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News analysis
The burnt Rita Marley's
studio and aftermath
E. Ablorh-Odjidja, Ghanadot
JoyFM reports that the "ultra-modern music recording studio in
Aburi in the Eastern Region belonging to Rita Marley, wife of
the late reggae music icon Bob Marley, has been gutted by fire."
Reaction to this story has been multi-faceted, the least of
which is to ask how did it come to this?
As the story goes, "the multi-million-dollar studio - also the
store house of most of Bob Marley’s original tapes - was due for
commissioning late last year but the event had to be postponed
to allow Mrs. Marley to attend to some personal issues in the
USA…. "
At least we put, or can estimate, the worth of the studio in the
millions, and in a humble place like Ghana this investment here
is huge.
But there is something else: The idea that a Diasporan African,
Rita Marley, can make the choice to return and settle in Ghana
with so much worth is a decision that ought to boost Ghanaian
pride for being the first nation in the line-up for Pan-Africa.
While the decision and the choice for Ghana should be lauded,
due diligence should have been raised by Mrs. Marley and her
accomplices regarding the storage and safe-keeping of Bob
Marley's original tapes; weighing the technology involved in
storing the music versus the risk to cultural worth and fiscal
wealth of the cache.
And who was the engineer or architect that placed his imprimatur
on this studio as fireproof storage vault? In a country that has
had a rash of fire experiences such as the entire razing of the
Foreign Affairs building, clearly, this task was not
accomplished.
As of writing this piece, I am yet to know whether these tapes
have ever been released commercially; not uncommonly, creations
by artists, for one reason or other are not released for sale
(e.g., the artist or the record label does not consent to the
release of the recordings).
But whether these recordings are commercially viable and
musically sound or not, “original recordings” should still be in
a realm of their own. Furthermore, the name Bob Marley alone is
enough to have turned the cache anytime into a treasure trove,
fiscal and culturally speaking.
In the above respect, many of us have professional, personal,
and cultural interest in the trove.
Just imagine if these songs "Redemption Song," "No Woman No
Cry," "Could you be loved," "Buffalo Soldier," and others were
part of the collection that went up in flames?
On a subjective level, how many times have I, as a student in
the United States undergoing some hardship, not consoled myself
with the "No Woman No Cry" song, while thinking of home in
Ghana?
Mercifully the above songs are still here with us. They came
from the same brains of Marley - the same mind and artistry that
produced these songs of solace produced those that, perhaps, got
burnt in the fire.
Therein lies the loss and tragedy of the fire at Rita Marley's
Aburi studio.
This said, something else ought to be said and it may not be
pleasant: The cause of the fire may not be known now, but
frankly, the suspicion must settle on the builder who spent
millions to build, presumably at that expense, a high-tech
studio and a storage place for precious items that readily went
up in smoke before the studio got commissioned!
As unpleasant as this allegation may be, it certainly points the
way forward, if we are not to repeat this monstrous happening
the next time around. But, would we?
Sadly, it must be noted that we talk a lot in Ghana about our
skills for doing things (i.e., builders who can't guarantee a
fireproof vault). While our enthusiasm and self-confidence for
big projects may not be in doubt, we do sometimes punch above
our actual weight.
Where was the judgment that asked whether it would not have been
safer to have kept the tapes elsewhere, overseas perhaps, until
the studio was deemed ready and safe for storage of precious
items such as these?
Rita could have come to Ghana even if the tapes didn’t
immediately follow. The claim for Ghana as a premier settlement
destination for Diasporans could still have been made. And the
musical trove, the heritage that is, could have been assured for
the future.
In addition to the heartache this fire has caused now, we may
also note the most enduring one to come: the fact that we have
been perpetually robbed of a heritage of an immense cultural and
intellectual value with the loss.
E. Ablorh-Odjidja, Publisher
www.ghanadot.com, Washington, DC, May 30, 2010
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