Bob Marley’s Reggae Drum Music

This article is a collaborative effort, crafted and edited by a team of dedicated professionals.

Contributors: Andranick Tanguiane, Fred Lerdahl,

Contents

If you’re a fan of Bob Marley’s music, you know that his reggae drumming is a key part of his sound. Now you can learn how to play like Bob with this blog post. We’ll show you some of the essential techniques for nailing that reggae drum sound.

Introduction

Drum music was an important part of Bob Marley’s reggae. The drumbeat is what gave the music its distinctive sound and feel. Marley was a master of the drum, and he used it to create some of the most iconic reggae tunes of all time.

If you’re a fan of reggae, then you owe it to yourself to check out Bob Marley’s drumming. It’s truly some of the best in the genre.

Bob Marley’s musical influences

Reggae music can be traced back to the 1960s, when it first developed in Jamaica. The music is a fusion of African and Caribbean sounds, and it is this unique blend that has made reggae so popular all over the world. Bob Marley is one of the most famous reggae musicians, and his music has been hugely influential.

Mento

Mento is a style of Jamaican folk music that predates and has greatly influenced ska and reggae music. Mento typically features acoustic instruments, such as acoustic guitar, banjo, hand drums, and the rhumba box—a large mbira in the shape of a box that can be sat on while played. The rhythmic style of mento is strongly African; the two primary rhythms used in mento are the burru and rudeboy. Mento draws its immediate origins from the field songs sung by slaves working on plantations in Jamaica. These songs were sometimes accompanied by clapping and dancing, and retained strong African influences despite being influenced by European folklore.

The only recorded mention of mento occurred in 1925, when journalist and historian H. E. Martineau reviewed a songbook compiled by Jamaican songwriter Walter Jekyll. Martineau noted that Jekyll had included several “old Jamaican folk-songs”, including “a very interesting one called ‘Mento'”. Jekyll’s grandson, Edward William Purkis Jekyll,ius later published a more definitive history of mento entitled A Guide to Jamaica’s Folk Music (1962).

Ska

Ska is a Jamaican genre of music that developed in the late 1950s and was an important precursor to rocksteady and reggae. Ska combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues. It is characterized by a walking bass line accented with rhythms on the off beat, a guitar strumming on the off-beat (optional) brushed drums rather than dipped, saxophones, and sometimes piano; bearing resemblance to New Orleans Dixieland jazz. Ska developed in Jamaica in the aftermath of the success of American R&B artists such as Fats Domino, LaVern Baker, and Clyde McPhatterrelocated to New Orleans from Kingston to work with bandleader Chris Barber. In 1959 Barber organized a tour which brought Jamaican musicians Duke Reid, Owen Gray, Lester Sterling, Wilfred Jackie Edwardsand Don Drummondto London; this group backed visiting American rock’n’roll stars such as Vince Taylorand Gene Vincentas well as British skiffle star Lonnie Doneganat events such as the 2i’s club

Rocksteady

Bob Marley was greatly influenced by the rocksteady drumming style of the late 1960s. This style was pioneered in Jamaica by drummers such as Lloyd Knibb, Carlton Barrett, and Winston Grennan. Rocksteady focused on the backbeat and featured a more laid-back, groove-oriented approach than the earlier ska style. Marley adopted this approach in his own playing, which can be heard on songs like “Stir It Up” and “Roots, Rock, Reggae.”

The Wailers

The Wailers were a Jamaican reggae band and, under the leadership of Bob Marley, they became the most widely known band in the history of the genre. The band was originally formed in 1963 by Marley, Peter Tosh, and Bunny Wailer, and they went on to release fourteen studio albums with Marley as the lead singer.

The Wailers Band

The Wailers were a Jamaican reggae band created by Bob Marley, Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer. The band started out as The Wailing Rudeboys in 1963, and later changed their name to The Wailing Wailers and then just The Wailers. They disbanded in 1974, but re-formed two years later.

