As the Jamaica Observer reports, Chris Blackwell’s recording deal with Bob Marley that made Bob the king of Reggae was offered to Bob Andy first.

VETERAN singer/songwriter Bob Andy, revealed he was offered a recording deal by music mogul Chris Blackwell, which he did not take up. A similar deal was instead taken by Bob Marley, who later became the king of reggae.

Interesting article on Marcia Griffiths in today’s Jamaica Gleaner.

“It’s been a rough, tough job standing up as a woman in this business, that’s why my album before Land of Love I chose to call Indomitable, which means not easily discouraged or defeated. My views on women in reggae are positive; most of the new or upcoming female singers in reggae started out singing my songs before doing their own originals. I feel very good about that; to know that I have influenced my people positively.”

“Reggae: The Story of Jamaican Music” was an impressive documentary made by director Mike Connolly for the BBC. It was originally shown in 2002 and the documentary traces the evolution of Reggae Music from Mento and Ska, all the way up to Roots, Dub, and Dancehall. [...] The documentary has been hard to find in recent years, and doesn’t get too many repeats, so it was with great pleasure that we found it had been made available to watch online.

Via Strictlythebest.

The Jamaica Gleaner about many veteran artistes’ problem: their more recent productions are disregarded and aren’t played, because everybody wants to listen to their old stuff.

Artistes from the rocksteady and roots-reggae eras, including Bob Andy, Leroy Sibbles, John Holt and Ernie Smith, have complained that their new music is ignored by local disc jockeys who prefer to play their standards from the 1960s and 1970s.