Marley Page #11

In fact, we questioned him

for almost three hours that night on tape.

- We were on the 23rd floor,

and they kind of held Don

outside the window for a minute.

- Bob would ask him the same question,

like, maybe half an hour later,

and he answered different,

and Bob said, "Garrick, rewind."

Ding! Play.

And then, "Wasn't you said that, boy?"

Slap him couple of times.

Sh*t!

Hey!

It was the policy

of keeping Africans in their place,

which, by 1965,

made Rhodesia illegal

in the eyes of the world.

- I don't believe in black majority rule

ever in Rhodesia.

Not in a thousand years.

Bob wrote a song

called "Zimbabwe."

"Natty mash it in-a Zimbabwe.

I 'n' I liberate Zimbabwe."

And when the song got to Zimbabwe,

the freedom fighters

embraced that as their anthem.

- They got their independence.

Finally, they got their independence,

and they sent representatives

here to Jamaica...

to ask Bob to perform.

- They wanted him to come,

and when they saw the cost,

they said they couldn't afford it.

- And so Bob Marley used his own money...

and shipped equipment, I think,

from London to Zimbabwe.

Zimbabwe

Africans a-liberate Zimbabwe

You had dignitaries

from all over the world.

You're right you're right

you're right you're

- I, Robert Gabriel Mugabe,

do swear that I will well

and truly serve Zimbabwe...

in the office of minister

of the government,

so help me God.

Midnight, the exact moment

of independence.

As Prince Charles, Governor Soames

and hundreds of visiting

heads of government...

and V.I.P.s from around

the world watched,

the new flag was raised,

Robert Mugabe's government assumed power,

and Zimbabwe was born.

Exodus

Lord

Movement of Jah people

It was the first time

anybody in Zimbabwe...

had heard anything like this.

But when the first song started,

the 90,000 people outside,

who couldn't get in,

decided to come in.

Men and people will fight you down

When you see Jah light

Let me tell you if you're not wrong

It was the freedom fighters...

heard Bob Marley inside the stadium,

and they are locked out,

not being able to go in,

and they just flattened the fence.

So, being there, on stage,

I remember I was the first person

to smell something unusual.

It was tear gas.

There was this strange sensation

that was burning our throats,

and it felt as if we were gonna die.

We didn't know what it was,

and we felt that we're gonna leave Jamaica,

and come all the way to Zimbabwe

to leave our kids and just die here.

So, Rita, Marcie and I,

we ran off the stage,

and the musicians

were coming off one by one.

But Bob was still

in his element, and he...

I guess he didn't even realize

what was happening.

- That just open my eyes to know

that this man was ready

to go down with his people.

Whatever the reason was,

Bob didn't run nowhere.

So when we got back on stage with Bob,

this is what Bob said to us:

"Now I know who are

the true revolutionaries."

Well well well well

Jah come to break oppression

Rule equality yeah

Wipe away transgression

Set the captives free

Set the captives free now

Set

Set the captives free yeah

And I think that was

one of his highlights of a dream.

He was at home.

Thank you very much. Zimbabwe!

Freedom!

Did Bob want to reach

a black audience in America?

- Of course he did.

Bob, until he died, he did.

The last concert in New York

was to try to get...

African American,

R & B airplay in America.

Bob had a cult following in America,

and when you go to a Bob Marley concert,

it was sold out,

but it was white.

Yeah, the black people

in America were not responding.

It was always a big thing.

We always talked about it.

We always wondered why.

So, Frankie Crocker,

the number-one jock in the country...

said that I got a concert

with The Commodores.

"We'll guarantee you

three months of airplay...

if Bob would open

for the Commodores."

We said, "You gotta be crazy.

The Commodores should be opening

the show for Bob Marley, not in reverse."

I went back to Bob,

and Bob said, "No problem."

Could you be loved

And be loved

Could you be loved

And be loved

Don't let them fool ya

No

Or even try to school ya

No

When we did

the Madison Square Garden show,

that night was history.

If what you're thinking is not right

Love will never leave us alone

Every single one

that was in the audience...

stood on their feet

to acknowledge this man.

Whoa-ho

Could you be loved

And be loved

Could you be loved

And be loved

Could you be loved

Could you be could you be loved

I think the doors of America

was opened to Bob right there.

Marley! Marley! Marley!

Marley! Marley! Marley!

Marley! Marley!

Marley! Marley! Marley!

Marley! Marley! Marley!

The next day,

we were out in Central Park jogging,

and we was going up this hill,

and all of a sudden he...

he stumbled,

and we went and we laid him down

on the side of the trail,

and he... he started shaking,

and he had foaming at the mouth.

And I said... when I looked at him,

he looked real strange.

And the guys gathered around him,

they said something in patois.

And he hollered "Rastafari"

and jumped up off the ground.

Scared me to death. I mean,

he was there, shaking and foaming.

Next thing I know, he done...

he just jumped up.

We took him to the hospital

next door to my house.

The doctor told Alan and me...

that Bob Marley had cancer

and that it had spread.

- He had cancer all over his body...

lungs, brain, all over the place.

It was incredible that

he was able to keep working.

But the doctor told us

that we shouldn't do anything,

that we should just let him

stay on the concert tour,

that he was so strong and powerful,

that one day he was gonna walk out on stage

and he was gonna fall dead.

But that he could not be treated...

and he could not be helped.

How did he take the news?

- Bad.

He took the news bad.

I knew he'd had a problem

with his toe before that,

but...

I'd forgotten about it.

I think everybody seemed

to have forgotten about it...

because if he'd been going

to regular checkups,

you know, he might...

he might be around today.

But...

- He just didn't go to his checkups?

- No.

The next stop was Pittsburgh,

and we were waiting for Bob

to come on the bus...

for all of us

to drive to Pittsburgh.

And we never saw Bob.

- Finally, he arrived,

and he was looking very,

very stressed, I remember,

and we went to do a sound check,

and I remember

we did the sound check...

with one song...

and we did that song

for maybe two or three hours.

"I'm Hurting Inside."

It's the longest sound check

we have ever had.

It just felt like, "Why?"

We didn't understand.

- We had a meeting before the show,

half an hour before the show,

and we were told by Alan Cole that this was

gonna be our last concert.

And, of course,

we were all, like, in shock.

Before we went on stage,

he said to me,

"I want you to stay pretty close

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