ALAN ‘Skill’ Cole remembers walking with Bob Marley along the intersection of Beeston Street and Chancery Lane in downtown Kingston, circa 1972, when Marley drew his attention to a teenaged boy coming down the lane.

“Him (Marley) sey to mi, ‘Alan, a da likkle boy dey name Dennis Brown. Him can sing!'” Cole recalled.

Marley’s Tuff Gong record shop was located in the area, then a hub for the growing reggae industry. Brown grew up at nearby Orange Street.

Marley and his group The Wailers were poised for an international breakthrough. Fifteen-year-old Brown was the boy wonder of reggae.

Cole, Marley’s former manager and close friend, said Marley had a lot of respect for two singers: Dennis Brown and John Holt.

“Wi use to go Sombrero Club (in St Andrew) an’ tek in John. Bob did rate him,” said Cole.

Holt, who died in October, was also one of Brown’s biggest influences. In 1985, they recorded the hit song Wildfire.

It is often said (but never proven) that Marley named Dennis Brown as his favourite singer. There are no known photographs of the two together; not even Cole can recall them hanging out.

“I don’t remember him (Brown) coming ‘roun’ (Marley’s home) when I was there,” Cole said.

Bob Marley and Dennis Brown were members of the Twelve Tribes of Israel organisation. Born in February, they ruled under the sign of Joseph.