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BOB MARLEY & THE WAILERS
The Definitive Discography
Release date :
10-15-2005
Label :
Rounder Books
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REVIEW
Review written by Doc Reggae
www.docreggae.com
on Wednesday, November 23rd 2005 - 14 490 views
Roger Steffens has accumulated six entire rooms of collections in his house in Los Angeles, plus a whole museum: an enormous reggae exhibition which, after having existed, now sleeps in a warehouse. For twenty years, not a single day has passed without the holder of some Marley treasure giving him an object, a testimony, an artefact, a piece of information, a sign of respect. Parcels from every country pile up in his living room. Extremely rare records, concert tapes, polaroids from Africa, Jamaican videos, posters from Japan, concert tickets, tacky promo items, flags, lighters, Australian Marley rolling papers… he has the recordings of ALL of Bob's existing concerts. He is the only one to have ALL the original Jamaican records, even the most unique, ultra-rare 45s. He is also the only one, with his erudite colleague, the musician and historian Leroy Jodie Pierson who co-signs this incredible compendium, to have spent weeks methodically recording all of Bunny Wailer's memories, Bunny who for ten years was the third founding member of the Wailers trio with Bob and Peter Tosh. Steffens has met ALL the people who recorded, played with or knew any of the three Wailers. Passionate beyond imagining, he has interviewed them ALL for hours as a meticulous historian. He even filmed his interviews. He has spent months in Jamaica, and entire decades ruining himself (he lives on his small fees as an actor…), to acquire these fabulous collections, envied by rival and neurotic collectors the world over, ready to do anything to compete with him.
Roger Steffens knew Bob (he tells here of their meeting), who gave him his nickname Ras Rojah. He was a friend of Peter Tosh, and Bunny's associate. Everyone, from the unmanageable Marley family to the producer Chris Blackwell, not to mention the many biographers, comes to him for their information. Everyone knows his generosity, his charm, his passion, his intelligence, his wisdom and his unlikely integrity in the world of gangsters and ungrateful crooks that is the reggae world. As for his knowledge, it is unique in the world, and so precious: it is that of the greatest star of all time, the most indestructible planetary legend, Bob Marley. So when such an exceptional man takes eighteen years to write a book on his favourite subject, you fire the cannon.
Not only does this "definitive discography" list and date ALL the existing recordings in which Bob, Peter and Bunny took part (including ALL the solo records and various contributions!), the matrix numbers and references of ALL the original records, the titles performed in concert, it also delivers first-hand anecdotes about each recording session, discographical observations, and essential remarks for a better understanding of the Wailers' work. Starting, session by session, and with the help of Bunny Wailer himself, with the names of the musicians playing on each track, from Bob's first ska 45 in February 1962 up to his swan song in 1980! Steffens has illustrated this unmissable database with reproductions of unfindable Jamaican 45s, album sleeves and unpublished photos of Bob and his most obscure accomplices.
This actor and beatnik poet, passionate about r&b since the fifties, had discovered reggae on his return from Vietnam. He also recounts here his astonishing journey as a record collector, radio host and journalist. For the non-specialist, this book makes it possible to appreciate the superhuman quantity of the Wailers' output, almost always of quality. It makes you want to discover it, and also gives a sense of the extraordinary passion of Steffens and Pierson. For anyone with a close interest in Jamaican soul and in music generally, this book is obviously indispensable.
Roger Steffens & Leroy Jodie Pierson
Bob Marley & the Wailers : The Definitive Discography
(Rounder Books, Cambridge, MA, USA, 177 pages) |
Le plus sympa c qu'il a connu Marley, de là a dire que c nul, non rendors-toi Mo
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