Lee Jaffe's harmonica – before tackling the theme of Rastafarian religion over the Caribbean rhythm of “So Jah S'eh,” dedicated to the divine guide Haile Selassie. Marley doesn't shy away from romantic detours either, over the velvety groove of “Bend Down Low,” while on the acoustic “Talkin' Blues” he proposes bombing a church. Freed from the creative constraints of Bunny and Tosh, Marley can now address all the themes closest to his heart, culminating in the call to action “Revolution,” which teaches the younger generation that it's utterly pointless to wait for change to come from the government or any other entity meant to decide on their behalf.

A huge success in the UK – where it sells over 100,000 copies – Natty Dread is thus Marley's most quintessentially Marley album, now steering toward complete artistic independence and, with it, worldwide success.

Natty Dread thus brings the Wailers a gold record in the UK, while the States begin to take growing interest in the music coming out of Jamaica. During 1974, Marley grants recording rights for his “Slave Driver” to bluesman Taj Mahal, as well as rights to “Guava Jelly” to Barbra Streisand for the album “Butterfly.” But above all, the big break: giving guitar god Eric Clapton permission for a version of “I Shot The Sheriff,” which is included on the album “461 Ocean Boulevard” and instantly becomes a number one hit in the United States. Suddenly, the American music press takes notice of Bob Marley.

Meanwhile, no reconciliation with his old friends appears on the horizon: Tosh is working on his record “Legalize It” (1976), as is Bunny on “Blackhearted Man” (1976). In early 1975, another great opportunity arises to boost the band's worldwide fame: opening a concert for the Jackson Five in Kingston. It will be the first chance to see the new, and first non-Jamaican, guitarist Al Anderson live, and above all a crucial moment to showcase Marley's full charisma as a frontman. Propelled by Clapton's cover, the Wailers' sound begins spreading like wildfire across the States, where Natty Dread is increasingly appreciated. Bob feels the time has come to take control of his band's management, through new manager Don Taylor and his lawyer friend Diane Jobson, and to establish headquarters at 56 Hope Road, the street in Kingston where Chris Blackwell lives.

Chapter Five – On Top of the World

Finché la filosofia che considera una razza superiore e un’altra inferiore non sarà finalmente screditata e riprovata…Finché in nessuna nazione vi saranno più cittadini di prima e di seconda classe…Finché il colore della pelle di un uomo non avrà più valore del colore dei suoi occhi…Finché i diritti umani fondamentali non saranno ugualmente garantiti a tutti, senza distinzione di razza…Fino a quel giorno, il sogno di una pace duratura, la cittadinanza del mondo e le regole della morale internazionale resteranno solo una fuggevole illusione, perseguita e mai conseguita…

As the new manager of the Wailers, Don Taylor decides to capitalize on the success of Natty Dread with a tour across the United States and the United Kingdom. Tyrone Downie rejoins the band, along with the ever-present I-Threes and a new lighting director, Neville Garrick. This time the tour is organized in grand style, with spacious hotel suites and a chef specializing in the Rastafarian diet. Interview requests from the press multiply exponentially, forcing Bob to resort to Jamaican slang to dodge questions about his personal life. Critics are nonetheless enthusiastic, as is the audience, rewarding the Wailers with frequent sold-out shows, such as the one at Central Park in New York with 15,000 attendees. Marley tolerates no mistakes within his band - everything has to be perfect, from the I-Threes' African outfits to the lighting. The setlist for the American leg is fairly standard and sticks to the same songs each night, as if over the years the Wailers had become a genuine live-performance machine. The tour wraps up at the Roxy in Los Angeles, drawing artists of the caliber of Rolling Stones, Cat Stevens, Joni Mitchell and George Harrison. A show of great esteem from the rock world, which galvanizes Marley, now ready to conquer the United Kingdom as well.

The Wailers play Manchester's Hard Rock, then the Odeon in Birmingham, and twice at London's Lyceum Theatre, where Chris Blackwell hastily brings in the mobile recording studio used by the Rolling Stones after sensing the crowd's triumphant reaction to the opening notes of "No Woman, No Cry".

Released under the simple title Live!, the first live album by Bob Marley & The Wailers came out on Island in 1975, chronicling in music the unstoppable rise of the Jamaican group on British soil. From "Lively Up Yourself" to "Them Belly Full", the second set at London's Lyceum is a triumph, played with the precision of a well-oiled machine on Alvin "Seeco" Patterson's percussion and the harmonies of the I-Threes, minus Marcia Griffiths, who was expecting at the time. Recorded with pristine sound quality thanks to the Stones' mobile studio, Live! hits new heights with the singles "I Shot The Sheriff" and "Get Up, Stand Up", before closing out with the marching groove of "Kinky Reggae".

The triumphant year of 1975 closes with an unexpected reunion in November, with Bunny and Tosh, on the occasion of a Stevie Wonder concert at the National Stadium in Kingston to raise funds for the Jamaican Institute for the Blind. Wonder himself joins them onstage for "I Shot The Sheriff" and dedicates his "Master Blaster" to Marley. Back recording at Harry J's studios, the Wailers are forced to halt work on the new album upon learning of the death, at 83, of Haile Selassie I. The Ethiopian spiritual leader passes away in mysterious circumstances, officially due to complications following prostate surgery. However, the sudden disappearance of his body fails to convince Rastafarian followers, who split into factions: some see the divine figure's death as the end of a religious era, while others, like Marley, see it as an opportunity to reaffirm a path of determination. Bob calls on Lee Perry once again to record the moving tribute "Jah Live", firmly convinced that the divine leader never truly died.

At the start of 1976, Bob Marley & The Wailers regroup to begin new studio work. This time it's different: the band is now famous worldwide, so much so that Marley himself is persuaded to buy a Bmw simply because the three letters of the brand are extremely familiar. Despite the hard-won fame, tensions within the band grow, leading to the departure of Al Anderson and Lee Jaffe, who are thoroughly unhappy with manager Don Taylor's handling of affairs. More than a goodbye, it's an affront: the two join former bandmate Peter Tosh in the group Word, Sound and Power. Left with the ever-loyal Barrett brothers, Marley sets about recruiting new musicians: rhythm guitarist Earl "Chinna" Smith and lead guitarist Don Kinsey, schooled in American blues.

