BOB MARLEY & THE SPORT OF SOCCER | NATURAL MYSTIC OF THE PITCH

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From the desk of Contributing Editor Eli M. Getson–

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I have always been fascinated by Bob Marley’s love of football, or as we say in America– soccer. The many images that captured his playing in formal games, or just juggling the ball, show a different side of the natty dread who would burn up the stage all over Europe in the 1970s.  We see a person focused yet loose, an athlete who truly had a passion for the game, and a man totally at ease with himself.  By all reports he was quite skilled with the ball, and could pass and score with equal proficiency.

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Traveling the world over the last few years, I always noticed that Bob Marley’s image (along with Che Guevara) is omnipresent whenever you’re in a country where the people are under oppression, live under a corrupt system, and struggle just to get by.  Marley’s music and life story make him a natural advocate for the oppressed– and to this day, his image is a top-seller on many a t-shirt the world over.

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In one of the great ironies of life, it wasn’t until after Marley’s death in 1981 that he became a musical and pop culture icon in the United States.  During his actual playing days he was a star in Europe and sold out consistently in both the UK (where the Wailers were huge due to the support of the Jamaican expat community, and from the support of people like Mike Jagger and George Harrison) and on the continent.  His two live albums:  “Live” recorded at the Lyceum in London in ’75 in front of a who’s-who of the London music scene, and “Babylon by Bus” were recorded in front of packed houses– if you listen to the recordings you can hear the crowd going totally nuts.  This same level of adulation was not the story in America– In the late 1970s the Wailers frequently had trouble packing a venue.  The radio was dominated by one format stations back then, and black radio was primarily by disco-driven.  The drum and bass driven thump of Reggae tended to get passed over by parochial station managers and DJ’s.  It was not until the mid 1980s when college radio began to take hold (a good five years after his passing), until the appreciation, and ultimate apotheosis, of Bob Marley in America began.

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For me I have always loved the music and actually made a pilgrimage with my family to Bob’s final resting place in Nine Mile, Jamaica in 1984.  The images of Bob playing football would be respectfully interpreted by Addidas for a small capsule collection in their authentics stores a few years ago, showing that while Marley was a man of substance, he had great style as well.

–Eli M. Getson

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