An archive is a collection of historical records, or the physical place they are located. Archives contain primary source documents that have accumulated over the course of an individual or organization's lifetime, and are kept to show the function of an organization.

In general, archives consist of records that have been selected for permanent or long-term preservation on grounds of their enduring cultural, historical, or evidentiary value. Archival records are normally unpublished and almost always unique, unlike books or magazines for which many identical copies exist. This means that archives (the places) are quite distinct from libraries with regard to their functions and organization, although archival collections can often be found within library buildings.

A person who works in archives is called an archivist. The study and practice of organizing, preserving, and providing access to information and materials in archives is called archival science.

When referring to historical records or the places they are kept, the plural form ''archives'' is chiefly used. Archivists tend to prefer the term "archives" (with an S) as the correct terminology to serve as both the singular and plural, since "archive," as a noun or a verb, has acquired meanings related to computer science.

Etymology

First attested in English in early 17th century, the word ''archive'' () is derived from the French ''archives'' (plural), in turn from Latin ''archīum'' or ''archīvum'', which is the romanized form of the Greek ''ἀρχεῖον'' (''arkheion''), "public records, town-hall, residence or office of chief magistrates", itself from ''ἀρχή'' (''arkhē''), amongst others "magistracy, office, government" (compare an-archy, mon-archy), which comes from the verb ''ἄρχω'' (''arkhō''), "to begin, rule, govern".

The word originally developed from the Greek '''' (arkheion) which refers to the home or dwelling of the Archon, in which important official state documents were filed and interpreted under the authority of the Archon. The adjective formed from ''archive'' is ''archival''.

History

The use of keeping official documents is very old. Archeologists have discovered archives of hundreds (and sometime thousands) of clay tablets going back to the IIIrd and IInd millennia BC in sites like Ebla, Mari, Amarna, Hattusas, Ugarit, Pylos. And these discoveries have been fundamental to know ancient alphabets, languages, literatures and politics. Archives were well developed by the ancient Chinese, the ancient Greeks, and ancient Romans (who called them ''Tabularia''). However, they have been lost, since documents were written on organic materials like papyrus and paper.On the contrary, many archives founded since Middle Age by churches, kingdoms and cities survive and often have kept their official status uninterruptedly till now. They are the basic tool for historical research on these ages. Modern archival thinking has many roots in the French Revolution. The French National Archives, who possess perhaps the largest archival collection in the world, with records going as far back as A.D. 625, were created in 1790 during the French Revolution from various government, religious, and private archives seized by the revolutionaries.

Users and institutions

Historians, genealogists, lawyers, demographers, filmmakers, and others conduct research at archives. The research process at each archive is unique, and depends upon the institution in which the archive is housed. While there are many different kinds of archives, the most recent census of archivists in the United States identified five major types: academic, business (for profit), government, non-profit, and other. There are also four main areas of inquiry involved with archives: material technologies, organizing principles, geographic locations, and tangled embodiments of humans and non-humans. These areas help to further categorize what kind of archive is being created.

Academic

Archives in colleges, universities, and other educational facilities are typically housed within a library, and duties may be carried out by an archivist. professors may also run a smaller archive. Academic archives exist to preserve and celebrate the history of their school and academic community. An academic archive may contain items such as the administrative records of the institution, papers of former professors and presidents, memorabilia related to school organizations and activities, and items the academic library wishes to remain in a closed-stack setting, such as rare books or thesis copies. Access to the collections in these archives is usually by prior appointment only; some have posted hours for making enquiries. Users of academic archives can be undergraduates, graduate students, faculty and staff, scholarly researchers, and the general public. Many academic archives work closely with alumni relations departments or other campus institutions to help raise funds for their library or school. Because of their library setting, a degree certified by the American Library Association is preferred for employment in an academic archive in the United States.

Business (for profit)

Archives located in for-profit institutions are usually those owned by a private business. Examples of prominent business archives in the United States include Coca-Cola (which also owns the separate museum World of Coca-Cola), Procter and Gamble, Motorola Heritage Services and Archives, and Levi Strauss & Co. These corporate archives maintain historic documents and items related to the history and administration of their companies. Business archives serve the purpose of helping their corporations maintain control over their brand by retaining memories of the company's past. Especially in business archives, records management is separate from the historic aspect of archives. Workers in these types of archives may have any combination of training and degrees, from either a history or library background. These archives are typically not open to the public and only used by workers of the owner company, although some will allow approved visitors by appointment. Business archives are concerned with maintaining the integrity of their company, and are therefore selective of how their materials may be used.

Government

Government archives include those maintained by local and state government as well as those maintained by the national (or federal) government. Anyone may use a government archive, and frequent users include reporters, genealogists, writers, historians, students, and people seeking information on the history of their home or region. Many government archives are open to the public and no appointment is required to visit.

In the United States, National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) maintains central archival facilities in the District of Columbia and College Park, Maryland, with regional facilities distributed throughout the United States. Some city or local governments may have repositories, but their organization and accessibility varies widely. State or province archives typically require at least a bachelor's degree in history for employment, although some ask for certification by test (government or association) as well.

In the UK the National Archives , formerly known as the Public Record Office, is the government archive for England and Wales. The National Monuments Record is the public archive of English Heritage. The National Archives of Scotland , located in Edinburgh, serve that country while the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland in Belfast is the government archive for Northern Ireland.

A network of local authority-run record offices and archives exists throughout England, Wales and Scotland and holds many important collections, including local government, landed estates, church and business records. Many archives have contributed catalogues to the national Access 2 Archives programme and online searching across collections is possible.

In France, the French Archives Administration (''Service interministériel des Archives de France'') in the Ministry of Culture manages the National Archives (''Archives nationales'') which possess 406 km. (252 miles) of archives as of 2010 (the total length of occupied shelves put next to each other), with original records going as far back as A.D. 625, as well as the departmental archives (''archives départementales''), located in the ''préfectures'' of each of the 100 ''départements'' of France, which possess 2,297 km. (1,427 miles) of archives (as of 2010), and also the local city archives, about 600 in total, which possess 456 km. (283,4 miles) of archives (as of 2010). Put together, the total volume of archives under the supervision of the French Archives Administration is the largest in the world.

In India the National Archives are located in New Delhi.

In Taiwan the National Archives Administration are located in Taipei.

Most intergovernmental organisations keep their own historical archives. However, a number of European organisations, including the European Commission, choose to deposit their archives with the European University Institute in Florence.

Church

A prominent Church Archives is the Vatican Secret Archive. Archdioceses, dioceses and parishes also have archives in the Roman Catholic and Anglican Churches. Very important are monastery archives, because of their antiquity, like the ones of Monte Cassino, Saint Gall and Fulda. The records in these archives include manuscripts, papal records, local Church records, photographs, oral histories, audiovisual materials, and architectural drawings.

Most Protestant denominations have archives as well, including the Presbyterian U.S.A Historical Society, The Southern Baptist Historical Library and Archives, the United Methodist Archives and History Center of the United Methodist Church and the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).

Films

Non-profit

Non-profit archives include those in historical societies, not-for-profit businesses such as hospitals, and the repositories within foundations. Non-profit archives are typically set up with private funds from donors to preserve the papers and history of specific persons or places. Often these institutions rely on grant funding from the government as well as the private funds. Depending on the funds available, non-profit archives may be as small as the historical society in a rural town to as big as a state historical society that rivals a government archives. Users of this type of archive may vary as much as the institutions that hold them. Employees of non-profit archives may be professional archivists, para-professionals, or volunteers, as the education required for a position at a non-profit archive varies with the demands of the collection's user base.

