5 The Path to Stardom

CHAPTER 5 The Path to Stardom At the end of 1966, Bob and Rita settled into her small house on Greenwich Park Road. Finally, they lived together as husband and wife. While Bob had been in the US, he had stopped cutting his hair, in keeping with his Rasta beliefs. As

Bob walked the streets of Trench Town again, he noticed that many people were growing their hair out, too. He and other Jamaicans now had long hair that naturally separated into sections. These sections were the beginning of dreadlocks—created by twisting pieces of hair together so they grow out to look like thin ropes. Something else was new in Jamaica: A popular style of music called rocksteady was playing on the radio. It is slower than ska and has a more relaxed beat. Like calypso, the words to rocksteady songs can be very political. Bob really liked the new music. It inspired him to go back to Studio One and play with the Wailers. Together with Coxsone, they created what is now called reggae Reggae music combines calypso,

rocksteady, and other Jamaican music styles with American pop music. But it has a beat that is all its own. Many reggae songs were about Rastafarian concerns, like poverty, justice, politics, and Africa. Reggae became known as music for people who had been oppressed—or kept under the power of a greater authority. Jamaicans knew about oppression from the years they had been under British rule. Reggae quickly became a part of Rastafarian and Jamaican culture, also known as roots culture. The term "roots" refers to the

spirituality and pride of a black culture that has its source—its roots—in Africa. With a lot of new songs in his notebook, Bob was ready to record a new album. But he wanted to be his own boss. Bob wanted to save enough money to make the next album without Coxsone.

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During the late 1960s, when the Wailers' career was just beginning, people listened to music on the radio or by playing vinyl (plastic) records on turntables. Bob and Rita decided to record songs one at a time, whenever they could afford to rent a recording studio. They sold the new records—single songs only—from their bedroom window, which they had turned into a small storefront. They called it the Wail'n Soul'm store, named after the Wailers and the Soulettes. Bob and Rita were happy to be selling records together. They were a great team.