I dedicate my song today to Margaret Ann Long Long who lives in Carrick-on-Suir, County Tipperary, Ireland and Kath Honeybell who lives in Heckmondwike, West Yorkshire. Both Margaret and Kath celebrate their birthday today. Have a nice day, ladies and save some room for lots of cake and suitable refreshments. Thank you for being my Facebook friends.
My song today is “Jammin’”. This song was by the reggae band, ‘Bob Marley and the Wailers’ from their 1977 album ‘Exodus’. The song also appears on the compilation album ‘Legend’. The song was re-released 10 years later as a tribute to Bob Marley and was again a hit, as in the Netherlands, where it was classified in the charts for 4 weeks. In Jamaican patois the word jammin’ refers to a getting together or celebration. It is still receiving moderate airplay from adult alternative stations.
Bob Marley's wife Rita Marley has performed the song during the tribute concert ‘Marley Magic: Live in Central Park’. Marley's children, Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers’ regularly perform the song during their concerts.
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I did not become fully acquainted with all of Bob Marley’s songs until after the New Millennium when between 2000-2003 I worked extensively with pairing 32 West Yorkshire schools with 32 Jamaican schools in the old slave capital of Falmouth. This was a trans-Atlantic pen-pal project which aimed to increase cultural awareness and reduce racial discrimination between the black and white pupils in the 64 schools. I also worked in liaison with the Jamaican Educational Minister for two years, and the Mayor of Trelawney who is known as the Custos, along with other Jamaican educational dignitaries.
I visited Jamaica twice during this work collaboration and even managed to visit the home where Bob Marley was raised, and which now assumes local museum status while maintaining its natural atmosphere of what it was like when Bob Marley lived there.
Bob Marley was essentially a Jamaican troubadour who reminded the Jamaicans of their historical background and agitated for a better Jamaica today. He was widely followed in Jamaica and became a powerful and influential advocator in his time for the improvement of the lives of poorer Jamaicans. Born Robert Nesta Marley in February 1945 in Nine Mile, in the Parish of Saint Ann, he was to become a pioneer of reggae. His contributions to music increased the visibility of Jamaican music worldwide and made him a global figure in popular culture for over a decade. Over the course of his career, Marley became known as a Rastafari icon, and he infused his music with a sense of spirituality. He is also considered a global symbol of culture, Jamaican music, and identity, and was controversial in his outspoken support for the legalization of marijuana, while he also advocated for Pan-Africanism ( the principle or advocacy of the political union of all the indigenous inhabitants of Africa).
Bob Marley began his professional musical career in 1963, after forming ‘Bob Marley and the Wailers’. The group released its debut studio album’ The Wailing Wailers’ in 1965, which contained the single ‘One Love One Heart’. The song was popular world-wide and established the group as a rising force in reggae.
The Wailers subsequently released eleven further studio albums; while initially employing louder instrumentation and singing, the group began engaging in rhythmic-based song construction in the late 1960s and early 1970s, which coincided with the singer's conversion to Rastafarianism. During this period Marley relocated to London, and the group typified their musical shift with the release of the album ‘The Best of The Wailers’ in1971. The group attained international success after the release of the albums ‘Catch a Fire’ and ‘Burnin’ in 1973, they forged a reputation as touring artists. Following the disbandment of the Wailers a year later, Marley went on to release his solo material under the band's name.
1977 proved to be a defining year for Bob Marley. During his time in London, he recorded the album, ‘Exodus’ (1977). The song incorporated elements of blues, soul and British rock and enjoyed widespread commercial and critical success. Also, in 1977, Marley was diagnosed with acral lentiginous melanoma; an illness he died of in 1981. His fans around the world expressed their grief, and he received a State Funeral in Jamaica.
The greatest hits album ‘Legend’ was released in 1984 and became the ‘best-selling reggae album of all time’. Marley also ranks as ‘one of the best-selling music artists of all time’, with estimated sales of more than 75 million records worldwide. He was posthumously honoured by Jamaica soon after his death with a designated ‘Order of Merit’ by his nation. In 1994, he was inducted into the ‘Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’. Rolling Stone ranked him Number 11 on its list of the ‘100 Greatest Artists of All Time’.
