39 Chapter 3: Get Up Stand Up: Bob Marley’s and His Message through Songs
In the last two chapters there was a focus on how the press represents Bob Marley in both North America and in his own Jamaica. There is a clear distinction in how each of the presses chose to report on Marley and their views of his message. In this chapter the research focuses on how Marley represented himself during this same time. The way this is accomplished is to evaluate what songs Marley recorded during this time period and what type of songs Marley would play to the different crowds attending his shows. These songs represent Marley’s message – a message that he wanted to get across to the people in these different regions. To show Marley’s own message the use of quantitative analyst is necessary. Tosh states in his book The Pursuit of History the reason for quantitative analysis: “Given the special authority that figures carry in our numerate society, the obligation to subject quantitative data to tests of reliability is at least as great as in the case of literary sources.”62 In this chapter there is a quantitative analyst of what songs he played during the tours in North America and Jamaica. Since there is a high volume of audio recordings in my person archive of each tour, this makes this analysis possible. There is also research and a quantitative analysis of the songs Marley recorded for his studios albums during the same time period that can also be drawn on. The quantitative analysis is important in determining if there is a reason for the North America press to have these negative biases towards Marley and his message. Did the North America press has a true reason to be negative towards Marley and his message? If not, is this proof of
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John Tosh, The Pursuit of History, Pearson Publishing, London, 1996 p.138