In the midst of these turbulent changes, the fourth Island album is released in May: Rastaman Vibration. Opened by the irresistible, exotic flirtation between Jean Alain Roussel's Hammond organ and the voices of the I-Threes – "Positive Vibration", penned by Vincent Ford – Rastaman Vibration is the album that splits Bob Marley's image in two: on one hand, spokesman for the Third World; on the other, the lider maximo of a group that is becoming a full-fledged international brand. On one side, then, a cover evoking the colours of Ethiopia, with Marley painted as a new Che Guevara of reggae. On the other, a more commercial, American-style sound: an example being Kinsey's blues guitar on "Roots, Rock, Reggae" and on the soul-ballad "Johnny Was", written by Rita.

Unsurprisingly, the album marks the Wailers' definitive commercial breakthrough, reaching number eight on the US pop charts. And just as unsurprisingly, the famous music critic Robert Christgau would say, of the first side, that reggae had become "the word rastas use for boogie". "Cry To Me" and "Want More" are two examples that might well prove the Village Voice writer right. But in the end, Marley's voice prevails over the Americanisation of the sound. On the iconic "Rat Race", the Rastafarian community is sternly urged not to let itself be exploited by political affairs. "War" sets to music the text of Haile Selassie's speech to the United Nations in October 1963, calling for equality among brothers of all colours and faiths. Even though tracks like "Who The Cap Fit" might make the album look like an attempt to ride the wave of commercial success, Marley has no intention of abandoning his religious faith, and continues to fight in song against all the world's discrimination and abuse.

In the spring of 1976 the band set off on a new tour, this time focused on North America and Europe. Audiences kept growing, as did Marley's crew touring prestigious theaters and clubs, starting with the first official date in Pennsylvania, which saw mother Cedella in the crowd. After seven consecutive shows in California, the tour stopped in Miami before flying to Germany, Holland, France, and wrapping up in the summer with ten shows in London. Almost every date sold out, with audiences now knowing songs like "No Woman, No Cry" by heart. Back home – to rest and prepare for the new album – the political situation was in sharp turmoil: the Manley administration was seeking an alliance with Fidel Castro's communist Cuban government, loosening its grip on the national economy and causing a progressive shortage of food supplies for Jamaicans. Moreover, 1976 saw a sudden (and mysterious) proliferation of firearms, despite laws severely punishing their criminal use. Jamaica was a powder keg ready to explode, after opposition leader Edward Seaga was accused of trying to court the CIA for an alleged coup. Marley then decided his guitar could truly help: he organized an event at National Heroes Park in Kingston on December 5. What would be dubbed "Smile Jamaica" was a concert that Manley himself immediately exploited, setting elections for the 20th to make the Wailers look like a PNP support act. Bob was furious, but couldn't call the whole thing off. The message of peace had been reinforced by a new song with Lee Perry, aptly titled "Smile Jamaica", and it was too important to let it fall by the wayside. But the perception that the Wailers were pro-PNP was strong, so strong that violence came knocking at the door of the Hope Road house, the headquarters owned by Chris Blackwell.

Two days before the concert, on December 3, 1976, Bob's crew was at 56 Hope Road for rehearsals. Judy Mowatt, one of the I-Threes, asked to go home as she was pregnant. Bob, Kinsey and Don Taylor were relaxing in the kitchen waiting for Blackwell. No one noticed a car pulling up to the house, carrying six men armed to the teeth and ready to open fire. The house was riddled with bullets: Bob was hit in the arm, Rita in the head, Taylor took five shots in various parts of his body. A massacre waiting to happen, yet a miracle, because no one died. Don had to fly to Miami urgently for surgery, while Bob refused to have the bullet removed from his arm, fearing (with good reason) he'd lose feeling in his left hand, essential for playing guitar. Prime Minister Manley showed up unannounced at the hospital, guaranteeing Bob armed protection ahead of a concert that simply could not be cancelled.

Shaken, Chris Blackwell moved the whole band to another house at Strawberry Hill, guarded by armed government agents and loyal Rastas. Marley had a whole night ahead of him to think: should he play the concert? Keep going with the band? Would it be better to focus on protecting his family? Marley used walkie-talkies provided by Blackwell to gather his people and talk, aware that news of the attempted murder had spread across the country and that all the supporting acts for the concert had decided to pull out. The situation was extremely delicate, as Rita – with a huge bandage around her head – wanted to cancel everything, while Minister Anthony Spaulding tried every way he could to convince Bob to play. After all, Bob Marley had never bowed to life's hardships, not even the most critical ones.

The decision was made: the show would go on. The Wailers were escorted onto the stage in front of 80,000 people. For the occasion, five percussionists from local band Ras Michael and the Sons of Negus joined in as well. Bob took the microphone and explained to everyone that his original intention had been to avoid any political involvement, before launching into a 90-minute set with "War". The instructions he'd been given called for a shorter show, but Marley got swept up in the crowd's enthusiasm, eventually showing everyone his left arm: the assassination attempt was real, but no one would ever be brought down. Still, the band's next move was soon decided: the Wailers shifted operations to the island of Nassau, where Blackwell had just finished building his new Compass Point recording studio, officially opened in 1977.

Chapter Six – Exodus

Open your eyes and look around you. Are you satisfied with the life you lead? We know where we're going. We know where we come from. We're leaving Babylon. We're going to the father's land. Exodus

Year 1977. For Bob Marley, the Caribbean island of Nassau, far from the violence back home, is paradise. The local immigration office doesn't quite see it that way, fearing unrest over the presence of such a high-profile guest. Having obtained a temporary visa and under close watch, Bob turns his thoughts back to music, in Blackwell's new studios. Reunited with his family and the rest of the band – aside from Kinsey, who heads back to the United States after the attempted massacre – Marley watches from afar as Manley (PNP) is re-elected amid a trail of blood. Bob's new girlfriend, Cindy Breakspeare, also arrives on Paradise Island, and will soon give birth to his ninth child, Damian. Meanwhile, Blackwell suggests bringing guitarist Junior Marvin into the band, born in Jamaica but raised in the United States under the guidance of blues legend T. Bone Walker. When the Wailers arrive in London to record at the Island studios, Marvin is working with Steve Winwood, and is about to become the group's new lead guitarist. It's in the English capital that the next ten songs will take shape, forming “Exodus: Movement Of Jah People”, released simply as Exodus in June.

