What do you think?
Rate this book
Before the Legend: The Rise of Bob Marley – A Musical Biography of Jamaica's Icon from Nine Miles to Global Stardom
Bob Marley was a reggae superstar, a musical prophet who brought the sound of the Third World to the entire globe. Before the The Rise of Bob Marley goes beyond the myth of Marley to bring you the private side of a man few people ever really knew. Drawing from original interviews with the people closest to Marleyincluding his widow, Rita, his mother, Cedella, his bandmate and childhood friend, Bunny Wailer, his producer Chris Blackwell, and many others—Legend paints an entirely fresh picture of one of the most enduring musical artists of our times. This is a portrait of an artist as a young man, from his birth in the tiny town of Nine Miles in the hills of Jamaica, to the making of his debut international record, "Catch a Fire." We see Marley on the tough streets of Trench Town before he found stardom, struggling to find his way in music, in love and in life, and we take the wild ride with him to worldwide acceptance and adoration. From the acclaimed journalist, Christopher John Farely, the author of the bestselling AALIYAH and the reporter who broke the story on Dave Chappelle's retreat to South Africa, Legend is bursting with fresh insights into Marley and Jamaica, and is the definitive story of Marley's early days.
224 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2006
20 people are currently reading
197 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
February 15, 2008
Although it gives some insights into the daily life and struggle of Bob Marley, I felt that I learned more about the Jamaican music industry than I did the actual man in question.
September 4, 2023
I loved learning about Bob Marley and the history of Jamaica / the jamaican music industry, but the book was written in a pretty boring fashion.
January 3, 2011
Too much name dropping.
March 26, 2021
This is an excellent biography. It enlightened me to parts of his life and death that I hadn't known before. I highly recommend it. You will probably learn more than you did before
September 4, 2023
An informative & well written biography of the legendary singer focusing on the years before he achieved fame.
November 7, 2007
As the title states this book is primarily about the early days and beginning of Bob Marley's musical career. Fans of Marley know most of this information already but it's still enjoyable to read.
The book starts with Bob being born in the country and his eventual relocation to Trenchtown. We read about his family roots and how he came to be interested in music with his friends. Eventually he formed the Wailers with them.
Some of the more fascinating information in the book is the revealing of Bob and the Wailer's early struggles. They recorded over 200 songs and toiled in the music industry for 10 years before they finally got their big break with Catch a Fire. Prior to this they were continually denied getting paid what they deserved by record producers and were broke most of the time. Another area that is captivating is Farley's account of the history of reggae and even its influence on rap.
For those of you interested in the spiritual side of Marley there is discussion of Rastafarianism. After all, you can't really separate Bob and his spiritual aspects from his music.
Overall, this book is pretty brief at just over 200 pages and I found a few aspects disappointing. I was a little disappointed at the abrupt ending of the book. I felt that I was reading about the development of Bob's career, his life, and his message up till Catch a Fire and boom the book was over. Obviously, the book is about the rise of Bob and not his whole life but it seemed like the author was under time constraints and had to just finish in a hurried fashion. Christopher Farley has writing ability and you can tell his Harvard education comes into play. However, with this writing skill, why not expand it and give us more to chew on?
Despite the few minor setbacks this book has, as a music fan you'll enjoy it. Not only do you get to read some about the history of reggae and Jamaica but you also get to read about one of the most influential artists of all time. Some would even argue one of the greatest men of the 20th century. You can never go wrong there.
The book starts with Bob being born in the country and his eventual relocation to Trenchtown. We read about his family roots and how he came to be interested in music with his friends. Eventually he formed the Wailers with them.
Some of the more fascinating information in the book is the revealing of Bob and the Wailer's early struggles. They recorded over 200 songs and toiled in the music industry for 10 years before they finally got their big break with Catch a Fire. Prior to this they were continually denied getting paid what they deserved by record producers and were broke most of the time. Another area that is captivating is Farley's account of the history of reggae and even its influence on rap.
For those of you interested in the spiritual side of Marley there is discussion of Rastafarianism. After all, you can't really separate Bob and his spiritual aspects from his music.