The last time I heard “Jammin’” being sung, the singer was my brother Peter who was performing a Karaoke in a Liversedge pub. He must have been in his 50s then and I was surprised as that was the very first time I’d ever heard him sing a song in his life.
Love and peace Bill xxx
My song today is “Jammin’”. This song was by the reggae band, ‘Bob Marley and the Wailers’ from their 1977 album ‘Exodus’. The song also appears on the compilation album ‘Legend’. The song was re-released 10 years later as a tribute to Bob Marley and was again a hit, as in the Netherlands, where it was classified in the charts for 4 weeks. In Jamaican patois the word jammin’ refers to a getting together or celebration. It is still receiving moderate airplay from adult alternative stations.
Bob Marley's wife Rita Marley has performed the song during the tribute concert ‘Marley Magic: Live in Central Park’. Marley's children, Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers’ regularly perform the song during their concerts.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
I did not become fully acquainted with all of Bob Marley’s songs until after the New Millennium when between 2000-2003 I worked extensively with pairing 32 West Yorkshire schools with 32 Jamaican schools in the old slave capital of Falmouth. This was a trans-Atlantic pen-pal project which aimed to increase cultural awareness and reduce racial discrimination between the black and white pupils in the 64 schools. I also worked in liaison with the Jamaican Educational Minister for two years, and the Mayor of Trelawney who is known as the Custos, along with other Jamaican educational dignitaries.
I visited Jamaica twice during this work collaboration and even managed to visit the home where Bob Marley was raised, and which now assumes local museum status while maintaining its natural atmosphere of what it was like when Bob Marley lived there.
Bob Marley was essentially a Jamaican troubadour who reminded the Jamaicans of their historical background and agitated for a better Jamaica today. He was widely followed in Jamaica and became a powerful and influential advocator in his time for the improvement of the lives of poorer Jamaicans. Born Robert Nesta Marley in February 1945 in Nine Mile, in the Parish of Saint Ann, he was to become a pioneer of reggae. His contributions to music increased the visibility of Jamaican music worldwide and made him a global figure in popular culture for over a decade. Over the course of his career, Marley became known as a Rastafari icon, and he infused his music with a sense of spirituality. He is also considered a global symbol of culture, Jamaican music, and identity, and was controversial in his outspoken support for the legalization of marijuana, while he also advocated for Pan-Africanism ( the principle or advocacy of the political union of all the indigenous inhabitants of Africa).
Bob Marley began his professional musical career in 1963, after forming ‘Bob Marley and the Wailers’. The group released its debut studio album’ The Wailing Wailers’ in 1965, which contained the single ‘One Love One Heart’. The song was popular world-wide and established the group as a rising force in reggae.
The Wailers subsequently released eleven further studio albums; while initially employing louder instrumentation and singing, the group began engaging in rhythmic-based song construction in the late 1960s and early 1970s, which coincided with the singer's conversion to Rastafarianism. During this period Marley relocated to London, and the group typified their musical shift with the release of the album ‘The Best of The Wailers’ in1971. The group attained international success after the release of the albums ‘Catch a Fire’ and ‘Burnin’ in 1973, they forged a reputation as touring artists. Following the disbandment of the Wailers a year later, Marley went on to release his solo material under the band's name.
1977 proved to be a defining year for Bob Marley. During his time in London, he recorded the album, ‘Exodus’ (1977). The song incorporated elements of blues, soul and British rock and enjoyed widespread commercial and critical success. Also, in 1977, Marley was diagnosed with acral lentiginous melanoma; an illness he died of in 1981. His fans around the world expressed their grief, and he received a State Funeral in Jamaica.
The greatest hits album ‘Legend’ was released in 1984 and became the ‘best-selling reggae album of all time’. Marley also ranks as ‘one of the best-selling music artists of all time’, with estimated sales of more than 75 million records worldwide. He was posthumously honoured by Jamaica soon after his death with a designated ‘Order of Merit’ by his nation. In 1994, he was inducted into the ‘Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’. Rolling Stone ranked him Number 11 on its list of the ‘100 Greatest Artists of All Time’.
The last time I heard “Jammin’” being sung, the singer was my brother Peter who was performing a Karaoke in a Liversedge pub. He must have been in his 50s then and I was surprised as that was the very first time I’d ever heard him sing a song in his life.
Love and peace Bill xxx
