In October 1979, Bob Marley and The Wailers began a seven-week tour of the United States - they were set to play forty-seven shows in forty-nine days. The performances began with 'Natural Mystic', a tune that was a virtual celebration of Bob's very existence, and ended with an intensely militant trio of songs: 'Get Up, Stand Up', 'War' and 'Exodus'. On the road Bob was playing with the structure of a new number he was writing called 'Redemption Song'.
These US dates kicked off at the legendary Apollo Theater in Harlem. Here, in the venue where Marcus Garvey had preached, Bob and the group played seven concerts in four days.
The dates at the Harlem Apollo had been specifically requested by Bob. He was concerned, even distressed, that the black American audience remained elusive; this tour had specifically targeted this market. In Chicago he paid a long visit to Johnson and Johnson Publications, the publishers of Essence and Ebony; despite this, nothing appeared in these magazines about Bob Marley. Black radio programme directors still considered that reggae was 'jungle music' and that it didn't fit into their formats. Kaya had deliberately been a commercial album, in order that albums like Survival could follow. In the United States, however, getting the message across continued to be a struggle.
Bob Marley: songs of freedom
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