Web archiving

The process of collecting data from the World Wide Web and preserving it in an archive, such as an archive site, for the web user to see. See Website Archiving. Examples of web archives:

Side bars

Blogs

Calendar

Tag cloud

News websites

Other

Some archives defy categorization. There are tribal archives within the Native American nations in North America, and there are archives that exist within the papers of private individuals. Many museums keep archives in order to prove the provenance of their pieces. Any institution or persons wishing to keep their significant papers in an organized fashion that employs the most basic principles of archival science may have an archive. In the 2004 census of archivists taken in the United States, 2.7% of archivists were employed in institutions that defied categorization. This was a separate figure from the 1.3% that identified themselves as self-employed.

Another type of archive is public secrets . This is an interactive testimonial in which women incarcerated in the California State Prison System reveal their stories about what happened to them. The function of the archive is to unfold the stories of the women who want to express themselves and want their stories to be heard. This collection of stories includes the women's direct speeches and also a recording of the women saying their speech.

The archives of an individual may include letters, papers, photographs, computer files, scrapbooks, financial records or diaries created or collected by the individual – regardless of media or format. The archives of an organization (such as a corporation or government) tend to contain other types of records, such as administrative files, business records, memos, official correspondence and meeting minutes.

Standardization

The International Council on Archives (ICA) has developed a number of standards on archival description including the General International Standard Archival Description ISAD(G). ISAD(G) is meant to be used in conjunction with national standards or as a basis for nations to build their own standards. In the United States, ISAD(G) is implemented through Describing Archives: A Content Standard, popularly known as "DACS". In Canada, ISAD(G) is implemented through Rules for Archival Description, also known as "RAD".

ISO is currently working on standards.

See also

Archivist

List of archives and List of national archives

Archival informatics

Archival research

Archival science

Archive Fever (book by Jacques Derrida)

BS 5454

Collection (museum)

Computer data storage

Data proliferation

Digital preservation

Discovered text (archaeology)

Greenstone (software)

Information repository

Internet Archive

International Council on Archives

Manuscript processing

Preservation (library and archival science)

Web archiving

Database

Notes

External links

International Council on Archives

Archives Hub — gateway to descriptions of archives held in UK universities and colleges, part of the National Archives Network

InterPARES Project — international research project on the long-term preservation of authentic digital records

Access to Archives (A2A) — the English strand of the UK archives network

Online-Guide to Archives around the globe

The Changing World of Records Storage

AIM25 – archives within the UK M25 area.

British Cartoon Archive associated with the University of Kent

The Digital Archive of Literacy Narratives

Banco di San Giorgio – Genova Italy: Archive (1407–1805): nearly 40,000 books catalogued with full description. www.giuseppefelloni.it

Forward Anywhere

Public Secret

R-Shief

Database as a Sybolic Form – An Essay by Lev Manovitch

Slavic Archives

* Category:Historical documents Category:Greek loanwords

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Name	Roger Steffens
Birth date	June 17, 1942
Birth place	New York, NY
Resting place coordinates
Nationality	American
Other names	RoJah, RasroJah
Known for	Author, Actor, Archivist, Radio personality
Footnotes	}}

Roger Steffens (born June 17, 1942) is a Brooklyn, New York born actor, author, lecturer, editor, reggae archivist, photographer, producer. Roger is perhaps best known for his reggae archives, in particular his archives of Bob Marley. Six rooms of his home in Los Angeles house his archives, which include the world's largest collection of Bob Marley material. Based on these archives Roger lectures internationally with a multi-media presentation called "The Life of Bob Marley". Roger's radio career began in New York in 1961, and was co-host of the award-winning ''Reggae Beat'' on KCRW in Los Angeles and was syndicated on 130 stations worldwide in the 1980s. Roger has two children, Kate and Devon.

Acting and narrating

Steffens has been involved with a large amount of acting and narration work, both credited and uncredited. He provided narration in ''The Flight of the Gossamer Condor'' and the television documentary ''Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam'', and he portrayed Ben Veelchez in ''Dean Quixote'', Daniel Golan in the 1999 film ''Deterrence'', and a radio technician in ''Rollercoaster''. In addition, Steffens has been involved with many other films and television shows in an uncredited role, including ''Forrest Gump'', ''Ghosts of Mississippi'', ''The Making of Batman Returns'', ''CHiPS'', ''Empty Nest'', and ''Soul Rebel: The Bob Marley Story''.

Radio

Steffens co-hosted ''Reggae Beat'' on KCRW from 1979 until 1987, and ''Reggae Beat International'' from 1983 until 1987, which was syndicated internationally to 130 stations. He also served as a syndicated weekly contributor from 1993 to 1997 for ''Planet Reggae'' on the radio station Groove Radio 103 in Los Angeles. Steffens also worked on several other radio shows, including ''Offbeat: The Roger Steffens Show'' (Host, 1987–1989), ''Sound of the Sixties'' (Host, 1984–1986), ''Morning Goes Makossa'' (Co-host, 1980–1984), ''Future Forward'' (ethnic music commentator, 1985–1986), and ''Poetry For People Who Hate Poetry'' (1983 and 1987).

Steffens was named "Most Popular Reggae DJ in the World" by Martin's International Awards in Chicago, 1985, and "One of the Forty Who Matter in L.A." by the Los Angeles Reader.

Music anthologies

Steffens has contributed to countless music anthologies as a writer and photographer. But surely his most important contribution to the reggae legacy is the ten-CD series entitled ''The Complete Bob Marley & the Wailers 1967 to 1972''. Released in 1998-2003, this 220-track series revealed over a hundred rare Bob Marley & the Wailers recordings to the world, including major songs like ''Selassie Is the Chapel'', and many of them previously unreleased, such as ''Rock to the Rock''. Many of the rarest selections came directly from his huge collection. Co-produced with partner Bruno Blum, the series revived the JAD label, a small company that had signed an exclusive contract with Marley and his wife Rita as well as original Wailers member Peter Tosh in 1967. Although many of the recordings have since been available on various compilations, the quality of the original, definitive ten releases, which include extensive liner notes and rare time period pictures, remains unmatched.

Audio books

Steffens was a reader for the audiobooks ''Bill Gates' Business @ the Speed of Thought'' (Time Warner), ''The Man From St. Petersburg'' (Warner Audio), ''Big Two Hearted River: The Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway'' (North Star), and ''Mother Earth Father Sky'' (North Star). He also provided the corporate voice (all wrap-arounds) for Time Warner Audio Books from 1996 until 2003.

Stage

Steffens' stage experience includes work with the Pittsburgh Playhouse, Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, and his one-man show, Poetry for People Who Hate Poetry which was performed to over two million people from 1966 to 1976 and was used as the basis of TV series 1968-69 Armed Forces Vietnam Network.

Training

Carnegie-Mellon, Pittsburgh

American Academy of Dramatic Arts, NYC

Iona College, NY, winner of its first drama scholarship

National Defense Information School, honor graduate

Interviewee, adviser or content provider

Steffens has been interviewed and served as an advisor on many television programs, including ''American Masters'' three times (on the subjects Rebel Music, James Brown, and Waldo Salt), VH1's ''Behind the Music'' four times (for the subjects Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, Alan Freed, and 1970), ''VH1 Confidential: Tosh & Marley'', ''VH1 Ultimate Albums: Bob Marely's Legend'', ''Stand And Be Counted'', ''The Voice'' on Channel Four, and ''Soul Britainia'' on the BBC. He is also featured in an upcoming documentary on reggae group Steel Pulse.

