Thursday
Just bought the new Jimmy Cliff CD. To quote Bob Marley, with his
usual diplomacy "I don't have anything good to say about it,
but I don't have anything bad to say abut it either" I have
a strong place in my heart for Jimmy Cliff, and he has provided
the world with some of it's best music. One critical thing that I
could say is that the CD is only about 32 minutes long. Now that
I am pressing my own CD's, I am aware that at the minimum, there
is enough room for 74 minutes of music. So essentially I spent 17
dollars for a single. I would always support Jimmy, which
is why I bought the CD. The CD has remakes of 3 songs with
African Rhythms.
I have been fortunate enough to go to Africa and do appreciate
the instrumentation and the rhythms.
Friday
The following is an extended version about one of the most
memorable experiences in my life. I am also partially
writting this version of the story because when I am
old and forgetful, I would be able to read this to jog my memory.
In a future chapter, I will discuss meeting Bunny Wailer
I saw the Wailers in 76 at the Orphium in Boston. I went
with a very beautiful girl of color, (our first date, I'm white)
We had seats about 20 rows back, As you could imagine the show in
progress was incredible. We didn't hit it off very well, I wanted
to move up, she didn't. We moved up to the 17th row.
It was too far away for me. I wanted to move up further, I
don't think she was enjoying the music and she said she
wanted to go home, I said if that's what she wanted, it was OK,
but I wasn't leaving, She left, I moved up to the 10th row, then
4th, row, but it still wasn't close enough. I moved up to the 2nd
row, since it wasn't hard since everybody was standing, and I was
alone. Then I was at the press area, in the pit, stage left, but
I still wanted to get closer. I finally wound up
effortlessly at Bob's feet. Ziggy joined him on stage that
night. When Bob sang Get up Stand up, I yelled back,
"what ya gonna do" and Bob made eye contact with me.
After the show, I went backstage to his dressing room. I had a
little resistance from the Hall's security, but when they turned
their backs I walked past the bouncer. I walked past several
Rastas and lots of kids with boom boxes, It seemed every body was
playing his concerts on self recorded tapes. The hallway and
dressing room were full of thick white smoke. I got a few dirty
looks, but I could have been a bit paranoid, since I .....
Finally I'm getting closer to Bobs' dressing room, I hear a lot
of loud talking/bickering/Jamaican Patwa. The yelling
immediately lowed down when they all saw me, ( I wonder if they
thought I was a narc or somtething . (I have no idea what the
argument was over, maybe somebody missed a note).
Apparently I did not catch Bob in a great mood. (Retrospectively
I am surpissed at this, since I thought he would be in a great
mood, since he just shared the stage with his son.)
I slowly walked to the doorway of the dressing
room, (there must have been 10 men in there. I believe I
said something to the effect that I was a big fan and I believe I
introduced myself. Now this was back in 76 so I really
didn't have a good understanding of Bob or his
intelligence.(To quote another writer, in those days, people
thought that the Wailers were from another planet"). I did
not know how much English he even spoke, I had only a
basic understanding of his culture, (remember that
some of the words on the natty Dread cover were "
Dreadlock, Congo bongo, I")
I pulled the first piece of paper out of pocket, which turned out
to be a crumpled up napkin I asked Bob to autograph a
picture I drew of him. At first he had it upsde down, but
then I told him it was a picture/sketch of him .
I obviously did not have a clear head that night, but Bob
went easy on me and he did not make me feel uncomfortable, I
was foolishly talking a bit of Patwa to
him and told him I was Jewish, and made some other
small talk.
I thanked him, said goodbye and left the dressing room,
walked back past the people in the hallway. (A few of them
quickly put their spliffs out of sight). (I was the only white
person there and I happened to have short hair at that
time). I left the dressing room, turned right walked
back past about 25 members of his enterage (I was the only
white person there).
I made a little eye contact, Got a few nods, and walked up
the stairs, and I wound up back on the side of the stage of
the concert hall, any way some how I went oustside, got to the
back of the Theatre and decided to walk onto his tour
bus. Familyman was standing there, and I got his
autograph on the only other piece of paper I had, which was my
Organic Chemistry graph paper. Fortunatly, a fellow
African American student, who was with me at Bob 's feet
during the concert had a camera and doccumented evertyhing.
