This ones for you Beaver!
Another Saturday night another musical thread. Tonight's theme is Bob Marley. I get that not everyone is a fan but he is one of those artist that does have a wide appeal. Also he is one of those artist that holds ties to South Florida. Much of his surviving family now resides in the Miami/Dade area and one of his sons is a past linebacker for the Miami Hurricanes. He is also sadly one of those artist that left us far too young leaving us to wonder what else could have been.
Bob started playing music at an early age and left school in 1959 at the age of 14 along with his step brother, Bunny Wailer, to chase his musical ambitions. He soon met and joined up with Peter McIntosh who had similar musical ambitions. Peter would later go on to be known as Peter Tosh. In 1963 Marley with Tosh, Wailer and three others formed the band "The Teenagers". They went through the name changes "The Wailing Rudeboys", and "The Wailing Wailers" finally settling on "The Wailers". By the beginning of 1966 the Wailers consisted of only Marley, Wailer and Tosh.
Bob married Rita Anderson in 1966 and she became a part of the band. Between 68' and 72' the band re-cut several of their older tracks while in London in an attempt to commercialize their sound. This is also the period of time when Marley started experimenting with a variety of sounds from doo-wop to the various pop sounds of the day. In 72' stuck in London and broke after a deal with CBS records that went no where and left them totally broke, Bob walked in to the office's of Island Records.
The founder of Island saw in Marley exactly what he was looking for, a replacement for the artist they had just lost, Jimmy Cliff. With that he fronted Marley the money needed to cut an entire album. This resulted in the Wailers album "Catch A Fire" which also was the first time a reggae act had had access to a state of the art studio and equipment like their rock peers of the time had. Catch A Fire was not a huge success in 1973 when released but was followed later that year by "Burnin'". Burnin had the single "I shot the sheriff" which Eric Clapton was a huge fan of. After Clapton recorded the song himself in 1974 it became a huge American hit thus raising the profile of Marley and his band.
In 1974 Bob Marley and the Wailers were scheduled to open several shows for the number one soul act at the time, "Sly and the Family Stone". After only 4 shows they were fired because they were more popular with the crowds then the headliner. Later that same year the band broke up seeing the three main members embark on their own solo careers.
Marley continued to record and tour under the name Bob Marley and the Wailers despite the revamping of the band. In 1975 Marley had his first international hit with the song "No Woman, No Cry" from the album "Natty Dread". 1976 saw his breakout album "Rastaman Vibrations" which spent several weeks on the Billboard charts in the US.
In 1976 days before a free concert meant to ease tensions between two warring political groups in Jamaica, Marley, his wife, and manager Don Taylor were wounded in an assault by unknown gunmen inside Marley's home. Marley's wife and manager suffered the most severe injury's but both eventually fully recovered. Marley, despite wounds to his arm and chest, would go on to perform as scheduled two days later.
Marley left for London later in 1976, staying there for two years while releasing the albums "Exodus" and "Kaya". He returned to Jamaica in 1978 and released the album "Survival" in following year. 1980 saw the release of Marley's final album "Uprising". On Uprising is the single "Redemption Song" which many consider Marley's coming to terms with his own mortality as he had been battling cancer for some time.
In 1981 while flying home from Germany to Jamaica after treatment for his cancer his vitals worsened and the plane was forced to land in Miami. Marley passed away at what is now the University Of Miami Hospital on the morning of May 11th, 1981, at the age of 36. The cause of death from the spread of the cancer to his lungs and brain.
As to his legacy I doubt there is a single member of this site that does not know who he is or does not know his songs. He brought reggae to the world and made it more popular then anyone every thought it could be. So tell me what is your favorite Marley song?
Remember this is open thread and as such any subject is on the table outside of religion and politics. Please keep picks to a maximum of 2 per person and no GIF's in any of the live threads. Also try your best to keep things as close to PG as possible as we are on the front page.