Marley : A Film by Kevin Macdonald

 

A Bob Marley biopic is in theaters now so that’s probably why Streaming is pushing out a lot of Marley content. 2012s Marley by the great documentarian Kevin McDonald is probably the most known so I had to check it out.

 I am not always a fan of biopics but I do have hopes for the Marley one. I have grown to become quite a big fan of reggae and ska. I still listen to a ton of Bob Marley. He seems to be a pretty standard part of a musical diet like the Beatles or Queen or the Doors. Still, there’s something magical about Marley. Marley delivers on its promise. 

Sadly, a decade or so later- all these important people in the Marley story have passed- Rita Marley, Lee Scratch Perry, Bunny “Wailer” Livingston, Aston “Family Man” Barrett and footage of mother Cecelia Booker- as well as Cindy Breakspeare, Chris Blackwell, Ziggy Marley, Junior Marvin and others. There is also the famous 1980 Gil Noble WABC-TV interview that catches Marley in his own words. 

 The movie does a good job of balancing the personal side and the musical side. It covers the Wailers’ early years (along the invention of ska in the 1960s- the influence of pop hits by Frankie Lymon and Dion and then characterized by the guitar chop on the offbeat) and culminates with “Small Axe” finding the band going to Perry to fight against the Jamaican producer “Big T(h)ree of Coxsone Dodd, Prince Buster and Duke Reid. 

There plenty of 20th century world politics that come into play - Ethiopian emperor Halie Selassie’s 1966 visit to Jamaica (and Bob’s conversion to the Rastafarian movement) as well as Marley’s 1980 concerts in Gabon and Zimbabwe. Of course, most famously the 1976 Smile Jamaica concert (in which Marley had been shot by assailants two days before during rehearsal) and the 1978 One Love Concert where Marley held hands with the two political leaders Manley and Saega. 

I like to play the “what if” game with artists like Ronnie Van Zant, Terry Kath, Buddy Holly and so on. It’s hard to imagine Marley having any more impact. He was 36 when he died. His early musical career in Jamaica was likely why he was so good later on. The doc (like his life) ends with him planning to open a US tour for Stevie Wonder. His friends thought it was beneath him but Marley (likely rightly) knew that this was a smart career move if he wanted radio airplay. 

But what else could he have accomplished. The closing credits show the impact he has had all across the Globe. His trip to the UK (covered briefly here) no doubt influenced punk and post punk rock in obvious and not so obvious ways. He never had radio success (the Clapton cover isn’t mentioned here) but his songs have become all time classics anyway. We could look at Jimmy Cliff and Peter Tosh’s careers , maybe even artists like John Lennon and U2, for example- but Marley no doubt is among the artistic peaks. Marley is surely as much Bob as you can encapsulate into a two hour period. I am a huge fan and have read the many words written over the years in magazines like Uncut and Mojo, and various tv moments. It’s definitely hard to suggest how could it be any better.

What I Have Been Listening to: CATHEDRALE

One of my joys is discovering new music and as things change, some times there are positives. I would say that my favorite way of discovering music is still what I would call a curated playlist. 

My local public radio station plays a “college radio” style format and that is still # 1 for me. 

Friend recommendations probably are a close second (maybe even first at times now). These are generally more on social media these days than in person, but it really isn’t much different than it was during teenage years.  

There are also of course algorithmic ways to stream music which have their benefits (though I don’t feel like I often “discover” music as much that way), and blog sites and samplers and what not. 

 When comes to CATHEDRALE, I am not 100% sure where I ran into the French post punk band first. A Bandcamp sample for Howlin Banana Records, I believe. 

From half way around the world to my ears. I love the mix of jagged guitars joined to garage, even shoegaze influences. 

 

U2 roundup

 

U2 was my favorite band of my high school years. I can’t help but be fanatical about him. Today I am going to catch up with reviews of their recent activity. 

Surrender: 40 Songs, One Story: Book by Bono

Surrender is surely a bit of a Rorschach Test for what you think of Bono. I am a huge fan, bordering often on obsessed, so of course I loved it. But if you find Bono pompous or arrogant or just plain annoying, this won’t change that. And most people probably fall somewhere in between, and will find this a mixed bag.

The first pages of the book open up with a lot of purple prose but after it settles down to standard bio after 20 pages or so, it isn’t so bad. The end of the book seems similarly appended with two dozen unnecessary pages.  

I wasn’t sure what I expected, but Bono is a good storyteller in that he has generally come off to me as  the most relatable human Everyman musician.

He’s not dramatic like Nick Cave or poetic like Leonard Cohen or angry like John Lydon, for example. Perhaps that is what made U2 so good.

The U2 story has been covered in depth for years, so fans won’t find anything much new. Still, if you find yourself as someone who relates to Bono, you probably won’t mind.

A 45 year career is a lot for one book. Especially as the 20th Century U2 was a music entity and the 21st Century U2 is largely a political entity. Both are interesting and important but it’s a lot to fit in.

I think most people would agree that the book could use some trimming. Maybe Bono doesn’t need to add all 500+ pages of his thoughts. But otherwise, I have no real complaints and while the political stuff won’t interest everyone, it does interest me.

As interesting as the band’s interactions with Presidents Clinton and Obama are, it’s the interaction with the people he generally disagree with like Bushes (and lack of interaction with Trump) that is most interesting.

As an aside, I hate the cover, which i find pretentious and awful and I don’t like the 40 song tie in- which is a reference to the chapters because I don’t think it quite fits. 

Which is a tie in to the 2023 album 

Songs of Surrender by U2

The first “album” from U2 in six years (and I have liked their last two albums more than I hated them) is a reinterpretation of the band’s catalog re-recorded largely without the band’s rhythm section. 

I streamed these songs when they were first released and my wording was  their classic songs redone as an incredibly boring piece of art”.  It consists of four albums of ten tracks picked by each member. 

Lyrics are rewritten- Walk On becomes about Ukraine, Bad becomes a first person narrative. 

Projects like this seem self indulgent (and U2 is the most self indulgent of bands). It is easy to pencil this in as in similar vein of recent Rod Stewart albums. It is at once too long and though there are changes, they don’t feel like enhancements. 

Allmusic user reviews are a fun read to tell you exactly what is wrong with the album as one one-star review after another complains about what feels like an uninspired cash in. 

But as I reflect now a year later, I seem to fit more into my fandom and less as a critic. Is it for anyone but the most diehard U2 fan? No. Is it anywhere meeting the expectations a fan might have?  Not really. 

But in small pieces, there are enjoyable moments. I just can’t find myself hating it completely. It will be forgotten quickly as time goes by but given that it came out to virtual thrown tomatoes, I hate to see it buried completely 

The album is accompanied by a film that streamed on Disney + 

Bono and the Edge- A Sort of Homecoming with David Letterman

The album and the documentary feel like U2 are in their autumn years and that is okay. They are and it has been 30 years since they felt like the most important band on the planet. 

Pairing them with David Letterman only doubles down on nostalgia. That’s ok because it gives the film a sense of importance. There were always Beatles comparisons and they do seem like the 80s/90s version

Adam Clayton is busy acting and Larry Mullen injured, explaining why they are not here and largely missing on the album. 

Still, Bono and the Edge feel intimate- telling their story (again once over shared but it still feels important here)

Letterman walks around Dublin in his usual way. The band plays their Adam and Larry less versions of their songs, but they sound good in this particular live environment. 

The mood stays light throughout which is probably for the best. It’s another postcard for the fans, but Letterman’s involvement help frame it in an interesting way.