Despite his forced exile in London following Nassau, Bob Marley never stopped following the new musical trends emerging in Jamaica. New bands like Itals and Israel Vibration, as well as the success of Culture's "Two Sevens Clash", which drew on the Rastafarian millenarian belief in the imminent end of a cycle marking the close of the Seventies. During the sessions for Exodus, Marley reunited with his old friend and producer Lee "Scratch" Perry, who pushed him to record "Punky Reggae Party", where Caribbean sound meets the new English trend, punk-rock. Naturally (and rigorously) in a dub version too. Formally, reggae and punk don't share many common traits, though the bond between their anti-oppression ideals is much stronger. The essential "Police And Thieves" is a striking example of how punk bands drew inspiration from reggae to express dissent and incite revolt. With the addition of Junior Marvin on lead guitar, Exodus is the album that finally won over both critics and audiences alike, earning gold-record status in both the United States and the United Kingdom.

"Natural Mystic" is the beat that marks Bob's "resurrection" after the attempted assassination, just as the three tracks that follow it – from the soul influences of "So Much Things To Say" to the funky "Guiltiness" through to the hypnotic reggae-blues of "The Heathen" – mark a kind of rupture between universal ideals of peace and what happened at the end of 1976. Backed by the horns of the Zap Pow Band, Marley rewrites the rules of rock drumming on the title track, "Exodus", a metaphorical call to return to the pride and spirituality of Africa.

While the first part of the album focuses on political-religious themes, the second is a perfect mix of danceable tracks and love songs. "Jamming" is the irresistible erotic anthem meant to leave the Smile Jamaica events behind, while the trio of "Waiting In Vain", "Turn Your Lights Down Low" and "Three Little Birds" is a romantic tribute to his new girlfriend, Cindy Breakspeare. Exodus closes with yet another universal anthem, "One Love/People Get Ready", a call to action for civil rights featuring the beloved Curtis Mayfield.

The album achieves remarkable success, staying 42 weeks in the UK top 40, peaking at number 8, and reaching number 20 on the Billboard chart in the United States. Island capitalizes on the global attention to the fullest, releasing as many as seven singles from the record, an event that would only be repeated five years later with a sales juggernaut, “Thriller” by Michael Jackson.

From mid-June, the Wailers begin preparations for the next tour, buoyed by the worldwide success of Exodus. It will be a long run of shows across Europe and the United States, but trouble lies just around the corner: driving through East London, Bob and “Family Man” are stopped by the police and searched. They're found carrying large quantities of marijuana and are summoned to appear in court, though they get off with a caution and a hefty fine. A bad experience is followed by an unexpected stroke of luck: the entire Ethiopian royal family is currently living in exile in London, giving Bob the chance to meet Princess Zere-Yacobe Asfa-Wossen, granddaughter of Haile Selassie I, who was deposed in 1974 and overthrown by a local military junta. Wossen gives Bob a ring bearing the emblem of Judah in the shape of a lion, which would later become one of the most iconic elements of the reggae superstar's image.

The Wailers kick off the tour in Paris, at the Pavillon Baltard, but for Marley it's far from a lucky period, at least on a personal level. After his arrest for possession of ganja, Bob suffers a serious injury to the big toe of his right foot while playing football, one of his great passions. The match is a friendly between members of the band and a group of French journalists. The pain is intense, forcing Marley to see a doctor, who notices that most of the nail has come off. Superstar or not, he needs to rest and get treatment. Partly due to the Rastafarian community's limited faith in modern medicine, Bob decides to press on with the tour, which cannot afford cancellations right now, not after Exodus.

The Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and then London, where a performance on the BBC show Top of the Pops is scheduled, followed by a run of dates at the Rainbow Theatre. Dancing nonstop on stage, Marley sees the problem with his foot worsen, so he decides to stop at his mother's home in Delaware before continuing with the US leg of the tour. Despite the (brief) rest, the toe refuses to improve, so a specialist visit is arranged, delivering a dreadful diagnosis: the cells are turning gangrenous, and the toe must be amputated. On July 20, 1977, the US leg of the tour is cancelled so that Marley can have the dangerous cells removed in surgery at Cedars of Lebanon Hospital in Miami. Staying in Florida to recover, Marley is forced to introduce meat into his diet in order to build up his protein intake. After a couple of months everything seems back to normal: the Wailers can hit the road again.

Even without the backing of the North American tour, Exodus keeps racking up sales in the States. Marley and co. start working at Criteria Studios in Miami, with a surplus of songs left over from the fertile London sessions. While waiting for the upcoming summer tour, Bob can't tear his eyes away from the ongoing violence in Jamaica, even after the confirmation of the socialist Manley and his PNP in power. At the start of 1978, the Rastafarian community mobilizes in an attempt to calm tensions, after the government's decision to impose martial law and patrol the streets with the army. Claudius Massop and Bucky Marshall, two local political figures and, above all, childhood friends of Bob's, are arrested as a warning. They decide to take action by organizing a major concert in Kingston, in a last-ditch attempt to bring stability and peace to the Caribbean island. The Wailers are the obvious choice, but Bob isn't convinced, even after being repeatedly reassured about his complete safety. Marley's presence is needed to bring everyone together, even though Bob hasn't set foot in Jamaica since December 1976. Vernon “Gad the Prophet” Carrington, spiritual leader of the Rastafarian Twelve Tribes of Israel sect, is even called upon. Massop, who belongs to the opposition JLP party, swears he has nothing to do with the attempted murder and that his entire political movement stands behind him. Marley is convinced: the Wailers will headline The One Love Jamaican Peace Concert, announced to the world for April 22, 1978.

