Marley’s handwritten lyrics for sale
REGGAE king Bob Marley’s handwritten lyrics of Keep On Moving have emerged for sale for £10,000, according the UK Mirror.
The track is a reworked version of Curtis Mayfield and the Impressions’ I Gotta Keep On Moving and was done during a recording session at London’s Island Records.
The single was included on Marley’s 1971 Soul Revolution album. The Wailers’ cover of the song was the opening track on the album, which boasted the singles Don’t Rock My Boat and Sun is Shining.
Marley put his own twist on Mayfield’s original 1964 lyrics, changing the lines to: “I’ve been accuse on a ma mission, Jah knows they shodent do it. “For hanging me they were willin’ yea yea and that why I’ve got to get on through tha.”
A later verse, called ‘Ziggy bridge’, makes mention of Marley’s children Cedella and Ziggy. It goes: “Tell Ziggy am fine – and to keep Cedella in line fa we soon go homeyard.”
Marley and the Wailers rerecorded the track in 1977 at a session produced by fellow reggae star Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry. According to the article, musicians playing on the track alongside the Wailers included members of Aswad, Third World and Jimmy Cliff’s band.
The three pages of lyrics, which Marley wrote in red felt-tip pen, are being sold by musician Dick Cuthell, who played horns on 1977 Wailers album Exodus and also mixed hit songs Jammin’ and Waiting in Vain.
He had first worked with the Wailers on their Natty Dread album of 1974 as a tape operator. He went on to work with bands like The Specials, Eurythmics and Madness.
Marley died in May 1981 of cancer. He was 36.
