In the latest episode of the online video series Bob Marley & I, British photographer Adrian Boot recalls an encounter with the reggae icon. In the early 1970, Boot moved to Jamaica to teach physics. When he returned to London, he worked with music publications like the NME, Melody Maker, and The Times. Island Records assigned him to photograph Marley at a shabby apartment. Boot recalls how he helped lift the musician’s spirits by providing a bag of weed.
Previous episodes of Bob Marley & I featured radio DJ David Rodigan telling the story of his first meeting with Marley, at the London offices of Island Records. Rodigan invited Marley on his reggae radio show on Capital FM. Marley then played a cassette tape for Rodigan, which ended up being one of his classics, “Could You Be Loved.”
Another episode featured Chris Salewicz, London journalist and author of Bob Marley: The Untold Story. Salewicz recalled meeting the reggae icon for the first time in 1979 and following Marley to Jamaica’s Gun Court to protest the incarceration of an innocent man. “It wasn’t easy being Bob Marley. It’s not just writing music,” he said. “There’s a whole other cultural thing going on.”
Bob Marley & I is part of a year-long celebration commemorating 80 years since Marley’s birth. Billed as Bob Marley’s 80th Earthstrong Celebrations, the festivities kicked off back in February with an ‘Uprising’ Tribute Concert livestream from the Marley family’s Tuff Gong Studios in Kingston, Jamaica.
The celebration also continues with an exclusive merch capsule in celebration of Uprising’s 45th anniversary. In addition to unique shirts, hoodies, and jackets, the 1980 album is being reissued as a special, limited-edition “liquid sunshine”-filled vinyl housed in a die-cut sleeve.
Ziggy Marley’s Tuff Gong Worldwide recently announced the re-release of 2012’s Marley via streaming platforms. The documentary will also receive a special 80th Collector’s Edition DVD, which includes two hours of never-before-seen interview footage with the reggae icon’s friends and family. This summer, Regal Cinemas will bring the critically acclaimed 2012 documentary back to theaters across the country.
Buy the liquid sunshine edition of Bob Marley’s Uprising now.