Author

Bob Marley: Spirit Dancer

Bob Marley and The Wailers: The Definitive Discography - (first place award for Best Research in Folk, Ethnic or World Music from the Association of Recorded Sound Collections, 2006)

The World of Reggae featuring Bob Marley: Treasures from Roger Steffens Reggae Archives

One Love: Life with Bob Marley and the Wailers

Roger Steffens and Peter Simon's Reggae Scrapbook (winner, ForeWord Magazine Silver Medal for Best Music Book of 2007)

Contributing Writer

“Bob Marley: Rasta Warrior” in Chanting Down Babylon: The Rastafari Reader Temple Univ. Press 1998

Dictionnaire des chansons de Bob Marley, Editions de Tournon, Paris, 2005

“Reggae in the Seventies” in Rolling Stone’s The Seventies

Introduction to Bob Marley Reader (DaCapo 2004);

A Magio do Reggae, Martin Claret Pub., São Paulo, 1997

“Nine Meditations on Jimi and Nam” in The Ultimate Hendrix, Macmillan, NYC

"Bob Marley: The Complete Annotated Bibliography" with Joe Jurgensen, Haras Publishing, Prospect 2009

Contributing Photographer

Couleur Reggae, Editions Tana, Paris, 2001

Jamaica, Lonely Planet Guide Book, 2000

Sur la Route avec Bob Marley, Mark Miller, Scali, France 2007

Lecturer on The Life of Bob Marley at hundreds of venues including the Smithsonian Institution, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (its first and most frequent speaker), Experience Music Project, American Film Institute, Red Rocks-Denver, University of the West Indies and University of Technology (Kingston, Jamaica), Schomburg Center for Black Research of the New York Public Library; Missouri History Museum, and Universities of Maine, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Delaware, Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, Colorado, Utah, California, Hawaii, Martinique; at the Ritz, Joe’s Pub, Irving Plaza and S.O.B.’s in NYC; the Milky Way, Amsterdam; in Paris, Caen, Rouen, Montreal, Toronto, Ottawa Blues Fest, Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver, Tokyo, San Juan, Puerto Rico, Guam, the Newcastle (UK) Opera House and the Padmore Society in London. Plus a 12-show, seven city tour of Australia in 2004, including Arts Centers in Brisbane, Darwin and Melbourne, and three performances in Sydney. A six date tour of Israel took place in January 2006, followed by gigs in Hawaii and four days at the Houston International Festival, and three days at the Montreal International Reggae Festival. In 2007, a dozen shows were held throughout Australia and New Zealand. He was a principal speaker at the Global Reggae Conference at the University of the West Indies in Kinston, Jamaica in February 2008.

Writing and/or Photography: NY Times, LA Times, High Times, Rolling Stone, Spin, Musician, Village Voice, Record Collector (UK), Option, BRE, Relix, Jamaica Observer, Jamaica Daily Gleaner, Jamrock, Player (Japan), RM (Japan), Best , Nova, Natty Dread and Reggae Massive (France), Moda (Italy), Il Talehti (Finland), Diana Photo Review (Sweden), Reggae News (Brazil), Caribbean Week, LA Style, Montreal Gazette, Chicago Tribune, San Francisco Chronicle, LA Weekly, LA Reader, Inked (Black Tattooing), Tattoo, Reggae Festival Guide, and on the official websites of Keith Richards and PBS. Plus hundreds more.

Interview Subjects

Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, Keith Richards, Carlos Santana, Bunny Wailer, Jimmy Cliff, Burning Spear, Culture, Steel Pulse, Fela Kuti, Miriam Makeba, King Sunny Ade, Ray Charles, Robert Moog, Little Richard, Mick Fleetwood, Nina Simone, Matt Groening, John Ritter, Richie Havens, Dion, Solomon Burke, Eric Burdon, Ginger Baker, John Densmore, David Byrne, Joe Cocker, Timothy Leary, Olatunji, Jonathan Frakes, Rick Berman, Jerry Goldsmith, Luciano, Toots Hibbert, Lee Perry and hundreds more reggae, world beat, and pop artists

Liner Notes

Bob Marley & the Wailers (entire catalog 1963-1972), Bunny Wailer, Peter Tosh (entire catalog), Andrew Tosh, Marcia Griffiths, Herbie Hancock, Monty Alexander, Jimmy Cliff, Toots Hibbert, Steel Pulse, Burning Spear, Black Uhuru, Culture, Gregory Isaacs, Sly & Robbie, Ras Michael and the Sons of Negus, Mad Professor, Israel Vibration, Sunsplash ’92, Barrington Levy, Techniques, Jacob Miller, Pablo Moses, Alton Ellis, Mighty Diamonds, Dean Fraser, Skatalites, Delroy Wilson, Joe Higgs, Ken Boothe, Heptones, Original Wailers Reunion, Tapper Zukie, Mandators, Scientist, Fully Fullwood, Tony Chin, Reggae Salutes the Grateful Dead Vol. II, Vusi Mahlasela, Reggae in Hifi, Is It Rolling Bob? A Reggae Tribute to Bob Dylan, and scores more

Recordings

Miriam Makeba:The Sangoma Interview with Roger Steffens Warner Bros.

World Music Sampler writer/narrator, Warner/Reprise/Sire

David Byrne: Rei Momo:Words and Music, interviewer, Sire

Magazine

The Beat Magazine (Founding editor)

Employment

National Promotions Director, Island Records, 1982–1983, in charge of all reggae and African music promotions including Bob Marley Confrontation, King Sunny Ade Juju Music and Synchro System, Gregory Isaacs Night Nurse, Black Uhuru, Michael Smith

National Reggae Promotions, Elektra Records, 1982; Steel Pulse True Democracy and Sunsplash ’81: Tribute to Bob Marley

National Reggae Promotions, EMI-America, 1985–1986, first two Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers albums

National Reggae Promotions, Slash Records, 1986, Burning Spear People of the World

See also

Reggae

Bob Marley

References

External links

The Beat Magazine

The Roger Steffens Archive

Roger Steffens Report

Category:1942 births Category:Living people Category:American radio personalities Category:American archivists Category:American cannabis activists Category:Reggae

honorific-prefix	The Honourable
name	Bob Marley
alt	Black and white picture of a man with long dreadlocks playing the guitar on stage.
background	solo_singer
birth name	Robert Nesta Marley
alias	Tuff Gong
birth date	February 06, 1945
birth place	Nine Mile, Saint Ann, Jamaica
death date	May 11, 1981
death place	Miami, Florida, U.S.
instrument	Vocals, guitar, piano, saxophone, harmonica, percussion
genre	Reggae, ska, rocksteady
occupation	Singer-songwriter, musician
years active	1962–1981
label	Studio One, Upsetter, Tuff Gong
associated acts	Bob Marley & The Wailers, Wailers Band, The Upsetters, I Threes
website
notable instruments	Gibson Les Paul Special }}

Robert Nesta "Bob" Marley, OM (6 February 1945 – 11 May 1981) was a Jamaican singer-songwriter and musician. He was the rhythm guitarist and lead singer for the ska, rocksteady and reggae band Bob Marley & The Wailers (1963–1981). Marley remains the most widely known and revered performer of reggae music, and is credited with helping spread both Jamaican music and the Rastafari movement to a worldwide audience.

Marley's music was heavily influenced by the social issues of his homeland, and he is considered to have given voice to the specific political and cultural nexus of Jamaica. His best-known hits include "I Shot the Sheriff", "No Woman, No Cry", "Could You Be Loved", "Stir It Up", "Get Up Stand Up", "Jamming", "Redemption Song", "One Love" and, "Three Little Birds", as well as the posthumous releases "Buffalo Soldier" and "Iron Lion Zion". The compilation album ''Legend'' (1984), released three years after his death, is reggae's best-selling album, going ten times Platinum which is also known as one Diamond in the U.S., and selling 25 million copies worldwide.

