BOB MARLEY: NO WOMAN, NO CRY by Alan L.

Chrisman
I was privileged to see Bob Marley perform twice. The first time was in the late
70s in Montreal and later in Ottawa, Canada a couple years before he died
prematurely in 1981.
The Montreal concert, especially, was one the best concerts Ive seen, and Ive
seen a few, including Dylan & The Band, The Who, and George Harrison in
Montreal in the early 70s.
I remember still, being blown away, even at the beginning of the show, with only
his rhythm section, the Barrett bothers and his back-up singers, The I-Threes
(including wife, Rita) swaying softly on the stage, before Marley himself, came
out. Then he suddenly appeared playing rhythm guitar, with the sounds
reverberating throughout that packed old hockey stadium, the Montreal Forum,
and it made us feel like we were in Jamaica, and soon everyone was up dancing in
the aisles. I find it seems hard to really capture the true power of reggae on
record, although the 2 LP album set, Babylon By Bus that was the result of that 77
tour and the Bob Marley-Live album recorded in England in 75 come closest to
the experience. I had especially liked then, the very moving song No Woman,
No Cry, and it remains one of my favorites.
Recently I read two books about Marley, especially about The Wailers humble
beginnings in the Trench Town ghetto in Kingston, Jamaica, which that song
evokes so vividly. Rita Marleys own book is aptly titled: Rita Marley: No Woman,
No Cry: My Life with Bob Marley (2004) and Jamaican-Brit., Colin Grants 2011
book is I &I The Natural Mystics: Marley, Tosh and Wailer. The original Wailers,
Marley, Peter Tosh, and Bunny (Livingston) Wailer started out with Rita, as young
teen-agers, practicing their harmonies together. They would later combine the
rhythms of ska with American soul music and help create reggae. Grant traces
their slow rise to eventually international recognition -but at a cost, often making
little money, being ripped off by early Jamaican producers, and tensions within
the group, until Tosh and Wailer eventually go their separate ways in 1974. By
this time, they had been discovered by Island Records owner, Chris Blackwell, and
had moved to England where they had their first real success. Blackwell though
decided to market Marley, especially, to a wider, often white audience in which
he succeeded. And Marley became the Reggae icon for the world. Tosh had
some solo success, even connected with the Rolling Stones at one point, until he
was shot and killed in his home in Jamaica in 1987. Jamaica was still a very
dangerous place with poverty and politics. Marley himself had left after he had
been shot by political rivals there in 1976, but he had survived. Grant finally runs
into the hard-to-find Bunny Wailer at the end of his book. His book especially
shows the influence of the Rastafarian religion on the Wailers and Marley. He
also wrote a book on black pioneer, Marcus Garvey. Rita Marleys book focuses
on her more personal experiences with Marley and those early years. She was
still married to him, despite his siring several children by other women, when he
died of cancer at only 36. But his legend and music would live on.
I had first been turned on to reggae by my roommate, Joe, in the mid.-70s. Late
one Saturday night, I was awoken in our Ottawa apartment by 5 Jamaican men,
whom Joe had invited to crash at our place. It turned out they were Leroy Sibbels
and his band, The Heptones, who were well known for their early 70s album and
hit, Book of Rules.
Joe later told me about a reggae group, he had seen in Toronto, Ernie Smith and
The Roots Revival. I ran a small newspaper at the time, Spectrum, and I was
invited down to see and review them the first time they played in Ottawa. And
like seeing Marley in Montreal that first time, Ill never forget the impression they
made. It was a cold Canadian winter night outside, but inside the small, packed,
hot sweaty club, it felt like we were being transported back to Africa. Ernie had
an effect on the audience almost like an ancient shaman. Or perhaps, even as the
way people I later met, like Cynthia Lennon and BBC director, Leslie Woodhead,
who had shot the only footage of them in the Cavern, described upon first seeing
The Beatles.
I went back the next night and there was a line all the way down the street; the
word had spread fast, including to several respected Ottawa musicians like Bruce
Cockburn. Bruce would later record his reggaeinfluenced hit, Wondering Where
The Lions Are using some of the same musicians as Ernie.
