CELEBRATING THE BIRTH OF THE KING BOB MARLEY WITH NADINE SUTHERLAND

Today the 6^th of February is the day that the world celebrates the birth of the King of Reggae. There has been a lot written and videotaped about the Honourable Robert Nest Marley Order of Merit from the Jamaica Government. We here at 2bKaribbean decided to do something on his Earthstrong (birthday) that does not get a lot of attention sometimes.

                Bob Marley affected millions of people in very personal ways. We decided to speak to one of those persons who actually worked with the King and whose career was impacted by this. The person was 11 years old and had just won the Tastee’s Talent competition. The prize for the winner was to have a song produced by the King himself. The 11 year old prodigy is Nadine Sutherland who would go on to have a very successful career over the years. Here is profile of Bob Marley in her own words.

Nadine graciously shares that,

“my earliest memories of Bob involved two incidents. 1- My first recording session where he was overseeing. He demanded that they put me on a stool. Ensuring I was comfortable. He was giving musical directions to some who played on the track. The song was ‘Starvation ‘, if you listen to the track you can actually hear his influence.

 My first meeting of Bob was after I won the inaugural Taste Talent Contest in 1979. Part of the first prize package was a recording contract with his Tuff Gong Label. I was introduced to him by his attorney Dianne Jobson. She said “Bob here is the winner of the contest “.

I remember his glowing beautiful skin and smile. To tell you the truth, I wasn’t like star struck, I was a kid, but everyone around me was. He was an international superstar. Bob’s importance to me is twofold.

First, I’m extremely honoured that his vision of enabling young artist gave me my start. Secondly, as a Jamaican and understanding his impact as a folk hero and spiritual and cultural influencer on the world is something that strengthened my pride in my country and its impact through his music. There is no place that I’ve gone to that the inhabitants aren’t aware of this individual.”

Of course, his music is one of his enduring legacies. But the resistant content that suggested equal rights and respect for all especially people of African descent is still resonating and relevant. The unifying aspect of his music is also a powerful legacy and at this point in the evolving history of the world is so relevant. It’s poignant that some of the issues he sang about almost 50 years ago, are still contemporary issues.

Robert (BOB) Nesta Marley (1945-1981), Order of Merit was a Jamaican singer-songwriter, musician and guitarist who achieved international fame and acclaim, blending mostly reggae, ska and rocksteady in his compositions. Bob Marley is one of the world’s best-selling artists of all time. His music became the anthems of liberation movements the world over (The Poland Independence movement, The Zimbabwe Independence movement, The Anti-Apartheid and independence movement in South Africa just to name a few). Marley is named the King of Reggae and is one of the standard bearers of Reggae, Jamaican, Conscious and Caribbean music

Jason Walker is a freelance writer who has had an award winning journalism career that spans 20 years. He can be followed on twitter at www.twitter.com/jasonwalker_ or emailed at jasonarticle@gmail.com