(Since Bob Marley died in 1981, the myths and legends whic...)
Since Bob Marley died in 1981, the myths and legends which surround his life have continued to grow. Only one man knows the truth. Marley's confidante and manager, Don Taylor, tells the real story behind Marley.
Donald Taylor was an American writer and Bob Marley's manager. He was the author of the book Marley and Me: The Real Bob Marley Story.
Background
Ethnicity:
Donald Taylor's mother was Jamaican, and his father was English.
Donald Taylor was born on February 10, 1943, in Kingston, Jamaica. He was the son of a maid, Cynthia Llewellyn, who was just thirteen years old when Donald was born, and Vernal Kidd, a white British soldier. Taylor's mother named him for her current lover, Mister Taylor, and finally, she turned her son over to his natural father. Taylor lived as Donald Kidd in many homes when his father absented, and by the time he was thirteen, he lived alone in Kingston, surviving as a pimp and a hustler. When he was sixteen, Taylor came to the United States.
Career
Meeting with the American singer, Lloyd Price, gave Donald Taylor the idea of setting up a valet service for other visiting performers such as Fats Domino, Ben Earl King, and Jackie Wilson. Impressed by Taylor, Wilson bought him a plane ticket to Miami in 1960. While there, he met Jerry Butler and ended up in New York, working for Little Anthony and the Imperials. By 1965, Taylor had managed to convince the United States military that his father was American, and he was drafted for two years, giving him legal resident status. In 1967 he rose from road manager to look after the affairs of Little Anthony and the Imperials. The vocal group was on the way down after hits such as Tears on My Pillow and Goin' Out of My Head, but Taylor kept them working in Las Vegas and learned to operate in a "charged environment" that was under mafia influence. He also took the Motown artist Martha Reeves under his wing.
Donald Taylor met Bob Marley at a benefit concert for the Trench Town Sports Complex in 1973. After the, they kept in touch. The following year, realizing there was a buzz around Marley's group, The Wailers, and hearing that the group had left their manager Danny Sims, Taylor traveled to Kingston, walked to Marley's house at 56 Hope Road, woke him up, and offered the singer his services. The pair shook hands and, although they didn't even draft an agreement for another two years, Taylor convinced Marley to go on the road to promote the Natty Dread album. So, Donald Taylor was reggae superstar Bob Marley's manager from 1975 until Marley's death from cancer in 1981.
Donald Taylor's book Marley and Me: The Real Bob Marley Story details this period, as well as Taylor's own life, which in many ways parallels Marley's. As Marley's manager, Taylor saw him as others could not. He waited fourteen years before writing the book, where he demonstrated that he was not doing it for money or publicity.
In the book's acknowledgments, Taylor expresses his appreciation for Wilson and others, including Ben Earl King, Jerry Butler, Chuck Jackson, the Shirelles, the Drifters, Little Anthony, and Patti La Belle, and the Blue Belles. He managed other acts, such as Martha, the Vandellas, and Soul II Soul. He was associated with nearly all the top black singers of the 1960s and 1970s, including Marvin Gaye and Sly Stone, as well as with top promoters and producers, such as Elvis's manager Colonel Tom Parker.
Achievements
Donald Taylor is known as a manager and writer. He worked with Bob Marley for more than five years. As a writer, Taylor was the author of the book Marley and Me: The Real Bob Marley Story.
Jackie Wilson was an American singer who was a pioneering exponent of the fusion of 1950s doo-wop, rock, and blues styles into the soul music of the 1960s.
colleague:
Martha Rose Reeves
Martha Reeves is an American R&B and pop singer and is the lead singer of the Motown girl group Martha Reeves and the Vandellas.
Marvin Gaye was an American soul singer-songwriter-producer who, to a large extent, ushered in the era of artist-controlled popular music of the 1970s.
Bob Marley was a Jamaican singer-songwriter, musician, and guitarist who achieved international fame and acclaim, blending mostly reggae, ska, and rocksteady in his compositions.