Early life and career

Bob Marley was born in the village of Nine Mile in Saint Ann Parish, Jamaica as Nesta Robert Marley. A Jamaican passport official would later swap his first and middle names. His father, Norval Sinclair Marley, was a white Jamaican of mixed and English descent whose family came from Sussex, England. Norval was a captain in the Royal Marines, as well as a plantation overseer, when he married Cedella Booker, an Afro-Jamaican then 18 years old. Norval provided financial support for his wife and child, but seldom saw them, as he was often away on trips. In 1955, when Bob Marley was 10 years old, his father died of a heart attack at age 70. Marley faced questions about his own racial identity throughout his life. He once reflected:

I don't have prejudice against meself. My father was a white and my mother was black. Them call me half-caste or whatever. Me don't deh pon nobody's side. Me don't deh pon the black man's side nor the white man's side. Me deh pon God's side, the one who create me and cause me to come from black and white.

Although Marley recognised his mixed ancestry, throughout his life and because of his beliefs, he self-identified as a black African, following the ideas of Pan-African leaders. Marley stated that his two biggest influences were the African-centered Marcus Garvey and Haile Selassie. A central theme in Bob Marley's message was the repatriation of black people to Zion, which in his view was Ethiopia, or more generally, Africa. In songs such as "Black Survivor", "Babylon System", and "Blackman Redemption", Marley sings about the struggles of blacks and Africans against oppression from the West or "Babylon".

Marley and his step brother Bunny Wailer (Bob's mother had a daughter with Bunny's father, younger sister to both of them) started to play music while he was still at school, which he left at the age of 14 to make music with Joe Higgs, a local singer and devout Rastafari. At a jam session with Higgs and Livingston, Marley met Peter McIntosh (later known as Peter Tosh), who had similar musical ambitions. In 1962, Marley recorded his first two singles, "Judge Not" and "One Cup of Coffee", with local music producer Leslie Kong. These songs, released on the Beverley's label under the pseudonym of Bobby Martell, attracted little attention. The songs were later re-released on the box set ''Songs of Freedom'', a posthumous collection of Marley's work. Marley was also known to use an Epiphone guitar for much of his career.

Bob Marley & The Wailers

1963–1974

In 1963, Bob Marley, Bunny Wailer, Peter Tosh, Junior Braithwaite, Beverley Kelso, and Cherry Smith formed a ska and rocksteady group, calling themselves "The Teenagers". They later changed their name to "The Wailing Rudeboys", then to "The Wailing Wailers", at which point they were discovered by record producer Coxsone Dodd, and finally to "The Wailers". By 1966, Braithwaite, Kelso, and Smith had left The Wailers, leaving the core trio of Bob Marley, Bunny Wailer, and Peter Tosh.

In 1966, Marley married Rita Anderson, and moved near his mother's residence in Wilmington, Delaware in the United States for a short time, during which he worked as a DuPont lab assistant and on the assembly line at a Chrysler plant, under the alias Donald Marley.

Though raised in the Catholic tradition, Marley became captivated by Rastafarian beliefs in the 1960s, when away from his mother's influence. Formally converted to Rastafari after returning to Jamaica, Marley began to wear his trademark dreadlocks (''see the ''religion section'' for more on Marley's religious views''). After a conflict with Dodd, Marley and his band teamed up with Lee "Scratch" Perry and his studio band, The Upsetters. Although the alliance lasted less than a year, they recorded what many consider The Wailers' finest work. Marley and Perry split after a dispute regarding the assignment of recording rights, but they would remain friends and work together again.

Between 1968 and 1972, Bob and Rita Marley, Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer re-cut some old tracks with JAD Records in Kingston and London in an attempt to commercialise The Wailers' sound. Bunny later asserted that these songs "should never be released on an album ... they were just demos for record companies to listen to". Also in 1968, Bob and Rita visited the Bronx to see Johnny Nash's songwriter Jimmy Norman. A three-day jam session with Norman and others, including Norman's co-writer Al Pyfrom, resulted in a 24-minute tape of Marley performing several of his own and Norman-Pyfrom's compositions. This tape is, according to Reggae archivist Roger Steffens, rare in that it was influenced by pop rather than reggae, as part of an effort to break Marley into the American charts. According to an article in ''The New York Times'', Marley experimented on the tape with different sounds, adopting a doo-wop style on "Stay With Me" and "the slow love song style of 1960's artists" on "Splish for My Splash". An artist yet to establish himself outside his native Jamaica, Marley lived in Ridgmount Gardens, Bloomsbury, London during 1972.

In 1972, the Wailers entered into an ill-fated deal with CBS Records and embarked on a tour with American soul singer Johnny Nash. Broke, the Wailers became stranded in London. Marley turned up at Island Records founder and producer Chris Blackwell's London office, and asked him to advance the cost of a new single. Since Jimmy Cliff, Island's top reggae star, had recently left the label, Blackwell was primed for a replacement. In Marley, Blackwell recognized the elements needed to snare the rock audience: "I was dealing with rock music, which was really rebel music. I felt that would really be the way to break Jamaican music. But you needed someone who could be that image. When Bob walked in he really was that image." Blackwell told Marley he wanted The Wailers to record a complete album (essentially unheard of at the time). When Marley told him it would take between £3,000 and £4,000, Blackwell trusted him with the greater sum. Despite their "rude boy" reputation, the Wailers returned to Kingston and honored the deal, delivering the album ''Catch A Fire''.

Primarily recorded on eight-track at Harry J's in Kingston, ''Catch A Fire'' marked the first time a reggae band had access to a state-of-the-art studio and were accorded the same care as their rock'n'roll peers. Blackwell desired to create "more of a drifting, hypnotic-type feel than a reggae rhythm", and restructured Marley's mixes and arrangements. Marley travelled to London to supervise Blackwell's overdubbing of the album, which included tempering the mix from the bass-heavy sound of Jamaican music, and omitting two tracks.

The Wailers' first major label album, ''Catch a Fire'' was released worldwide in April 1973, packaged like a rock record with a unique Zippo lighter lift-top. Initially selling 14,000 units, it didn't make Marley a star, but received a positive critical reception. It was followed later that year by ''Burnin''', which included the standout songs "Get Up, Stand Up", and "I Shot the Sheriff", which appealed to the ear of Eric Clapton. He recorded a cover of the track in 1974 which became a huge American hit, raising Marley's international profile. Many Jamaicans were not keen on the new "improved" reggae sound on ''Catch A Fire'', but the Trenchtown style of ''Burnin''' found fans across both reggae and rock audiences.

During this period, Blackwell gifted his Kingston residence and company headquarters at 56 Hope Road (then known as Island House) to Marley. Housing Tuff Gong Studios, the property became not only Marley's office, but also his home.

The Wailers were scheduled to open 17 shows for the number one black act in the States, Sly and the Family Stone. After 4 shows, the band was fired because they were more popular than the acts they were opening for. The Wailers broke up in 1974 with each of the three main members pursuing solo careers. The reason for the breakup is shrouded in conjecture; some believe that there were disagreements amongst Bunny, Peter, and Bob concerning performances, while others claim that Bunny and Peter simply preferred solo work.

