National Library of Jamaica
_
arley's
(NOTE: seemed
Two
T
hursday ago
except was
Bob few Museum
'Mꢀleyꢁs rastafarians birthday though
toꢃ noꢂd and
t?
remember
...
aand
Hoꢄ on
�
or
- two
- d1sc
- jockeys
.
T
- he
- Marley
on
- Road
- was
- a
- b
ilace
�
y
ll,
- with
- many
young
- pe
- ople
- who
- wou
- ld
- not
- even
h
:
�
nwh
�
ich
- wn
- arley
following their parents
buses into that the had Kꢉꢊ appeꢀed
Museum, brough
st
- outside
- of
- were
- dozens
of
ꢀ
and
t
lꢅl
Mꢆl lovers
- and
- tour
groups
.
T
- he
- Jamaica
ꢇeꢈae
on under
- ill
- draws
intere
:
overseas
.
One of
l
- the
- latest
pieces
- h
- im
- in
- the
"Miami
-Herald
Bob
's
- "
- T
rave
Section
,T
April
23
,
the to headline Jamaica
"In
ꢁ
- h
- f
Jamaica
.
- S
- EVE
COHEN came and
- ꢀꢁꢂ
- ;
e
ar
- tic
- le
- for
the
, Jamaica
"Miami
Herald
")
Nꢂ
MILES
ꢀ:
- Bob
- Marley,
the
today,
Inteꢁationaꢂ
ꢃꢄꢅae
- staꢃ
- , died
- of
- ca
world,
n
ce
- r
- fn
Ma
198
1
- at
- the
- age
- of
3
6,
yet
ꢎn
Jamaica,
an
- d
- the
- rest
- of
- the
- rley's
- music
aꢆd
A
fa
ꢇꢈ
e
- continue
- to
- grow
- beyo
- nd
histoꢉ,
provide
- Into
- legend.
Vi
alte
- sit
- to
- Marley
- 's
- Jama
ic
a
can
- a
- stimulating
insights
national
cultuꢃal adjunct
- or
- rn
- ative
- to
- reso
- rt
- Jamaica,
- as
- well
- as
Into
- the
- man
- his
'
music
- and
- his
- cou
nt
- ry,
- which
consideꢃ
s
him
- a
- hero
.
The
- best
- place
- to
- sta
- rt
- looking
fo
r
- ꢊb
- Marleyꢐs
Jamaica
- Is
- at
- Tuff
Gong, his the
Kingston
- home
- and
reco In rding
st
udio at
56
Hope
- Rd
- .,
- rech
- ris-
- tened
- Bob
- Ma
- rley
- Museum
May
1986.
ꢋnteꢁationaꢂ
- Visitors
- wande
r
- th
- rough
- the
landscaped
gr
- ounds
- whe
- re
- Ma
- rle
y
played Walls
- soccer.
- Inside
the In house
- Ma
- rleyꢐs
- music
with
Is
pl
- ayed
- contin
-
uously.
- are
- papered
news
Framed kitchen cli
pp
- in
- gs
- banner
- headli
nes trumpeting
Marleyꢗs
bedroom triumphs.
- gold
- records
- fill
- Ma
- rleyꢗs
small upstai
shirts rs
- and
- ad
- jacent
.
- Records,
- tapes
- and
- reꢅae
T
_
are
- sold
- downstai
- rs.
- Paul
- Kelly,
- who
- manages
- the
- museum
- for
- Ma
- rley
- 's
- wꢎdow,
- Rita
- , talked
- In the garden about the Influence of Bob Marley and the
- of ꢌeꢅae In
Jamꢍꢎcan culture. Foreign music has always been popular In Jamaica and tꢏayꢐs "dancehallw music, similar to Ameꢃican disco, reflect the chasm between the "rootsw reꢅae of Marley and the "pop" styles.
"People go crazy over reꢅae aꢃtists abroad." said Kelly, nodding toward an arriVIng bus full of Japanese touꢑsts "and the love of It brings them here. The reꢅae music break� down all barꢃieꢃs, all cultural barriers. aꢂl racial barriers and It is spreading a message.
"The real struꢅle Is freedꢒꢓ for all. They (the Jamaicans) are not slaves physically still. but mentally and materially weꢐre still living in
·
poverty, so we still donꢐt have much freedom."
Reꢅae was started ꢔ poor people, partly to express the fꢕstration of slavery to poverty and repression, and came out of the ghetto, Kelly said, not out of a music studio.
"ꢊb Marley, heꢐs just a ghetto man, a Trench Town man who sings aꢖut the life that they live. And sings about the frꢄꢄdom for his people; Kelly said.
"The heaꢃtbeat, they say (reꢅaeꢗsꢘ the heartbeat of a type of people:
Thanks to Bob Marley, most people have now most certainly hꢙ about the heartbeat of Jamaica.
"Bob Marley was Rastaman. Bob Marley was a philosopher. ꢊb Marley was a prophet. And he was a musician. ꢊb Marleyꢐs music is more popular every day. Canꢗt stop playing Bob Marley music," Kelly said.
LeaVIng Tuff Gong, passing through Kingston's Caꢃibbean palette of
- urban poverty and excess, you tour
- a
- modern Third World capital
displaying sophistication and squalor, sometimes in the same instant, as you move from the cultural heart of Jamaica to its spiritual centre In the
de.
rysi count
ꢋnto the forested Interior of Bob Marleyꢗꢚ Jamaica, It is easy to see why
St. Ann, where the musician was born, is called the garden parish. Narꢃow roads bear little traffic as they wind over limestone ꢑdges cloaked In dense greenery.The landscape of rolling hills with rock outcrops looks like green dreadlocks. "Locks" are the tight long curls of uncut hair favoured by "dreads," the Rastafarian sꢄct of ꢛlieversꢜ
The hills also look like buds of the Rastafarians' holy herb "ganja," or maꢃijuana, which they consumꢝ in laꢃge quantities as a sacrament. The ꢃoad drops Into a gravel. Goats scrambling thꢃough ruts make a car watt in a cloud of red dust.
In Marley's hometown of Nine Miles a birthday party Is held each year outside the tiny chapel where he Is entombed. Candles flickering Inside a highlight stained glass windows of lion of Judah, a rasta symbol, and "three little birds upon my doorstep," from a particularly bright Marley song. Cigar-size "spliffs" roHed out of the St. Ann hills bounty of maꢞꢟuana, which Is an important, although Illegal, cash crop In Jamaica, send a· smoky haze over the gathering crowd of Jamaican and Inteꢁational vis!to