Customer Reviews

Before the Legend: The Rise of Bob Marley

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Well-written, entertaining, illuminating, engrossing and intelligent, this is a must-have book for anyone who loves reggae music, and for anyone who wants to find out more about the formative years of the man behind the myth.

This book will doubtless enter into the pantheon of great music biographies. Farley brings to his subject a deftness of touch and a fluid, anecdotal style, not to mention a gargantuan knowledge of the socio-political context of the music, together with a razor-sharp clarity of vision.

Farley is clearly in awe of his subject, but does not genuflect before him, retaining the correct critical and aesthetic distance. He also feels every lilting rhythm and harmonious melody of the music which he writes about, and manages to convey that passion with aplomb.

Farley's grasp of the material is exemplary, and the narrative he gives us is concise yet powerful. We are left at the end wanting him to write the subsequent chapters in the Marley life, a chapter we are far more familiar with.

Out of deference to the memory of a true musical genius and a towering social and racial luminary, and also Farley's consummate skill as a biographer, big tings deserve to gwan for this book!

The legend of Bob Marley comes to life in this thoroughly researched, vivid account. The author seems to have trucked all over Jamaica finding people close to Marley to interview for this book...like Marley's mom and wife.
I learned a lot about what Marley's long, slow struggle to stardom was like and was surprised at how many setbacks he had to endure. The author includes a lot of interesting tidbits, like the kinds of jobs Marley had to take while working on his music. This is an excellent book for young and old fans alike because it delivers fresh information while also going over the basics if you don't know much about Marley. It will help you to appreciate and enjoy Marley's music even more. I highly recommend reading it.

BEFORE THE LEGEND: THE RISE OF BOB MARLEY goes before most Marley biographies in covering his early years, from his birth in a poor Jamaican town to his early days as a struggling artist before his debut album Catch a Fire caught fire. New interviews with band mate Bunny, material from the secret autobiographical recordings made by Peter Tosh, interviews with close family members and more form a very different set of images in the first major coverage of Marley in over 20 years. A 'must' for any Marley fan.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

I don't want to hate on Mr. Farley's effort. It is evident that he performed a significant amount of research and interviewed key individuals in Bob Marley's life. However, I've read just about every book and article written on Marley and with Farley's effort, I found myself reading identical quotes and stories that have already been published.

I'll admit that Mr. Farley did a decent job of linking Marley with post-modern theories in popular music, especially Rap. But I can't honestly say that this book provided anything fresh on the Tuff Gong.

The stories about Marley's white father raised an eyebrow and perhaps were an indication as to why Marley was so driven and motivated to have an identity in music. Though overall, the book is flat.

If you've never read anything on Marley before this book would be interesting, but I'm an old head who has been following Marley's message for 32 years. So it might not be fair to be so critical of Mr. Farley. But when it comes to the greatest musical artist of our time, excellence is the norm. Unfortunately, this book falls short of that.

Mark Moses Alvarado
El Paso, TX
alvarado.mark@juno.com

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.

This is a wonderful book to read to gain a clear understanding of Bob Marleys start in life. He struggled ten years before finally catching a break and meeting producer Chris Blackwell who did a great job marketing his music.

This book is fresh, direct and easy to read. Contains a few new interviews that add to our overall understanding of Bob Marleys efforts. Clear and concise writing.


I do wish the author had kept going because his narration is very good. He stops after the Catch a Fire album.

Very well balanced and compares favorably to the book "Catch a Fire." I highly recommend this book. Good job, Chris Farley.

The book is a bit difficult to get into in the beginning but once you get past the speed bump everything else is smooth sailing. Good book but so for the best is Written by his Widow. Rita Marley.

This is truly a well written book. From the moment I received it I did not put it down until I finished it. Thanks to the wonderful writing of Mr Farley. I look forward to his other books as well as more info on Bob Marley.

This book contains no new information, as promised, and you'd be much better off to read Timothy White's Catch A Fire. I read White's book, loved it, hoped to get more. Very disappointed by Farley's account, which takes the reader on so many of his tangents of self indulgence, that it is distracting and incoherent at times. We get to a point, as a reader, where we are thinking, "What is he talking about now? Where are we?" He takes us on trips through his academic past, relaying every possible association in his literary knowledge and rock-world experiences, and we end up knowing more about Farley than we do Marley in the end, and trust me, Marley is far more interesting. And he makes bold claims too, such as the "evidence" that Bob Marley really wasn't half white, and was less white, because of some ambigious information on the marriage record that no one in the family can verify. Rather than suggest it was a mistake, he makes quite a leap instead and we as the reader are left saying, "So what?" But perhaps what is most disappointing to me is that I was promised more. I was promised access to the Red X Tapes, and conversations with Bunny Wailer that he claims only a black man was able to arrange, and what did it yield? Nothing. No new information. Nothing at all.

I think that Christopher John Farley is an author who distinguishes him self in all media. He can write hard news, entertainement news, financial news, novels and biographies. In all of his work you can see a true love of writing, the english language and often, as in this book, respect for the subject. It is clear that Mr. Farley is a fan of Marley, yet this does not get in the way of his recounting of some of the less than sterling moments in Marley's life. The research, the attention to detail, and the desire to round out the reading public's knowledge of Marley are all evident in this book. I recomend it to both Marley fans and music historians. I promise that new readers who have not had the opportunity to enjoy any of Mr. Farley's earlier works will come away as Farley fans as well.