1974–1981

Despite the break-up, Marley continued recording as "Bob Marley & The Wailers". His new backing band included brothers Carlton and Aston "Family Man" Barrett on drums and bass respectively, Junior Marvin and Al Anderson on lead guitar, Tyrone Downie and Earl "Wya" Lindo on keyboards, and Alvin "Seeco" Patterson on percussion. The "I Threes", consisting of Judy Mowatt, Marcia Griffiths, and Marley's wife, Rita, provided backing vocals. In 1975, Marley had his international breakthrough with his first hit outside Jamaica, "No Woman, No Cry", from the ''Natty Dread'' album. This was followed by his breakthrough album in the United States, ''Rastaman Vibration'' (1976), which spent four weeks on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. On 3 December 1976, two days before "Smile Jamaica", a free concert organised by the Jamaican Prime Minister Michael Manley in an attempt to ease tension between two warring political groups, Marley, his wife, and manager Don Taylor were wounded in an assault by unknown gunmen inside Marley's home. Taylor and Marley's wife sustained serious injuries, but later made full recoveries. Bob Marley received minor wounds in the chest and arm. The shooting was thought to have been politically motivated, as many felt the concert was really a support rally for Manley. Nonetheless, the concert proceeded, and an injured Marley performed as scheduled, two days after the attempt. When asked why, Marley responded, "The people who are trying to make this world worse aren’t taking a day off. How can I?" The members of the group Zap Pow, which had no radical religious or political beliefs, played as Bob Marley's backup band before a festival crowd of 80,000 while members of The Wailers were still missing or in hiding.

Marley left Jamaica at the end of 1976, and after a month-long "recovery and writing" sojourn at the site of Chris Blackwell's Compass Point Studios in Nassau, Bahamas, arrived in England, where he spent two years in self-imposed exile. Whilst there he recorded the albums ''Exodus'' and ''Kaya''. ''Exodus'' stayed on the British album charts for 56 consecutive weeks. It included four UK hit singles: "Exodus", "Waiting in Vain", "Jamming", and "One Love" (a rendition of Curtis Mayfield's hit, "People Get Ready"). During his time in London, he was arrested and received a conviction for possession of a small quantity of cannabis. In 1978, Marley returned to Jamaica and performed at another political concert, the One Love Peace Concert, again in an effort to calm warring parties. Near the end of the performance, by Marley's request, Michael Manley (leader of then-ruling People's National Party) and his political rival Edward Seaga (leader of the opposing Jamaica Labour Party), joined each other on stage and shook hands.

Under the name Bob Marley and the Wailers eleven albums were released, four live albums and seven studio albums. The releases included ''Babylon by Bus'', a double live album with thirteen tracks, were released in 1978 and received critical acclaim. This album, and specifically the final track "Jamming" with the audience in a frenzy, captured the intensity of Marley's live performances.

''Survival'', a defiant and politically charged album, was released in 1979. Tracks such as "Zimbabwe", "Africa Unite", "Wake Up and Live", and "Survival" reflected Marley's support for the struggles of Africans. His appearance at the Amandla Festival in Boston in July 1979 showed his strong opposition to South African apartheid, which he already had shown in his song "War" in 1976. In early 1980, he was invited to perform at the 17 April celebration of Zimbabwe's Independence Day. ''Uprising'' (1980) was Bob Marley's final studio album, and is one of his most religious productions; it includes "Redemption Song" and "Forever Loving Jah". ''Confrontation'', released posthumously in 1983, contained unreleased material recorded during Marley's lifetime, including the hit "Buffalo Soldier" and new mixes of singles previously only available in Jamaica.

Personal life

Religion

Bob Marley was a member of the Rastafari movement, whose culture was a key element in the development of reggae. Bob Marley became an ardent proponent of Rastafari, taking their music out of the socially deprived areas of Jamaica and onto the international music scene. He once gave the following response, which was typical, to a question put to him during a recorded interview:

Interviewer: "Can you tell the people what it means being a Rastafarian?"

Bob: "I would say to the people, Be still, and know that His Imperial Majesty, Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia is the Almighty. Now, the Bible seh so, Babylon newspaper seh so, and I and I the children seh so. Yunno? So I don't see how much more reveal our people want. Wha' dem want? a white God, well God come black. True true." Observant of the Rastafari practice Ital, a diet that shuns meat, Marley was a vegetarian. According to his biographers, he affiliated with the Twelve Tribes Mansion. He was in the denomination known as "Tribe of Joseph", because he was born in February (each of the twelve sects being composed of members born in a different month). He signified this in his album liner notes, quoting the portion from ''Genesis'' that includes Jacob's blessing to his son Joseph. Marley was baptised by the Archbishop of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church in Kingston, Jamaica, on 4 November 1980.

Family

Bob Marley had a number of children: three with his wife Rita, two adopted from Rita's previous relationships, and several others with different women. The Bob Marley official website acknowledges eleven children.

Those listed on the official site are: # Sharon, born 23 November 1964, to Rita in previous relationship # Cedella born 23 August 1967, to Rita # David "Ziggy", born 17 October 1968, to Rita # Stephen, born 20 April 1972, to Rita # Robert "Robbie", born 16 May 1972, to Pat Williams # Rohan, born 19 May 1972, to Janet Hunt # Karen, born 1973 to Janet Bowen # Stephanie, born 17 August 1974; according to Cedella Booker she was the daughter of Rita and a man called Ital with whom Rita had an affair; nonetheless she was acknowledged as Bob's daughter # Julian, born 4 June 1975, to Lucy Pounder # Ky-Mani, born 26 February 1976, to Anita Belnavis # Damian, born 21 July 1978, to Cindy Breakspeare

Makeda was born on 30 May 1981, to Yvette Crichton, after Marley's death. Meredith Dixon's book lists her as Marley's child, but she is not listed as such on the Bob Marley official website.

Various websites, for example, also list Imani Carole, born 22 May 1963 to Cheryl Murray; but she does not appear on the official Bob Marley website.

Final years and death

In July 1977, Marley was found to have a type of malignant melanoma under the nail of one of his toes. Contrary to urban legend, this lesion was not primarily caused by an injury during a football match in that year, but was instead a symptom of the already existing cancer. Marley turned down doctors' advice to have his toe amputated, citing his religious beliefs. Despite his illness, he continued touring and was in the process of scheduling a world tour in 1980. The intention was for Inner Circle to be his opening act on the tour but after their lead singer Jacob Miller died in Jamaica in March 1980 after returning from a scouting mission in Brazil this was no longer mentioned.

The album ''Uprising'' was released in May 1980 (produced by Chris Blackwell), on which "Redemption Song" is particularly considered to be about Marley coming to terms with his mortality. The band completed a major tour of Europe, where they played their biggest concert, to a hundred thousand people in Milan. After the tour Marley went to America, where he performed two shows at Madison Square Garden as part of the Uprising Tour.

The final concert of Bob Marley's career was held 23 September 1980 at the Stanley Theater (now called The Benedum Center For The Performing Arts) in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The audio recording of that concert is now available on CD, vinyl, and digital music services.

Shortly after, Marley's health deteriorated and he became very ill; the cancer had spread throughout his body. The rest of the tour was cancelled and Marley sought treatment at the Bavarian clinic of Josef Issels, where he received a controversial type of cancer therapy (Issels treatment) partly based on avoidance of certain foods, drinks, and other substances. After fighting the cancer without success for eight months, Marley boarded a plane for his home in Jamaica.

While flying home from Germany to Jamaica, Marley's vital functions worsened. After landing in Miami, Florida, he was taken to the hospital for immediate medical attention. He died at Cedars of Lebanon Hospital in Miami (now University of Miami Hospital) on the morning of 11 May 1981, at the age of 36. The spread of melanoma to his lungs and brain caused his death. His final words to his son Ziggy were "Money can't buy life". Marley received a state funeral in Jamaica on 21 May 1981, which combined elements of Ethiopian Orthodoxy and Rastafari tradition. He was buried in a chapel near his birthplace with his red Gibson Les Paul (some accounts say it was a Fender Stratocaster).

