The article is going to discuss how Manu Dibango met Bob Marley in the 70’s and how it benefited him while he was producing his – Gone Clear– album.
At the end of the 1970s, when Manu Dibango was director of the Ivorian television orchestra; he suffered the bitterness and the intrigues of several people within the milieu. He no longer trusted the godfather Ben Soumahoro, shaken by the extent of jealousy and hatred.
Hurt by the hatred of his enemies and becoming a burden for President Houphouët Boigny, Manu Dibango left Côte d’Ivoire without seeing his President again and without any explanation. Manu moved to Paris with his wife Coco and his daughter Georgia.
To expiate and forget the many hardships suffered, he decides to fly to Jamaica to record a double album.
Manu Dibango lands on the island of rastas ready to face the unknown shores of Jamaica. Indeed, this was his first time in Jamaica. The warm and sensual climate, the particular atmosphere invigorated him and he gradually forgot the disappointments he had taken away in his heart when he left Abidjan. Manu was literally seduced by Jamaica. Jamaican rhythms fascinated and inspired him.
In reality, Manu Dibango had only planned 3 tracks for the recording of this commissioned album. But he felt so good and inspired in Jamaica that the compositions bloom naturally. It’s obvious. Manu hadn’t felt so good in a long time.
Coming for a week, Manu extends his stay for a little over a month. This is the birth of the famous album “Gone Clear” one of whose songs has been the end credits of the diary for several years. televised on CRTV (Cameroon Radio Television).
Manu Dibango was pleasantly surprised by the Jamaicans and their overflowing creativity. He took the opportunity to meet the big names in Jamaican music. He meets Bob Marley with whom he spends his mornings. They had several working sessions together. Bob Marley introduced him to his studio and his work habits. The two men liked each other; Bob Marley was by seduced Manu Dibango’s musical openings
After Jamaica, Manu Dibango returned to the United States to incorporate brass, strings and vocals into his recordings. It is reluctantly that he left Jamaica and Bob Marley.
In addition to Manu Dibango, another Cameroonian artist had the chance to rub shoulders with Bob Marley very closely. During Bob Marley’s very first tour in Africa, bassist Vicky Edimo was asked to accompany the Bob Marley. The initial idea was for Vicky Edimo to serve as his translator/interpreter during his tour in Gabon. Bob Marley did not know at the start that Vicky Edimo was a musician, it is during their exchanges that Bob Marley will discover that Vicky was a bassist.
The two men will never let each other go; they left each other only to go to sleep. They will spend evenings playing together. Bob Marley is so fascinated by Vicky’s playing that after this tour, Bob Marley will seek an arrangement with his favorite bassist family man so that Vicky plays at least 3 titles in his next album.