Download - Made In Jamaica Catalogue

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MY TRAVELS WITH BOB MARLEY
by Roger Steffens
California was a very special place for Bob, especially the
south, whose climate and flora Marley felt were similar to
Jamaica. I was lucky enough to catch a half-dozen of Bob’s
California shows from ‘75-’79. Back in ‘75 Bob had a series
of sold-out dates in San Francisco’s tiny Boarding House
club, and so great was the demand that promoter Bill Graham,
on just a few days notice, booked the giant Oakland
Paramount for a show that was almost completely sold out
on word of mouth.
It was my initial exposure to a man whose music I had become
enamored with two years earlier. I had yet to see even
a video of him, and didn’t know what to expect. As a rock
fan since its birth in the early ‘50s I had seen most of the
‘50s and ‘60s legends live, from Buddy Holly, Chuck Berry,
Bo Diddley, and Jackie Wilson, to Janis Joplin. But no artist
had ever captured me quite as strongly as Bob did that night
in Oakland, windmilling his Medusa-like locks as he spun in
trance-like possession, then standing stock still and mesmerizing
the audience, eyes squeezed shut in ecstatic concentration
as he channeled his Creator into our slack-jawed midst.
I sat next to Moe, a well known Berkeley bookstore owner,
who had been told by one of his employees not to miss this
unprecedented spectacle. “What the hell’s he saying,” Moe
kept asking me, and I translated as best I could. It really didn’t
matter then if you knew what his words were, he could have
been chanting in Swahili for all the audience cared, so powerful
was his presence that night.
I met him for the first time, backstage July of 1978 at the
Santa Cruz Civic when he returned to California in support of
his new “Kaya” LP. My wife Mary and I were among the first
in the auditorium. The soundboard was right in the middle of
the floor, and there was a tall man I didn’t recognize, standing
by it, curling his nascent dreads around his fingertips. I
figured he had to be with the band, so I approached and
asked him if they were going to play “Waiting in Vain” that
evening. “Why?” he asked. “Well,” I said with excitement,
“that’s my very favorite Wailers’ song, especially that incredible
lead guitar solo that Junior Marvin plays in the middle of
it.” “You want to meet Bob?” the dread asked. Without hesitation,
of course, we both blurted “Yes!” and he began leading
us backstage. “What’s your names?” he asked us. I told him
and asked his. “I’m Junior Marvin,” he laughed. Boy, I thought,
did we say the right thing to the right guy at the right time!
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www.jamaicacatalogue.com
“the music will
just get bigger
and bigger”
- Bob Marley
“Bob Marley in the San Diego Sports Arena dressing room”
24 November 1979. Photo by Roger Steffens
I had a poster with me for the Greek Theater show coming
up that Friday in Berkeley, and Junior said, “Why don’t
you ask Bob to sign it.” “Uh, yeah, sure!” I stammered.
Junior graciously introduced us. He signed the poster
for me, as did each of the other band members in their
turn, and we left to find seats, speechless and freaked to
the max. I still have the poster, and since then, 38 people
of major import in his life have signed it for me too; it’s
perhaps the most precious piece in what has become a
massive archive of Bob Marley material, collected from
all over the world. And every time I look at it I think of
that night.
We drove down to L.A. the following weekend to catch
Bob at the Starlight Amphitheater in Burbank. Later we
learned that backstage that night stars like Mick Jagger
and Diana Ross were milling about, trying to wangle an
invitation to come on stage with Bob, but he was having
none of that. So imagine our surprise when, as Bob began
to sing his final encore of “Get Up Stand Up”, Peter
Tosh appeared, just at the part of the song where he
came in on the record.