On 21 May 1981, Jamaican Prime Minister Edward Seaga delivered the final funeral eulogy to Marley, declaring:

Legacy

In 1999 ''Time'' magazine chose Bob Marley & The Wailers' ''Exodus'' as the greatest album of the 20th century. In 2001, he was posthumously awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, and a feature-length documentary about his life, ''Rebel Music'', won various awards at the Grammys. With contributions from Rita, The Wailers, and Marley's lovers and children, it also tells much of the story in his own words. A statue was inaugurated, next to the national stadium on Arthur Wint Drive in Kingston to commemorate him. In 2006, the State of New York renamed a portion of Church Avenue from Remsen Avenue to East 98th Street in the East Flatbush section of Brooklyn "Bob Marley Boulevard". In 2008, a statue of Marley was inaugurated in Banatski Sokolac, Serbia.

Internationally, Marley’s message also continues to reverberate amongst various indigenous communities. For instance, the Aboriginal people of Australia continue to burn a sacred flame to honor his memory in Sydney’s Victoria Park, while members of the Native American Hopi and Havasupai tribe revere his work. There are also many tributes to Bob Marley throughout India, including restaurants, hotels, and cultural festivals.

Marley has also evolved into a global symbol, which has been endlessly merchandised through a variety of mediums. In light of this, author Dave Thompson in his book ''Reggae and Caribbean Music'', laments what he perceives to be the commercialized pacification of Marley's more militant edge, stating:

Film adaptations

In February 2008, director Martin Scorsese announced his intention to produce a documentary movie on Marley. The film was set to be released on 6 February 2010, on what would have been Marley's 65th birthday. However, Scorsese dropped out due to scheduling problems. He was replaced by Jonathan Demme, who dropped out due to creative differences with producer Steve Bing during the beginning of editing. Kevin Macdonald replaced Demme and the film, ''Marley'', was released on 20 April 2012.

In March 2008, The Weinstein Company announced its plans to produce a biopic of Bob Marley, based on the book ''No Woman No Cry: My Life With Bob Marley'' by Rita Marley. Rudy Langlais will produce the script by Lizzie Borden and Rita Marley will be executive producer.

Ex-girlfriend and filmmaker Esther Anderson, along with Gian Godoy, made the documentary ''Bob Marley: The Making of a Legend'', which premiered at the Edinburgh International Film Festival in 2011.

Discography

''The Wailing Wailers'' (1965)

''The Best of The Wailers'' (1970)

''Soul Rebels'' (1970)

''Soul Revolution'' (1971)

''Catch a Fire'' (1973)

''Burnin''' (1973)

''Natty Dread'' (1974)

''Rastaman Vibration'' (1976)

''Exodus'' (1977)

''Kaya'' (1978)

''Survival'' (1979)

''Uprising'' (1980)

''Confrontation'' (1983)

Awards and honors

1976: Band of the Year (''Rolling Stone'').

June 1978: Awarded the Peace Medal of the Third World from the United Nations.

February 1981: Awarded Jamaica's third highest honour, the Jamaican Order of Merit.

March 1994: Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

1999: Album of the Century for ''Exodus'' by ''Time Magazine''.

February 2001: A star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

February 2001: Awarded Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.

2004: ''Rolling Stone'' ranked him No.11 on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.

"One Love" named song of the millennium by BBC.

Voted as one of the greatest lyricists of all time by a BBC poll. 2006: A blue plaque was unveiled at his first UK residence in Ridgmount Gardens, London, dedicated to him by Nubian Jak community trust and supported by Her Majesty's Foreign Office. 2010: "Catch a Fire" inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame (Reggae Album).

References

Further reading

Farley, Christopher (2007). ''Before the Legend: The Rise of Bob Marley'', Amistad Press ISBN 0060539925

Goldman, Vivien (2006). ''The Book of Exodus: The Making and Meaning of Bob Marley and the Wailers' Album of the Century'', Aurum Press ISBN 1845132106

Marley, Rita; Jones, Hettie (2004) ''No Woman No Cry: My Life with Bob Marley'' Hyperion Books ISBN 0786887559

Masouri, John (2007) ''Wailing Blues: The Story of Bob Marley's "Wailers"'' Wise Publications ISBN 1846096898

External links

The Bob Marley Foundation

Online Home of the Marleys

Bob Marley at ''Rolling Stone''

Marley Elected one of the Greatest Songwriters BBC News, 23 May 2001

Showcase: Bob Marley by James Estrin, ''The New York Times'', 18 May 2009

Interview with Heather Marley in Bob Marley Magazine

Extensive discography

Category:1945 births Category:1981 deaths Category:Anti-apartheid activists Category:Attempted assassination survivors Category:Cancer deaths in Florida Category:Cannabis culture Category:Converts to Christianity Category:Converts to the Rastafari movement Category:Deaths from skin cancer Category:English-language singers Category:Ethiopian Orthodox Christians Category:Former Roman Catholics Category:Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award winners Category:Jamaican expatriates in the United Kingdom Category:Jamaican expatriates in the United States Category:Jamaican male singers Category:Jamaican people of English descent Category:Jamaican people of European descent Category:Jamaican people of African descent Category:Jamaican Rastafarians Category:Jamaican reggae singers Category:Jamaican songwriters Category:Jamaican vegetarians B Category:Pan-Africanism Category:Performers of Rastafarian music Category:People from Saint Ann Parish Category:People from Wilmington, Delaware Category:Resonator guitarists Category:Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees Category:Shooting survivors Category:The Wailers members

af:Bob Marley als:Bob Marley am:ቦብ ማርሊ ar:بوب مارلي an:Bob Marley roa-rup:Bob Marley ast:Bob Marley az:Bob Marli bn:বব মার্লি be:Боб Марлі be-x-old:Боб Марлі bg:Боб Марли bs:Bob Marley br:Bob Marley ca:Bob Marley cs:Bob Marley cy:Bob Marley da:Bob Marley de:Bob Marley et:Bob Marley el:Μπομπ Μάρλεϊ es:Bob Marley eo:Bob Marley eu:Bob Marley fa:باب مارلی fr:Bob Marley ga:Bob Marley gl:Bob Marley ko:밥 말리 hy:Բոբ Մառլի hi:बॉब मार्ले hr:Bob Marley io:Bob Marley ig:Bob Marley id:Bob Marley is:Bob Marley it:Bob Marley he:בוב מארלי jv:Bob Marley kn:ಬಾಬ್ ಮಾರ್ಲಿ ka:ბობ მარლი sw:Bob Marley ht:Bob Marley la:Robertus Marley lv:Bobs Mārlijs lt:Bob Marley hu:Bob Marley mk:Боб Марли ms:Bob Marley nl:Bob Marley nds-nl:Bob Marley ja:ボブ・マーリー no:Bob Marley oc:Bob Marley pap:Bob Marley nds:Bob Marley pl:Bob Marley pt:Bob Marley ro:Bob Marley qu:Bob Marley ru:Марли, Боб sc:Bob Marley sco:Bob Marley st:Bob Marley sq:Bob Marley scn:Bob Marley si:බොබ් මාලේ simple:Bob Marley sk:Bob Marley sl:Bob Marley szl:Bob Marley sr:Боб Марли sh:Bob Marley fi:Bob Marley sv:Bob Marley tl:Bob Marley ta:பாப் மார்லி th:บ็อบ มาร์เลย์ tr:Bob Marley uk:Боб Марлі vi:Bob Marley yo:Bob Marley zh:巴布·馬利

name	Johnny Clarke
background	solo_singer
origin	Whitfield Town, Kingston, Jamaica
instrument	Vocals
genre	Reggae
label	Frontline (Virgin Records)
notable instruments	}}

Johnny Clarke (born January 12, 1955), Whitfield Town, Kingston, Jamaica) is a reggae musician.

