Is Marley reggae?

[juancri]

I think i will listen right now to one of my favourites REGGAE LP: Kaya by Bob Marley & The Wailers

Bless

[Litelet]

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

Right, I assumed saying *Marley music is no reggae* was an anti-Marley provocation... But if you say its not... And that you really can't stand his sound, then good. The thing is that talkings like this always happen with Marley. Im not surprised as he's now widely used as a commercial symbol to sell this and that shit. So certainly if you want to look a "radical" bwoy, you better stay out of him. But in my opinion, his work is different than that business, he express his truth and sufferation through it, like roots reggae and using a reggae structure (a bit modified in his taste, sure). He felt he was apart and splitted from Jamaica in his sound and life and express it in his songs.

Take his Running away...

Its the Jamaican People talking to Bob:

*You Running Away, But you cant run away from yourself...*

And at the end of the song he express his own voice...
*"Hey no, I'm not running away, no, don't say that - don't say that - 'Cause I'm not running away! I've got to protect my life (that follow the gun shot on him and his emigration to UK)
And I don't want to live with no strife
It is better to live on the housetop
Than to live in a house full of confusion?
So, I made my decision and I left ya.*

This is the split betweem Marley and Jamaica... And yes, his sound (Exodus and nexts) then evolved to something more pop or clean or anything... But the link with jamaica is there, expressed strongly ina jamaican reggae way... And his music is, too.

The impression I have is that many artists of the 70s respect him truly, many people, jamaicans close to him. Many are proud to say they were friends or worked with him, and I dont think its pure biz talkings. I guess he was a respected *reggae* singer in jamaica and not considered another way.


Finally, when I say "Marley is part of the whole", it doesnt mean he is the *center* of the whole reggae. Anyway, its not really important.

Respects

[mick d]

Very well-said Litelet. Thanks for the deft interpretation of Running Away.

[Rob Strictly-Rockers]

I don't think anyone in this whole debate on the various occasions we have been round it on this site has said that Marley never played Reggae. Of course he did and some of his early stuff was the most creative at the time. All some of us are saying is that we personally think his Reggae/Rock/Pop crossover stuff is not what we regard as Reggae.

Regards

Rob

[daCENSOREDone]

Right, I assumed saying Marley music is no reggae was an anti-Marley provocation... But if you say its not... And that you really can't stand his sound, then good.

come on! please be honest! I never said that...

This is the split betweem Marley and Jamaica... And yes, his sound (Exodus and nexts) then evolved to something more pop or clean or anything...

for me the first step away from jamaica happened when blackwell brought him to the uk to cut an occidental formatted "catch a fire" with english musicians and prod. it was 1973 if I remember. but I'm not a specialist

The impression I have is that many artists of the 70s respect him truly, many people, jamaicans close to him. Many are proud to say they were friends or worked with him, and I dont think its pure biz talkings. I guess he was a respected reggae singer in jamaica and not considered another way.

no doubt on this! even if some integralists criticize him a lot...

[donstrumental]

Lets not forget BMW music was designed for a wider audience than reggae alone.Many reggae fans including myself, discovered roots through listening to BMW.

Had the BMW tapes been taken over to Tubbys to be mixed we would be having a whole different conversation.

greg wrote :

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

greg, i think you need a music lesson making a statement like that,so pay attention.

Crazy Baldhead-2 chords
So much things to say-2 chords (with a bridge ! )
Exodus-1 chord
Wake up and live-1 chord
Running Away-2 chords
Slave Driver-2 chords

I can go on but i think this is enough for you to get the picture.

Roots Radics,Sly and Robbie or Bob Marley and the wailers are all masters of reggae and deserve maximum respect for there contribution to reggae music.

oh! before i forget.Bob marley cover versions.

Crazy Baldhead-Johnny Clarke
Slave Driver-Dennis Brown
Love so nice-Junior Kelly (stir it up riddim)
I'm still waiting-Delroy Wilson
i'm still waiting-Johnny Clarke

Is Marley Reggae? OF COURSE !

[algonquinmd]

I'm tryin' to figure out what albums or songs by Marley some consider not reggae. If any songs before "Natty Dread" are mentioned then you should also note that "Wailers" band also included Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer. Is anyone saying Peter and Bunny are-were not roots? In my opinion the Wailers sound section was equal in "thumpness" with Peter when he had Sly and Robbie. I will not say that Bob is not roots, but I do agree on grown folks, and younger alike (who are well into Reggae) steppin' away from "Legend", and giving it to a youth as a stepping stone into the vastness of this "Roots" culture! (Don't mean to sound self-righteous but I have never owned a copy of "Legend" in the nearly 15 years that I have been into Reggae. Of course it's a great album but Bob Marley and the Wailers & Reggae's impact on the entire world cannot possibly be summarized by 14 songs!)

[algonquinmd]

A second note- The Wailers sound section has pretty much always been Lee Perry's Upsetters. So by calling out the Wailers your pretty much calling out plenty of Lee Perry and the Upsetter scorchers.

[bullit]

im a little late to reply to this as this seems to be a fast moving topic..
I can see where the author is getting, however most of us agree, Marley is reggae.
Although when i look at reggae, i dont instantly say "marley" some people would but i wouldnt. I would go through 10 or more other arists before i get to him.
I believe that its easy to link him directly with reggae asif he "is" reggae. Many people say "reggae" and instantly think of bob, when i think of it he doesnt come to mind.
Its like, if you liked rock back in the day and someone said "rock is beatles" when yeah, their definetly connected with it, but their their not the be-all and end-all of it.

its difficult to explain what im getting at, maybe one of you can work it out.. jus finished a mamoth session of reggae playing with my brother in law and a little wasted.

[leggo rocker]

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.

Whenever you've posted on this archive you've sounded very anti-Marley. Maybe you need to choose your words more carefully.

But you seem to be retreating a bit now, so tell us categorically, are you or are you not anti-Marley.

If not, then you must recognise the work he did, not just for reggae, but for everyone.

You mention lyrics. Marley has some of the finest lyrics in reggae music. OK, so for WAR he borrowed the words of H.I.M. I guess you won't be pointing to that song as an example to support your statement.

Then there's Concrete Jungle. Redemption Song, Duppy Conquerer and many more. All brilliant lyrically.

You Bob-bashers really don't realise what Marley did for Reggae. I doubt ORAS would have even discovered Reggae outside of Jamaica when you got into it just 5 minutes ago. (dacensored one is too juvenile to sign on here under his real user name any more but he is R-A member ORAS)

Sure, the Jamaican people were taking reggae all over the world, into their ghettos and racial enclaves where it would largely stay. Just as calypso and mento stayed there and only leaked out into the west in little bits.

Like it or not, Marley (and Blackwell) were at the front of the movement to internationalise Reggae music. I simply can't see how anyone who lived through the 1970s in Europe or the USA could deny that.