Just because summer is winding down doesn’t mean it’s time
to pack up and brace for the cold just yet. There are plenty bright days ahead,
and still much to do like the 3rd Annual Newport Waterfront Reggae
Festival taking place this Sat. Aug. 11, at the Newport Yachting Center. This
year’s all-star lineup includes reggae icons Barrington Levy, and Junior Marvin
rockin’ the main stage, as well as Bushman, Taj Weekes & Adowa, and Mighty
Mystic & The Thunder Band grooving’ on the Courtyard Festival Stage. Also,
beginning at 10:30 a.m. Newport reggae hometown heroes, The Ravers, will fire
up the festivities with a free performance outside the yachting center gates.
Junior Marvin, who is most noted for his years as lead
guitarist for Bob Marley & The Wailers, will share the spotlight on the
main stage. Playing alongside Marley, Junior was able to experience moments in
history that are exclusive to even the most decorated musicians. Marvin recalls
playing during the Zimbabwe Independence Ceremony in 1980 to a crowd, which
included English Royalty and Presidents from all over the world, “The freedom
fighters, who had been fighting for freedom all these years, weren’t allowed
into the festivities, so one of the soldiers took a hand grenade and blew the
gate off,” Marvin said. “Of course the police panicked, all the dignitaries
scrambled, everybody ran, and the freedom fighters came in. It was lucky that
nobody got hurt, and was a funny experience having tear gas in your eyes while
your trying to play “I Shot The Sheriff.”’
While Marley molded much of Marvin’s Career, Junior’s
diverse resume is not strictly reggae, and not strictly music for that matter
either. Marvin moved with his family to London at the age of nine. When he was
sixteen, Marvin landed a role in The Beatle’s movie “Help” as one of the police
officers that chased Ringo Starr on the beach. Junior never got the chance to
jam with The Beatles, but he remembers the few days he spent hanging with the fab
four fondly, “They were very funny you know…always joking around, having a
ball,” Marvin said. “They made everyone feel at home; they weren’t alienating
themselves, the atmosphere was very relaxed.” Junior’s acting credentials also
include a two and half year stint in the British production of Hair.
Marvin’s father and aunt were both a jazz pianists who began
teaching Junior piano at the age of two, but Marvin remembers looking up to the
likes of Jimi Hendrix and Elvis Presley when the time came to settle on an
instrument. “When I moved to London, all my schoolmates were into Elvis, so we
all went out and bought guitars. Then I saw Jimi Hendrix and that was it. No
more keyboards for me,” Marvin said. “Jimi Hendrix got me into the guitar more
than anybody else,” he added.
Marvin’s musical career has seen him share the stage and
studio with top-notch talent such as T-Bone Walker, Toots & the Maytals,
and Steve Winwood just to name a few, the entire list would fill this page
beyond its borders. Junior recorded two albums early on in his career with his
blues-rock band Hanson, and has recently been recording and re-mastering tracks
for two albums to be released this fall. One named Smokin’ To The Big M
Music will feature a compilation of songs
that span Marvin’s illustrious career to date, while the other titled Lion
To Zion will be a tribute to dub artist,
King Tubby, and is being recorded with acclaimed engineer Jim Fox.
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