Capitolo settimo – Is This Love: Ritorno in Giamaica

Ahead of the Jamaican Peace Concert, the Wailers decide that April 22, 1978 will serve as the opening date of their new world tour. Al Anderson is back on guitar, as is Earl “Wya” Lindo on keyboards. In March, to build further hype, Island releases the album Kaya, recorded between Miami and London using songs already written and then set aside during the Exodus sessions. Clearly riding the long tail of the previous record, Kaya is immediately accused of a decided softening of the sound. Far removed from militant violence, both lyrically and sonically, the album is distinctly relaxed and carefree, with love and marijuana among its dominant themes. Starting with the sunny “wooh-laa-laa” of “Easy Skanking”, Kaya doesn't exactly shine for originality, recycling two old songs, “Sun Is Shining” and “Satisfy My Soul”, and almost lapsing into self-parody on the title track.

The record is of course still well played, propelled up the charts by the new killer single “Is This Love”, which alone is worth the “price of admission”. Otherwise, Kaya feels like a B-side companion to Exodus, a collection of lighter, less demanding tracks born of remixing and overdubbing, rushed out to get a new title on shelves ahead of the big Kingston concert and the ensuing tour. Tracks like “She's Gone”, “Crisis” and “Running Away” glide by quickly between reggae, soul harmonies and the funk rhythms of the ever-excellent Barrett brothers' rhythm section.

February 26, 1978. After 14 months of forced exile, Bob Marley returns to Jamaica on a mission on behalf of the entire Rastafarian community: to bring peace to the island through his songs. This time politics is prepared to step aside, seriously alarmed by the extreme violence that has dragged on for nearly two years. Old friend Peter Tosh will also take part in the concert, alongside numerous local artists and bands. Hundreds of riot police roll their eyes skyward when Peter lights up a joint on stage, with over 30,000 people already packed in waiting for the Wailers. When Bob takes the stage it's a thunderous ovation, the start of an incendiary set lasting nearly an hour across nine songs, from “Jamming” to “Lion Of Judah”, rarely performed live. Marley starts improvising over the standard lyrics, and in the middle of “Jamming” he invites Manley and Seaga to shake hands as a sign of unity and peace. It's a cathartic moment that few musicians in the world could ever create. Two eternally opposed parties are invited up on stage, visibly embarrassed. Marley stands between them, celebrating the union, before bringing hundreds of children up on stage for the final song of the live set.

As mentioned, the Kingston concert opens the new international tour, promoting the new album Kaya, slang for marijuana. The Wailers' run starts in North America before moving on to Europe, racking up numerous sold-out shows. Blackwell drags along his new Island Mobile Studio recording unit, intending to get ahead on possible future live albums. Setting off from Miami in May, the tour gets off to a rocky start due to unspecified health problems affecting Junior Marvin, who according to some was struggling with a serious cocaine addiction. In California, Marley reunites once again in duet with Peter Tosh, while in Miami he records a track by producer King Sporty, “Buffalo Soldier”.

Back in London after the tour wraps up, Chris Blackwell gets to work on the tapes from his mobile recording studio to release, in November, the new live album Babylon By Bus, culled from various European dates, from Paris to Amsterdam. Before a dub version of “Positive Vibration”, Bob greets the crowd by reaffirming his faith in Haile Selassie I, invoking the name Ras Tafari. From “Punky Reggae Party” to “Exodus”, the nearly 75 minutes of Babylon By Bus represent the triumph of the Wailers' live performances around the world. By early 1979, the band's fame has grown so vast that Marley decides to launch a tour in support of the live album itself, aiming to reach countries less accustomed to reggae, a kind of international tour for Jamaican music.

The Babylon By Bus Tour thus brings the Wailers to perform in the Far East, in countries of the so-called Pacific Rim. The tour officially kicks off in April 1979 in Japan, before moving on to New Zealand, where Marley is welcomed like a king by numerous members of the Maori community fighting against white oppression. Before returning to Jamaica, the band performs in Hawaii. Bob stops once more at home, pondering his next moves, which must include a dream he's held onto for years: a concert in Ethiopia. The problem is that the populous African nation has been embroiled for years in a bloody war with neighboring Eritrea, making it difficult for Marley to obtain a visa to perform there with the band. Luck comes knocking, though, because old friend Alan “Skill” Cole has been working in Ethiopia for some time as coach of the football team belonging to the national airline, Ethiopian Airlines. Before organizing a concert, Marley wants to see with his own eyes all the places tied to Haile Selassie I, so he decides to fly to London and then on to Nairobi. Once in Ethiopia, Marley's spiritual journey becomes intertwined with the liberation movement in Rhodesia, also known as “Zimbabwe”, the title of a new song Bob writes during his stay there.

Back in Kingston, Bob reassembles the Wailers to get back to work on new material. The overall situation in Jamaica after the big concert of February 1978 doesn't seem to have improved at all: Claudie Massop, who did so much to convince Marley to play for peace on the island, is stopped at a roadblock and riddled with 44 bullets. Some rumors suggest he had stolen money that came precisely from the concert he had worked so hard to organize. Meanwhile, Marley's other friend Lee Perry is hospitalized in Kingston following a severe nervous breakdown. These turbulent events, this time, don't distract Marley, who keeps working undeterred on the new album, due out in support of yet another tour. His eleventh child is born, a baby girl named Makeba, born to his new girlfriend Yvette Morris.

Much of 1979 is spent working with new Island producer Alex Sadkin, assigned by Blackwell to the Wailers to complete the recordings of Black Survival, better known simply as Survival. Released in the summer and powerfully inspired by Bob's trip to Africa, the album sees a return to committed themes such as religion, rebellion and the fight against oppression. Unlike Kaya, Survival is a much more personal work, centered on Marley's mystical persona, as he seeks to lead the revolt against white power and inspire an end to the Ethiopian conflict. Seen by some music journalists as an attempt to answer the criticism leveled at Kaya's relaxed, stoner mood, Survival is a kind of call to pan-African action, encapsulated in the anthem “Africa Unite”. Over the keyboard-driven beat of “Zimbabwe”, Marley draws on his direct experience with the liberation movement in Rhodesia – the song would be used nationally after independence in 1980 – while the choral “So Much Trouble In The World” delivers an urgent call to set off the bomb of rebellion in countries across the globe.

