(PR NEWSWIRE) Roots, Rock, Reggae
Roots, Rock, Reggae
'Behind The Music: Bob Marley' Looks at the Life of the Global Reggae
Icon in 90-Minute Special Edition of Smash VH1 Series,
Premiering Sunday, June 30 at 8:00 p.m. (ET/PT)
Latest Edition of VH1's Top-Rated Series Spotlights New Interviews
With Bunny Wailer, Keith Richards, Judy Mowatt, Marcia Griffiths,
Joe Higgs and Cindy Breakspeare, Plus Wife Rita Marley
And Children Sharon, Ziggy and Stephen
'Behind The Music: Bob Marley' Highlights Special VH1 Programming
Celebrating International Reggae Day, Monday, July 1
NEW YORK, June 26 /PRNewswire/ -- A rasta warrior who fought oppression
with his six-string guitar, Bob Marley took the pulsating power of Jamaica's
reggae music and tied it to universal themes of rebellion, justice, and unity.
A true artist on a divine mission to uplift the oppressed, he spread his songs
of freedom to the corners of the earth, and forever changed the sound and
spirit of pop music. But that immortal mission was anything but smooth.
In a 90-minute special edition of VH1's top-rated series, "Behind the
Music: Bob Marley" recounts his turbulent, righteous life in deeply personal
detail -- from an impoverished childhood in the Trenchtown slum, to
exploitation in the corrupt Jamaican music industry; from the ego battles that
tore the Wailers apart, to a nearly fatal ambush by political assassins; from
his defiantly scandalous affair with Miss World, to the glory of superstardom.
And, finally, to that terrible day when the world lost Bob Marley to cancer.
"Behind the Music: Bob Marley" premieres Sunday, June 30 at 8:00 p.m. (ET/PT)
on VH1.
The first biography of Bob Marley that reveals how he was feeling during
the last few days of his life, as well as how he dealt with the knowledge of
having cancer, this episode of "Behind the Music" is also the first to feature
an interview with The Rolling Stones' Keith Richards and the only special that
tells Bob's story through the memories of the women in his life, wife Rita
Marley and former Miss World and longtime companion Cindy Breakspeare.
"Behind the Music: Bob Marley" tells the story of the rasta rebel with
rare and never-before-seen photos, film, news video, performance footage and
more, plus new interviews featuring The Wailers' co-founder Bunny Wailer,
Keith Richards, I-Threes vocalists Judy Mowatt and Marcia Griffiths,
pioneering ska artist Joe Higgs, reggae historian Roger Steffens, lawyer and
friend Diane Jobson, author Chris Salewicz, recording engineer Tony Platt,
friend Neville Garrick, record producer Coxson Dodd, friend and music
publisher Danny Sims, and Cindy Breakspeare, plus Bob's mother Cedella Booker,
wife Rita Marley and children Sharon, Ziggy and Stephen.
A former colony steeped in profound social inequity and abject poverty
after three centuries of British colonial rule, Jamaica was awakening to
freedom when Bob Marley was born to a single mother in a tiny rural shack with
a dirt floor. Later moving to the Trenchtown section of Kingston where his
mother sought better work opportunities, a young music-loving Marley
eventually hooked up with Bunny Wailer and Peter Tosh to start a group that
became Jamaica's top band by the late '60s, cranking out hit after hit of
ska-based country, rock, and pop.
But the hits didn't make a lot of money for them, as the studio owned
their recordings. Marley objected and turned his back on the recording
industry's cozy arrangements. He followed his mother to Delaware and labored
in hotels and on an auto assembly line -- while becoming more politicized in
the turbulent America of the time -- and saved his money to start a label with
The Wailers. Marley also came to embrace the Rastafarian religion, with its
dreadlocks and marijuana rituals, and its goal to spread the word of the Lion
of Judah. Battling oppression and injustice with reggae anthems of
empowerment and inspiration, Marley was still known only in Jamaica -- until
Island Records' Chris Blackwell intervened and gave Bob Marley to the world.
Though co-founders Bunny Wailer and Peter Tosh split after the release of
the band's second album, Marley held The Wailers together and conquered the
music charts. Hugely influential back home in Jamaica, he refused to align
himself with what he felt was a corrupt Jamaican political scene. Two days
before a 1976 concert that he hoped would unify the citizenry -- a show that
was instead co-opted by prime minister Michael Manley and made to appear as an
endorsement of his party -- Marley and his wife were shot in an attempted
assassination. The assailants were never caught. Now a larger-than-life
legend, Marley left for a world tour in 1977. When he badly injured his foot
during an impromptu soccer game in Paris, Marley received word that he was
also suffering from cancer. Despite surgery and treatment, the cancer spread
to his brain and lungs, and finally stilled reggae's most vibrant voice on May
11, 1981.
Among the highlights from "Behind the Music: Bob Marley":
* Wailers co-founder Bunny Wailer, on Marley's struggle to be heard: "Bob
was geared for it -- whatever sacrifices he had to make, he was
determined to make those sacrifices."
* Keith Richards, on first hearing The Wailers: "There's definitely a
buzz in there -- and you can't keep me away from a buzz ... 'Catch a
Fire' caught fire, and Bob just basically exploded."
* Rita Marley, on first meeting Bob: "You come in as a female, young
girl, everybody wants to lay you down -- but Bob had a different
attitude, and a different approach, and we started to share letters. He
would send little notes, 'cause he was shy, very shy."
* Judy Mowatt, on Marley's mission: "This is of God. People need to know
that Bob understood his God-given purpose, and that was what propelled
him and pushed him."
* Neville Garrick, on Marley's use of marijuana: "He would just explain
it by saying that, you know, we smoke herb not for giddiness or
happiness but to heighten our consciousness."
* Keith Richards, on Marley's global superstardom: "Bob struck a
universal chord. I mean, why are Scandinavians leaping around to 'No
Woman No Cry' or 'Buffalo Soldier,' eh? It's in the genes."
* Cindy Breakspeare, on Marley's brief life: "Looking back now, you have
to wonder what more could he have done? It seems that he really did do
it all, he accomplished what he set out to do."
* Nelson Garrick, on Marley's infidelities: "Bob loved women. Like
Solomon, that was his weakness. Being a handsome man, women gravitated
to him."
VH1 celebrates International Reggae Day, Monday, July 1, with special
programming featuring "Behind the Music: Bob Marley" at 11:00 p.m., followed
by "Behind the Music: Peter Tosh" at 12:30 a.m., and "VH1 Storytellers:
Wyclef Jean" at 1:30 a.m.
Viewers can log on to vh1.com and learn more about Bob Marley, his life
and music, and more.
"Behind the Music" is a production of VH1. The executive producer is
George Moll; producer, Erica Hanson.
If you would like a tape of the special please contact Toni Herron
(212-846-7528) or Vanessa Reyes (310-752-8081).
MTV Networks owns and operates the cable television programming services
MTV: Music Television, MTV2, Nickelodeon/Nick at Nite, TV Land, VH1, CMT:
Country Music Television, and TNN, as well as The Digital Suite from MTV
Networks, a package of thirteen digital services, all of which are trademarks
of MTV Networks. MTV Networks also operates and offers joint ventures,
licensing agreements and syndication deals whereby its programming can be seen
worldwide.
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SOURCE VH1
-0- 06/26/2002
/CONTACT: Tracy McGraw of VH1, +1-212-846-7879, or Vanessa Reyes of MTVN,
+1-310-752-8081/
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