Is Marley reggae?

[mick d]

the verdict is in, and the winner by landslide is:

MARLEY IS REGGAE.

only a couple of people believe otherwise.
maybe we should stop now.

[daCENSOREDone]

MARLEY IS REGGAE.

UB40 TOO!:D
even if they tend to be extremely radical roots reggae

[Litelet]

You could say the same for Burning Spear, for example... His sound after Studio One, except a few singles, is far less rough and got imo a little pop influence. But this doesnt mean I cant appreciate it and will surely name it roots reggae.

But nobody criticise Burning Spear for that....
So as I see it now, but correct me, I think the strong anti-Marley feeling come from people that need to prove themselves they are "ruff, tuff and strictly roots and culture". I feel a tendancy in that way in UK Reggae selectas, "supermales at the control". But I really think that Jamaican reggae isnt that at all, it is lighter and full of love and hope. And the "roots strictly roots" mix with love songs, minor and major keys melodies, and was not an apart reggae but part of the whole. And Marley is part of the whole.

Talking Marley music, I really rank early 70s tunes like *Satisfy My Soul Jah Jah* or *Sun is Shining* with Perry in my top 100 7" singles.

Guidance

Litelet

[leggo rocker]

Does it have to be roots to be reggae? Or maybe just a reggae musical structure will do?

Is this reggae?

[cover=2121,2481]

Certainly not if the Bob bashers here are to be believed.


and this?

[cover=2410,2777]

Come on people! Music doesn't have to have a nyabinghi chant and congo drumming in it to qualify as reggae.

[leggo rocker]

You could say the same for Burning Spear, for example...

But nobody criticise Burning Spear for that....
Guidance

Litelet

I did say that!!

But I agree totally with your sentiment that this Bob bashing is not genuine, It comes from some misguided ulterior motive, like envy, misunderstanding or this macho thing about only liking ruf and tuff stuff.

It's the same with lovers. SO many so-called reggae fans spurn anything that might be lovers because it isn't roots enough. In doing so they miss so much of the very best of reggae music.

[Funkyfred]

Irie....

Hmm, InI thinks this thread is going outta line a bit maybe. Some angry comments back and forth.....

Pro-Marley or No-Marley......
For some he is roots, for others he is not,
its just a matter of taste I suppose.
Nah.... come on mi breddas, RA is a site where we share our love for reggae, not hate.

Stay irie!

[MightyZ]

The question is 'Is Marley Reggae' - but most people seem to have interpreted this as 'Is Marley Roots?'
These are two different questions

Roots Reggae is the best style of Reggae for me, but it not the only style.

Marley produced some great stuff - but for me the best is the early stuff with The Wailers (the singing group not the later version with Family Man and Co.). I think it gets a bit too mish mashed with other western music styles later on. It is still Reggae though - Reggae is a style of music that refers to a particular beat structure. Roots Reggae is a particular branch of that which sounds better than all the rest!

Family Man better than Robbie Shakespeare? Have you listened to much 70's revolutionaries stuff with Robbie playing? For me Flabba is the best bassist!


MightyZ

[greg]

this thread is making me mad!!

marley is was and will always be king of ROOTS ROCK REGGAE.
for those of you who dont have a good musical ear, you might settle for some boring two chord roots radics material but i&i know bob is king. you can not even come close to the musical masterpieces that the wailers released.

how could you even compare ub40 to the wailers, get the f!@k
out of here.

[MightyZ]

for those of you who dont have a good musical ear, you might settle for some boring two chord roots radics material

I think I have a good musical ear, but I also know that good music is not necessarily the most complex. By the same token, however, simple is not necessarily better. For me though, Reggae is all about feel - not the virtuoso skill of the musicians. It is about how the instruments all fit together and the resultant vibe!

Please don't tell me Roots Radics are boring though - sometimes two chords is all you need - the Wailers stuff is sometimes based on only two or three chords - but that doesn't make it boring!

I sincerely hope no one really compared UB40 to Marley - I have probably sinned by mentioning them in the same sentence.

I think that people mentioned UB40 to make the point that it doesn't have to be roots to be reggae.

[daCENSOREDone]

I came to reggae and roots without bob marley! I guess I'm not the only one and it doesn't mean I am an anti-marley. it's just that his words and music has never hit me the way yabby you or horace andy did.

my point is that people tend to generalize their personal musical experience. we named marley's music "reggae" or "roots reggae" because this word has been associated from the start with marley. and so people convinced themselves that the definition of reggae was marley's music. but it's a mystification. it was an hybrid and unnatural version of what was going on in jamaica.

So as I see it now, but correct me, I think the strong anti-Marley feeling come from people that need to prove themselves they are "ruff, tuff and strictly roots and culture".

too tuff on this bit litelet! I've never seen an anti-marley cruisade!

I'd like to insist on the fact that by example roots archives chose to ignore good part of what was made before the 1970. the problem is 1970 doesn't mean a lot in the jamaican musical history. but if you try to present bob marley as a founder it makes more sense.

it'a kind of pre-copernicus situation... many people believe in a marleycentric reggae cosmology... when it's not