UB40 was on replay and Jamaican dancehall star Shabba Ranks was playing on the radio. Marvin Gaye was stealing hearts, but Stephen Marley knew every line of his father Bob’s songs. Settled in a make-shift studio on a farm in rural Florida during the pandemic, Marley began chronicling, in music, parts of his life, from birth through his teens and young adulthood in the ’90s, through familial ties, and the people and songs that have passed through since.
Videos by American Songwriter
“In those uncertain times where I felt like the walls were closing in and just unsure going to the supermarket and all of those things just led me to land, to space where I can plant food and dwell, and live,” Marley tells American Songwriter. “Going to the farm, and being in this vast amount of space gave me the inspiration and the space to create.”
Without access to his usual setup, with most of his musicians stuck in Jamaica during lockdown, Marley began jamming through some of his “guitar songs,” those that he wouldn’t have necessarily brought to a studio with a full band. During his unplugged sessions, which he dubbed “irie vibration,” or nice and pleasing vibes, Marley played old favorites, and some new songs, including “Old Soul,” which became the title track of his new solo album.
Initially written by Jamaican artist Omi, Marley immediately connected to the vibe of “Old Soul,” then reworked the lyrics, names, and dates to complement his life. It was 1972, my mom and poppa brought me through / Back then they said I was their favorite/ So they say … Fast forward to 1981 / My dad moved on and so did I / Inside, I kept his songs alive / So they say sings Marley through the nostalgic ballad.
“I had to make it about me, from ’72 and my mom’s name and changing the year to ’91, the year after I graduated,” says Marley. “I had to really make it read about my life and search for it. I was honored and lucky enough for him [Omi] to consider me. He wrote it for me, in that sense. This is my life.”
Affectionately referencing his father as Nesta and past spirits like ex-Wailer Peter Tosh on the title track—I knew every Nesta Marley line / You knew that Peter Tosh was fly / In diamond socks and corduroy—“Old Soul” carries the energy through the entire album and all its spirits.
“I remember in the pandemic, in the thick of it, going into my home studio, picking up the guitar, and nothing,” shares Marley. “All of us were going through that uncertainty, so that was a part of it. I called my brother Damian [Damian “Jr. Gong” Marley ] and I told him ‘I picked up the guitar a couple of times, and nothing came about’ and he said to me ‘The same thing happened to me.’ He said ‘It’s as if we can’t speak and listen at the same time,’ and by then, we were definitely observing what was going on in the world.”
He adds “This pandemic, my parents have never been through nothing like this in this lifetime, so it was a very strange time.”
Sweeping through love, and loss, more familial connections also flourish on Old Soul with Damian joining Stephen on the affecting “Cast The First Stone,” singing You and me come last cause we disagree on the recent past / The glass gets shattered, and splinters scattered and somebody child is lost / Doesn’t matter what the windows cost, everybody still bear loss.
Ziggy enters later on for the heartfelt “There’s A Reward” an homage to late Jamaican musician Joe Higgs, who mentored their father, along with Tosh, Jimmy Cliff, and Bunny Wailer, among many others as they were coming up in Trenchtown.
“Joe Higgs was a mentor to so many of us, my father being one,” says Marley, who pulled the song from Higgs 1975 debut album Life of Contradiction. “When I heard the song, I didn’t know this song, but it reminded me of those days, and it reminded me of my father and reminded me of Joe. Just the song itself and the words and the meaning of it, everything struck me like ‘I need to sing this. I need to try to present some of this music to a new generation.’”
Old Soul is also in remembrance of Marley’s late son Jo Mersa, who died in December 2022 at the age of 31. The slow drifting “Cool as a Breeze”—When the wind blows / I can hear your voice / Coming through the clouds /And when the sun shines / I can see your smile / Right into my eyes—offers an uplifting memoriam.
“This record is very reflective, and sometimes a little bit sad to me,” shares Marley. “Music is so powerful. Some of these songs were written years ago, and I see things that transpire in my life of late, where the songs, the words become so relevant.”