Biography

Clarke grew up in the Kingston ghetto of Whitfield Town. In 1971 he won a talent contest in Bull Bay, his prize a meeting with producer Clancy Eccles, with whom he recorded his first song, "God Made the Sea and the Sun", the following year. The single didn't sell well, and disappointed with the lack of promotion from Eccles, he moved on to Rupie Edwards, who produced Clarke's first hits in 1973, with "Everyday Wondering" and "Julie". In 1974, Clarke moved on again, recording "Jump Back Baby" for Glen Brown, before beginning a long association with Bunny Lee and his band The Aggrovators in 1974. "None Shall Escape the Judgement" was an immediate success and became the title track on Clarke's debut album. Clarke was named Artist of the Year in Jamaica in both 1975 and 1976, and became one of the most popular singers on the island, mixing original songs with covers of popular reggae songs by other artists, and mixing roots and lovers-themed material. A Rastafarian, many of Clarke's songs concern his faith and the beliefs of the Rastafari movement, such as anti-violence (as heard on "Let Go Violence") and legalization of marijuana ("Legalize It"). He helped define the "Flying Cymbals" period that preceded the "Roots Rockers" sound of the mid to late 1970s. Clarke was one of the first Jamaican artists signed to Virgin Records' Frontline subsidiary in 1976, releasing the albums ''Authorized Version'' and ''Rockers Time Now'' on the label. Clarke enjoyed further hits in the early 1980s with producer S Douglas, before working again with Lee. His popularity in Jamaica, however, declined, and he relocated to London in 1983, recording with Mad Professor, as well as further recordings for Jamaican producers King Tubby, Errol Thompson, and Prince Jammy. He has since occasionally reappeared with new material - ''Rasta Nuh Fear'' in 1992, and ''Rock With Me'' in 1997 - and continues to tour regularly. His song 'None Shall Escape The Judgement' was featured on the Trojan roots compilations.

Clarke is known for his so called "African Roots" or knee length dreadlocks. When performing live, he frequently conceals the entirety of this lengthy mass inside of a large hat. At the climax of his concert, he removes his hat revealing his "African Roots" to the audience.

Studio albums

''None Shall Escape'' (1974) Total Sounds

''Moving Out'' (1975) Total Sounds

''I'm Gonna Put It On'' (1975) Vulcan

''No Woman No Cry'' (1976) Total Sounds

''Authorised Version'' (1976) Frontline

''Rocker's Time Now'' (1976) Frontline

''Don't Stay Out Late'' (1976) Paradise

''Up Park Camp'' (1977) Justice

''Girl I Love You'' (1977) Justice

''Sweet Conversation'' (1978) Third World

''King of the Arena'' (1978) Third World

''Satisfaction'' (1979) Third World

''Down In a Babylon'' (1980) Cha Cha

''I Man Come Again'' (1982) Black Music

''Yard Style'' (1983) Ariwa

''Sly & Robbie Present the Best of Johnny Clarke'' (1985) Vista Sounds

''Give Thanks'' (1985) Ariwa

''Rasta Nuh Fear'' (1992) Sonic Sounds

''Rock With Me'' (1997)

''Reggae Heights'' (2003) Mafia & Fluxy

References

External links

Johnny Clarke at Roots Archives

Interview by Peter I

Jah Rebel interview

Category:1955 births Category:Living people Category:People from Kingston, Jamaica Category:Performers of Rastafarian music Category:Jamaican reggae musicians Category:Jamaican Rastafarians

es:Johnny Clarke fr:Johnny Clarke ht:Johnny Clarke hu:Johnny Clarke no:Johnny Clarke sl:Johnny Clarke

name	Peter Tosh
landscape	yes
background	solo_singer
birth name	Winston Hubert McIntosh
alias	Stepping Razor
born	19 October 1944
died	11 September 1987 (aged 42)
origin	Westmoreland, Jamaica
instrument	Piano, guitar, organ, vocals, keyboard
genre	Reggae, ska, rocksteady, R&B
occupation	Singer, musician, revolutionary
label	Intel-Diplo
associated acts	The Wailers, Bob Marley
notable instruments	Gibson Les Paul Doublecut Special }}

Peter Tosh, born Winston Hubert McIntosh (19 October 1944 – 11 September 1987), was a Jamaican reggae musician who was a core member of the band The Wailers (1963–1974), and who afterwards had a successful solo career as well as being a promoter of Rastafari.

Peter Tosh was born in Grange Hill, Jamaica, and was raised by his aunt. He began to sing and learn guitar at an early age, inspired by American radio stations. After a notable career with The Wailers and as a solo musician, he was murdered at his home during a robbery.

Early music and with The Wailers

At the age of fifteen, McIntosh's aunt died and he moved to Trench Town (now known as Denham Town) in Kingston, Jamaica. He first picked up a guitar by watching a man in the country play a song that captivated him. He watched the man play the same song for half a day, memorizing everything his fingers were doing. He then picked up the guitar and played the song back to the man whom then asked him who taught him to play and he told him that he did. During the early 1960s Tosh met Robert Nesta Marley (Bob Marley) and Neville O'Reilly Livingston (Bunny Wailer) and went to vocal teacher, Joe Higgs, who gave out free vocal lessons to young people, in hopes to form a new band. He then changed his name to become Peter Tosh and the trio started singing together in 1962. Higgs taught the trio to harmonize and while developing their music, they would often play on the street corners of Trenchtown. In 1964, he helped organize the band The Wailing Wailers, with Junior Braithwaite, a falsetto singer, and backup singers Beverley Kelso and Cherry Smith. Initially, Tosh was the only one in the group who could play musical instruments. According to Bunny Wailer, Tosh was critical to the band because he was a self-taught guitarist and keyboardist, and thus became an inspiration for the other band members to learn to play. The Wailing Wailers had a major ska hit with their first single, "Simmer Down", and recorded several more successful singles before Braithwaite, Kelso and Smith left the band in late 1965. Marley spent much of 1966 in Delaware in the United States of America with his mother, Cedella (Malcolm) Marley-Booker and for a brief time was working at a nearby Chrysler factory. He then returned to Jamaica in early 1967 with a renewed interest in music and a new spirituality. Tosh and Bunny were already Rastafarians when Marley returned from the U.S., and the three became very involved with the Rastafari faith. Soon afterwards, they renamed the musical group The Wailers. Tosh would explain later that they chose the name Wailers because to "wail" means to mourn or to, as he put it, "...express one's feelings vocally". He also claims that he was the beginning of the group, and that it was he who first taught Bob Marley the guitar. The latter claim may very well be true, for according to Bunny Wailer, they early wailers learned to play instruments from Tosh. Rejecting the up-tempo dance of ska, the band slowed their music to a rocksteady pace, and infused their lyrics with political and social messages inspired by their new found faith. The Wailers composed several songs for the American-born singer Johnny Nash before teaming with producer Lee Perry to record some of the earliest well-known reggae songs, including "Soul Rebel", "Duppy Conqueror", and "Small Axe". The collaboration had given birth to reggae music and later, bassist Aston "Family Man" Barrett and his brother, drummer Carlton Barrett would join the group in 1970. The band signed a recording contract with Chris Blackwell and Island Records company and released their debut, ''Catch a Fire'', in 1973, following it with ''Burnin''' the same year. The Wailers had moved from many producers after 1970 and there were instances where producers would record rehearsal sessions that Tosh did and release them in England under the name "Peter Touch".