BTW I forgot who the student was with the camera, but
a few weeks after the show he gave me a few of his prints,
which I still own are published somewhere on the
internet. (I gave one of the originals to Roger about 6
years ago)
As I was saying, I then went on The Wailers tour bus
and asked Bob if he could speak at my College., which
he declined, because he said "he had a tour to do". I
wrote my phone # of my dormatory room, on some type
of buiseness card and gave it to another person on the
bus (of course I had no power or authority to invite Bob to
speak, but it seemed like a good idea at the time). It
must have been about 2:00 AM, and I went home alone,
practically walking on air.
Saturday
Just returned from a walk to the beach. I was replaying one of
Roger's radio shows from Quebec Canada. "Falling In
and out of Love" from the "Living Room Tape "
which is basically the raw track without the overdubs was
on. I guess it is called the Living room tape because it
was recorded in Kingston in 67 in Johnny Nash's living room.
It's not all that rare. It's found on the interactive JAD CD
ROM. (one day I'll write something about meeting Danny Sims).
Anyway the words are interesting. He's singing about how he
can't help falling in love. This reminds me of a quote, where Bob
talks about his only weakness is women. There is a lot to say
here, but can't be bothered. BTW, Tosh background harmonies are
excellent.
If I had time I would make a dub version tape of the
songs form "The Harder they come"
Sunday
I made a house call on a 102 y/o lady this AM and saw Star Wars
in the afternoon, which was just OK. Actually I didn't get a lot
of it. I'll help who ever is reading this by telling you
that the kid is Darth Vador. Just about the entire audience
knew this but me.
This column reminds me of Rogers old column called Ras Rogers
Ramblings.
Ziggy Marley's name was mentioned in the new Sports Illustrated
Magazine, This might not be accurate but they might have
asked him what's more important to him, kicking the winning goal
in the World cup or Having a top song, and I think his reply was
"kicking the goal."
The movie "The Harder They Come" was mentioned in the
May 28th issue of Entertainment Weekly magazine on The 100
greatest Moments in Rock........." THTC paved the way for
the likes of Bob Marley. "The music was new-it was
expressing the things of the time," says Jimmy cliff.
"It had the same effect that rap is having people today
I started work on making a dub/version tape from singles of the
THTC for myself, I'm up to 5 songs. While watching a 1984 video
of Jimmy Cliff live from Dusseldorf, Germany. In the middle
of Bongoman, he leaves the stage for about 10 minutes and the
band (with Earl China Smith) does a 10 minute instrumental called
Spiderman. (I wonder what that was all about)
Roger e mailed me today stating that he was reading this column,
and gave it a postive response.
Monday
My wife and I went to see Bunny Wailer at the Beacon Theater in
NYC 12//97. The first time we saw him was at the NYC, MSG show in
86, which was the first
time my wife felt my son kick In utero,
Anyway we sat about 15 rows back, with the Midnight Ravers, who
have an incredible NY radio show. There was a moderate turnout,
and I didn't think the audience was that enthusiastic.
Unfortunately, there were some union rules that Bunny had to be
off the stage by 11:00, and they practically had to carry him off
the stage. The house lights were turned off, and the power
was cut. We ran into Glen Adams who asked my wife and
myself if we would like to meet Bunny.
The theater was essentially vacant by this time, except for about
25 people who were trying to get backstage. Security to get
backstage was super tight, but Glen knew the right people, and
they waved us in. It's a weird feeling being on the other
side of the backstage doors. It's like you are a special
member of a club, anyway, there were signs like "this way to
the stage," and some graffiti on the walls. I thought
of the stars who have played there, that could have written on
the walls. Anyway, my wife and I started climbing the
spiral staircase. The second floor was probably for the
opening bands' musicians, and the back up singers, the 3rd floor
for the horn section, the 4th for the Solomonic band, and so
forth. Each floor had its own dressing rooms and bathrooms
On the 5th floor things started to happen, I started to recognize
a few faces I knew, such as Clive Chin. My wife started to get
cold feet, and she said that's far enough, anyway I asked someone
where Bunny was, and they pointed upstairs, We went up another
flight, the air was getting thicker with the smell of herb, There
were throngs of people, a few that I recognized from other
concerts.
