Marley Page #8

a press conference held at Jamaica House...

by Marley, his manager Don Taylor...

and the parliamentary secretary

in charge of cultural information,

Arnold Bertram.

Well, I think

he got tricked into it,

'cause he rang me and asked me

if I thought he should do the concert.

I said, "Well, if it's the prime minister,

then you're doing it for the country.

But if there's going to be

an election soon,

then you're doing it for him

rather than the country."

Two weeks following

that announcement on November 22,

Jamaica's prime minister,

Michael Manley,

called new general elections

for December 15.

- If we knew that election was going

to happen in that space of time,

we'd have never done that concert.

So with the upcoming election,

you don't really want to think about

or care who wins?

- Remember, Bob is becoming

very popular,

and whoever side Bob seems to be on,

that's the side people gonna be on.

- Hell, Bob had a lot of control

down there in Jamaica, man,

you know?

And them politicians didn't like that.

- Bob, I think, had overexposed

himself on the political side,

and that was bound to draw

the anger of some others...

because he had friends

on both sides.

- The thing was, like,

you have to be on one side.

You have to be on some side.

You can't be in the middle,

or you can get hurt.

We'd feel a little kind

of tension,

but, you know,

the politics kind of getting hot.

There were people saying

that they heard...

that they were gonna

shoot up the concert.

People in the group, you know,

the musicians and The I-Threes...

every day, as it would get closer

to this day of the concert...

...people was feeling hesitant

about doing it.

They had a fear for it.

Every night there would be

rehearsal at 56 Hope Road...

for the concert.

We usually had two guys...

from equivalent to the Secret Service.

They call them the Protective Service.

They, like, protect the prime minister

and stuff.

And they used to come every night,

but they never came that night.

- We had took a break, so everybody

was kind of floating around.

Don Taylor, Bob and myself...

was in the kitchen.

- I was in the car, you know,

getting ready to come out.

I see some men going up the steps.

- The gunman approached

from the side here...

and kind of pushed his gun

through here.

- Well, you see a black glove

with a gun in it pointing up,

you know... there was nowhere else

to go in the kitchen...

'cause we just, like, at the wall.

- And then I heard the gunshots.

- Then they turned the gun on the car.

I felt the warmest of blood running down,

and then I realized I was shot.

- The cat just kept on shooting, man,

till he ran out of bullets.

- The one hold a gun to my head,

and one said to the other one,

"Everybody dead?"

And the other said, "Yeah, man,

everybody dead. Everybody dead."

- Next thing I see

Don Taylor come out, man,

and, like, blood pouring out of him

like ketchup, man.

And then he finally collapsed

right there on the floor.

I'm, like, "Man!"

- And I'm shouting out for Bob,

and then I heard a voice...

who I recognized as Carly Barrett...

coming from.

He said, "Bob is all right.

Bob is all right."

He had a burn right...

the bullet traveled right here...

and actually lodged in his arm.

- It's just a miracle, man,

that nobody died from that, man.

So, it wasn't really

a professional hit?

- Well, as professional as Jamaica is.

They watch a lot of movies.

Here now is

a special item of news.

Entertainer and reggae star,

Bob Marley,

Rita Marley and the manager

of The Wailers, Don Taylor,

are now patients

in the University Hospital

after receiving gunshot wounds...

during a shooting incident tonight.

- That's one thing for sure...

that they was trying to stop

that concert from happening.

- The whole thing about whether

the concert was gonna happen or not,

there was so much pressure,

there was pressure from everywhere.

- I was just scared Bob

would get assassinated.

In the twilight

inside the arena,

the crowd is fenced off...

and armed police are positioned

all around the park.

Five hours after the concert

was due to begin,

the star, Bob Marley,

is still not there.

Some were trying to say,

"Bob, don't go.

They didn't get you.

They may try for you again."

- Everyone saying,

"You really wanna do it, boss?"

And he was saying... he said, "Yes."

- I said, "Hey, you know,

I'm with you, man.

If you wanna do it, let's do it."

The police came for him

and took him down,

and we were in the car

right behind the police vehicle.

- When I got there, I couldn't

believe the situation, man.

This is at night in Kingston.

You got, like, 80,000 people, man.

You know what I mean?

If somebody wanted to try to get you,

here's, like, a perfect situation.

But it was a special night, man.

It was a special moment, man.

Come on, people!

We got a band to see play tonight.

Come on!

- Whoo!

Yeah.

Bob was not afraid.

Bob knew that if anything happens

while he's doing his work,

he know that the almighty God

is protect him.

Children

In Jamaica

In Jamaica yow

- If you lacked faith before then,

you could not deny it after that, man.

Almighty

Almighty

Lord, help us

Tonight

Cast away evil

The evil spell

Throw some water in the well

And smile in Jamaica

In Jamaica, yow

In Jamaica

In Jamaica yow

In Jamaica

In Jamaica yow

In Jamaica

In Jamaica yow

- After the shooting, he was...

I wouldn't say scared, but just hurt.

Too hurt to face Jamaica.

- I was the one who escaped with him

out of Jamaica after the shooting.

Yeah... me and him.

He didn't say a word

the whole way through.

We went to Nassau first,

and then he went on to London.

Don't worry

About a thing

'Cause every little thing

Gonna be all right

Singing don't worry

About a thing

'Cause every little thing

Gonna be all right

I think he just wanted

to take a break.

He wanted to not be

looking over his shoulder.

He wanted not to be dealing

with the problem,

not dealing with the controversy.

He just wanted some

free head space to work,

to make music, to tour.

Singing sweet songs

- We moved immediately

into Chelsea area.

Oakley Street.

It was a great experience because

we're all together...

in this house.

- Well, on each floor

there was a different musician.

There was, uh, Tyrone Downie

on one floor,

Carlton Barrett on another floor,

"Family Man" Barrett on another floor,

Alvin "Seeco" Patterson on another floor.

Neville Garrick, I think,

was in the basement sharing with somebody.

- We were a stone's throw

from Battersea Park Bridge.

Once we went over the bridge,

then you had a football field.

We even played against

some National Front guys.

We whupped them a couple of times.

Did he feel like

he was in exile?

- Yeah, man.

But Bob was, like, deeply

into creation of music.

That's how I think

he satisfied his soul.

Bob's life was spared,

and he was very happy to be alive.

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