Bob Marley

Bob Marley

Hello ladies and gentlemen. What I want to do today is to tell you something about Bob Marley.

If there are any questions, please stop me at any time, and I will be happy to answer them.

My presentation is divided in 3 parts. Firstly I want to give you a short introduction about Reggae.

Secondly I´ll try to describe what Reggae and Rasta means.

Finally I`ll be looking at the life of Bob Marley.

Introduction

First of all I like to say that the direct predecessor of the Hippie time was the Reggae or the older form of Reggae called Ska. The Hippies take the idea from the Rastas and try to produce their vital things by themselves. The smoking of marijuana was taken by them too but in contrast to the Rastas they take it for feeling high. The Rastamen use Ganja, that is a kind of marijuana, because in their interpretation of the bible they say that this is necessary to be as far as possible by Jah (that means Jehovah) and also being in common with him

This leads me to my second point.

What is Reggae and Rasta

Rastafarianism is a religion also called Rasta. It is a form of Christianity that still follows some primitive Jewish and ancient Egyptian customs. Let me give you an example: they believe in Jah, or Jehovah, and they recognize Ra, the Egyptian god of Sun. The reggae music was born on Jamaica an island south of Cuba. This you can see on this transparency. The capital of Jamaica is Kingston a town with about 600 000 inhabitants.

The grandfather of Rasta was Marcus Garvey who was born 58 years earlier than of Bob Marley. At the beginning of the twenties he tried to move settlements of the blacks from the USA to Africa into Liberia. Because the hoped aim in life of the Rastas was the return to the praised country, the black continent. But Garvey didn't succeed in it.

He justified his teaching from the Bible and he saw in Ras Tafari Makkonen the 111th emperor from Ethiopia the son of Jah Ras Tafari still called himself Haile Selassie I., 'the power of the three agreement' and gave himself the title "king of the kings".

On April 21st 1966 Haile Selassie arrived at the airport to an official state visit to Jamaica. About 100.000 people expected him. It was a rainy morning but the Rastas said: 'As soon as our God arrives, the rain will stop'. And as the machine actually landed, the Sun was shining. For the Rastas this was a sign of god as they called it. And from this time on the sect got more follower.

The Rastamen have their  own language, that is a strange mixture of Jamaica English, Bible quotations, saying wisdom's and African words. One of the most used word of Rastamen is I. With I the Rastas mean I and God are in common. Today there are a lot of various groupings of Rastas with about one hundred thousand members. The traditional Rastas counter that anyone is welcomed if he fights for peace and love, wheater he or she is black or white. And so it cannot be denied that the Rastafarianism religion is better than the christen one.

One of the best known Rasta was Bob Marley. Nobody knows how Bob Marley became member of these sect but with the beginning of the early 60^th he was already known as a follower of Rasta. As a Rasta he tried to do as much as possible for the black and white people especially for the children who lived in the ghetto of Trenchtown.

As Haile Selassie died in 1975, Bob Marley and Stevie Wonder gave a concert in the stadium of Kingston. The message they sent out on this concert was bright and clear for everyone who hear it: "God is alive not dead".

Now let's move on to my last point:

The Biography of Bob Marley

Robert Nesta Marley, that was Bobs real name, was born on February 6, 1947 in Nine Miles, Jamaica to Cedella Malcolm, and Norval Marley. Norval, a white General in the British Army, abandoned Bob and Cedella shortly after they were wed, and had no contact with them for five years.

Cedella and Bob moved to Kingston where they lived with Bob's best friend, Bunny Livingston (better known as Bunny Wailer) and his family. In Kingston there was a lot of crime especially in the ghetto and Bob and Bunny tried to escape from the violent world with music and they spent most of their time writing songs and practicing them.

At the age of sixteen, Bob wanted to record music. A few months later Bob fulfilled this life-long dream, and released his first single, 'Judge Not'. He and Bunny soon joined forces with Peter Tosh and the group "The Wailers" was born. But Bobs life changed dramatically when he converted to Rastafarianism. He began to write songs about the fight and the injustice of the blacks, especially about the politic situation in Jamaica.

Because of talent shows, gigs at small clubs, and recordings, the Wailers became one of the most popular groups in Jamaica.

In 1965 Bob established his own recording company, Tuff Gong, which is now the home of The Bob Marley Museum. One year later he married Rita Anderson, and the following year their first child, was born. Bob had a lot of affairs and so he became father of 12 children.

1971 was a great year for Bob Marley and the Wailers. For the first time in history, a major record label, Island Records signed up a record deal with a reggae band. Before The Wailers signed to Island, it was considered that reggae sold only on singles and cheap compilation albums. Two years later "Bob Marley and The Wailers" became more recognised when they formed a new look of their band. They included Rita Marley, Marcia Griffiths, and Judy Mowatt into it and so reggae was taken to an international level having a succession of record-breaking albums and tours. That means that Bob Marley and The Wailers were named as the 'Band of the Year' in the Rolling Stone Magazine.

In April 1978 the One Love Peace Concert was performed in Jamacia in front of the Prime Minister, and Leader of the Opposition. Bob arranged a meeting on stage between this two rivals and manage to stop the civil war in Jamaica. After that year Bob got the Peace Medal of the Third World from the United Nations.

One month before his death, Bob Marley received "The Order of Merit", Jamaica's third highest honor. Bob Marley died in May 11, 1981 at the age of 36 of melanoma cancer, which was first detected in his big toe. Bob Marley's funeral in Jamaica could be compared with one of a king. Hundreds of thousands of people were present. After the funeral Bob Marley's body was taken to his birthplace where it rests in a mausoleum.

In the year 1991 the government of Jamaica proclaimed Bobs birthday as Bob Marley Day.

Bob Marley was inducted in the Rock N' Roll Hall of Fame in 1994, and remains today, the greatest legend of Reggae music.

To summarise I like to say that Bob Marley was not only a good musician, he also was one of the world greatest freedom fighter like Gandhi. In his life he didn't waste the money he earn but spend much of it to the poor people in the ghettos.

Thank you for your attention.