Glen introduced us to Bobby Ellis, and we spoke about his music a
bit. He was a charming man, We spoke about a few of his
singles I have on vinyl, I got his autograph on a CD cover.
We passed into the hallway, I said hello to Earl (Rootsman)
Chin. ( I think I gave him about 25 mint reissues years ago
outside a Steel Pulse concert at the Pier, in NY,
Anyway there were about another 25 people in this small room, the
back door opened and I saw some bright lights and noticed that
Bunny was having his interview videotaped. There were wall
to wall people. The atmosphere was quite exciting. I asked
my wife to get some pictures if she could.
Glen said come on, I noticed an interesting pipe on a table made
out of Bic pen, inserted into a walnut shell. We worked our
way to the door outside where the interview was being filmed, We
waited for the interview to be over, the door opened, Bunny
seemed friendly to Glen. Basically Bunny seemed regal, in a
good mood, with a big happy/friendly/warm smile on his face,
greeting everybody like they were old friends.
He had a major entourage behind him when he came out of his inner
private room. He was extremely friendly and patient, taking time
to greet everybody. I asked for his autograph for my daughter on
one of his CD covers. I mentioned to him that the world
would like to hear a Bunny Unplugged album. We shook hands
good-bye, and his entourage walked past.
Bunny is not a tall man, and his dreads were practically down to
the back of his knees. I noticed a gray hair or 2, Puff, he
was gone, starting his 6 floor descent down the spiral
staircase. As quickly as it started it was over, everybody
cleared out, I asked my wife if she took pictures, to which she
replied that there was not enough time and he was too
close, I walked into his vacated dressing room, since I
knew that I would not be back in a Main stars' dressing room
anytime soon, I made a 360, surveyed the place and borrowed the
pipe, as a momento. There was also a torn promo flyer for
Toshs' Honary citizen.
Well, it was over, we made our decent, I savored every second. We
went back out the stage door that we entered and went home with
the experience in my memory bank.
Tuesday
I had a short conversation
with Augustus Pablo, after his concert at "The Kitchen
" in NYC around 89.' I told him how much I respected
his style music and had one of his 12" singles
autographed. Delroy Williams opened for him. (I believe I
have these shows on tape somewhere) They were both selling their
records in the lobby, and I purchased a few, which I have since
traded to Allen (Alon) Katz. Alon is an east coast
collector, radio show DJ, musician, composer and Band teacher.
Regarding my earlier post about Delroy Wilson, the Nursing
supervisor who did not put up any roadblocks was Lucy Rosato RN.
The Pharmacy department also underwrote the cost of the
medication and wrote it into their budget.
I have recently performed a good deed which will surely reserve
me a spot in Zion.I have donated about 125 Wailers singles to
Distant Drums Magazine to be used for a auction/raffel to support
the Bob Marley Foundation and Peter Tosh Memorial Park. The
money might also be used for an orphanage in Kingston.
Wednesday
Unfortunately there is some truth to the saying that it's not
what you know, but who you know. I luckily hooked up with
Roger S. at Sob's in NYC on his second lecture on Bob Marley,
about 10 years ago. Apparently I had some items that he
could use, and we developed a trading and friendship relationship
over the years.
Anyway, There was a press release party for the JAD interactive
Marley CDROM at the Sounds of Brazil Club In NYC, and I was
invited. My wife could not attend, so I invited my
receptionist and friend Maureen Kane.
Well, we arrived and my name was left at the door. I said
hello to Roger, made a quick few trades with him, and was
introduced to several people, such as Danny Simms, Jimmy Norman
and Marcus Gravy's granddaughter. I got my 12 "test
pressing of 'What goes around, comes around 'autographed by all.
Maureen and I took pictures and I believe Arthur Jenkins was
there as well.
This was very exciting since this was my first (and last CD
release party). I was discussing some of my Wailers singles
with Danny Simms and he wrote out his home and Cell phone number
on a napkin for me. I spoke with Jimmy Norman and told him
that I have his TV appearance on a video tape. He mentioned
to me that he missed it, so I told him I would mail him a
copy. I spoke with some other people a bit and hung
out with the man who was working the CD ROM computer set
up. (I have obtained the test pressing of that CD ROM since
that time.)
