Tribute to reggae icon Pete Tosh
By ERROL NAZARETH - Sun Media
"This guitar is
firing shots at all them devil disciples," reggae icon Peter Tosh is
quoted as saying in the book accompanying the 3-CD set, Peter Tosh:
Honorary Citizen, that came out 20 years ago.
"Music is my weapon to fight against apartheid, nuclear war, and those gang-Jah criminals."
Tosh was easily one of the most explicitly political musicians to emerge from Jamaica.
He
held strong opinions on political corruption, police brutality,
apartheid, and, most famously, advocated smoking marijuana, and he
never minced his words -- whether in interviews or in song.
Here's how fearless he was.Back in '78 before a
crowd of 30,000 that included then Prime Minister Michael Manley, Tosh
smoked a spliff and berated the PM for 30 minutes for refusing to
legalize marijuana!
A year before Peter Tosh: Honorary
Citizen came out, Tosh was killed after gunmen burst into his Jamaica
home and shot up the place.
He was only 42.
Reggae authority Roger Steffens, who
co-produced it and authored the liner notes, told me, "(Peter's)
comment that his songs are not smiling songs is one of his most
profound quotes. He wasn't here to make people smile or be happy."
Songs such as No Mercy, which addresses police brutality;
Black Dignity, with its lyrics, "Live black, love black, think black,"
and his attack on Christianity in the song You Can't Fool Me Again,
prove this.
"He was in the frontlines of the Black Power movement in the
Caribbean in the '60s, and his heroes were (Black Panther Party
members) Angela Davis and H. Rap Brown," adds Steffens, who was a close
friend of Tosh's.
Tomorrow night at the El Mocambo, several local reggae acts
will honour Tosh at an event being billed as Another Peter Tosh
Tribute.
Headlining the show is the House of David Gang, who've been turning out '70s and '80s-style Jamaican reggae for a good 15 years.
King
Selah, Jahlin, Tanny Meadows, Rasta Reuben&
Selassie I Power, Fredlocks Asher, and The High Plains Drifter are also
on the bill.
10 p.m. Admission is $10 with a canned food donation/$15 without.