Bob Marley -- 30th Anniversary of his Death May 11, 1981

1. Get Up Stand Up http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1PbffNcbCo
2. Get Up Stand Up (Live) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLYOOezs3DA
3. Jammin (Live) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WlCdiU9IzA&feature=youtu.be
4. Is This Love http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EztmEF24fdo&feature=youtu.be
5. No Woman No Cry http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EztmEF24fdo&feature=youtu.be
story and photos by MSN Reverb

The premature deaths of Michael Jackson, Buddy Holly, John Lennon, Jimi Hendrix and more are properly mourned when fans are reminded of those grim birthdays/anniversaries. But one of the most influential writers of the modern music era often gets overlooked.

Yes, today, May 11, marks 30 years since the death of Bob Marley. And like Lennon and Hendrix, his music is more popular than ever, with hits like "Jamming," "Buffalo Soldier" and "Is This Love" becoming radio staples in the new millennium, even if he never cracked the U.S. top 40 during his lifetime.

Granted, people like Hendrix are revered for instrumental genius and redefining rock music. But Marley did more. He arguably brought an entire genre of music -- reggae -- to worldwide attention, writing its best and most enduring songs and influencing the most people who were either his peers or came after him, be it Lennon or latter-day artists such as Jack Johnson.

Some artists had acute awareness of Marley's music during his lifetime - which is why "I Shot the Sheriff" became one of Eric Clapton's biggest hits. Johnny Nash recorded "Stir It Up" and had a hit in 1972, five years after Marley wrote it and a year before it appeared on Marley's groundbreaking break-through album "Catch a Fire."

But it took Marley's death from cancer in 1981 for fans to truly discover his genius, be it "Legacy" (a posthumous greatest-hits/career overview that is in 25 million fans' collections worldwide) to brilliant obscurities such as the triple-disc box "Grooving Kingston 12," a collection of work and demos from the early '70s that mapped out much of Marley's future.

Since his death, other artists have fallen over themselves to cover his songs -- Bruce Springsteen with "Get Up Stand Up," Graham Parker with "No Woman No Cry," and Elvis Costello with "Many Rivers to Cross" are just a few that spring to mind, but the best may be the Joe Strummer/Johnny Cash collaboration on "Redemption Song." U2, Sinead O'Connor, Joan Baez and too many other artists to name also pay homage to the Jamaican icon. Songs like the Peter Tosh-penned "400 Years" turned up in video games.

To much of the world he was simply a gifted songwriter with an easygoing style, with songs that emphasized spirituality, love and a catchy, infectious groove. In his native Jamaica, however, he was a god -- far more than a rock star, but a spiritual and political leader at a time when the nation was torn with great strife.

That strife became so intense that Marley was forced into exile for a time, with his art reflecting his life; "Exodus" was named that because Marley had to flee Jamaica after an attempted political assassination in late '76 -- ironically, just before a free concert Marley had planned to bring peace between warring actions in his homeland. It's not small irony that those who preach peace, be it Lennon, Marley, or Martin Luther King, are too often the target of violence. The irony continued with his 1979 smash, "Survival."

Yet in the end it was disease that took his life; after collapsing in Central Park in 1980, it was found his body was riddled with cancer, and it spread rapidly. Despite more shows and recording, he was dead by May of the following year.

Still, his work carried on - in large part by his own children, including Damien and Ziggy, and by the other artists who have kept alive the music of a Jamaican musician who died far too young at 36. His life story lives on as well, with the late Timothy White's biography, "Catch a Fire: The Life of Bob Marley" being as close as we've gotten to the definitive account of Marley's life. One hopes that his legacy someday gets the attention that projects about the Beatles, Bob Dylan and more have garnered.

So crank up some Marley today. The man deserves it. http://kirktanter.blogspot.com/2011/05/bob-marley-30th-anniversary-of-his.html