There were many journalists there form different magazines.
There was a buffet of Caribbean food and cocktails were on the
house. The Promo video on the interactive CDROM was shown
on a giant screen
Beautiful T Shirts were given out at the end in large Black paper
Bags that said Bob Marley and press kits were given to everybody.
Maureen mentioned how extremely warm and friendly everybody was.
Danny Simms and others gave Maureen and hug and a kiss, although
they never met her before.
This was an interesting introductory course into the world of
publicity for me.
I wonder when I will get tired or writing this column? I
have a habit of delving into something, mastering it, and then
moving on. Reggae and the Wailers are different although,
To quote Roger "once it gets into your blood it never
leaves" Years ago, somebody asked me what type of Reggae I
collect and I mentioned the Wailers, His reply was "that
sort of is impossible because of the amount of material that is
out there." I explained that this was not by choice,
but a passion.
"http://wailers.freeservers.com/" is an excellent web site. (It
takes about 15 minutes to view it completely on a slow computer,
and one needs Java script to see the slide show.
I have been searching days for a misplaced tape in my Reggae
videos of Steel Pulse on the Connan O 'Brian late night TV
show from a few years ago singing "Let Freedom Ring/ Martin
Luther King" acoustically, and successfully found it last
night. ( I wonder if that was the reason I couldn't fall
asleep)
My cheap philosophy for today is that everything is crap, as long
as you have your health. My grandfather did me one better
and told me "cancer , smancher, at least you have your
health."
Thursday
I bought a new book called "The Beatles Files" where
the author makes an interesting point pertaining to the column
comparing the Beatles and the Wailers. "The Beatles were the
last black-and-white group, the stark early silhouette, the
dapper suits, narrow pants, and straight skinny neck ties, before
Woodstock and the hippies smudged all the sharp edges with
psychedelic colors. The early 60's were monochromatic: the
newspapers were black-and-white, the TV was black-and-white"
This reminds me of the Wailing Wailers' first album, and the
later video from the Capital studios.
I found this article
interesting, regarding music in general:
``I am a rock, I am an island. ... I have no need for friendship,
friendship causes pain,'' sang the recorded voices of Paul Simon
and Art Garfunkel at an American Psychiatric Association workshop
Thursday, as Henry B. Nelson III discussed schizoid diseases that
make people want to be loners.
Today, based in Utah, he finds the music handy in training
technicians and others to recognize diseases set forth in the
psychiatrists' DSM-IV, a book listing mental disorders and their
symptoms.
While some psychiatrists ask patients to look at inkblots and
describe them, the traditional Rorschach test, Nelson's thoughts
turn to music.
Relationship problems? ``You've Lost that Lovin' Feeling,'' sing
the Righteous Brothers.
Smokey Robinson's ``Tracks of My Tears'' tells the tale for the
depressed while those rebounding from the winter blues might
relate to ``Here Comes the Sun'' by the Beatles or Johnny Nash's
``I Can See Clearly Now.''
Jimmy Buffet's ``Margaritaville'' provides a crash course in
alcoholism and therapy, Nelson reports. While the first verse
claims ``it's nobody's fault,'' Nelson notes that by the end,
Buffet is singing, ``It's my own damn fault.''
Simon and Garfunkel's ``Sounds of Silence'' may reflect selective
mutism, a disease of children in which they refuse to speak
except in certain circumstances.
Suddenly the Beatles are singing, ``You say yes, I say no,'' as
Nelson discusses children who oppose parental direction.
Indeed, the Fab Four appear regularly in his presentation,
including the optimistic ``We Can Work It Out'' in the section on
partner relationships.
``Goin' Out of My Head'' by Little Anthony and the Imperials is a
logical selection in the delirium category, while the same group
provided ``Hurt so Bad'' for the discussion of pain.
``Light My Fire'' is logical for pyromania, and Neil Diamond's
``Solitary Man'' for discussions of schizoid disease that cause
people to be loners.
