Marley’s six years to music immortality: And why Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce is so special
Bob Marley had so little time to be at his best (or, for those who believe The Wailers’ peak output came before the Island Records years, his most popular). It was six years of solo artiste studio albums and a pair of live sets, from “Natty Dread” in 1974 to “Uprising” in 1980. Six measly years – one year more than the standard term in government for a political party in Jamaica, the same time for high school education if sixth form is not on the cards, four years less then the 10-year car loans now being offered. And, over a year was spent living outside Jamaica, from the shooting at 56 Hope Road ahead of the ‘Smile Jamaica’ concert in 1976 to the ‘One Love Peace Concert’ in 1978. Six degge, degge years to become a legend.
That might make you seriously consider just how you want to spend the only resource we each have, our time.
Wednesday 11 May 2022, will mark 41 years since Marley died in Miami, Florida, a brief plane ride short of his intended final return to Jamaica when his cancer treatment in Germany was exhausted. With “Redemption Song” closing 1980s “Uprising”, the final Bob Marley and the Wailers album released while he was alive, the combination of acoustic guitar, voice and topic has long been touted as the Tuff Gong distilled to his essence. And with “Coming in from the Cold” starting the album, considering the frigid climate where Marley was treated in Bavaria, Germany and his final, futile attempt to reach his home’s warmth, there are naturally thoughts of prophecy – or at least scripting one’s life.
But, as Marley sang on the final track of the 1978 Kaya album, “time alone, time alone will tell”. He made his time speak volumes. Of course, those six exceptional years of output for Island Records were built on not only a music foundation that went back to ska, but also the literal harmony of The Wailers. The title tracks of The Wailers’ first two albums for Island Records, Catch a Fire (1972) and Burnin (1973), when it was still Peter, Bunny and Bob, continued to feature in Marley’s live sets when ‘Bob Marley and’ was placed before the group’s name. It was with the group that “One Love” first made its appearance, before anchoring the 1977 Exodus set, about which superlatives have been exhausted.
So, yes, there was an extensive past which culminated in those six years, a period which ended a year before Marley’s death, but it still remains that it was such a brief, intense period.
In a previous column, I wrote about Marley being a stickler for punctuality and Dennis Brown having a much more casual approach to being in time. In 1974 Marley would have had no idea that he would be dead in seven years, but he made the most of his time, as well as that of those involved in his music-making process, and we are all the better for it.
It is not unusual, however, for those who perform at the highest level to hit a brief peak period – a time when they are simply at their best – which defines them. Consider Sizzla – in 1996 he had a superb pair of album releases, Black Woman and Child for Bobby Digital and Praise Ye Jah for Fattis Burrell’s XTerminator label (both producers are now dead and I owned both CDs). Six years later, the Bobby Digital produced Da Real Thing was a masterpiece for Sizzla, with Rise to the Occasion of a lesser standard released a year later. Sizzla has gone on to do many albums in a staggering output, but those seven years of releases, from 1996 to 2003, are what he mainly performs from. Look back at oh so brief run of Garnet Silk in the late 1980s to early 1990s for another prime example.
Outside of music, Usain Bolt hit his 200 metre peak in 2009 when he set the world record of 19.19 seconds at the World Championships and his 100 metre best is 9.58, at the same meet in Berlin, Germany. That was it. Although he continued until the 2017 World Championships in London, winning lots of medals at the highest level, he never ran any faster. He could have, I believe, but it did not happen. And this leads to just how special Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce is. She was top of the podium for the 100 metre medal ceremony at the Olympics in Beijing, China, in 2008, returned after becoming a mother with a target of running her personal best in the shortest outdoor sprint and did just that last year when she ran 10.63 at the National Stadium (it was the real world record then, because Flo Jo’s does not count. Even the US commentators don’t speak about her much and it is remarkable when an American seems a bit embarrassed about a countrywoman’s supposed achievement). Now Fraser-Pryce is looking to go in the under 10.60 this year and I am rooting for her. It is a remarkable longevity that we can all aspire to.
Who knows what would have happened if Bob Marley had lived past 11 May 1981? The 1983 Confrontationposthumous studio recording release, with “Jump Nyabinghi”, “Buffalo Soldier”, “Give Thanks and Praises” and “I Know”, shows that there were so many more things to say and sing. Most of us do not know when we will die and I suspect that most of us do not actually have a road map for our lives. But if we work towards hitting a peak in whatever we have chosen as our life’s work, privately or publicly, when death does inevitably come it would be good if we had a gift of the smallest moment to reflect on even six great years.
That is what we will be doing to a large extend this Wednesday, when we mark another year since Bob Marley died.
