"Old Fire Sticks"
Posted: Tue Aug 14, 2007 8:26 pm
Is it just me or does it seem that every time Rita's name comes up, Money is somehow involved. Why does Rita Marley not want Bunny to publish this book ?
I found this and thought it was interesting....
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From Roger Steffens regarding "Old Fire Sticks" 4/9/02
Hi Mike,
You may post this if you wish for all those inquiring about Bunny's book:
Leroy Jodie Pierson and I have been working on Bunny Wailer's autobiography,
"Old Fire Sticks," since October of 1990. It has been a long and arduous
process. Sixty-four hours of interviews had to be transcribed - that took
years and filled 1,800 pages.
The index alone is 45 pages. For example, every time the Lee Perry period was
mentioned, we had to locate and review what Bunny told us. Ultimately, all
of this raw material had to be synthesized into an accurate chronological
account. Next, because the book is intended for an international
English-speaking audience, we had to refine the patois into a more
understandable form but also retain the natural rhythm and poetry of Bunny's
speech.
Three completed chapters - on the Wailers return to Nine Mile and retirement
from the music business in 1967; on the founding of their own Wail 'n Soul 'm
record label; and on Bunny's ganja arrest, trial and 14 month imprisonment - w
ere given to him in Colorado in September of 1998. Since then he has not read
them.
Obviously Leroy and I cannot continue until we have his approval of this
literary "voice," this style. If he really doesn't like how it reads, then
we'll have to find another way. But I'm not going to go ahead and write an
entire book and then have him tell me it's not how he wanted it. This is
supposed to be, after all, a collaboration.
So the ball has sat in Bunny's court for 3 1/2 years now, and he doesn't seem
to be in any hurry to move it forward. He told me a couple of years ago that
I should come to Florida "and read it to" him. I don't have that kind of
time, neither does Leroy. We have been working with no money in all this
time, no contract, and mounting frustration. This is largely due to the fact
that the information in Bunny's story is unique, thrilling, controversial,
amazingly detailed, corrosive, amusing, and ultimately the Wailers' own
history as only he himself remains to tell it. And for all those who have
passed in the last decade, without ever having read this story, my heart goes
out. Every day we lose more of the warriors who were there in the days this
remarkable tale was being lived out - they're the ones who need - and would
appreciate it - most. So Bunny is robbing his own fans - and ultimately the
world, and allowing other (predominantly non-Jamaican) writers to weave the
story in their ways, not his. He often complains bitterly about distortions
in the Wailers history, so it is his duty to set the record straight. I had
hoped to play a part in that vital work, but now I have doubts that it shall
ever be accomplished in my lifetime.
My heart is lighter, however, with the knowledge that these interviews do
exist - on tape and paper - in several secure locations, so that ultimately
our children's children will have a fuller story than we seem destined to
discover. At least it's there.
Why is Bunny reacting this way? I don't know. I can tell you that his
recently deceased drummer/band leader Carl Ayton, pulled me aside at the
opening night party for my exhibition at the Queen Mary last year. Bunny had
been the promised headliner, and he sent his entire 18 member entourage ahead
the day before the Friday night party - but Bunny never showed up until late
Sunday afternoon. "Roger," said Carl, "you know Bunny is never going to
finish that book." Stunned, I asked why. "In order to get his royalties from
the Marley box 'Songs of Freedom,' he had to promise Rita Marley no to
publish his book." If this is so, Bunny never told us, but his silence, and
continuing refusal to re-engage his work, speak for themselves.
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17 years later still No Book
Matty