``Come a Little Bit Closer'' by Jay and the Americans gives a
glimpse into the world of those with the histrionic disorder that
causes them to become seductive. For the narcissistic, on the
other hand, there's ``You're So Vain'' by Carly Simon.
I received another nice review
of my site:
"Wow, the chapter you wrote about the Boston 76 show and
meeting Bob was just outstanding, I read about 8 times, one after
the other just to take it all in. Some excellent stuff. That must
be a real highlight, meeting Bob. I also loved the bit where you
asked him to visit your College. "
This is one of my favorite sites: "http://terraserver.microsoft.com/default.asp"
It allows one to see where they live from a satellite .
I am trying to remember if I saw the Wailers at MSG, NY in 78. As
crazy as it seems, I can't remember specially if I was at that
concert. I was looking thru an old "little black
book" recently and noticed the phone # for an old
girlfriend, Aurelie, pronounced Orally. I vaguely remember seeing
Bob Marley and the Wailers at MSG with her, but can't seem to
remember any specifics, except that I tried to tape the concert
on one of those 1" hand held tape recorders. I can''t seem
to remember many specifics of our relationship either, except
that she was cute, sweet and had a nice figure. Maybe my
head was "fogged " those days. I called her work
# today, from 22 years ago, but there was no answer.
That's pretty sad, that I only recently remembered, that I was at
that concert. I think I also remember that the acoustics were
terrible, and that my recording was unlistenable (lots of
echo). We probably had really poor seats, and Bob probably
looked like an ant. I would track her down on the Internet if I
could, to see what I forgot, but she probably got married and
changed her last name.
I was in town, when Bob played at the Apollo, but couldn't find
anybody to go with, and I didn't feel safe going to Harlem alone,
so I missed that timeless tour.
I do remember the 80 MSG show although, where Bob opened for the
Commodores. Once again I had bad seats and went with 2 friends.
Unfortunately we spent most of the concert moving up. My
friend Robert got separated from Jay and myself. The
concert was not a very pleasant experience, since the tempo was
rapid and the acoustics were awful. Once again, the stage
was very far away, and we were always trying to move up. We got
as far as the floor, stage left, about 100 rows back. I
remember hearing the songs and wondering what was the rush? When
Bob was over, we were part of the masses that did not stay for
the Commodores.
Surprisingly, the 3 of us were reunited after the show. We
were not aware that history was being made. All I remember
after the show is buying a black and white poster of Bob, from
somebody selling them in the street (which I still posses), and
that someone was selling a giant Color Oil painting of Bob for a
few hundred dollars.
Thursday
I have to admit that I do not read the Bible often. I would like
to, but I guess I wasn't raised that way. I've tried a few times,
after getting inspired, but I just didn't "get it."
I've tried various chapters such as Jeremiah, and I've asked some
friends and Preachers for guidance.
What I do read for inspiration are books with one line per page
such as "The Feel Good Book," "Life's Little
Instruction Book" or "Don't Sweat the Small
Stuff." Last night I was in a Rasta chat room and Donna
needed inspiration for words to a song. I thought of what I read
the day before which was "Reverse Roles with your
spouse." I quoted from one of trustily little books,
"It's sad, yet the easiest person to take for granted is
probably the person you love most in the world, your spouse.
The key to prevention is to put yourself in your spouse's
shoes," that didn't inspire her, but we came up with a
metaphor that the world is like an out of tune drum.
Just to get off on a tangent a bit, I also "want" to be
a vegetarian like my 10 y/o daughter. But I guess it's the same
kind of thing as above, I guess I don't want it bad enough. I
call my self a vegetarian want-to-be.
Friday
As I mentioned previously, I
do not have a list of my Bob Marley tapes, and I still do not,
but I'm getting closer. With the help of several Internet
buddies, I am at least getting the tapes in chronological order
and numbering them.
One has to be pretty compulsive with collecting, so I do not know
where I stand, (It's taken me 25 years to make a list) I still do
not have my list on a floppy disc or have one in print, but at
least I am starting to know what I have, and what I need. I have
been using others' lists as a basis. BTW, there are many that
have much better tape collections than me.
