Bob Marley's Life And Music

3. Bob Marley was singing at approximately 7-years old to his mother and neighbors. The attraction to singing music and writing lyrics was planted in his heart and soul from the love of his beloved mother who sang Jamaican gospel church songs and later chanted Rastafarian poetry. Bob’s mother, Cedella Booker-Marley had a beautiful Sunday morning church service singing voice. Mother B., as Bob’s mother was affectionately called in Jamaica, produced compact disks: Awake Zion (A tribute to her son, Rasta Bob) and Smilin’ Island of Songs. Mother B. encouraged Bob to attend Stepney Primary and Junior High School to receive an education to establish a future for him. In 1955, hardships increased when Bob was 10 years old and his father
Some of the greatest musical art forms on the planet have come from the community of Trenchtown, Jamaica; such as ska, rocksteady and reggae. Bob Marley was one of the many, and brightest international star of the Jamaican musical artists who found his voice, a way of life, and drive in the sacred suffering spaces in the Trenchtown’s government yard. It has been said that some of the best of human musical artistic expressions can come out of the worst of human suffering. Many Jamaican Trenchtown musical artists suffered and paid their dues to become notable musicians, they were driven by raw talent and had something to say to the world. Also, Trenchtown music is an unique Black Jamaican expression that is an outstanding human ingenious that experienced the worst and made something good for all humanity to
In the early 1960’s, Trenchtown dweller Bob Marley recorded two songs, the ska “Judge Not”, and the rock steady “One Cup of Coffee”. Ska was created in the 1950s and rocksteady was created in the 1960s, they were the Jamaican genre of music that laid the foundation for reggae that was created in the 1970s. Ska has an off-beat walking bass with Caribbean mento and calypso infused with African American jazz and blues. Rocksteady borrows from Ska, African and Latin American drumming with an off-beat bassline accent and staccato guitar and piano 2/4 beat tempo. Reggae is a unique, exceptional and infectious musical expression, which developed from the creativity of African Jamaicans during the early 1970s. It is a distinctive artistic musical style centering on its captivating 2 and 4 downbeat syncopated rhythm patterns that are created by a passionately played electric bass guitar, drums and organ/electric piano. Also, the Reggae rhythm is known as the off-beat, after-beat or back to front boogie; instead of the usual 1 and 3 in the 4/4 musical timing. The word “Reggae” was first mentioned in a 1968 recording by Toots & The Maytals in a song named, Do the Reggay. Initially, reggae lyrics were concentrated on romantic themes that were a direct reflection or primarily remake of Black American’s R&B Soul top 20 recordings. However, after Jamaica won its independence from England on August 6, 1962, difficult conditions in Jamaica, and the international development of