INTERVIEW : MARCIA GRIFFITHS
Interview by : Benoit Georges & Sébastien Jobart
Pictures by : Benoit Collin
on Tuesday, November 20th 2012 - 9 031 views
In 2014, Marcia Griffiths will celebrate fifty years in the business. The diva of reggae, probably its greatest lady, is in a joyful mood. She receives us at the Bob Marley Museum, where we run into Julian Marley, Georgie (the one who keeps the fire in the yard, whom Bob pays tribute to in No Woman No Cry)… and her two friends, Rita Marley and Judy Mowatt. "Fancy doing an interview with these French journalists?" she calls out to them. Rita Marley pulls a face, Judy Mowatt says nothing. As it is rare to find the three of them together here, we settle for a photo of Bob Marley's three "little birds". "No photo," Rita retorts, "we are tired." Marcia leans towards Judy: "Come on, a photo to make them happy…" We get our photo, the three ladies smiling graciously.
What remains above all is this fine interview with the greatest female voice in reggae. An exceptional career, deservedly rewarded with numerous prizes, such as the Prime Minister Award in 2002 or the Order of Distinction in 1994. "If all these awards were worth money, I'd be a millionaire, she jokes. There are so many awards at my place that I no longer know where to put them!"
Reggaefrance / You started your career very young. How did that come about?
Marcia Griffiths / I already loved singing on the way to school. I enjoyed it, without even thinking of anything professional. I just loved singing. I sang in the church choir and at all my school concerts. In 1964, there was a big group in Jamaica called the Blues Busters, and one of them, Philip James, had a girlfriend who lived near me. He heard me sing, and he was impressed. There was a Byron Lee & the Dragonaires concert at the Carib Theatre. He said to me: "I must put you on that show!" Byron Lee refused because the show was already scheduled. But he insisted, it was a tough negotiation... And to cut a long story short, I found myself on the stage of the Carib Theatre on the morning of Easter Monday 1964. I was going to turn 12 in November. So I was 11 when I walked onto that stage for the first time.
That day, you sang No Time to Lose, by Carla Thomas...
At that time, we were inspired by American singers, and Mr Dodd would bring us albums by his favourite female singers. The whole audience stood up and applauded because they had never heard this little girl sing that melody. It was really very impressive. When I left the stage, someone took me straight to Studio One! The same day! I hadn’t even been auditioned. I just walked into the studio and there was a guy who lived in the same place as me and who was singing the same song that Philip James had heard me sing, World of Love. We decided we would record that song but it never came out. And believe me, from that day on, it’s history. I recorded loads of songs and we collaborated with all the major singers of the studio: Bob Marley, Bob Andy, Tony Gregory… We were looking for a hit... But my first success came in 1967, it was Feel Like Jumping. I did loads of serious tunes at Studio One. It was from Studio One that I went to Harry J.
Since you were so young, we imagine your father had a say in it?
Yes, I was always accompanied by my father, because at that age, I was still going to school. So I wasn’t allowed to go out on my own, and my father went with me.
 C'est magnifique d'entendre des chanteuses comme Etana ou Alaine dire que je les ai inspirées. 
Did Mr Dodd have to convince your father that you should sing?
Yes. At one point, Mr Dodd and Ronnie Nasralla, Byron Lee’s partner, met at my home, each trying to convince my father. Both of them wanted to manage me, at that time. I started working with Byron Lee’s band, but I was still recording at Studio One.
All the singers of the day crowded into Studio One… It was a great school of music.
Studio One had all the good singers. While I was there, I met Bob Marley and the Wailers, Ken Boothe, Delroy Wilson, Leroy Sibbles, Joe Higgs… Everybody was there! Scratch… Bunny Wailer and I were at school together, he was the only person who was familiar to me at the time.
You also met Bob Andy.
Yes! I met Bob Andy, and he became my lyricist. He wrote all those songs. We had a love affair, so he wrote me many love songs: Tell Me Now, Truly, Melody Life, Feel Like Jumping, Mark My Word… All those songs were written by Bob Andy.
You were something of a muse for him…
(She smiles) Yes, that’s true. Then we also did a combination, on Always Together.
After Studio One, after Harry J, there was the adventure with the I-Threes, with the Wailers…
The I-Threes, that happened in 1974 (She breaks off to greet Georgie, who is passing not far from us: "Do you recognise him? That’s Georgie, who’s preparing the fire… He always does it!"). From 1964, I was rewarded every year as best female artist, all through the end of the 60s and even the early 70s. Every year! So I was doing solo performances at the House of Chen. And for some unknown reason, Judy, Rita and I met at Studio One to do harmonies for Mr Dodd, on other artists’ songs. As that weekend I was playing at the House of Chen, I asked Judy and Rita to come and do some harmonies for me, and they were very enthusiastic. They came, and after the show, we had a little "jam session" with songs by the Sweet Inspirations. It was a big group in Jamaica, Cissy Houston, Whitney Houston’s mother, whom we adored, was the lead singer. The audience loved it and everyone said: "Girls, why don’t you form a group?" We got together and founded the group. I chose the name: I-Three. They asked me to explain it. I told them: "It’s like saying: ‘We three!’ But instead of saying ‘we’, I said ‘I’." That’s how we started. And at that precise time, Bob, Peter and Bunny, the original Wailers, were going through a slightly difficult period. Bob just asked us to come and do "Natty Dread". Before meeting Judy, Rita and I had already sung Rock It Baby (We’ve Got A Date, ed.) with Bob Marley. So we went and we recorded the song Natty Dread. It became number one! Then we did Jah Live, another hit! In the end, we took part in the whole album. It was written, because we came together at the moment when the Wailers were doing less well… We were there, and we became Bob Marley’s three little birds. We did considerable tours with him, and we took part in the recording of all his subsequent albums.