Beyond the power of its lyrical message, Survival is a fairly uniform album from a compositional standpoint, despite being populated by an impressive number of musicians. From the tribal percussion of “Babylon System” to the roots-reggae of the title track, the album tries to strike a balance between Bob's powerful concept and a musical execution that's perhaps a bit too by-the-book. Clearly, Marley's voice and lyrics manage to transcend every boundary, giving an extra edge to tracks like “One Drop” and “Ambush In The Night”, which weave between the I-Threes' vocal harmonies and funk-tinged arrangements. Ultimately, Survival is probably the Wailers' first concept album, of the highest moral value, but not entirely convincing on a musical level. Listen to “Ride Natty Ride” – which recycles the old “Cornerstone” – to understand that the Wailers were capable of producing a far more striking sound.

With Survival released, the Wailers are ready to hit the stage again in the summer of 1979. In early July they headline Reggae Sunsplash II at Jarrett Park in Montego Bay, the second edition of a format conceived by Bob himself with the aim of showcasing the best of contemporary Jamaican music on an international stage. From Montego Bay to the United States, where the Wailers perform at the Amandla festival at Harvard University, in support of the cause for the liberation of African nations. The show draws more than 25,000 attendees and raises $250,000 for the Amandla Group's cause. The tour continues in New York, where Madison Square Garden and, above all, the Apollo Theater heat up, the latter chosen by Marley himself to connect with the Black community of Harlem. From Canada to Nassau, the Survival Tour wraps up by the end of the year, with a lovely charitable gesture for children in the Bahamas: “Children Playing In The Streets” is the song Bob gives as a gift, performed alongside four of his eleven children (including Ziggy), who together with their father form the instant-band Melody Makers.

Chapter Eight – Last recording: Uprising

Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery. None but ourselves can free our minds

With Survival, Bob Marley launched his own deeply personal call to arms for a general awakening of Black people. It's the first act of a recording trilogy meant to continue with a forthcoming album, focused on the actual liberation from the chains after having "survived" hundreds of years of physical and mental imprisonment. It's no coincidence that "Zimbabwe" becomes the soundtrack of the freedom fighters in Rhodesia, who win their long-sought independence to the very sound of the song. It's a crucial moment for reggae and for the Wailers: 1980 marks the release of Uprising and the launch of an even more mammoth world tour, which will allow Marley to spread his Call To Action across the entire planet, but above all to stay away from Jamaica, where the upcoming general election is about to take place. The band will also play in Africa for the first time, while Tuff Gong becomes International, precisely with a view to the global expansion of the new reggae movement as liberation for Black people the world over.

The massive Uprising tour leaves Kingston on January 1, 1980, bound for London. It's only a stopover, as the band immediately sets off again, heading for Libreville, Gabon. Bordering Congo and Cameroon, the Republic of Gabon only gained its independence from France in 1960. For almost twenty years, President Bongo Ondimba has been able to rely on thriving natural resources, more than enough to sustain a population that isn't especially large in numbers. The Wailers have been hired for the presidential birthday, and the air is electric. This is, in fact, Bob's first-ever performance in Africa, two shows offered to the local population thanks to the financial backing of the Ondimba family. But Marley's dream is shattered when he learns that the Wailers will be playing at a tennis club for about two thousand members of Gabon's elite. Another blow comes when Bob discovers that his manager Don Taylor has tried to pocket $20,000 by skimming off the band's fee. A furious row breaks out, during which it emerges that Taylor has been secretly dealing in hundreds of thousands of dollars entrusted to him by Tuff Gong, losing all the illicit earnings through gambling. Marley has no choice but to fire the Wailers' manager before leaving Gabon.

After this first African experience, the band returns to Jamaica to quickly record dozens of songs already firmly fixed in Marley's head. There's enough material for two albums, which are meant to close out the trilogy on the awakening of Black people worldwide. The first album, released in June 1980, is indeed Uprising, surely one of the Wailers' most militant works. From the cover onward – a Black man with dreadlocks, armed and standing tall in a gesture of victory – the album stands as the final manifesto of Bob Marley's poetics, by now shaped by experience and ready to emerge as a universal philosophy born from the Jamaican mountains. Among the most beloved records by fans and critics alike, Uprising is Bob's accusing finger pointed through ten songs that have become immortal, dealing with unity, love, religion and social militancy against the oppressor.

Over the ska rhythm of "Bad Card", Marley recounts his terrible mistake in hiring Taylor, while the liquid rasta-beat of "Work" is the countdown for all of Jah's people. Musically, Uprising is the summa of the Rastafarian rhythm hand-built by every member of the band, from Alvin Patterson's stammering percussion to the twin guitars led by Junior Marvin and Al Anderson. On the synth-laced carpet of "Pimper's Paradise" there's also glory for the ever-present soul voices of the I-Threes, while the transformation of the folk-blues intro into the Black African reggae-gospel of "Coming In From The Cold" is simply genius. Compared to certain sonic repetitiveness on Survival, Uprising unleashes cross-contamination within the Wailers' sound, as in the wah-wah of "Zion Train" or the irresistible Brazilian rhythm of "Could You Be Loved".

But Uprising is also the record where Marley's use of biblical psalms reaches its peak. In the immortal "Redemption Song", Bob manages to musically trace a journey that runs from a slave ship in the colonial era down to a bottomless pit. Only by killing the prophets and following almighty Jah will it be possible to find freedom and redemption. For the first and, sadly, the last time, Marley chooses to play unaccompanied, alone with an acoustic guitar in his arms. One of the most important and intimate musical experiences ever recorded, made even more poignant by what would happen shortly after.