[RELATED: Bob Marley’s Family Legacy]
Exploring more covers that he was connected to throughout his life, Marley takes on The Beatles’ 1970 Hey Jude track “Don’t Let Me Down” and Ray Charles 1960 hit “Georgia On My Mind,” written by Hoagy Carmichael and Stuart Gorrell. Eric Clapton also joins on Bob Marley and the Wailers‘ 1973 song “I Shot The Sheriff.” When Clapton released his cover of “I Shot The Sheriff” on his 1974 album 461 Ocean Boulevard, it went to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Buju Banton also slips into the Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry-penned “Thanks We Get (Do Fi Dem),” originally recorded by Junior Byles, while Jack Johnson and founding Grateful Dead member Bob Weir enters at the end of the album on “Winding Roads.” The only Old Soul track featuring a full band, “Winding Roads” was recorded at the Grateful Dead guitarist’s TRI Studios with his Wolfpack band, featuring Don Was, Jay Lane, and Jeff Chimenti.
“I do like collaborations, especially ones that tell a story well and can help to make sense of a song,” shares Marley. “Sometimes the music itself dictates that versus a song that feels like ‘This should just be me.’”
Of his Old Soul covers, Marley adds “It’s not necessarily that this was on my mind, but when I pick up the guitar, and I’m alone, by myself, sometimes those are the songs … that’s where I go. It’s Ray Charles, back in those days, and just feeling the quality of those songs, the writing of those songs, and the recording of those songs, which has always been pretty amazing to me.”
At first, Marley never intended to write or record a new album, but it developed out of being able to make music again. “It just came about by being inspired again, to just play and sing,” says Marley. “It wasn’t so much of a conscious effort. While it was forming, at some point, it was like ‘Alright, let’s make something to present to the people out of this vibe’ but everything was at a pace. I thought this type of music would be soothing for everyone in that vibration.”
Old Soul is also the continuation of Marley’s solo career, following the end of the Melody Makers with brother Ziggy and sisters Sharon and Cedella in 2002 and his 2007 debut, Mind Control, and steadily progressed through his 2016 release Revelation Pt. 2 – The Fruit of Life, and a recent 2017 collaboration with Pitbull on “Options” in 2017.
“Before ‘Mind Control,” I was always a part of a group, the Melody Makers, so I’ve always been surrounded by that support and just playing my part,” shares Marley. “‘Mind Control’ was Steve. It was a new venture for me just standing on my own. There’s no group now. It’s just Steve.”
[RELATED: The 25 Best Bob Marley Quotes]
He continues, “That aspect of it is different now because I’m groomed into this solo artist thing. Now, I’m comfortable. Where I am now, I’m more mature, a little bit wiser.”
Still drawn to stories of life and social topics like Old Soul track “Let the Children Play,” addressing childhood poverty and hunger. Children playing / In the streets /On broken bottles, on the rubbish heap / In the ghetto, bitter was sweet / Another little baby, got no food to eat sings Stephen on a topic woven into the Marley family’s deep philanthropic efforts, including Ghetto Youths Foundation, a non-profit label, which he co-founded with brothers Ziggy, Damian, and Julian to support underprivileged youth, along with the Bob Marley Foundation, founded by Rita Marley in 1986, among numerous other causes and charitable connections driven by the family.
All of it is still peppered into the music, and nothing has changed with the stories he’s drawn to telling. “I’m not completely different,” he says. “We always speak of life and social topics. I wouldn’t call myself political, but some things become political in that sense. It gets a little bit deeper, in terms of life and that human bond and living a good life.”
Marley adds, ‘That’s where my focus is, and the music should emulate that as well. It’s life and hopefulness, and being happy. That’s where I am right now. That’s where I’m trying to be.”
Feel the vibes live! Dive into the Damian Stephen Marley 2024 tour. Get your tickets now and be part of a night filled with reggae rhythm and unforgettable melodies!
Photo: Stephen Lashbrook / Courtesy of UMe
