Bob Marley Essay

Bob Marley is a name most people know but his accomplishments and dedication to music is often overlooked. Bob was more than just a reggae artist, he was an inspiration to the country of Jamaica. He was a role model to the poverty stricken island and gave hope to many people. Bob was born on February 6, 1945 in his grandfather's house. He was the son of a poor farm girl and a British naval Captain. Soon after his birth Bob's father, Norval Marley, left his mother. He remained responsible and provided financial support and occasionally came back to see them. In the 50's a depression hit Jamaica and Bob followed his mother to West Kingston also known as Trenchtown. It was in Trenchtown were Bob's love for music began.

When early rock and roll began the major American record companies did not take the british invasion seriously. The Beatles first album had to be released through small independent music companies. The success of British bands began to get to large to ignore, it changed the styles of some American musicians as well. In 1965 Bob Dylan performed at a concert in which he used electrical instruments, this alienated many folk music purists in the process of changing music forever (Unterberger pg.165). The American band the byrds combined folk and rock which created a number one hit on the billboard music charts. A Band called Buffalo Springfield blended aspects of Rock, Country and western music to create country rock in 1966.

For example, when you were a teenager were you signing deals with record labels and traveling around the country to perform? Late in October of 1961, The Beach Boys recorded demos of their first two surfing songs, which hit the charts and scored them a record deal with Capitol Records. (Kemp) Their hit single “Good Vibrations” and the album “Pet Sounds” joined the other two songs on the charts. These four are generally known as the band’s greatest hits. In the late 60’s Brian Wilson suffered from a nervous breakdown and stopped touring. He claimed that everything he was doing for the group was too much. (The Orchard) When he was gone he experimented with sounds and harmonies, which later became more of the backgrounds of their popular songs. (Kemp) The Beach Boys started to fall, so they flew to Europe to perform for the first time. In both the United States and in Europe many people described them as “teenage symphonies to God.” Later in that decade the band was joined by many other artists such as Blondie Chaplin, Ricky Fataar, and Bruce Johnston. (The Orchard) The successes and prosperities of The Beach Boys will remain golden

In 1973, the band recorded "Head to the Sky." With the album came more personnel changes with Ronnie Laws and Roland Bautista's departure and Johnnie Graham and Andrew Woolfolk's arrival. Two hits emerged from this album "Evil" and "Keep Your Head to the Sky."

“From the shantytowns of Kingston, Jamaica, to the cobblestones streets of Great Britain, reggae music was a powerful and liberating voice for the poor and oppressed. In the last thirty years, reggae stars Bob Marley, Burning Spear, and Alpha Blondy have sung “redemption” songs- messages of human rights and universal love in a “Babylonian” world of civil unrest, political instability, and economic collapse”(Bays, King, and Foster, 2002, p. XI). Bob Marley was the most famous reggae artist to bring popularity upon the music; selling over 20 million records worldwide. His songs such as “One Love” and “Redemption Song” were inspired by the effects of oppression upon blacks in Jamaica. Marley's persona for unity and peace among people throughout the world was an inspiration for Jamaicans. Most blacks in Jamaica during the 1960s suffered from economic hardships and racial discrimination. This in turn marked the beginning of a religious movement called Rastafarinism where reggae music was an element that distinguished Rastafarians from the rest of society. According to Chang and Chen, British colonial authorities and the local establishment viewed Rastafarians; forthright espousal of black unity and pride, and their unconventional appearance and customs, as threats to the existing social order. (Chang, Chen, 1998. p.26) Reggae music allowed blacks to have pride of their culture and not limited themselves to the demeaning social orders in

The idea to form this group came during a benefit for the late Carl Wilson, who was the singer, record producer and co-founder of the rock band The Beach Boys.

In 1960, Elvis returned to the music scene from the US Army, joining the other white male vocalists at the top of the charts; Bobby Darin, Neil Sedaka, Jerry Lee Lewis, Paul Anka, Del Shannon and Frankie Avalon. America, however, was ready for a change. The Tamla Motown Record Company came on the scene, specializing in black rhythm and blues, aided in the emergence of female groups such as Gladys Knight and the Pips, Martha and the Vandellas, the Supremes, and Aretha Franklin, as well as some black men, including Smoky Robinson, James Brown, Jimi Hendrix, and the Temptations. Bob Dylan helped bring about a folk music revival, along with Joan Baez and Peter, Paul & Mary. The Beach Boys began recording music that appealed to high-schoolers. The Beatles, from England, burst into popularity with innovative rock music that appealed to all ages.

From 1965 to 1968 Karen, her brother Richard, and his college friend Wes Jacobs, a bassist and tuba player, formed The Richard Carpenter Trio. The band played jazz at numerous nightclubs and also appeared on the TV talent show Your All-American College Show. Karen, Richard and other musicians, including Gary Sims and John Bettis, also performed as an ensemble known as Spectrum. Spectrum focused on a harmonious and vocal sound, and recorded many demo tapes in the garage studio of friend and bassist Joe Osborn. Many of those tapes were rejected by record companies. According to former Carpenters member John Bettis, those rejections "took their toll."[10] The tapes of the original sessions were lost in a fire at Joe Osborn's house, and the surviving versions of those early songs exist only as

Cedella Booker and Thadeus Livingston (Bunny Wailer's father) had a daughter together whom they named Pearl, who was a younger sister to both Bob and Bunny. Now that Marley and Livingston were living together in the same house in Trenchtown, their musical explorations deepened to include the latest R&B from American radio stations whose broadcasts reached Jamaica, and the new

These Byrds don't fly, but they still have the skills. Many of the band members had a decent amount of trouble to form the band and to create songs, but the big trouble they had was all of the drug abuse in their lives. Even with all the drug abuse, they still had fun while creating songs and albums (Shirley, 1997).

The Byrds was a rock band that started in 1964 in Los Angeles, California. The band originally started out as a trio, named, “The Jet Set,” with Roger McGuinn, David Crosby, and Gene Clark. They eventually changed their name to, “The Byrds,” with 11 members in their band. The members were: Roger McGuinn, David Crosby, Gene Clark, Gram Parsons, Chris Hillman, Michael Clarke, Clarence White, Gene Parsons, Skip Battin, John York, and John Guerin. They were going to call their band, “The Birds,” but in England, it is slang for girls, and they didn’t want to be called, “The Girls,” so McGuinn came up with, “The Byrds.” The band was active from 1964 to 1973, 1989 to 1991, and 2000. The Byrds is one of the most influential bands in the 60s.

Due to Britain’s obsession with rock and roll, skiffle became popular once again. Skiffle is a type of music originating from jug bands and requires minimal instruments. Many skiffle bands used a guitar, banjo, and rudimentary instruments such as a kazoo (Williams). The ever-popular Beatles got their start as a skiffle band titled The Quarrymen in the town of Liverpool, England. The Quarrymen was formed in

he joined the band, which was, at that time, The Quarrymen. He was allowed to join because John

In Jamaica at the time Bob was viewed as a mystic and prophet, and was

Bob Marley was born in 1945 and he first joined Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer to form 'The Wailers'. Then he produced his own soul, rock steady (romantic soul), ska and close harmony 'doo-wop' style songs, for example 'Catch a fire' and 'I shot the Sheriff'. With the war era of the 60's approaching, reggae finally took form with a mellow beat, conscious and emotional lyrics and bands that spoke the words of the people. The spiritual influence of reggae captured fans worldwide and for the first time ever; reggae was a real influence internationally.