Bob Marley lost a few stuff in the blaze

KINGSTON (OBserver): RITA Marley — wife of late reggae superstar Bob Marley — said the 2010 fire at her multi-million-dollar recording studio in Ghana claimed some original master tapes of her husband.

The fire was caused by an electrical short circuit.

She declined to state which recordings were destroyed in the blaze. She, however, assured that a contingency plan was in place in the event of such incidents.

“We have always kept copies of these recordings in other locations. So the music is safe,” said Marley, who has been overseeing her late husband’s estate who died in May 1981 from cancer.

She said efforts are under way to get the studio in the west African state up and running before the end of the year.

Marley, who was one third of Bob Marley’s backing vocals — I-Three, said she plans to do some recordings when she returns to Ghana where she has been living for over a decade.

“I am heading back to the studio to record some music in a short while,” she told the Jamaica Observer.

Marley, who is currently in Jamaica, is gearing up for the open-air premiere of the documentary Marley‚ The Definitive Story at Emancipation Park in St Andrew on Thursday, April 17. The film, which was wellreceived at the Berlin Film Festival earlier this year, opens in the United States on April 18.

“Once everything is over regarding this movie, then I will be concentrating on my music,” she said.

She said the documentary — for which her son Ziggy Marley is the executive producer — will seek to answer the question as to who is the real Bob Marley.

“There are aspects of Bob in this film which have never been brought to light previously,” she said.

Though shying away from specifics, Marley said there were aspects of the documentary which brought her to tears.

Like Rita Marley, former head of the Bob Marley Foundation, Neville Garrick said the documentary will answer a number of questions.

“This is a very personal documentary. More than 60 persons were interviewed including Bob’s sister on his father’s side, Constance, and Bob’s teacher, all in an effort to give that deeper understanding as to who is the man that Jamaica and the world has come to love.

Marley, The Definitive Story is directed by Kevin MacDonald, who is best known for his work in feature films including The Last King of Scotland, which earned a Best Actor Academy Award for Forrest Whittaker.

— Richard Johnson