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Interviews, MPQ - HerStory / HerWords, ReggaeReport.com Exclusives!

Reggae Nostalgia –  MPeggyQ Interview 2011

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This recently popped up and I want to share. In 2011, I did an interview with Franco Forbes for his Reggae Nostalgia radio show. Listening to it again today, it was centered on my attempt to raise awareness and money for the Reggae Report Archive, and on discussing topics that are relevant right now in 2024.

SUMMER FESTS

We spoke out about the summer festivals – a popular topic going on right now – only then they were abundant in Europe, South America, & the USA. In 2011, I mentioned “Jamaican artists have to become more professional” and learn to” play the game,” i.e., contracts, deadlines, limitations, and pricing. We see now, 13 years later, summer fests being canceled way too often. Raising the question: “Is it the artist or the promoter?” 

I talked about young artists having to pay their dues and the importance of learning the Reggae business. In 2024, I am still calling out the need for guidance, education, and opportunities to learn the business, i.e., scholarships and corporate assistance. My question today remains, Where is the Bob Marley Performing Arts Center in Kingston, Jamaica? 

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Bob Marley Movie Review by M Peggy Quattro
Bob Marley, ReggaeReport.com Exclusives!, The Marleys - All, Uncategorized

Bob Marley: One Love – The Movie. The Man. The Music. The Message.

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From 1976 – 1978 * Almost Killed to Life in Exile to Movement of Jah People

By M. Peggy Quattro

Opinion

Like millions around the globe, I eagerly awaited the debut of the Bob Marley: One Love movie. Paramount Pictures took it on! A 70++ million-dollar budget! Wow! Reggae gone Hollywood! Yet, as intriguing and well-put-together as the movie trailers appeared, many fans were left wondering … Wait! What?

I’ve watched One Love four times. Four times! Each time noticing something new, something not true, a disjointed timeline, events that never happened. Judging by the barrage of questioning comments on social, I know I’m not alone. From 1976 to 1978, we’re immersed in Bob’s Hollywood story world. Locations with stories created by screenwriters and coached by the Family.

Bob Marley

Understood, it is not a documentary. On the flip side, it’s a biopic. Claimed to be “based on a true story,” the biopic offers a creative version of a person’s life. An emotional and entertaining portrayal to hopefully engage audiences. Here, there are soppy scenes with mother, father, teen Bob, and Rita, of course.

So Bob Seh: “You should know and not believe”

This movie left me feeling Bob never got the profound radical story he deserved. Perhaps when interpreting a deceased icon’s life, the storyteller should not fabricate stories because they don’t like or don’t accept the truth of that life. Truths should not switch to untruths when it suits the situation.

I get a bit ruffled when I see One Love tagged as a “biography.” It isn’t. A decent biography will contain only facts and tell how the person really was. This story does not do that. Bob Marley fans do not want to see their musical messenger, their Rasta rebel, be made lesser than or greater than he truthfully was. I don’t feel Bob would either. Bob’s life is the story. Sometimes truth is better than fiction. His fans deserve to know what’s fiction and be made aware of it outside the theater.

I’ve seen on social that folks look forward to this review. Jah know, some will like it, some will not. Nuh mattah. I’m a long-time insider and a major Bob disciple.

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Interviews, Read the Music! Magazine Articles & More! - All, ReggaeReport.com Exclusives!, Vol 10-1992

Tyrone Downie: No Ordinary Wailer

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By

M.Peggy Quattro

From Reggae Report, V10 #4 1992

Tyrone Downie is a familiar name and talent to avid followers of Bob Marley and the Wailers. I had always been interested in meeting this renown keyboardist who first played with the Wailers at the ripe “old age” of 13, so I was pleased to hear that he was looking forward to this interview with Reggae Report.

The Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers tour had just finished and Tyrone was in Miami chilling for a while. As a member of Ziggy’s all-star band, memories of Tyrone’s magical keyboards were once again revisited. For the veteran keyboardist, performing with the son of his good friend and mentor was like a page turning in musical history.

His obvious energy and passion for performing was manifested in a warm, engaging smile and the unmistakable twinkle in his eyes that greeted me when he opened the door. Our meeting place was at the home of a friend, complete with a studio where Tyrone could lodge part of his cumbersome collection of keyboards and other musical “toys.” Surrounded by equipment and a big screen television that was tuned to “Video Jukebox,” Tyrone Downie felt comfortable and in the mood to talk.

Tyrone Downie 1992

I went right to the big questions: What was it like being a member of the Wailers during his impressionable teen years? What was it like working with Bob? These answers and more were revealed throughout our two-hour conversation that was as amusing and informative as it was intuitive and insightful.

