Vivien Goldman

This is 10 years old now, but I only just picked up a copy because back when I was a youth I enjoyed Viv Goldman's coverage of reggae when she wrote for Sounds. The book itself is an enjoyable discussion of the build up to and the making of Bob Marley and The Wailers' Exodus album, generally considered their breakout record (although personally, I'd take Rastaman Vibration any day). Obviously written with an eye to books such as Ashley Kahn's detailed breakdown of seminal jazz records such as John Coltrane's A Love Supreme and Miles Davis' Kind of Blue, but not as successful as those, mainly because there isn't as much to say about the record itself. Yes, there are even more rock elements included. Yes there are love songs - Waiting in Vain, kind of works. Turn Your Lights Down Low, at this distance, sounds like the work of the mawkish adolescent Bob wasn't. And finally, there are songs about the attempt on his life the year previously

Goldman deals with the assassination attempt well, and fingers the most likely suspects. And she is also good on the murderous Jamaican politics that led up to it and the creation of the terrifying Jamaican Yardie Gangs that dominated the drug trade for so many years. But, for a music journalist, she is less good on the making of the record itself - probably because she's not a musicologist, and the surviving participants have only vague memories of how they actually made the record

But its enjoyable and engrossing enough for all that. But the book would have benefitted from a lot more fact checking and editing. First, the editing; we are constantly reintroduced to some, secondary but important characters, to the point of irritation. We are told at least 6 times who Alan "Skill" Cole was; Michael Campbell of the Twelve Tribes seemingly gets 12 introductions as does his partner, King Sounds. And there are factual errors galore; The National Front never won any Parliamentary seats in England (Local council seats, yes). The political area leader Bucky Marshall's real name was not Aston Marshall but Aston Thompson (he was known as Bucky Marshall because he liked to use a shot gun). More importantly - for a music journalist - Queen's guitarist was Brian May not Phil May, and Rico Rodriguez was never known as Don Drummond Junior - that's Vin Gordon. This matters, because Jamaican music of the 70s and 80s was notoriously sketchy about who played on what track. Large scale ganja consumption was one reason - but so was the fact that session players were rarely compensated properly. Getting the nickname wrong leaves the reader in doubt as to whether it was Gordon or Rodriguez who played on the track (and probably, it was Gordon)

So a good book, but spoiled by poor editing… (more)