07-06-2023, 05:24 PM
Read this years ago, but forgot most of it, so I thought I'd read it again.
I loved this the first time, but this time I didn't. There are some good parts, but overall it needed massive editing. It starts with a good discussion of Rastafarianism, not omitting, but not highlighting, the grifter aspect of Marcus Garvey. Then nearly a hundred pages on Marley's childhood, with lots of invented dialogue. Only then does he meet Bunny and Peter and start making music. It picks up then. There is good info on players on the albums, and occasional bits about where song ideas came from. The politics gets sort of confusing. And I feel like the author is too credulous - he readily accepts without comment any story of Marley having mysterious powers. And although Marley was very unfaithful to his wife, he only mentions that once, and then because the encounter supposedly inspired "Midnight Ravers" - although I think the lyrics don't fit that explanation. I got a the "memorial" edition, and it goes on for another hundred pages or so after Marley's death (and there is a later edition that has about a hundred more pages than that), and this part is super disjointed, jumping from person to person and event to event. It did have the details of Tosh's death, which I had never known, and a lot about how his mother and wife tried to cash in on his legacy, and various lawsuits between heirs and labels, and between labels and labels. Overall disappointing, with some good bits.
I loved this the first time, but this time I didn't. There are some good parts, but overall it needed massive editing. It starts with a good discussion of Rastafarianism, not omitting, but not highlighting, the grifter aspect of Marcus Garvey. Then nearly a hundred pages on Marley's childhood, with lots of invented dialogue. Only then does he meet Bunny and Peter and start making music. It picks up then. There is good info on players on the albums, and occasional bits about where song ideas came from. The politics gets sort of confusing. And I feel like the author is too credulous - he readily accepts without comment any story of Marley having mysterious powers. And although Marley was very unfaithful to his wife, he only mentions that once, and then because the encounter supposedly inspired "Midnight Ravers" - although I think the lyrics don't fit that explanation. I got a the "memorial" edition, and it goes on for another hundred pages or so after Marley's death (and there is a later edition that has about a hundred more pages than that), and this part is super disjointed, jumping from person to person and event to event. It did have the details of Tosh's death, which I had never known, and a lot about how his mother and wife tried to cash in on his legacy, and various lawsuits between heirs and labels, and between labels and labels. Overall disappointing, with some good bits.
the hands that guide me are invisible
