“Dancing music”: The three American artists who inspired Bob Marley
Although the message and art of Bob Marley largely transcended national borders, overcoming barriers to deliver a message of hope and understanding to audiences all across the globe, the music itself was firmly rooted in the culture and sound of Jamaica. As the undisputed king of reggae, many listeners were first exposed to those infectious Jamaican rhythms through Marley’s music, which went on to define an entire generation. Nevertheless, Bob Marley himself took a lot of inspiration from outside the Caribbean, looking to the rhythm and blues stars of the United States for early inspiration.
The United States has always paved the way when it comes to establishing new music trends, and its proximity to the Caribbean often meant that the music emanating from the US also took root in Jamaica. Ska music – the natural precursor to reggae – blended American rhythm and blues records with a distinctly Jamaican slant. Pioneering ska artists like Prince Buster would even travel to areas like Chicago to source these records, bringing them back to Jamaica to re-record or play at sound system clashes.
While this ska revolution was happening in Jamaica during the late 1950s and early 1960s, a young Bob Marley was singing Christian music in his local church. This was not all that uncommon, and countless artists, from Aretha Franklin to Sam Cooke, got their start by singing gospel songs in church. However, Marley could not avoid the pull of secular music from America, which began to dominate the airwaves around the Caribbean island. So, when Marley first formed The Wailers as a ska trio in 1963, he boldly embraced this newfound influence.
Remembering his days singing in church, Marley told Melody Maker in 1973, “I preferred dancing music.” Citing his early influences from over in the States, the reggae artist shared, “I listened to Ricky Nelson. Elvis [Presley], Fats Domino…that kind of thing was popular with Jamaican kids in the Fifties. The only English-speaking radio station we heard was from Miami, but we got a lot of Latin stations, mostly from Cuba, before and after Castro.” This vibrant mix of music and culture in Jamaica is a predominant reason for the universal appeal of styles like reggae.
Those three American artists that Marley listed as influences were all incredibly important during the early days of rock and roll music. In fact, without the music of Fats Domino, rock music as we know it today might never have happened, as he was one of the first to blend rhythm and blues with modern rock. Meanwhile, Elvis Presley obviously represented the pinnacle of the rock age, becoming a global phenomenon and ambassador for American culture for many decades.
Meanwhile, Ricky Nelson was also an essential figure in the early days of rock, although his work was often much more emotive than his peers. Iconic songs like ‘Lonesome Town’ set the standard for rock’s heartbreak anthems, and his tender voice clearly played a role in inspiring Bob Marley during the early days of his career.
It was that trinity of rock legends that first inspired the reggae artist to try his hand at professional singing, abandoning the life of welding that he had initially pursued. “I loved to sing, so I thought I might as well take the chance,” Marley said. Recalling his first shot at musical fame, the singer shared, “Welding was too hard! So I went down to Leslie Kong at Beverley’s Records in ’64 and made a record on a single-track machine. Jimmy Cliff took me there — he was Beverley’s number one man.”
Jimmy Cliff was a vital figure in ska and reggae music, having blazed a trail for countless artists in Jamaica to follow his path. Not even Cliff, however, could have predicted the level of fame and notoriety that would soon fall upon his young protégé, Bob Marley. Even during the dizzying heights of his success, however, the reggae star never forgot the early influence of American artists like Ricky Nelson, Fats Domino, and Elvis Presley, who first set him on a path to greatness.