Once the recording of Uprising was finished, Marley decided to stop over in Miami to rest before heading back out on tour. Looking for a new manager, he meets Danny Sims, who suggests he leave Island for Polygram. Bob refuses, because he trusts only Chris Blackwell. Ironically, in 1989 Island would end up being acquired by Polygram Records anyway. From Florida – where Marley had taken refuge precisely to avoid the political unrest surrounding Jamaica's 1980 election, which indeed culminated in nearly a thousand deaths – the next step would be a return to Africa, where Zimbabwe's independence celebration awaits him, with Marley cheered on as headliner. Bob's song of the same name had inspired African freedom fighters, a source of such great pride that the Wailers chose not to ask for any fee for the performance. Landing at Salisbury airport, the band members are welcomed by Joshua Nkomo, the new Minister of Home Affairs alongside leader Robert Mugabe. The concert is set for April 18, 1980, the very day Rhodesia officially becomes Zimbabwe. Once again, to their great dismay, the Wailers discover they won't be playing for the people, but for a restricted circle of dignitaries including Mugabe, Prince Charles and Indira Gandhi. When Marley kicks off the set at 8:30pm at Rufaro Stadium, all hell breaks loose: a screaming mass of ordinary citizens breaks through the gates and overwhelms the police, who resort to tear gas to regain control. The Wailers speed through the rest of the show and close the concert with the true national anthem, "Zimbabwe". Marley decides the following night will belong to the people: 90 fiery minutes in front of 100,000 people. The band leaves Africa once more, but on the plane the musicians look worried about Bob's health, visibly struggling.

The Uprising tour continues in May, reaching countries never visited before: Switzerland, Ireland, Scotland and Italy. June 27 brings the date at Milan's San Siro stadium, drawing a total of 120,000 people and destined to be remembered as one of the most iconic live shows ever held in Italy. Back in Miami to rest for at least a couple of months, Bob is grappling with increasingly tight finances following Taylor's dismissal. He'd like to return to Jamaica to be closer to his children, but Danny Sims advises against it, given the renewed violence between the two perpetually warring parties. Instead, the record executive reassures him about a multi-million-dollar deal ready to go with Polygram.

When the Wailers reunite to continue the North American leg of the tour, there's deep concern over Bob's condition. Increasingly thin, with gaunt features, he won't talk to any of his bandmates about his health, which remains a mystery. Amid stomach pains and fierce sore throats, suspicion starts to spread that he might be abusing substances quite different from ganja. After a couple of shows at Madison Square Garden alongside the Commodores, Marley joins his friend Alan "Skill" Cole for a jog in Central Park, collapsing unconscious into his arms.

Chapter Nine – Jah Live

He who has brought forth the truth comes into the light

After the alarming collapse in the heart of Central Park, Bob is forced to stop once again. An increasingly worried Rita reaches him and is quickly reassured: Marley is fine and promises to meet her that evening at a club in Greenwich Village. On September 23, the Wailers have another show scheduled at the Stanley Theater in Pittsburgh. The band is ready, while Marley still has one last interview to finish in New York before joining them to continue the American tour. In reality, there is no interview scheduled at all, but rather an important medical check-up. After a series of X-rays and brain scans, the result is devastating: Bob has a massive brain tumor. The tour must be suspended immediately, since chemotherapy needs to begin right away. A treatment that turns out to be entirely pointless, given that the reggae superstar has only two or three weeks left to live. As in every other episode of his life, Bob Marley refuses to give up: he wants a second opinion and, above all, has no intention of stopping the tour, which is why he heads to Pittsburgh, where he reunites with Rita and his lifelong friends to get back on stage.

The final concert by Bob Marley & The Wailers thus takes place at the Stanley Theater in Pittsburgh, on September 23, 1980. After a first 90-minute set – during which the Barrett brothers' rhythm section is unusually fast – the Wailers can't stop giving encores, well beyond the usual four they'd generally granted audiences around the world for years. Bob and the band know this will be the very last concert of all. During one of the many encores, Marley appears alone on stage with his acoustic guitar for a version of "Redemption Song" that will remain etched in memory forever. The last song played in Pittsburgh is "Work", fittingly a track that includes a countdown — now a chillingly fitting one — before the end of everything. The date of September 23 marks the end of the Uprising tour, as well as the end of the Wailers as fronted by their lider maximo. Marley moves with Rita to Miami, to his mother's house, awaiting a second opinion at Cedars of Lebanon Hospital. The situation is, however, desperate, since the brain tumor has by now also spread to the liver and stomach.

With perhaps only a month left to live, Marley realizes it's time to put things in order. On October 8, 1980, after his second visit in Miami, the press finds out and the news spreads across every radio station in New York. For the sake of treatment logistics, Marley and Rita move to the Wellington Hotel in the Big Apple. Bob manages to attend, as a spectator, the fight between his friend Muhammad Ali and Larry Holmes, as well as a Queen show on the "The Game" tour. Marley feels well enough to try playing football once more, an attempt that's of course doomed to fail. He loses weight at an alarming rate, and is forced to cut off his dreadlocks. The end is truly near.

Now resigned to the inevitable, Cedella asks Bob to be baptized into the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. Marley initially refuses – declaring his faith in Haile Selassie and the Rastafarian Twelve Tribes – but then agrees, on 4 November 1980. Robert Nesta Marley thus becomes Berhane Selassie, meaning "Light of the Holy Trinity." Meanwhile, the illness shows no mercy, leaving him paralyzed from the waist down. Knowing there is nothing left to lose, Bob's private doctors advise him to try the unconventional treatment of the German Josef Issels, already struck off by the American Cancer Society. So he is flown to Bad Wiessee, at the foot of the Bavarian Alps, where he enters the Sunshine House run by Issels with his alternative cures, such as massive injections of Thx, a drug unavailable and unapproved in the States. Incredibly, his condition begins to improve as the days pass, and Marley even manages short walks to reach the treatment centre, where the sessions are painful but endured with great pride and dignity. Three months later, Bob manages to celebrate his 36th birthday, an outcome never imagined by his American doctors. All the Wailers come to the party – except the Barrett brothers – finding their bandmate in reasonably good shape, having recently started working by correspondence with lawyer Diane Jobson to set the finances of Tuff Gong International back in order.

