Bob Andy—
A private family farewell for reggae singer Bob Andy is scheduled for Bob Marley Beach in Bull Bay, St Thomas, on Friday, July 24.
His son, Godfrey “Bobby” Anderson Sr, however, believes this celebration of life should include the general public, given that his father “touched so many people”.
“They’re gonna sprinkle his ashes in the sea…He loved the sea. He was essentially raised at Cable Hut Beach; that’s his family out there. He would go way out and spend an hour or two,” said Anderson Sr, who, along with his son Godfrey Jr, were visiting from Florida recently.
Bob Andy, real name Keith Anderson, died from pancreatic cancer complications on March 27. He was 75.
Anderson Sr said he last spoke with his dad a week before he passed and had made arrangements to fly to Jamaica. The trip, however, hit a snag due to the airport lockdown in an effort to stem the spread of the novel coronavirus.
“I wanted to come get him and take him to the [United] States for a second medical opinion,” he said.
The singer’s son said he’s, however, comforted by the outpouring of love for his father.
“He has a lot of love from the people in Jamaica and all over the world. I don’t think he ever knew how loved he was. He never saw himself as great, even though people referred to him as ‘the great Bob Andy’,” he said.
Grandson Godfrey Jr said it took sometime for his grandfather to realize the reach of his music.
“One thing about my grandfather is that his music was appreciated in Jamaica; but later on in his life, he learnt how much all over the world. He learnt that people in Brazil, Africa, Japan, Germany — all these places — that his music reached them and touched them. And it humbled him. It made him see that not only people in Jamaica and the UK, but people all across the world appreciated his music,” he said.
A founding member of harmony group The Paragons, Bob Andy started his career in the early 1960’s but left before the group became hitmakers at producer Duke Reid’s Treasure Isle label.
His first taste of success came in 1967 with I’ve Got to Go Back Home, and was followed by Desperate Lover, Feeling Soul, Unchained, and Too Experienced. He also composed songs for other reggae artistes including Ken Boothe ( I Don’t Want to See You Cry) and Marcia Griffths ( Feel Like Jumping, Truly, and Melody Life).
Bob Andy’s cover of Nina Simone’s Young, Gifted And Black with Griffiths was a massive hit in England.
With Jamaican youth demanding social change in the early 1970’s, Bob Andy was one of the writers who summed up the times with songs like the provocative Check It Out and Fire Burning.
He showed a different side to his talent by playing the lead role in the 1978 movie Children of Babylon. But musically, he was largely lost to fans in the 1980’s.
A decade later he was back in demand when Griffiths covered Fire Burning at the height of a massive rocksteady revival.
In 2006 he was awarded the Order of Distinction by the Jamaican Government for his contribution to the country’s music.
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