Junior Marvin, Out of the Shadow & Into the Light By Mark Miller New York Times Service Rio de Janiero. It has been a remarkable thirty-six years since an ambitious Robert Nesta Marley and a group of his close friends formed a singing group called the Wailing Wailers. Following the breakup of that first formative group, Bob Marley went on to put together his own band in 1977 called "Bob Marley & the Wailers" and one of the first members he asked to join his new group was a young guitarist from London, England named Junior Marvin. After a short audition jamming on three songs with Bob Marley, Junior was offered the guitarist spot in the new band and that day changed forever the rest of young Marvin's life. Junior Marvin has insisted throughout his career that his character would have to be strong, Bob approached things one hundred and ten percent and pushed the young guitarist hard, in order to bring the best out of him. They recorded the best-selling album "Exodus", the first album for Junior Marvin with the new band and the experience taught him to be more disciplined, more focused in what he was doing. "I thought to myself that this guy was going 'to be tough to work with', but after being with him a short while I thought 'this guy knows what he wants' cause' he got the best out of everyone he brought around him," Marvin insisted. Bob Marley passed away at the early age of thirty-six on May 11th 1981, and he asked Junior Marvin to carry on his message by keeping the Wailers Band alive. Struggling for years to keep a band without its leader afloat was not easy task and Junior had to juggle the roles of being frontman, vocalist, musician, businessman, and father-confessor to the rest of the group as times got tough. It was not an easy venture, for one thing the group did not have record company backing after going through an acrimonius divorce from Chris Blackwell, owner of Island Records and Bob's widow Rita Marley. Marvin, award winning guitarist and vocalist for the most famous reggae group in the world is back, or at least working on a comeback following a self-imposed exile following the breakdown of relations with other members of the famous band. And he has made it clear that he is willing to do whatever it takes to continue on the path he chose over two decades ago. The statement symbolizes the dedication he has to the music and his fans and shows where Marvin, who is entering his fifth decade on earth, stands. Following an ill-fated reunion tour of the original band members in 1997, Marvin left the group following a performance in Nice France at the famous Theatre du Verdue and disappeared into the wildness of Brazil. "That was a tough decision for me, especially since we had all decided to make a go at keeping the original thought of 'Bob Marley & the Wailers' alive. We just kinda grew up, parted and tried to get back together but it didn't work out, pretty much like a lost love-affair. I just came to the realisation that it was time to go, to try different things and perhaps come up with new music which was just as positive a message as many of Bob's songs. Also, just having a new baby with my Brazilian wife helped me make up my mind," Marvin said. Now that he is a single artist again, and he said that while was willing to go to any lengths to keep the 'positive vibrations' alive, he was not about to give up his hard-won independence. Marvin has reportedly taken a huge cut in his band's fee to get the 'show on the road' once more. He has put together a new group consisting of original members of the Wailers Alvin 'Seeco' Patterson back on percussion, and Earl Fitzsimmons on keyboards and promised a host of 'special guests' as the rest of the new group. Junior had built his career working with artists such as Stevie Winwood on his 'Arc of a Diver' album and following his introduction into the Wailers he played on every famous album the band produced such as the Exodus album, 'Kaya', 'Babylon by Bus', 'Survival' to the award winning 100 million copy-selling 'Legend'. "It's not that I have something to prove, or to be some kind of hero, but I definitely enjoy making music and plan to continue doing so for a long time. The added attraction is I also love to perform for the millions of fans who made Bob Marley and the Wailers what they were. I'm sorry the Wailers have been reduced over the years to but a shadow of what they once were, but life goes on, and it's just I have finally reached a stage in my life where I am happy with myself and the music I'm producing conveys that. I just hope that it brings same sort of happiness to everyone who listen to it. It's helping determine my own fate," said Marvin of his new quest unashamedly. People still come up to Marvin on the street and say to him, "You changed my life" but he shrugs it off saying it was a concerted effort of Bob Marley and the entire band that helped people to think and decide for themselves. Following Bob's death the added recognition of a Grammy nomination for the Wailers 'Majestic Warriors' album was a double bonus which has convinced him to continue on writing and producing music and beginning a new millenimum with a positive outlook on life. "For a while I just sat and thought what I was going to do. It wasn't easy leaving a comfortable situation like the Wailers no matter how hard it was to keep going, at least we tried to act as a family should only it seemed no one else wanted to, and then to take the step of walking alone into the sunset has it's drawbacks," Marvin said. The last time audiences saw Junior Marvin with the Wailers was at the Theatre du Verdue when the Wailers brought a packed house to its feet with its amazing brand of crossover reggae music. After leaving the group and a short rest period recovering his self-confidence he began to perform at one-off shows in Brazil and quickly found that audiences still loved the music and were quickly won over to his own, new material. He is now regarded as a "legend" of his own right there and packs in the audiences whenever he performs a concert. These days, Junior is getting in shape for the upcoming "Junior Marvin and Friends" World Tour which begin in the Spring in Europe and goes on for the most of 1999 around the world. He'll be finishing up the new, long awaited 'Junior Marvin & Friends' album during January and there are plans for him to do a short promotional tour of Europe in February. Marvin was philosophical about where he had been and where he is going and is optimistic about the future but says he won't go back and second guess his choices. "Life is one big choice, every day a choice like do I get out of bed today or what do I eat so I'm going to go forward looking at all the choices life has to offer and that come my way. Anyway, how many chances do you get at the golden ring on the merry-go-round?", said Marvin of his life before looking away at his guitar in the corner, wondering I guess, which song to play today. Copyright © Klaus Ludes (Germany) and Mark Miller (Great Britain) 1999.