These months of renewed spiritual and (partly) physical strength don't last long: in March Bob worsens and can no longer move, even refusing to eat or drink. Absurdly, at such a delicate moment, Dr. Issels decides to take a holiday, leaving behind a patient weighing a total of 31 kilograms. All the members of the Wailers have already begun asking for their share of the earnings, while Bob's last wishes stipulate that Rita should get everything. Returning from his holiday, Issels decides to operate urgently, only to then give up and give Marley just a couple more weeks. Rita decides to return to Miami, to her mother's house. On 11 May 1981, Rita is alerted: only a few hours remain. At 11:45, the most powerful voice of Third World music falls silent for good.

Bob Marley's body is laid out for an entire day in the Miami house, with a huge stream of friends and colleagues coming to pay their respects. In his right hand is placed a copy of the Bible, open to Psalm 23, which speaks of the shepherd's house welcoming his flock. In the other hand, a guitar. On 19 May, the body is brought to Jamaica, welcomed by a two-day state funeral organized by Prime Minister Edward Seaga in Kingston. Bob is posthumously awarded the Jamaican Order of Merit, the third-highest honour on the Caribbean island. After a moving speech by Ziggy, his eldest son, the wake is even broadcast on giant screens at the National Arena, with more than 40,000 mourners in attendance. Tear gas is used once again to disperse an overly pressing crowd, while the coffin is guarded by police alongside the leaders of the Twelve Tribes. The ceremony continues towards Maxfield Avenue, home of the Ethiopian Orthodox church, where the Wailers perform a short set with the I-Threes. The procession then heads towards the Blue Mountains, to Nine Mile, in the parish of St. Ann, where Bob will be buried, right where it all began.

Chapter Ten – Legacy and Legend

October 1981. Just a few months after Marley's tragic death, Danny Sims decides to release the album Chances Are, having worked on remixes of unreleased tracks recorded with Bob between 1968 and 1972. Released worldwide by Warner, the album is obviously an attempt to ride the emotional wave following the star's passing, to the point that Sims even extends the length of many songs compared to their original versions. From the reggae-soul fusion of "Reggae On Broadway" – a 1972 attempt to win over American radio audiences – to the rock steady rhythm of "I'm Hurting Inside," the album distorts the original mood, stuffed with Sims-branded overdubs and decidedly useless for understanding the art of the Wailers.

A different matter altogether is Confrontation, officially released by the two historic labels, Tuff Gong and Island, but above all already conceived by Bob Marley himself while alive, during the fruitful sessions for Uprising. The late Wailers leader is depicted on a white horse facing a psychedelic dragon, embodying the spirit of Saint George to recall the Battle of Adwa, when the Ethiopians defeated the Italians in 1896. Confrontation is a nearly 40-minute testament in music, ideally closing the trilogy on the liberation of Black people worldwide. The album is anchored by the anthem "Buffalo Soldier," written years earlier with King Sporty as an example of distinguished Black men who acted with courage, honour and distinction in a field dominated by whites. Island makes use of the I-Threes to add a soul touch to tracks like "Jump Nyabinghi" or the synthesized reggae of "Mix Up, Mix Up." "Blackman Redemption," among the most interesting songs of the batch, is perfectly arranged between African rhythms, blues guitars and doo-wop harmonies. Pure Wailers sound. Aside from the reworking of "Trench Town," the closing of Confrontation offers one last great anthem, "Rastaman Live Up," written in dub style with Lee Perry. The final call to action from the greatest Rastafarian poet.

In 1984 comes Legend, also known as "The Best Of Bob Marley," Island's biggest commercial success, with an estimated 25 million copies sold worldwide. From "Is This Love" to "Jamming," 14 hits spanning the period between Burnin' and the final Confrontation, charting for 609 non-consecutive weeks on the US Billboard 200. The combination of Marley's death and the inclusion of globally known classics sends Legend to huge sales figures (12 million in the States alone), although several music journalists criticize the choice to include only lighter tracks, a commercial move to avoid controversy over the more militant and violent side of Bob's songwriting. Given the album's success, the Wailers decide to take it on tour, with son Ziggy joining for the Los Angeles show, while Junior Marvin takes on the burden of lead vocals.

In 1985 Jamaica Records releases the album Bob, Peter, Bunny & Rita, which rather clumsily salvages some recordings made by the original Wailers lineup at Jad Records. The album is little more than a commercial speculation, stuffed with keyboards and synthesizers for an almost disco-club sound ("Oh Lord" and "Soul Shake Down Party"). More interesting is the new Island-branded anthology, Rebel Music, which includes a long remix of "Rebel Music (3 O'Clock Roadblock)" and the reggae-dub groove of "Roots," originally released as the B-side of the single "Waiting In Vain" (1977). Rebel Music could thus be seen as the rebellious little brother of Legend, since Blackwell decides to include more militant tracks such as "War" and "Them Belly Full (But We Hungry)."

While Island rakes in chart success with its compilations, a critical phase opens up concerning the management of the financial legacy left by Marley after his death. The Tuff Gong International empire is in Rita's hands, since Bob did not leave a proper will before his passing. The widow Marley's first move is to relocate the offices and recording studios to another site in Kingston, while the old headquarters at 56 Hope Road becomes a museum open to tourists. Beyond the new house-museum, managing Tuff Gong's finances proves more difficult than expected for Rita. In 1986 the various members of the Wailers are forced to accept a lump sum in exchange for permanently waiving any future claim to royalties. In 1987 disaster strikes: Rita Marley is accused of fraud for having deposited most of the estate in a tax haven in the Cayman Islands. All assets are consequently frozen, including the family home in Miami, while control of Tuff Gong passes into receivership. A tortuous legal battle then begins, with Bob's ex-wife accused of violating the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), while the Jamaican government eventually decides to put the entire financial estate up for sale. Enter old friend Chris Blackwell, who becomes the owner of the Bob Marley estate for the sum of almost 9 million dollars. In an auction against the Marley family itself, Blackwell's company, Island Logic Inc., secures the commercial exploitation rights and future royalties for every song in the reggae legend's catalogue. It is a right that will last very little, however, since Blackwell himself will sell the entire estate in 1989 to Polygram, which had already tried desperately to convince Bob to leave Island while he was alive. The chain of ownership will end up, by the late '90s, with acquisition by the Universal Music group.

