Thoughts on Bob?

[abey]

Well that fact caused controversial and that is a way of calling attention, but without the musical quality you can't mantain yourself in that position thats for sure...

He was at the right time at the right place, if he would be born 20 years ago nowadays he probably won't be a superstar the way he was, neither the beatles...

[MatejkoFarI]

The group that brought me into reggae was Toots And The Maytals. There was a long time that I didn't listen to Bob Marley on purpose. The first album of Bob for me was Catch a Fire. I stil think that this is one of the reggae greatest records. I also love Wailers stuff produced by Leslie Kong or Lee Perry. But the rest is just nothing special. As someone allready said, I also find I Trees unfitting for his music.

[lester]

One white English suburban kid's point of view (and nothing more):
In England roughly from 1968 to 1973, reggae wasn't highly regarded by the majority of white record buyers. Apart from the Jamaican community, most people associated reggae with skinheads or the pop-influenced versions they heard on the radio or saw on Top of the Pops. Even though the Beatles and Led Zeppelin dabbled in the format, there was a stigma attached to it. It was very divided - at my school, the music you listened to defined you, and reggae was "unworthy" of serious consideration. As the skinheads grew up and moved on (I was one of them), reggae's white audience got even smaller, and it was even more of an "underground" sub-culture.

Then in 1975 Marley's picture appeared on the cover of London's Time Out magazine (and Melody Maker), and it seemed to change everything. Maybe it was partly because of the dreadlocks (new to the mainstream back then), but all of a sudden people took reggae seriously - the kids who had only listened to hard rock/blues-based music were now lapping up reggae. You could go and see Toots and the Maytals and the Heptones at Oxford Polytechnic - a very white, middle-class venue.
Then came punk which continued reggae's high profile in England.

So whatever else you can say about Bob's music (and I agree that it's almost a whole other thing from the music that's mostly discussed in this forum), he provided a sound and image that paved the way for reggae gaining the wider respect it deserved, on a level with jazz and blues.

[Greggae]

Once he signed with Island, he had the money to really craft his songs how he wanted. He had his own studio and basically his own in-house musicians to do what he wanted with. I imagine any of the singers down at Channel 1 would do the same if they were given the opprtunity. Bob just had a bigger vision, more on par with legendary rock singer-songwriters. Plus, there is no denying his passion in his live performances, one of the most intense, focused performers on stage ever, any genre...But, like the rest of you, I rarely put on a Bob tune, if so, maybe a deep album track or two. In the rock world, bands like Led Zepp and Pink Floyd and all the other big name guys, are played sooo much, it gets tedious. Those legendary bands are great in their own right, but there is so much good music out there, that listening to the same ole, same ole gets boring. So, I would file Bob in that category, with the legendary classic rock bands of the 70s, wonderful stuff, great to keep in your collection, but rarely played now.

[gbougard]

the greatest ever

[Mystikal Gong]

He was at the right time at the right place, if he would be born 20 years ago nowadays he probably won't be a superstar the way he was, neither the beatles...

Almost all the reggae legends, including the best little known/unknown artists would struggle to maintain the standard as they did in the 70's. Just check around the corner & you'll see that very few of them can release a quality track/album that you think you'd like to have.

Anything happens in its time - good or bad, but history does tells that Bob is the "KING OF REGGAE".

Another thing is that why most people don't play him most of the time is that his music has been easily accessible in most places. Every corner you go check reggae music, you'll always find something about him, either a flag, music, poster, stamps, socks, T-shirst etc.

Is there any reggae shop without his music,any collectables - why?

"TIME WILL TELL"

[Mystikal Gong]

To attest that, why do we have reggae artists praising him as the king of reggae? Culture, Jimmy Cliff,Prince Far I & many more.

[Congo Bunny]

Can't go wrong with any Joe Higgs' recordings! "Triumph" is also a wicked record as are many of his singles!

Is it just me who finds Joe highs really depressing?

[Geo Dude]

Between last night and this morning I listened to "Uprising". I must admit that I miss the heavier bass I'm getting used to, but it has some good material on there and is very enjoyable.

[DWick]

blessup wrote :Can't go wrong with any Joe Higgs' recordings! "Triumph" is also a wicked record as are many of his singles!

Is it just me who finds Joe highs really depressing?

I like Higg's stuff cause it is mellow and has a lot of feeling. Wouldn't call it depressing, but it def has a sad mood to it. I think that is why I like it.