Reggae artist Burning Spear (a.k.a. Winston Rodney) says his musical career started to take off when he ran into a young Bob Marley in a field in Jamaica. Marley told him to head over to the Studio One recording studio, and the rest is history.
"Bob was traveling with a donkey and all these various plants," explained Burning Spear in a statement. "Bob was young, dreadlocks just start to spring. I was asking Bob how I could get started and where could I go to get that start. He asked me if I know Studio One."
However, after experiencing firsthand the brutality of some recording contracts there, Burning Spear and his wife/manager Sonia Rodney learned the importance of hanging onto his copyrights. Now, the couple either owns or has acquired the entire Burning Spear back catalog with the exception of a few songs, for which EMI says it cannot find the contracts, according to a spokeswoman. They plan on getting those back as well.
"You cannot remain silent while people trample on your rights," wrote the the 63 year old musician on his MySpace page. " For year reggae artist have been going through hell. None ‘as anyrespect for us. Records label continue to collect our publishing, androyalty without paying us, even when agreements are up. Then when I-manmanufacture my own CDs and watch as this illegal distribution labelstart to control all what mines. I decided I would no longer besilent’s."
Burning Spear’s own label, Burning Music, released his latest album, Jah Is Real, on August 17 (Marcus Garvey’s birthday).
Here’s one track from the album, the aptly titled "No Compromise."
Photo: Manuel Lino
