Rebel Music: Bob Marley & Roots Reggae by Kate Simon & Patti Smith - Signed Publisher's Edition

Rebel Music: Bob Marley & Roots Reggae by Kate Simon & Patti Smith - Signed Publisher's Edition

Hand Signed by Kate Simon & Patti Smith
Hardback Numbered Publisher's Copy Edition
New & Unread - Published March 2024

Shipping to commence in March 2024

Strictly limited to 500 signed and numbered sets, these Publisher's Copies are specially bound in black hemp cloth with coloured foil tooling. A gloss photograph of Bob Marley is inset into the book's front cover. Additionally, each copy includes an exclusive Giclée print numbered and signed by Kate Simon (size: 8" x 10"). Capturing a moment backstage with Bob Marley on the Exodus tour of 1977, the previously unpublished portrait is exclusive to the Rebel Music Publisher's Copies. The finished book and print set is presented in a black wood-effect slipcase.

Page Size: 225 x 315 mm (8 ⅗" x 12 ⅖")
Page extent: 256 pages
Binding: Bound in black hemp cloth with inset photograph and coloured foils
Signed by: Kate Simon & Patti Smith
Extras: 8"x10" Giclée print, signed by Kate Simon
Publisher's Copies: 500 copies

Rebel Music is a tribute to one of the greatest legends in world music. In 1975, after meeting Bob Marley in London, photographer Kate Simon gained unique access to the Wailers, shooting some of Marley's most intimate, enduring and emblematic portraits, including his iconic Kaya album cover. Rebel Music presents over 400 photographs from Simon's remarkable archive with contributions from Marley's friends and peers such as Island Records founder Chris Blackwell, Wailers guitarist Junior Marvin and notable musicians including Paul Simonon, Bruce Springsteen and many more.

First published in 2004 as a limited edition of 2,000 copies, now, twenty years on, a short run of only 500 books will be presented as Publisher's Copies: a book and fine art print set co-signed by the author Kate Simon and singer, songwriter and poet Patti Smith, who introduces the work. The new edition of Rebel Music will also include exclusive written pieces from both Lenny Kravitz and Keith Richards, along with additional colour photographs unearthed in the years since the book's first printing.

The Photography:

In 1975, Kate Simon first photographed Bob Marley and the Wailers at the Lyceum in London, where the now-legendary live performance of 'No Woman No Cry' was recorded. They then collaborated throughout the Seventies, with Simon shooting some of the most intimate, enduring and emblematic images ever taken of Marley, including his iconic Kaya album cover.

Simon captured it all: portraits of the reggae greats of the Seventies, such as Lee 'Scratch' Perry, Bunny Wailer and Peter Tosh; the Exodus Tour, on the road with Bob Marley and The Wailers as they performed across Europe; and the One Love Peace Concert, where Bob famously united Jamaica's opposing political leaders. Ultimately, in 1981, Simon would ride with the funeral cortege from Kingston to St Ann's Bay and Bob Marley's final resting place. Over 400 photographs are presented from Simon's archives, most published in Rebel Music for the first time. 

The Manuscript:

A cast of legendary contributors join Kate Simon in telling the stories behind the photographs in a manuscript of over 40,000 words. Introduced by Patti Smith, with a foreword by Lenny Kravitz and afterword by Keith Richards, 24 contributors join Simon in sharing the stories behind the images, including ex-Wailers guitarist Junior Marvin and bass player and band leader Aston 'Family Man' Barrett; musicians such as Junior Delgado, Steve Jordan, Paul Simonon and Bruce Springsteen; filmmaker Don Letts and producer Danny Sims; and Island Records founder, Chris Blackwell.

Rebel Music also includes a comprehensive timeline of Bob Marley's life, along with a complete chronology of his recordings (UK and US releases and respective chart placing), put together with the help of the world's foremost reggae expert, Roger Steffens.

About the Author: Kate Simon is an iconic photographer who has worked with giants such as Andy Warhol, Iggy Pop, Patti Smith, Bob Marley, and Robert Mapplethorpe, to name just a few. Kate has work in the permanent collections of The Museum of Modern Art, the National Portrait Gallery at the Smithsonian, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, The Bob Marley Museum, and the Andy Warhol Museum. Kate has had exhibitions throughout her career beginning in 1981 with New York/New Wave at P.S. 1 all the way through her one-person show in honor of William S. Burroughs’ centennial at ShowStudio in 2014. Her exhibition Chaos and Cosmos at Fort Works Art in 2019 was featured in Rolling Stone Magazine. In 2004, Simon published a limited-edition book of her photographs of Bob Marley and Jamaica titled: Rebel Music, with Genesis Publications. Now, on the eve of the 50th anniversary of Marley’s first Island Records release, Catch a Fire, Rebel Music is to be published by Genesis in a new bookstore edition. Simon’s photography has appeared on countless book jackets, record covers and in publications around the world. She has created numerous timeless photographs that define the subject and their part in modern popular culture.

Legendary punk poetess Patti Smith had been writing for Creem magazine since 1971 and had several books of poetry published when she found international fame with her acclaimed album Horses in 1975. The punk movement that took so much inspiration from Horses rarely conjured music of such literacy and intelligence. In 2007, Patti was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and in 2022, Patti was awarded the Légion d’honneur by the French Ministry of Culture, France’s highest accolade. In 2010, she released her bestselling memoir, Just Kids, chronicling her moving relationship with Robert Mapplethorpe, and the beautiful follow up, M Train. Patti is still writing and performing with the same unerring eye for ‘truth and beauty’ today.

Format: Hardback Edition
ISBN: 5032077930823

All our signed books include a 'Signed Copy' gift tag, supplied free of charge.

Please Note: By their very nature, all signed books will have been handled several times before they get to you. This may result in small marks to the dustjacket and title page, please also bear in mind that each signature will be a little different from the one we show here.

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