Saturday
I was fortunate enough to have been to Rogers house twice and see
his collection. Talk about being compulsive, he has specially
built tape draws (earthquake proof) and knows where everything
is. If one takes a tape out of a draw, one is not supposed to
replace it. Sometimes my house looks like Rogers, but on a
smaller scale. Piles of tapes everywhere, stacks of CD's
and vinyl. Every so often I take time out and try to organize
items, (such as non Marley Reggae, test pressings, Radio shows,
or Marley related singles).
Just when I think I have all bases covered, I find a new category
to collect, such as Press Passes, special format MTV Reggae
Videos, or promotional Press Kits. Fortunately I do not go
overboard such as collecting buttons or posters.
Roger once asked me how I find the time to do all the things that
I do. I 'm not really sure, but one thing I am good at, is
delegating. My wife recently stated that if I could, I would have
someone take naps for me.
I read a book a while ago called "Working Smart, How to
Accomplish More in half the Time." I quote Do you find
yourself doing routine jobs others could do or be trained to do?
There is enough time to get everything done if you use that of
others. Such is the nature of delegation-assigning to others
tasks that you wand or need to get done.....We allow ourselves
the liberty of performing many tasks whose completion is of
little or no importance. Worse yet, we spend our time on jobs on
jobs that cold be more effectively done by others. As a result
less time is spent on the high-priority items that on we can do.
Our effectiveness is severely diluted."
The above vignette is dedicated to Grace Polson.
Speaking of delegating, I asked a internet friend to write 2
articles for me. 1. Songs that the Wailers sang backup on, for
Lenonard Dillon of the Ethiopians, ( ie." Beggers have no
choice") 2. Was Marley a hopeless Romantic? (listend to his
early Ska songs)
If I had more time I would love to find out what's the real story
with the song "Train to Skaville." Rumor has it that
the Wailers somehow were involved in the record, possibly the
introduction to the song was by Tosh. This might be the same
record as "Train to Skaville" by the Ethiopians.
Roger and Leroy are supposed to be putting out a Wailers
discography book one day, and I hope it addresses these type of
songs. I saw the completed manuscript, but was denied a copy of
it. It was roughly 150 type written pages, with the complete
listing of the musicians. Each song took up about 4 lines of
print.
I would also like to hear what people have to say about the war
between Ethiopia and Eritrea. Ethiopia has stated that they
killed 865 enemy troops and wounded 1600 in a 2 day battle near
the Mereb River. Eritrea blamed Ethiopian troops for the starting
the new battle and said 785 Ethiopian troops were killed in 5
days of fighting on the Badme front and that 1800 were
wounded."
This war seems almost sacrilegious, due it's historical location.
There has been no mention of this war in any Reggae Usegroups or
Rasta chats.
As I mentioned earlier, I like to take on a challenge, mastered
conquer it, and then move one. I tend to recycle my conquests
periodically, and then get back to them at a future date.
Like many, Close up and Stage magic was a childhood interest of
mine. Over the last few yeas, I have been associated with POPAJO,
MOKO the Clown and the Amazing Juan (Wand). This was my interest
before I was heavily getting into computers.
I did several educational shows for the local schools, cub
scouts, a few family birthday parties and appearance at the
Library and one large stage show at the local Synagogue.
Anyway getting back to Reggae there was an interesting quote by
Marley pertaining to magic, from the Richard Cromelin
"Rolling Stone Magazine" Interview, (An edited version
was published in the Beat Magazine. Taking this statement out of
context:
RC "I want to talk to you about Haile Selassie a little We
want to understand your reaction to whatever the political
situation in Ethiopia of the last year. He no loner rules
Ethiopia politically, right?"
BM "Politically. You see when you talk abut-Him is not a
man, you know. Him not a natural man like me. He's God! You can
see Him. You have a thing named magic. Magic, I mean real magic!
I'm not talking about, like tricks. I'm talking about.
......real..... magic! And me no talk about learned magic, I talk
about real magic. Him is a magician (laughs) - He is the real
Magician.
Once I wrote an article that I submitted to a Magic magazine that
was not published comparing the power of suggestion of a
Physician and that of a Magician. I'll edit a version for this
page at a future date.
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