Customer Reviews

Bob Marley and the Golden Age of Reggae

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Kim Gottlieb-Walker clearly 'got' what the '70s rock era was - the work and the play - with her pictures. And, as one who was on the road with rock groups at that period - I can tell you it's not a world that is easily understood. It's insular yet family friendly. She got that. It's pensive, emotional and explosive, sometimes at the same time. She got that. What it's really all about is the music and the musicians. She got that. And more. What makes this book a true document of an era of music that few could (perhaps before seeing this book) understand is Kim did what not all photographers can do - stayed outside the world herself but guided her lens to find the moments that tell the whole story. You might know and enjoy the Bob Marley sound before you 'read' this book - but, once you 'read' "Bob Marley and the Golden Age of Reggae", you'll understand the heart and soul he put into an era of music that is still alive today.

I cannot claim to be the world's biggest Bob Marley fan, but the cover photo caught my eye in the bookstore so I had to have a look. These photos are enchanting. You are let into another side of Marley and of the culture of Reggae that is simply not seen or understood without the depth that Gottlieb-Walker is able to achieve within Marley's closest circle of friends. Kim Gottlieb-Walker's photographs offer an incredible and once in a lifetime glimpse into the lovable man of mystery that was the late Bob Marley. These images are filled with a haunting candidness that goes beyond the performances and into the simplicity and happiness of the everyday. This book is a fantastic and beautiful homage to Marley showing us the reality of the man behind the music.

Kim was clearly there as a trusted member of the family. There is no pretentiousness to her photography, just the clear direct insights of a brilliant photographer who completely understood and loved the world she experienced and captured. Perhaps it is the trust so evident in each photograph. Marley and his friends were so at ease with Kim that there was never a question of creating a false image or untrue reality. Kim's honesty, simplicity and humanity allow us to feel like we're right there sharing the joy of making music and hanging out with the gang.

I Love this book. Ms. Gottlieb Walker's photographs of Bob Marley and all the great reggae artists of the time never seem posed or forced. And the commentary that is chronicled by Cameron Crowe, Jeff Walker and Roger Steffins is so right on (they were actually there) that it makes the read even more powerful. Some of the images of Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, Bunny Wailer and all the others surrounding them are so personal and "in the moment" that it seems like you're not reading a book about a musical icon but rather looking through the family album of a regular man. I highly recommend this book.

The wonderful, candid and posed photographs capture the magical spirit of a glorious time in music and culture. Bob Marley was, in my mind, a wonderful combinagtion of Bob Dylan, Mick Jaggerand the Last Poets. He was a great songwriter and musician and Ms. Gotlieb's sensitive eye lets us into his world.

Fans of music, fans of Reggae and fans of great photography should be thrilled that Kim has made the effort of going back through her proofs and negatives from the early seventies and produced this wonderful collection. Kim's attentive lens was trained on Bob Marley and his Reggae contemporaries just as they were emerging onto the world stage. It's essays by Kim, Cameron Crowe, Jeff Walker and Roger Steffans are a perfect accompaniment to the pure, truthful intimate frames that Kim lovingly snapped while exploring Bob's world.

Kim Gottlieb-Walker has a magnificent eye and remarkable sense of people. Each and every picture, be it posed, performance or candid, speaks clearly of the subject. This book makes crystal clear what Bob Marley was all about. Where his music, and his message, came from.

The reader finds not only very real people, but a very special time and place in our recent history. The culture of the very roots of reggae are spread before us in word and image.

The Bob Marley legacy lives on, and it's spirit is revealed in this book.

This is a great visual insight into the life of one of the greatest musicians in the world - its a must have for any reggae and Bob Marley enthusiast.

A Fantastic book, with excellent photos of Bob and others reggae artists like Peter Tosh, Bunny Wailers, Thirld world, Jacob Miller and more!!!

A special THANKS to Kim, her book will stay in the history!

One Love

Emmanuel

Bob Marley and the Golden Age of Reggae profiles the outstanding Marley photos of author photographer Kim Gottieb-Walker, taken between 1975-1976, adds commentary by Cameron Crowe, Roger Steffens and Jeff Walker, and packs in full-page black and white images offering rare, previously unpublished photos any Marley fan will appreciate. Her concurrent description of the rise of reggae in Jamaica and Southern California makes for an outstanding tribute to Marley in particular and the genre as a whole.