PORTER...teaching [youth] about Bob, The Wailers, and the history of Trench Town is one of the things we are working on (Photo: Naphtali Junior)
One week before Bob Marley’s 80th birthday, Cleon Porter and his team at the Trench Town Development Association are preparing a bash fit for a king.
Two events are planned to celebrate the singer’s ‘earthstrong’ on February 6.
Porter manages the Culture Yard Museum, a former tenement in Trench Town where Marley lived with his family in the 1960s.
A concert with Sizzla as headliner is scheduled for a venue across the street. That event also features several artistes from the fabled community, including saxophonist Dean Fraser; as well as singers Leroy Sibbles, Hugh English, and Al Bent. Veteran toaster Papa Michigan and the Binghistra Movement are also on the show.
A party, starting at 7:00 pm, takes place at the same location the following day.
Known as Matches, 40-year-old Porter told the Jamaica Observer that the events will launch a get-to-know Marley campaign in Trench Town, which inspired some of his greatest songs.
“The youth know more about Vybz Kartel and Mavado, which is only natural, but teaching them about Bob, The Wailers, and the history of Trench Town is one of the things we are working on. We want school kids coming to the Culture Yard to educate them on the history of the community,” said Porter.
Marley was born in St Ann but moved to Trench Town in the 1950s to join his mother, Cedella. After achieving domestic success with The Wailers, he went solo in 1974 and became world-famous through a series of well-received albums distributed by Island Records.
Marley died from cancer in May 1981 at age 36.
The Culture Yard Museum and concert venue are located at First Street, which Marley famously referenced in his 1974 song Natty Dread. It opened in the 1990s and in 2007 was designated a national heritage site.
Several items that once belonged to him are at the Culture Yard, including a bed and VW van. They are viewed daily by visitors.
Porter said growing up in Wilton Gardens (commonly known as Rema) he was aware of Marley’s presence in neighbouring Trench Town. Much of what he heard was basic.
“I used to hear ‘bout Tata and how him protect Bob when him come from country. Hear how him teach Bob to play guitar and help him write songs. I used to hear ‘bout [fellow Wailers] Peter [Tosh] and Bunny [Wailer] and Joe Higgs,” he disclosed.
Tata (Vincent Ford) is credited with writing No Woman, No Cry, one of Marley’s greatest hits. He died in 2008 at age 68.
Higgs, a mentor to The Wailers, died at age 59 in 1999.