I'm curious why we've collectively overlooked the influence of Bob Marley in
our discussion so far. Is it because he's not from the United States? Is it
because we find reggae to be a marginal music that has had little impact in
American culture? Or is it because we're sick of hearing Legend blasting
from SUVs owned by upper middle class trust-funders? Well, that would seem
to be short-sighted at best, ignorant and ethnocentric at worst.
I think Bob Marley's contributions to popular music in the second half of
this century might be substantial enough to place him near the top.
Certainly Bob Dylan, the Beatles, and James Brown have each had a profound
impact on Western culture, and maybe one or all of these artists deserves to
be higher than Marley. But I'm not so sure that's as clear cut as we think.
And that's just taking into account music. If we add definitive political
contributions into the mix, none of them outshine Marley. Sure, Dylan had
some fantastic finger-pointers, and songs like JB's "Say it Loud" were
defiant statements of racial pride, but didn't Marley do both throughout his
entire career? At least during his association with Island Records, his
records consistently addressed--directly--political concerns of not just
Jamaicans, but black people all over the world. And unlike Dylan, when
Marley spoke on behalf of the abject poor and dispossessed, it was because
he had first-hand knowledge of those people. He was those people. Don't
forget either that Marley also influenced the outcome of the 1976 Jamaican
presidential election (and not in some milquetoast Springsteen fashion).
I wouldn't necessarily say that Bob Marley should be numero uno, but that
we've neglected his impact thus far seems to indicate that, I for one, have
been far too US-centric.
Lance . . .
PS--If someone can better defend the man's contributions than my half-ass
attempt, please do so.
