I have few regrets in my life. One of my biggest is that I did not see Bob Marley live in the 70s when I had the chance. I had a ticket in my hand. I traded it for a case of beer. I did not know anything about Reggie or the significance of Bob Marley. What a fool I was. I can only blame it on youth and inexperience.
Number 8 on my list of top ten songs - Get up, Stand up by Bob Marley and Peter Tosh. I'm playing the youtube version from the Legend DVD here, but I prefer the original version from Burnin.
Why?
I was young, dumb and stuck in the USAF in Chanute Illinois. I had limited access to music. I think I heard Freebird a thousand times that hot summer. I can still remember the feeling of the humidity, boredom and isolation as if it were yesterday. It still haunts my dreams.
On one dull Saturday, a guamainian friend named Jerome and I took a long walk to a park off base to pursue a little full contact basketball with the locals. After playing for the better part of a day, Jerome slipped a tape into a boom box he carried every place he went. Instead of Freebird, Bob Marley's Get up, Stand Up, slipped from the speakers and into my soul. I actually shed a tear as the song played. I had never heard anything like it before. Of course, my island friend thought I was totally gay... I knew better, it was all about the music.
There are better Bob Marley songs, but you never forget your first.
1 comment:
Its not often that I find a blog from someone who spent time in the city by the base, Rantoul IL. And even more suprising is the fact that you were exposed to reggae in that town. Failing to see Marley in my youth is one of the things that I regret also. Keep up mthe good work
G
PS. If you didn't know, Rantoul is now the city by the space, as CHanute has closed.
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