After five years of silence, in 1991 a new live album is released, Talkin' Blues, which includes several performances recorded in the studio between 1973 and 1975, interspersed with spoken excerpts from Bob's interviews. "Burnin' And Lootin'," "Kinky Reggae" and "Slave Driver," on the other hand, are taken from sessions for the Sausalito radio station KSAN, while the version of "I Shot The Sheriff" dates back to the London show at the Lyceum Theatre in 1975. The following year sees the release of the massive four-disc collection Songs Of Freedom, which traces the entire career of Bob Marley & The Wailers over nearly 5 hours. Released on the Tuff Gong label, the anthology begins with the earliest ska rhythms – "Judge Not" is the very first recording, dating back to 1961 – before moving on to "Simmer Down," which in 1965 introduced Jamaica to the raw talent of Bob, Peter and Bunny. The Wailers' early sound inherits its American roots – "One Love/People Get Ready" from idol Curtis Mayfield – before shifting towards an increasingly pronounced vocal harmony style, from "Bend Down Low" to the original slowed-down version of the 1967 single "Stir It Up." The first cycle of 24 tracks runs up to "Mr. Brown" (1971) and covers the earliest stirrings of reggae such as "Sun Is Shining" and "Duppy Conqueror." There are two gems on disc two – which arrives at the release of Natty Dread – namely the epic-length "Acoustic Medley" and the previously unreleased "Iron Lion Zion," which blends reggae, pop and dance to tell of Rastafarian faith and the promised land of Zion, bound for Ethiopia. Songs Of Freedom is the best-curated compilation in the entire Wailers discography, far surpassing the "commercial" selection of Legend. Opened by the previously unreleased live version of "No Woman, No Cry" (Roxy, 1976), the third disc is packed with fine remixes – "Jamming," "Waiting In Vain," a magnificent "Exodus" – which continue into the fourth, sealed by the most moving version of "Redemption Song" from the final Pittsburgh concert.

The celebratory release cycle continues in 1995 with the release of Natural Mystic: The Legend Lives On. The fifteen tracks included represent an addendum to the more famous 1984 compilation, Legend, often criticized by the trade press for featuring only love songs. From "War" to "Africa Unite," the new collection instead aims to restore the listener's sense of Bob's more politically engaged soul, rewarded with a million copies sold in Europe and 500,000 in the States.

After the release of the pointless 21 Winners: The Best Of Bob Marley And The Wailers, JAD Records decides to publish a massive compilation spanning 11 volumes, for a total of over 200 songs. The Complete Bob Marley & The Wailers 1967–1972 begins its rollout in 1998 with the volume titled "Rock To The Rock," a rock steady melody recorded back in 1968 at the Kingston studios. Most of the unreleased material featured across the entire compilation (around 100 tracks) comes from the invaluable archives of American author Roger Steffens. Obviously it's impossible to sum up in a few lines the value of an operation that allows the world to rediscover rare gems from Marley's body of work.

Almost twenty years after the flop of Chances Are, in 1999 a new remix work is released, produced by his son Stephen, involving various rock/hip-hop stars (from Busta Rhymes to The Roots) to pay tribute to his father's music. Chant Down Babylon is a bolder, more hybrid way of revisiting reggae classics, from the urban sound of "No More Trouble" (with Erykah Badu) to the syncopated version of the immortal "Concrete Jungle" (with Rakim). Also included are Joe Perry's rock guitar incursion on "Roots, Rock, Reggae" and the elegant remix of "Burnin' And Lootin'" with the ever-excellent Roots.

After yet another super compilation, One Love: The Very Best Of Bob Marley & The Wailers, in 2001, finally comes the release of a double live album from the concert of 26 May 1976 at the Roxy in West Hollywood, during the Rastaman Vibration tour. Live At The Roxy is released after decades of bootleg popularity, taken from the live recording made by radio station KMET. The live set is clean, energetic and superbly performed by the Marley crew, exploding at the end with the fantastic 20-plus-minute medley "Get Up, Stand Up/No More Trouble/War."

Four years later, in 2005, it's time for new retrospectives: the bland compilation Gold and the more interesting Africa Unite: The Singles Collection, which gathers singles from 1970 to 1984 with the addition of the remix of "Africa Unite" (will.i.am) and the previously unreleased "Slogans," featuring the blues guitar of Eric Clapton.

In 2009 Marley's legend lives on in an unusual record, B Is For Bob. Starting from the choral, acoustic version of "Three Little Birds," the album is made up of remixes aimed at children, as if to make Bob's sonic message even more universal. The project succeeds in conjuring a different aura, turning the songs into lullabies for the little ones. Highlights include an intriguing tribal version of "Jamming" and an ever-moving "Redemption Song."

Two years later - in 2011 - the recording of the Wailers' final concert was finally released: Live Forever: September 23, 1980 • Stanley Theatre • Pittsburgh, PA is Marley's stirring swan song. From the keyboards of "Natural Mystic" to the dark reggae-rock gem "The Heathen," this new double album is the missing piece in the Wailers' discography.

Closing the circle for good is the live album Easy Skanking In Boston '78, recorded in support of the album Kaya and originally filmed at the Wang Theatre by a fan whom Marley himself had authorized to sit in front of the stage. As the World A Reggae website wrote in its review: "This timeless live performance from the King of Reggae is one of the best posthumous Marley albums released to date by Island/Universal, worth the price of admission, and definitive proof that there will never be another Bob Marley."

It's my dream, mon, it's every rasta's dream. To go back to Ethiopia and leave Babylon, where the politicians won't let me and my brothers be free.

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