Bob Marley History
Welcome to our Bob Marley History page thst we've put together for your information and enjoyment.
Bob Marley History
What follows is a brief rendition of the Bob Marley history to give you a better insight into what started the whole incredible life of this brilliant musician and person:
We begin with Robert "Bob" Nesta Marley being born on 6th February 1945 in the a small village known as Nine Mile in Saint Ann Parish, Jamaica.
His father, Norval Sinclair Marley, was born in 1895 and was a white Jamaican of English descent. His own parents originated from Sussex. Norval Marley was a Marine officer and captain as well as being a plantation overseer when he fell in love with and married Cedella Booker. She was a black Jamaican woman who was then just 18 years old. Although Norval Marley provided financial support for his beloved wife and son, he seldom saw them due to his being often away on naval trips.
The young Bob Marley was only 10 years old when his father died of a heart attack at the age of 60 in 1955.
As a youth, Bob Marley suffered much racial prejudice due to his mixed racial origins. He often faced questions about his own racial identity throughout his short life.
He was once quoted as saying:
"I don't have prejudice against myself. My father was a white and my mother was black. Them call me half-caste or whatever. Me don't dip on nobody's side. Me don't dip on the black man's side nor the white man's side. Me dip on God's side, the one who create me and cause me to come from black and white."
Young Robert (Bob) Marley and his mother were forced to move to the slums of Kingston's Trenchtown after Norval's death. This was a very tough neighbourhood and Bob marley was forced to learn self-defense becauee of his being the target of bullying, mainly due to his racial makeup as well as his small stature of only 5'4". As he grew older, he earned himself a reputation for his physical strength which earned him the nickname "Tuff Gong".
Bob Marley made friends with Neville "Bunny" Livingston (who was later known as Bunny Wailer). They soon started playing music together as a natural progression of their friendship. Bob Marley left school at 14 to work as an apprentice at a local welder's workshop. In his free time Bob Marley and Bunny Livingston made music with another friend, Joe Higgs who was a local singer as well as being a devout Rastafari. Joe Higgs is regarded by many as being Bob Marley's mentor. It was at one of their frequent jam sessions with Higgs and Livingston that Bob Marley met Peter McIntosh (who was better known as Peter Tosh) who had similar musical ambitions.
In 1962 Bob Marley recorded and released his first two singles. "Judge Not" and "One Cup of Coffee" were produced by Leslie Kong, a local music producer. Both songs were released on the Beverley's label under the pseudonym of Bobby Martell. Unfortunately, they attracted almost no media attention and were complete flops.
Those two early songs were later re-released on the album "Songs of Freedom", which is a compiled posthumous collection of Bob Marley's songs.
Terry Didcott
Bob Marley Music