In my early teens when I started to grow my obsession with music, I got blown away by the powerful riffs of bands like Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath and Whitesnake and thought that there couldn’t be anything in the world of music better and more exciting than hard rock. Then I went on and bought “The Dark Side of the Moon” by Pink Floyd, wrongly assuming that they were also a hard rock band (it was in those days when internet and mp3s were not invented yet). Surprisingly, they were not a hard rock group, but it was so powerful in a different way that I could not stop playing the record on my late eighties Hitachi HiFi (it’s still working!). After that record I couldn’t find anything that could excite me, at least half as much as Floyd, for almost a year. And then one day I walked in the near-by second hand record shop and saw “Uprising”. I‘ve heard of Bob Marley, but had no idea what his music sounded like. I bought the record and immediately went home to put it on.
Somehow it was the B side that I have put on first. Hypnotised by the wah-wah guitars in the beginning, as the song went on I could almost see it - the Zion train coming Bob Marley’s way. Oh yes, he knew about the train. He was diagnosed with cancer some time prior to the making of the album. His wife Rita Marley stated in an interview that in this period "he was already secretly in a lot of pain and dealt with his own mortality, a feature that is clearly apparent in the album”. But he had the strength to write and record his own swan song, like Freddie Mercury did with “Innuendo” or more recently Bowie with his “Blackstar”. “Zion train is coming our way” got stuck in my head for years, even when I didn’t know what the metaphor of the train meant. I didn't know that “Uprising” was Marley’s spiritual reconciliation with himself, aware that he didn’t have much time left in this world. The prophet which spoke of so many important things outloud, things that were heard by millions across the planet, turned towards his own soul and asked himself some serious questions about life and death. There are few global concerns of which he sang on “Uprising”, but there’s no remorse or anger. “Emancipate yourself from mental slavery, none but ourselves can free our minds” - It seems that Marley found his peace before he went on to meet with the Almighty.
The Wailers reflect the same smooth and peaceful (but intense from within) mood throughout the record. They were also aware that it was going to be their last recording with Bob and they gave their best.The beats are infectious and the playing is superb. It’s one of the most compact and groovy bands ever recorded.
I listened to the whole album. “Could you be loved”, “”Redemption Song”, “Work” they are all masterpieces. Brave new world opened for me through Marley’s music. I went on and bought all of his albums (at least those that I could find in the local record stores) and learned all of the songs by heart. I never became a fan of reggae music. Actually, I don’t even like other reggae bands. It seems to me that reggae was born with and died with Bob Marley. OK, maybe not, but still - he is the iconic figure of Jamaican music, one of the most charismatic musicians ever and is widely regarded (along with The Wailers, especially the bass player Aston Barrett) as the inventor and Father of reggae.
What more can I say except - Thank you Bob for all the good vibes you provided during your stay on Earth, for all the messages you left behind to be remembered and passed on and I truly hope that you have found your spliff… sorry, peace in the heavens!
