Islander : My Life in Music and Beyond (9781982172718): My Life in Music and Beyond by Blackwell Chris; Morley Paul (CON)

Author:Blackwell, Chris; Morley, Paul (CON) [Blackwell, Chris; Morley, Paul (CON)]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781982172718
Publisher: SimonSchuster
Published: 2022-06-07T00:00:00+00:00

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FROM THE MOMENT that Bob and I set to work remixing Catch a Fire in London, Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer felt threatened. To them, it seemed it was now me and Bob. They were so protective of the three of them, which was understandable. It had always been their thing. They had fought hard to keep their band going when so much conspired against them, and then here, all of a sudden, was this white guy deciding for them that they needed to move in a different direction.

Even Bob didn’t initially understand my line of thinking until I took him to a show in America, an Island tour with Traffic, Free, and John Martyn. It was sold out, even though none of these artists had actual hits. They represented the new album market: white college kids into Led Zeppelin and Cream who thought pop was too superficial and throwaway. Their fans were believers in something more substantial and permanent. Appealing to this audience wasn’t a betrayal of your integrity.

Bunny, a fundamentalist Rasta, started getting anxious about the kinds of venues we wanted the Wailers to play, the rock clubs and colleges. He was unsure about the types of people who went to those clubs, their diversity. To him they were full of freaks, which freaked him out. He also never got used to the cold in Britain and the difficulty getting the vegetarian ital food. Whereas Bob took to exploring possibilities outside Jamaica with relish, sensing exciting ways he could maintain his Rasta beliefs while expanding his horizons, Peter and Bunny were uncomfortable.

Soon enough, the Wailers became known as Bob Marley and the Wailers, not least because, although Tosh and Bunny were formidable talents and had great rebel presence, Bob had by far the most charisma and the most songs. He was clearly the leader—and, in a wider sense, transcending music, a leader. He was always hungry for experience and loved traveling and seeing other parts of the world.

Peter Tosh didn’t like me. He suggested I favored Bob because Bob was half-white, with an English-born father. Behind my back, he referred to me as “Whitewell” and “Whiteworst.” All I can say is that his suspicions were misguided, as were those who accused me of exploiting Bob to make money. I never paid a Jamaican act a penny less in royalties than an English act. I was helpless without the artists. I wasn’t a singer or a writer; it made no sense to rip them off. I put my all into getting Bob’s music, and Jamaica’s music, into the mainstream.

The last Wailers single to feature the original Bob-Peter-Bunny lineup was “I Shot the Sheriff,” taken from Burnin’. Released in February 1973, it wasn’t a hit, reaching only number sixty-seven in the UK charts. But a smooth 1974 cover by Eric Clapton ended up being Clapton’s only number-one single in America and helped open more ears to Bob’s music.

By 1975, I felt it was time for a Bob Marley and the Wailers live album.

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