Ernie Smith and The Roots Revival would come back to Ottawa and packed
houses a couple months later. I didnt know that Ernie at one time had been
more popular in Jamaica than Marley, having won the Yamaha Music Festival in
Japan in 72. He also wrote the big hit, Tears on My Pillow for Johnny Nash. One
of my prized possessions is a cassette of that show that Ottawas Chez-FM taped.
Also in that band was, Jo Jo Bennett, who had played with ska legends, Don
Drummond and Byron Lee and the Dragonnaires.
My friend Joe, who was now helping to promote them, and I went to Montreal
and Quebecers would stop us in the streets over them. Ernie had moved to
Toronto, like a lot of reggae musicians, to avoid the political conflict in Jamaica.
They released an EP with amazing extended versions of their songs, To Behold
Jah and Dont Down Me Now which became a hit in 1979. Dont Down Me
Now had special resonance with me because my girlfriend of 8 years had just left
me. They were signed to Canadian icon, Stompin Tom Connors label, Boot/
Generation Records and were recording their first full album when tensions
developed. Supposedly, the other band members felt that their Toronto manager
had favored Ernie in order to market them to a wider audience, similar to what
had happened to Marley and the other Wailers, and the band split, right at the
beginnings of success. So I learned early what can sometimes happen in the
music business. Their manager would later put on the Reggae Sun Splash Festivals
in Jamaica each year. Fortunately, another rare tape I have is of their original
recording sessions for that album. The album was released finally, as well on Bob
Marleys Tuff Gong Records, but by that time, the band had broken up and Jo Jo
Bennett later went on to form the most successful Canadian reggae band, The
Sattalites.



ERNIE SMITH & THE ROOTS REVIVALS Original 1997 Cdn. EP
with To Behold Jah & Dont Down Me Now
In the 80s, a woman came into my vinyl store and told me shed been looking for
years for those Ernie Smith songs from that first Canadian EP, as they had been a
big hit in Africa where she had worked. She said she had finally tracked down
Ernie playing in a lounge back in Jamaica, but he said he didnt have any copies
left. Something I also learned working with musicians over the years-they often
dont keep copies of their own songs. But he suggested trying in Ottawa, as he
had been popular there and thats how she found my store. She was overjoyed
when I offered to make copies of those rare live and album sessions, something as
I said, probably the band doesnt even have.
In 1987, when Ernie had been having some hard times, Bob Marleys mother,
Cedella Booker, came to his rescue and together they wrote songs for a musical
about Marcus Garvey by Perry Henzell, the director of the classic reggae film and
soundtrack, The Harder They Come (72), starring Jimmy Cliff, which along with
Bob Marley had first spread reggae music outside Jamaica.
In the 90s, another musician came into my store and left a CD by a Toronto
reggae group, called Freedom Fighters to see if he could sell through my store.
After he left, I listened to it and it reminded me very much of the quality of
Marley & the Wailers. When I read the liner notes, sure enough, on it playing
were the Barrett brothers and other members of Marleys band, and it was
produced by them at Marleys own studio in Jamaica, Tuff Gong Studios. So it all
had come full circle, from my first hearing Marley in Montreal and then Ernie
Smith and the Roots Revival that first night in Ottawa: two very special shows I
would never forget, although I would see many more over the years.
I was visiting my parents in Illinois this summer and found a poster of George
Harrison on the same bill as Marley in 75 at Londons Lyceum Ballroom. I knew
The Beatles liked Marley ( Lennon had said he had trouble getting white sessions
musicians to play it for his 73 LP Mind Games and one of the last songs he
recorded was the reggae and perhaps fore-seeing Living On Borrowed Time).
McCartney recorded the reggae,C-Moon and of course they had recorded his
calypso-like Ob La-Da back in 68 for the White Album. But I had no idea a
Beatle had even played on the same bill as Marley. rockthistownproductions.com