Overall, this book is pretty brief at just over 200 pages and I found a few aspects disappointing. I was a little disappointed at the abrupt ending of the book. I felt that I was reading about the development of Bob's career, his life, and his message up till Catch a Fire and boom the book was over. Obviously, the book is about the rise of Bob and not his whole life but it seemed like the author was under time constraints and had to just finish in a hurried fashion. Christopher Farley has writing ability and you can tell his Harvard education comes into play. However, with this writing skill, why not expand it and give us more to chew on?
Despite the few minor setbacks this book has, as a music fan you'll enjoy it. Not only do you get to read some about the history of reggae and Jamaica but you also get to read about one of the most influential artists of all time. Some would even argue one of the greatest men of the 20th century. You can never go wrong there.
May 12, 2008
I'm learning a lot about the development of music in Jamaica and about things that happened there when I was a child, a part of the country I didn't see but could only imagine: the politics on the street, the richness of Jamaicans' words & humour, etc. Some things are being confirmed for me, other things are fitting like pieces of the puzzle I hadn't known existed. I love it because I'm learning more about my country. And it's a bittersweet read for me.
As far as what I'm learning about Bob, VERY interesting as well to learn about the man and those around him: to learn about his desire for peace and harmony among all people. How ironic that some people see his hair and his ganja-smoking and immediately dismiss, or worse, disdain and even curse him for these outward appearances when he actually put our country on the map. Live on Legend!
As far as what I'm learning about Bob, VERY interesting as well to learn about the man and those around him: to learn about his desire for peace and harmony among all people. How ironic that some people see his hair and his ganja-smoking and immediately dismiss, or worse, disdain and even curse him for these outward appearances when he actually put our country on the map. Live on Legend!
November 18, 2010
Being a huge fan of Bob Marley ever since, this book gave me insights of things I never knew before... understanding the culture of Jamaica and the early years background of Bob is a must to understand him in his later years of super stardom! I recommend it to everyone who is interested to know Bob as a a person and what made him what he was... I also recommend it to those who don't know nothing about him other than his song Buffalo soldier & that he never used to wash his hair (which was a rumor, by the way, circulated in British newspapers in the 70's after becoming a star!!)
September 16, 2007
Bob Marley is one of the most influential singers and person in the world. This book is very well written because it chronicles Marley's experiences (and his band's experiences) trying to find supporters and funding.
It's humbling, because at the end of his life, Marley and the Wailers ended up with very little money...
I found the book unassumingly inspiring.
It's humbling, because at the end of his life, Marley and the Wailers ended up with very little money...
I found the book unassumingly inspiring.
March 18, 2016
good subject matter but went off on to many different tangents. If you did not know anything about Robert or Jamaican history then this is good. If you just want to read about the man and his story buy something els
August 21, 2011
I read this because my son recommended it. It's not very well written, but it's illuminating on the music industry in Jamaica and on Marley's early years. Maybe a little too much incense for my taste.
June 10, 2014
Breezy read and informative, but what put it over the top for me was Farley's insightfulness. He'll be in the middle of an anecdote and then pull out some philosophical point about who we are as human beings, and somehow it never feels stilted.
Currently reading
September 12, 2007This is a really insightful biography, more like a story than a non-fiction book.
January 30, 2008
Quick interesting read. I had totally underestimated Marley's greatness.Check it out.
July 4, 2008
If you want to know more about Robert nesta Marley and friends and also the history of Jamnica then read this!!!!!!!!!!!
Currently reading
January 25, 2009Well, I AM going to Jamaica. Time to read up!
Read
February 25, 2011its the worst book ive ever read
December 28, 2010
Good stuff.
January 26, 2011
got alot of insight into bob's life and his struggles and what drove him to fame.It also made me see the aspects beyond the legend how human and frail he was
March 26, 2014
Why did Bob Marley drive a BMW? (Bob Marley and the Wailers)!
January 1, 2015
Read this book to learn about Bob Marley's early days and the Jamaican music industry, but Farley's writing is sometimes repetitive with information and the chronology is sometimes unclear.
May 25, 2015
The auto was quite enamored with Bob, which makes telling his story quite one sided.
October 20, 2008
Much more to history to music than I would've thought.
March 26, 2009
Great except for the fact that it was just the first half of the story...
October 29, 2017
An entertaining and stylish account of the early years of Bob and the Wailers. Well worth reading.
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews