h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

It is absolute nonsense to write :

"A love of Ska during the era of two-tone led to an interest in reggae with rumours abounding of the quality of Bob Marley's voice with the release of his Live! album - the man at his best."

Marley's popular success began around 1974 qnd 1975. The Live! album was recorded in 1975 or 1976. The Two-Tone era was from 1979 to 1981.

It is true that the Two Tone movement came after Bob Marley. I detect elements of my original post in this where I said that the skinhead/suedeheads love of ska ( this being old school ska NOT Two Tone) lead to an interest in Bob Marley. It seems that confusion has occurred in the editing process....(Madness at the Hope and Anchor were not bad either but I think by then it was 1980)
Live! was not recorded in 1976 as by then he was playing Rastaman Vibration. However Live! was the first widely available Marley LP and his reputation really took off only after the success of Eric Clapton's version of 'I Shot the Sheriff'. I heard about him from friends who had seen him at the Lyceum when Live! was recorded, but they were real hardcore Reggae fans. Catch a Fire and Burnin' did not sell well before Live! was released.

Androyd

I suspect there's more than a bit of confusion in the editing process resulting in the original meaning of your post getting lost. The same thing happened to my post but to a lesser extent. It would appear that there is no "sense" check during the editorial process. The result is that many entries contain factual errors, mine included.

It even seems that nobody has read the entry from start to finish. It includes two separate paragraphs which mention ska and Bob Marley, apparently from your posting and mine.

I checked that Live! was released in 1975 but I believe was recorded in late 1974. I was fortunate to see Bob Marley perform at the Hammersmith Odeon in the summer of 1975. An unforgettable experience.

For me there was a distinct evolution in the sound of The Wailers between Catch a Fire and Live ! (I'm not familiar with Burnin'). The guitar playing seems more rock based, especially the guitar solos - more Eric Clapton than Ernest Ranglin. The keyboards are more prominent and seemed to be influenced by Stevie Wonder's clavinet sound (or is it the other way round ?). I think this contributed to Marley's success at the time.

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From Distant Shores

I reckon Marley's success was more to do with a truly great voice and awesome stage presence, absolutely better than Jagger or Bowie, both great in themselves. Also an audience that was ready to discover Reggae at the same time as Marley was attempting to develop the rock element with truly political lyrics. Hey but I'm sure we all have our favourite bits. Don't even get me started on 'Familyman's' bass playing.

Androyd ACE

Let me get you started on Familyman's bass playing and anything else that aorund the subject of Bob Marley.

Why don't you write an entry. You may be able to persuade L¿¿nytŸnesÈÈ, another Marley fan, to collabarate with you to write the mother of all Bob Marley entries.

Happy Keyboard Crushing

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From Distant Shores