It was very unusual at the time in roots reggae to have a male band accompanied by female backing singers…
Yes, it was unusual, because the business was always dominated by men.
Even within the roots business…
Exactly. But it was different for Bob, Bob was unique as a man. Truly unique. He knew that everything was the work of Almighty God. It was perfect. We fitted perfectly with Bob and everything else. It was a beautiful association and Bob was very happy to have us with him. And we were happy. We were, in a way, mothers, fathers, friends and brothers, all in one, and that’s how we treated each other.
You started a trend…
Yes, definitely. It sounded like such a unique blend. And it still does. Very unique.
You also had the opportunity to tour all over the planet.
Yes, considerably. I had started touring long before, when I was singing with Bob Andy. We went to England and Europe, in the days of Young Gifted & Black. We also had another hit, Pied Piper. And before that I had been to Germany, to Munich and Berlin, where I did a few shows in 1969. We recorded two songs in German (Bleib By Sir and Alles Ist Wunderschoen, ed.), with an orchestra of 30 musicians and twelve backing singers. I had always wanted to work with a big band. So when I heard that track, with the orchestra and the backing singers, I said to myself: "My God, this is a dream come true!"
When Bob Marley died, what became of the I-Threes?
When Bob left, we could have gone on tour all over the world, to the places where Bob had been. We could have represented Bob in all those places. But we didn’t do it. We did a few tours and occasional concerts. We played to sold-out houses, because we were known as the three ladies behind Bob. To this day, we are still three sisters, we are still in touch with each other. And if need be, if we have to go on stage, we rehearse together and we realise that nothing has changed. But I always had my solo career, which I never gave up. Whether under the name of the I-Threes or Bob & Marcia, I always kept my course, because that’s how I started: as Marcia Griffiths. I never gave that up. Even when I was on the road with Bob Marley, I could have a song on the radio, a hit. To this day, I’m lucky to be the only woman to have done what I’ve done, to have been present in every decade since the 60s. By staying consistent, current… That’s a great accomplishment, as is having inspired each of the other female singers who have blossomed in the business. For me, it’s one of the greatest things I’ve achieved in this job, to read in interviews with young female singers that Marcia Griffiths was their source of inspiration. Most of them started out by singing my songs. And nobody on Earth can buy that feeling. It’s wonderful to hear singers like Etana or Alaine say that I inspired them. I’m proud of the contribution I’ve made.
Your solo career continued with High Note, Sonia Pottinger’s label.
Yes, in the 70s, I started in 1976, then we carried on in 1977 and 1978. We did a whole series of songs: Dreamland, Stepping Out of Babylon… I did several songs there, and I recorded two albums there. They’re songs I still sing on stage!
You said you had recorded hits during every decade. In 1983, there was Electric Boogie. Can you tell us the story of that song?
Electric Boogie was recorded in 1982, and went straight to number one in Jamaica. Chris Blackwell heard it. Like Mr Dodd, Chris Blackwell could unfailingly recognise a hit. As soon as he heard this track, he knew right away it was going to be a hit. He came to Jamaica, he asked Bunny Wailer (the song’s producer, ed.) for the track. But he wanted a whole album, because he said the big record companies don’t promote singles. But for certain reasons, Bunny refused to give him an album. So Blackwell took the single, but did nothing with it. But on its own, the single was played everywhere, so much so that Chris came to see me and confided that he was finally going to promote it. I was in shock! In 1989, they created a dance in Washington for the song, which once again had a lot of success. To this day, it’s a magical song.
Another important encounter is the one with Donovan Germain, of Penthouse Records.
I met him in 1986. My first song for Penthouse was Everywhere. Plenty of others followed: Fire Burning, , Mark My Word... I did so many tunes there! I also started doing combinations again with all the younger DJs: Cutty Ranks, Tony Rebel... Even now I still do combinations with the younger singers, which brings me to mention that my next album is a double CD: one disc brings together all the DJs I have worked with over the years, without exception, Bounty, Beenie, Spragga, all of them... And the other brings together all the singers: Beres Hammond, Bunny Rugs, Freddie McGregor, Bob Andy, Gentleman, Toots, Tanya Stephens, Queen Ifrica, Etana, Sanchez, Barrington Levy... every singer you can think of. It's very interesting. And every tune is something different, and enjoyable. There's also the tune Automatic, with Busy Signal and myself.
You also appear in the film "Rocksteady". What memories do you have of it?
That film is a good concept, because it's sad to see that some young people don't even know who Peter Tosh is. This young generation needs to know the foundations of the music. They just listen to lots of DJs, to hardcore dancehall, and they don't even know where the music is... I mean, in schools now – and it's a good thing – they teach things about Bob Marley. But many young people of this generation here in Jamaica need to know the foundations of the music. They don't know who Peter Tosh is! It didn't come out of nowhere. There's a base, a foundation where things began.
|
|
© 1999-2026
RSS
