Every Little Thing Gonna Be Alright: The Bob Marley Reader

by Hank Bordowitz

Throughout Africa, the Caribbean, Europe, and America, Bob Marley represents far more than just the musician who translated spiritual and political beliefs into hypnotic, hard-hitting songs such as "Get Up, Stand Up," "No Woman, No Cry," and "Jammin'." Marley was born in rural Jamaica and reared in the mean streets of Kingston's Trenchtown; his ascent to worldwide acclaim, first with The Wailers--Peter Tosh and Bunny Livingstone--and later as a solo artist, is a riveting story of the spiritual awakening of a uniquely talented individual.Now, for the first time, a symphony of voices has joined together to offer perspective on one of this century's most compelling figures. Dealing with Bob Marley as a man and myth, from his "rude boy" teens to international fame and his tragic death at the age of thirty-six, Every Little Thing Gonna Be Alright then explores the larger picture, examining Marley as the spokesman for Jamaica's homegrown religion of Rastafarianism, as a flash point for the pressure cooker of Jamaican politics, and his unique status as the first pop musical superstar of the so-called "Third World."

Genres: Music, Biography, History, Nonfiction

336 pages, Paperback

First published June 15, 2004

Reviews

[Benjamin Fasching-Gray · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am always kind of embarrassed to admit that I really like Bob Marley. I swear, I listen to Burning Spear, the Abyssinians, and lots of other roots reggae acts more than the Wailers. But the thing is, Bob Marley is HUGE and he deserves it. They should make a movie just about the song "Zimbabwe" and what happened when he went there to play a concert on the birthday of that nation. So, OK, Internet, I read this book.

This is an uneven collection of articles, interviews and short pieces. The larger first part is mainly biographical and includes some interesting writing from people who were near Marley and the Wailers before he became world famous as well as one from Lester Bangs. There are a few pieces that are terrible, though. There were a few times that I got a little ticked off at misinformation, but, what can you expect from music "journalists" in the 1970s... it's hard enough to fact check statements about marginalized peoples now... but I can just picture these hacks not really paying attention as someone with a thick patois explains what Rastafarianism means. Anyway, there is enough good stuff here to make up for it, and some of the really far out stuff is so far out it is good again, like a High Times article explaining how the CIA gave Bob cancer. Yeah. Because they are good at assassinations. Just look at how they did Castro. What? He's still alive? Anyhow, back to the book. Mark Jacobson has a good piece near the beginning of the smaller but better second part which discusses the meaning of the Marley phenomenon and his music as well as his family and other musicians in his circle. Alice Walker has a moving piece in here about discovering Bob Marley's music after he'd already moved on and a journey she made with her daughters to his tomb in Nine Miles.

So not only do I have to admit to being a total hippy, I also have to admit that I liked this book more than a little.

[M · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun compilation of articles written about Bob Marley and the Wailers by various people such as Rita Marley, Alice Walker, Lester Bangs, lots of other musical journalists, and some interviews with the lesser known Wailers like Lee Jaffe, Secco Patterson and Earl Lindo. The more I read about this band and its iconic frontman, the more I want to read! This was a nice companion to many of the full-length biographies I've read; definitely worth reading for any Wailers fan, or anybody wanting to know more about the Jamaican cultural, political and social environment which helped develop this amazing band.

[Brian Mallia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good insight into Bob Marley's influence over "politricks" through his musical journey.

[David Cupples · Rating 5 out of 5]

There is lots to like in this compendium put together by noted pop-music-and-culture writer Bordowitz. Essays penned by the likes of Robert Palmer, Alice Walker, the "white Wailer" Lee Jaffe (who takes just a little too easy to identifying the Wailers as "we"), several others that appeared in Village Voice or NYT Mag. There is Alex Constantine's provocative indictment of CIA involvement in Marley's death, far-fetched for sure but at a symbolic level perhaps containing elements of truth beyond mere facts. The most interesting essays for many will be the ones written while Bob was alive, like pop music critic Lester Bang's "Innocents in Babylon," written upon occasion of a Kurtzian journey into the mysteries of "darkest Africa" i.e. Jamaica. One boggles at Bang's admonition of who was his least favorite reggae artist, as if another elitist critic above it all. Se la vie. True Marley fans want to read every scrap written about Bob and listen to every version of every song. There are inaccuracies here but that is part of the mythology of the colossal figure of Marley, whose stature continues to grow over time. Review by the author of Stir It Up: The CIA Targets Jamaica, Bob Marley and the Progressive Manley Government, a novel.