Jimmy Fallon to give Bob Marley another look – GoErie.com
If you could go back in time and see any artist you want, who would you choose?
I’ve pondered that question over the years and the answer ch-ch-changes.
David Bowie? Saw him, but not as Ziggy Stardust, which would have been hunky dory.
The Beatles? I would have said yeah yeah yeah when I was 20. But I’ve seen Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr and when I heard them do Beatles, I felt fine. So fine, I don’t need to get back.
Besides, when the Beatles quit touring in 1966, sound systems were awful and girls shrieked so loudly, I wouldn’t have heard much, anyway. I’d just get trampled underfoot.
Led Zeppelin? I wouldn’t object, but technically I saw them at Live Aid. Sure, John Bonham was gone but Philadelphia was abuzz when Robert Plant, Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones joined forces. They stunk but, still, I was all shook up.
Elvis Presley? For years, I kicked myself for missing his 1974 show at the University of Illinois when I was a freshman. While the King conquered Assembly Hall, I sat oblivious a few blocks away in my dorm room, listening to “Dark Side of the Moon” on headphones.
Pink Floyd? For my money, the top choice — until now. Lately, I’m drawn to someone who died too young, someone I never got to see, someone whose music holds up just as brilliantly and beautifully as when he lived.
That artist: Bob Marley. I find his music uplifting, soothing, inspiring. It’s sweet and soulful, yet brave, spiritual and righteous.
Even his most political songs — like “Get Up, Stand Up,” worked musically first. Marley had an unerring instinct for melody, while his great Wailers — first with Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer, later the I-Threes — consistently provided lithe and lively support.
In a relatively brief, eight-year period, Marley released so many classics: “Buffalo Soldier,” “No Woman, No Cry,” “I Shot the Sheriff,” “One Love,” “Three Little Birds,” “Redemption Song,” “Get Up, Stand Up,” “Rebel Music,” “Stir It Up,” etc.
His last show, before he died of cancer at age 36, was at Pittsburgh’s Stanley Theatre in 1980. A CD of that concert was recently released and may have spurred Jimmy Fallon’s latest masterstroke.
In 2010, “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon” celebrated the rerelease of “Exile on Main Street.” Musical guests, including Phish, played a track from that Stones’ masterpiece each night.
Next week, Marley gets the same treatment. His son Ziggy plays Monday, followed by Chris Cornell on Tuesday, Jennifer Hudson on Wednesday, Jakob Dylan on Thursday and Lenny Kravitz on Friday. Ziggy will also talk about his dad.
I have to work on Monday. No Fallon, no cry, however.
I do have DVR.
DAVE RICHARDS can be reached at 870-1703 or by e-mail at dave.richards@timesnews.com.