In the middle of the 1990s I found myself living in Jamaica for a couple of years. Whilst there, almost every day I would hear fresh stories, of lesser or greater significance, about Bob Marley. One day, I sensed that, whilst there, I would write a full biography of the Tuff Gong; I had already written the text for Songs of Freedom, the book of Bob Marley photographs by Adrian Boot. Although certain improved sections of Songs of Freedom, and a section from my book Rude Boy, have been included in Bob Marley: the Untold Story, this book is the consequence of close to 40 years of research into the fullness of the mystery of not only Bob Marley, but of Jamaican culture as a whole, including, naturally, the apparently odd religion of Rastafari.
Clearly, I must pay thanks to the assistance I have received from the people of Jamaica in the writing of this biography; and especially to all those who, over the years, have assisted my endeavours to comprehend the assorted complexities of these matters. Specifically, these have included Bob Marley himself; Peter Tosh; Bunny Wailer; Mrs Cedella Booker; Rita Marley; Cedella Marley; Ziggy Marley; Damian Marley; Judy Mowatt; Aston ‘Family Man’ Barrett; Junior Murvin; Al Anderson; Diane Jobson; Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry; Burning Spear; Prince Buster; Joseph Hill; Leonard Dillon; Alton Ellis; U Roy; I Roy; Dennis Brown; Chinna Smith; Gregory Isaacs; Dillinger; Trinity; Junior Marvin; Tapper Zukie; Ernest Ranglin; Johnny Moore; Jah Jerry; Sid Bucknor; Harry Johnson; Tony Washington; Linton Kwesi Johnson; Mrs Sonya Pottinger; Karl Pitterson; Augustus Pablo; Allan ‘Skill’ Cole, and many, many more.
I must also extend my most grateful appreciation to Chris Blackwell, Suzette Newman, Carl Bradshaw, Don Letts, and the late, great Dickie Jobson and his sister Diane Jobson. Similarly, it is impossible to overlook the contributions of the late Rob Partridge. Equally, I must offer unequivocal thanks to Brian Blevins, the then Island Records press officer who in 1972 turned me on to the music of the Wailers. The thoughts and work of Adrian Boot have proved inspirational, as have those of Vivien Goldman. I must give especial serious thanks to Roger Steffens and his priceless Bob Marley archive, as well as to Wayne Jobson and Lee Jaffe.
This book would not have existed without the exceptional work of several superb editors: Trevor Dolby, Natalie Jerome, Humphrey Price, Dan Bunyard, and Sarah Day; and, as ever, I owe exceptional gratitude to my literary agent Julian Alexander, and to Rose Lukas.