I’m almost embarrassed that I didn’t really start listening to him until I was almost 30. I have to confess, I was never much of a Marley fan. I think at the times in my life that I was discovering my own taste in music, I had him too closely associated with pop music and those who listened to it. These were things I avoided at all costs in high school. As I started listening to punk and ska-punk, I wasn’t yet interested in anything “slow,” and I ignorantly dumped most of reggae and traditional ska into that bucket. As I branched out and gained a love for two-tone, traditional ska, early reggae, and rocksteady, it was only natural I be exposed to songs like “Simmer Down” and “Soul Shakedown Party.” I dug those tunes but never went any further, assuming they were the exceptions.
Photo: Bob Marley by Sougata Ghosh / CC BY-ND 2.0