The core members of the band were Bob Marley (vocals, guitar), Bunny Wailer (vocals, percussion), Peter Tosh (vocals, keyboards, percussion), and Aston “Family Man” Barrett (bass). The band was one of the most successful reggae bands of all time, with several hit songs including “Stir It Up”, “Get Up Stand Up”, “I Shot the Sheriff”, and “No Woman No Cry”.

The Wailers were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994.

The Upsetters

The Upsetters were a rocksteady and reggae band formed in 1966 by Bob Marley. The band played a major role in the development of reggae and helped to bring it to a wider audience. The Upsetters also had a strong influence on the punk and ska genres. The band’s most famous members were Marley, bassist Aston “Family Man” Barrett, and drummer Carlton Barrett.

The Upsetters were formed when Bob Marley left the Wailers, after disagreements with producer Lee “Scratch” Perry. Marley took guitarist Peter Tosh and bassist Aston Barrett with him to form the new band. The Barrett brothers are credited with inventing the “one drop” style of reggae drumming, which is characterized by a heavy emphasis on the downbeat.

The Upsetters had a hit single in 1967 with “Return of Django”, which was followed by other successful songs such as “Solomon Gundie”, “Musical Store Room”, and “Eastwood Rides Again”. The band’s 1968 album, Soul Rebels, is considered one of the greatest reggae albums of all time. The Upsetters continued to record and perform together until 1974, when Bob Marley reunited with the Wailers.

Marley’s solo career

Although Marley’s solo career did not begin until after the Wailers had disbanded, his work with the Wailers was instrumental in the development and rise of reggae. Marley’s solo career began in 1977 with the release of the album Exodus.

Catch a Fire

Marley’s solo career began in 1971. He released his debut album, Catch a Fire, in April 1973. The album was credited to Bob Marley & The Wailers. It was a commercial and critical success in the United Kingdom and United States, reaching number 51 on the Billboard 200 chart.

Burnin’

Burnin’ is the fifth studio album by Jamaican reggae band Bob Marley and the Wailers, released in October 1973. This album was originally titled Talkin’ Blues, but was renamed Burnin’ after Marley and the Wailers’ tour of England and Europe in the summer of 1973.

Exodus

In June 1977, Marley was diagnosed with acral lentiginous melanoma, a form of skin cancer, under the nail of a toe. The family dispute over whether to have his toe amputated or not caused him to leave Jamaica and relocate to Miami for treatment. With Marley’s health worsening, he returned to Jamaica in late 1980. There, he sought further treatment at the Twenty-Eight Palms Foundation Natural Clinic inometown Nine Mile. He also cut his dreadlocks while recuperating from his cancer surgery. Following this difficult period in his life, Marley released what many critics consider his finest work, the album Exodus.

The legacy of Bob Marley

The drummer plays an important role in a reggae band, providing the beat that the other instruments play off of. The most well-known reggae drummer is probably Bob Marley. He popularized the genre with his band, The Wailers. Marley’s drumming style was based on the ska and rocksteady rhythms he heard while growing up in Jamaica. His drumming helped to define the sound of reggae music.

His music

Reggae musician Bob Marley was born on February 6, 1945, in St. Ann Parish, Jamaica. Manley’s music career began in 1963 with the formation of Bob Marley and the Wailers. The band released its debut album, The Wailing Wailers, in 1965 to little fanfare. Undeterred, Marley and company kept recording and touring, eventually signing with Island Records in 1971. The following year they released Catch a Fire, which included such classic tracks as “Stir It Up” and “Concrete Jungle.” With 1974’s Natty Dread, the Wailers became international superstars; the album featured the hits “No Woman, No Cry” and “Lively Up Yourself.”

Over the next few years, the band continued to tour and release well-received albums, including Rastaman Vibration (1976), Exodus (1977) and Kaya (1978). In 1980, Marley was diagnosed with cancer; he died on May 11, 1981. Following his death, several compilations of his work were released, including Legend (1984), which became the best-selling reggae album of all time.

His message

There are many aspects to Bob Marley’s legacy, but one of the most important is his music’s message of unity and love. Marley’s songs often referenced the struggles of people of color, and his commitment to peace and justice inspired fans around the world. Even after his death, Marley’s music continues to be a force for change, with his songs serving as anthems for social movements and protests.

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