Page 31 - Reggae Festival Guide Magazine 2019

One spring day in Kingston in 1964, one of the on?’ And a voice said to me, because I know that

members of Jamaica’s popular Blues Busters God is always with me, a voice said to me, ‘Little

group overheard her singing at her house when girl, you’d better start singing,’ because the

he was visiting his girlfriend next door. He audience was getting uneasy. And I just started
reported back to bandleader Byron Lee, who the song all by myself and they had to follow

initially resisted adding her to his Easter Monday me…And listen to me, if you dropped a pin in

concert at the Carib Theater, but reluctantly that theatre, you could hear it.”

agreed after hearing her audition. The song she chose was a cover of Carla Thomas’

As if that sequence of events wasn’t unlikely “I’ve Got No Time to Lose.” She explained, “I

enough, she jumped another hurdle during wanted to sound just like Carla Thomas…so

the actual performance, one which would have every slur I made, the audience just went up

torpedoed many aspiring careers, as she recalled wild. I was anxious [but] I was never nervous. I

in an interview with Angus Taylor for United was just anxious to go and show them what I

Reggae in 2017: “When they introduced me, the could do. Because I was positive. And that went

band decided that they were going to sabotage down beautifully.”
me, before the whole audience. I am there as a The triumph at the Carib Theater was so profound

little young girl listening for the intro…nothing that famed recording engineer Lynford Anderson

was playing…so I was turning around looking (Andy Capp), who was in attendance, took

at them, you know? Questioning, ‘What’s going young Marcia to Coxson Dodd’s Studio One

The I Threes trio – Rita Marley, Judy Mowatt and Marcia Griffiths – sang backing vocals for Bob Marley, contributing greatly to his sound.
Photo by © Lee Abel Photography

Reggae Festival guide 2019 31