When Tyrone Downie “officially became a Wailer” in 1975, he already felt like one because he had done studio work with Bob Marley since 1969. It was during this session time, under the tutelage of Aston “Familyman” Barrett, that Tyrone first realized that he was frightened of these Wailers. “They were real tough guys,” he describes, “they were scary.”

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Black Uhuru, Legends & Singers - All, Read the Music! Magazine Articles & More! - All, Sly & Robbie

Last Note – Legendary Bass Player Robbie Shakespeare dies at age 68

By Howard Campbell, Observer Senior Writer

Thursday, Dec. 9, 2021

LEGENDARY Jamaican bass player Robbie Shakespeare was yesterday described as “one of a kind” by keyboardist Robbie Lyn, one of the many artistes and musicians who rode Sly and Robbie’s Taxi label and had a front-row seat to Shakespeare’s genius.

robbie shakespeare
Robert “Robbie” Shakespeare of Sly & Robbie (Photo by David Yellen/Corbis via Getty Images)

Shakespeare died at age 68 yesterday at his home in Florida, United States.

According to Lyn, Shakespeare’s story transcended music. “He came from a challenged background and made a name for himself. Robbie worked himself into a position as someone to respect,” Lyn told the Jamaica Observer.

No official cause of death was given at press time, but Shakespeare had been ill for an extended period.

He and Lyn had a musical connection that went back to the late 1970s when they were members of Peter Tosh’s Word, Sound and Power band. Along with drummer Sly Dunbar, they played on numerous hit songs, including Walk and Don’t Look Back by Tosh and Mick Jagger, Revolution (Dennis Brown), Love and Devotion (Jimmy Riley), and Baltimore (The Tamlins). Continue reading →

Bob Marley, ReggaeReport.com Exclusives!

Reggae Artists Remember Bob Marley from 1984

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In 1984, we asked performers & personalities this same question:

What Was the One Thing That Impressed You the Most About Bob Marley?

Here’s what they said, as seen in V2#5 1984:

“…Bob’s very great…his music is different from all the rest of Reggae musicians…and well put together.” ~Ansell Collins

“…it’s just him…just the man, really… you know, the man.”  ~Beres Hammond

“…a hard-workin’ man, him work for what him have in life, really…and he’s a good singer and good writer, and I respect everything him done…him pave the way for every other artist in Jamaica.”  ~Gregory Isaacs

“…his talent… for me, it was his talent.” ~Jimmy Cliff

“..Bob was a great man…he appreciated people and they related to him…he was a champion of the people…a selfless person…he cared on an international scale for the poor, black and suffering…this was the essence of Bob.”  ~Cindy Breakspeare, Miss World 1976

“… a cool runnings man… just cool…that was one of the things I admired.”  ~Lloyd Parkes, bandleader

“…it’s his range…on one hand it was religion, on the other hand, he was a lover… you know, one has a heavy message, the other you could dance to…” ~Perry Henzell, writer/director The Harder They Come

“…he showed people how to move from poverty to riches… (as in) how to move from Babylon to the Promised Land…”   ~Tony King, Jamaica Tourist Board, Kingston

“…it’s how he was a leader…he had a platform and he stood strong…(and) he allowed me to be creative.”  ~Donald Kinsey, guitarist

“…his song “Smile Jamaica” for personal inspiration…(because) I smile a lot!”  ~Andrew Henry, Kingston Publishers

What impressed you the most? Tell us in the comments below!

 

Bob Marley, Read the Music! Magazine Articles & More! - All

Inside the Vaults of Marley – 1990

(As published in Reggae Report V08#04 1990 – this article has not been updated since its original publication. Any updated information is welcome.) 

By Roger Steffens

Reggae historian & Marley archivist Roger Steffens

Bob Marley, Reggae’s prolific king, has been gone for nine years now and for the first time in that period, there exists a growing hope that the protracted legal battles for control of his life’s work are finally drawing to a close. At stake are millions of dollars in royalties, unreleased material, and properties. Nineteen lawyers are currently representing all the different claimants to the estate, including Bob’s children, the estates of the late Peter Tosh and drummer Carlton Barrett, the Wailers band, Bob’s mother Cedella Booker, Bunny Wailer, and various publishers and accountants.

As of the end of April, it appears as if an out-of-court scheme developed by Island Records president Chris Blackwell has met with qualified approval by most of the involved parties, and the way seems much clearer than ever for the eventual release of a treasure trove of unreleased and uncollected Marley and Wailers material going back to the dawn of his career in the early Sixties.

Chronologically, this is my breakdown of what remains to be heard, based on nearly twenty years of following every lead I could. And there is still a great deal of material, some of it stolen from Mrs. Booker’s home after Bob’s death that could yield even more surprises. Continue reading →