In 1973, Tosh was driving home with his girlfriend Evonne when his car was hit by another car driving on the wrong side of the road. The accident killed Evonne and severely fractured Tosh's skull. He survived, but became more difficult to deal with. After Island Records president Chris Blackwell refused to issue his solo album in 1974, Tosh and Bunny Wailer left the Wailers, citing the unfair treatment they received from Blackwell, to whom Tosh often referred with a derogatory play on Blackwell's surname, 'Whiteworst'. Tosh had written many of the Wailers' hit songs such as "Get Up, Stand Up", "400 Years", and "No Sympathy".

Solo career

Tosh began recording and released his solo debut, ''Legalize It'', in 1976 with CBS Records company. The title track soon became popular among endorsers of marijuana legalization, reggae music lovers and Rastafarians all over the world, and was a favourite at Tosh's concerts. As Marley preached his "One Love" message, Tosh criticized the hypocritical "shitstem". He released the album ''Equal Rights'' in 1977.

Tosh organized a backing band, Word, Sound and Power, who were to accompany him on tour for the next few years, and many of whom performed on his albums of this period. In 1978 Rolling Stones Records contracted with Tosh, and the album ''Bush Doctor'' was released, introducing Tosh to a larger audience. The single from the album, a cover version of The Temptations song "Don't Look Back", performed as a duet with Rolling Stones singer Mick Jagger, made Tosh one of the best-known reggae artists.

During Bob Marley's free One Love Peace Concert of 1978, Tosh lit a marijuana spliff and lectured about legalizing cannabis, lambasting attending dignitaries Michael Manley and Edward Seaga for their failure to enact such legislation. Several months later he was apprehended by police as he left Skateland dance hall in Kingston and was beaten severely while in police custody.

''Mystic Man'' (1979), and ''Wanted Dread and Alive'' (1981) followed, released on the Rolling Stones' own record label. Tosh tried to gain some mainstream success while keeping his militant views, but was largely unsuccessful, especially compared to Marley's achievements. That same year, Tosh appeared in the Rolling Stones' video Waiting on a Friend.

In 1984, after the release of 1983's album ''Mama Africa'', Tosh went into self-imposed exile, seeking the spiritual advice of traditional medicine men in Africa, and trying to free himself from recording agreements that distributed his records in South Africa. Tosh had been at odds for several years with his label, EMI, over a perceived lack of promotion for his music.

Tosh also participated in the international opposition to South African apartheid by appearing at Anti-Apartheid concerts and by conveying his opinion in various songs like "Apartheid" (1977, re-recorded 1987), "Equal Rights" (1977), "Fight On" (1979), and "Not Gonna Give It Up" (1983). In 1991 ''Stepping Razor - Red X'' was released, a documentary film by Nicholas Campbell, produced by Wayne Jobson and based upon a series of spoken-word recordings of Tosh himself, which chronicled the story of the artist's life, music and untimely death. In 1987, Peter Tosh seemed to be having a career revival. He was awarded a Grammy Award for Best Reggae Performance in 1987 for ''No Nuclear War'', his last record.

Religion

Along with Bob Marley and Bunny Wailer during the late 1960s, Peter Tosh became a devotee of Rastafari. Tosh, like Marley, subsequently became a member of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church.

Unicycling

At some point after his departure from the Wailers, Tosh developed an interest in unicycles; he became a unicycle rider, being able to ride forwards and backwards and hop. He often amused his audiences by riding onto the stage on his unicycle for his shows. His teacher for unicycling was Kelly Carrigan. They rode side by side for years.

Death

On 11 September 1987, just after Tosh had returned to his home in Jamaica, a three-man gang came to his house demanding money. Tosh replied that he did not have any with him but the gang did not believe him. They stayed at his residence for several hours in an attempt to extort money from Tosh and tortured him. During this time, many of Tosh's friends came to his house to greet him because of his return to Jamaica. As people arrived, the gunmen became more and more frustrated, especially the chief thug, Dennis "Leppo" Lobban, a man whom Tosh had previously befriended and tried to help find work after a long jail sentence. Tosh said he did not have any money in the house, after which Lobban put a gun to Tosh's head and shot once, killing him. The other gunmen began shooting, wounding several other people and also killing disc jockeys Doc Brown and Jeff "Free I" Dixon. Leppo surrendered to the authorities. He was sentenced to death, but his sentence was commuted in 1995 and he remains in jail. The other two gunmen were never identified by name. It is said that they were killed in a gang war a few weeks later.

M16 guitar

In 1983, at the Los Angeles stop on Tosh's ''Mama Africa'' tour, a fan went to the hotel at which Tosh was staying, claiming to have a gift for him. The gift was a custom-built guitar in the shape of an M16 rifle. Tosh accepted the gift personally. The guitar was subsequently lost by the airlines when the tour went to Europe but was recovered when Tosh's public relations agent placed an article about its loss in ''Der Spiegel''. Tosh went on to perform on stage with the guitar.

In 2006, it was announced by the promoters of the Flashpoint Film Festival that the guitar would be auctioned on eBay by Tosh's common-law wife Andrea "Marlene" Brown. Tosh's sons prevented the sale, claiming ownership of the guitar. In 2011, Andrew Tosh, Peter's son, said that the guitar was in the custody of a close friend, awaiting the opening of a museum dedicated to Peter Tosh.

Discography

Studio albums

''Legalize It'' (1976)

''Equal Rights'' (1977)

''Bush Doctor'' (1978)

''Mystic Man'' (1979)

''Wanted Dread And Alive'' (1981)

''Mama Africa'' (1983)

''No Nuclear War'' (1987)

Live albums

''Captured Live'' (1984)

''Live at the One Love Peace Concert'' (2000)

''Live & Dangerous: Boston 1976'' (2001)

''Live At The Jamaica World Music Festival 1982'' (2002)

''Complete Captured Live'' (2004)

Compilations

Listed are compilations containing material previously unreleased outside of Jamaica.

''The Toughest'' (Heartbeat) (1996)

''Honorary Citizen'' (1997)

''Scrolls Of The Prophet: The Best of Peter Tosh'' (1999)

''Arise Black Man'' (1999)

''Black Dignity (Early Works Of The Stepping Razor)'' (2001)

''I Am That I Am'' (2001)

''The Best Of Peter Tosh 1978-1987'' (2003)

''Can't Blame The Youth'' (2004)

''Black Dignity'' (JAD) (2004)

''Talking Revolution'' (2005)

''The Ultimate Peter Tosh Experience'' (2009)

Appears on

''Negril'' (Eric Gale, 1975)

''Rastafari Dub'' (Ras Michael & The Sons of Negus, 1975)

''Blackheart Man (Bunny Wailer'', 1976)

''Protest'', (Bunny Wailer, 1977)

''Word Sound and Power'' (Chris Hinze, 1980)

See also

Bob Marley and the Wailers

List of Rastafarians

List of reggae musicians

List of vegetarians

Reggae

References

External links

Peter Tosh on Allmusic

Discography

Peter Tosh – Jamaicapage.com Feature

The Wailers News

VitalSpot – Peter Tosh

Category:1944 births Category:1987 deaths Category:Cannabis culture Category:Deaths by firearm in Jamaica Category:Jamaican male singers Category:Converts to the Rastafari movement Category:Jamaican Rastafarians Category:Jamaican songwriters Category:Murdered musicians Category:Anti-apartheid activists Category:Jamaican reggae singers Category:Grammy Award winners Category:People from Westmoreland Parish Category:The Wailers members Category:Trojan Records artists

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