Reggae Legends Not Named Bob Marley

[rocketman83]

I just came across a great article from The Voice Online about some of reggae's greatest legends not named Bob Marley. They cover everyone from recently deceased Lucky Dube to the Steppin' Razor himself, Peter Tosh. A good read for a quiet Tuesday afternoon. Enjoy!

Lost Reggae Legends:
Voice Online :: Lost legends of reggae

 

[Firestone]

Winston Rodney aka Burning Spear has some family nearby.

About once a year or so he'd come in for a visit and show up at open Mic nights w/ some local players for impromptu concerts. The phones would ring off the hook around town when word got out they were going to show.

I haven't heard anything about him being in the past couple-three years? He's getting older,it makes me wonder about his health?

Burning Spear along w/ Desmond Dekker and The Aces were always my favorites. The Ethiopians were great too.

 

[Firestone]

I didn't realize Mikey Dread had died. RIP Mikey.

Lee Perry still says the best reggae single he ever produced was The Clash cover of Junior Murvin's "Police and Thieves". It does smolder.

A lot of those 60's/70's Coxone and Trojan singles are on YouTube as "videos" if you're interested,Rocketman. A spinning single ain't much to watch but the music is great. I'll be on there all night at times,reliving my youth.

 

[rocketman83]

I didn't realize Mikey Dread had died. RIP Mikey.

Lee Perry still says the best reggae single he ever produced was The Clash cover of Junior Murvin's "Police and Thieves". It does smolder.

A lot of those 60's/70's Coxone and Trojan singles are on YouTube as "videos" if you're interested,Rocketman. A spinning single ain't much to watch but the music is great. I'll be on there all night at times,reliving my youth.

Police and Thieves is such a great track, both the cover and the original. It doesn't get much better than Perry and The Clash, in my book. I'm gonna check out youtube for those vids. Have you listened to Madlib's Blunted In tHe Bombshelter? Its an hour long DJ set (released as an album) using nothing but old Trojan singles. Its pretty epic!

 

[rocketman83]

Did you happen to catch this article? On Sunday, The Jamaica Observer reported that internet searches for Peter are on the decline, compared to the last few years. Tosh had previously held a strong second place (behind Bob) in searches for popular reggae musicians. It seems since April, Tosh has been outpaced by relative newcomers like Vybz Kartel and Mavado. Check out the article (link below) for a detailed breakdown. I beg to differ with the auther. I suspect the decline in online popularity has a lot to do with the Tosh’s smaller online footprint. His official site isn’t much more than landing page at the moment (although it looks like a full site is set to launch soon) and his social network pages have just recently become active. Peter Tosh is an icon and a legend, and more relevant today than ever, I suspect. Any thoughts?

Check out the Jamica Observer article here:
Tosh's popularity waning? - JamaicaObserver.com

 

[Firestone]

My take is the Marley family and the Jamaican govt. have been milking money from Bob's corpse for 30 years. The first play down the contributions of Pete and Bunny as they control most of the Wailers catalog of songs.

If you notice the name on the new releases of the old Wailers stuff now hits the shelves under the "Bob Marley and Wailers" when in fact no such act existed until late '74. It makes Pete and Bunny look like a side players to Bob instead of co-equals in The Wailers,which is what the Marley family seems to desire.

The Jamaican govt. likes Marley image because it puts a smiley face on a country with one of the highest homicide rate on earth,and brings the tourists in.

Pete's dead and Bunny has been reclusive and very odd since the mid-70's. There's no one out there that has an interest in squaring the story and a big ass industry has built up around Bob Marley since his death.

Peter Tosh was the musical force behind the Wailers,IMO. Bob was the good lookin' singer that brought the girls in. That's also my opinion. Tosh and Bunny leaving let Bob shine on his own.

I'll give Marley credit,the man took the ball and ran with it when he got his chance. He really developed as songwriter and musician fronting his own band.

I've often wondered if Eric Clapton had released his cover of "I Shot The Sheriff" a few months earlier,before the Wailers started to break up,if it would have been Peter that got the big rep?

Reggae started selling like hotcakes in the States after Clapton's cover went gold. By that time the original Wailers were no more.

 

[rocketman83]

If you notice the name on the new releases of the old Wailers stuff now hits the shelves under the "Bob Marley and Wailers" when in fact no such act existed until late '74. It makes Pete and Bunny look like a side players to Bob instead of co-equals in The Wailers

I've never understood why the old Wailers stuff is marketing like that. I mean, I understand, but it's unfortunate. In my opinion, recoqnizing that the Wailers were greater for the sum of their parts then just the Bob Marley show makes the band that much more compelling. It's like marketing the early Beatles records as "John Lennon and The Beatles"...

 

[Firestone]

Rita Marley owned the rights to 90% of that music,that's why. She was the Priscilla Presley of Jamaica. Now the Marley Foundation,ran by the Marley family does. It's not hard to figure out.

 

[rocketman83]

Oh, that much I understand. What I mean is, I don't understand why the rights owners would feel it necessary to highlight Bob and downplay Peter and Bunny's role in the band. I feel like it is to the credit of both Bob and the Wailers to recoqnize that all 3 icons were started out making incredible music together.