The 16-year-old Bob Marley records that almost vanished. 🇯🇲
Most stories are lost through the sands of time, but thanks to Roger Steffens’ dedication to preserving Reggae history, we can still see these rare 1962 Studio One gems today, recorded two years before Bob Marley & The Wailers.
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Hidden away from the public for decades, this reggae archive holds rare footage, recordings, and history that could have easily disappeared.
We’ve been following this story for over 25 years.
This is just the tip of the reggae iceberg.
From “My Cup” with producer Lee "Scratch" Perry in 1970 through the final sessions of the Wailers in 1980, his influence runs deep.
He brought melody into bass, reshaping the sound of reggae and helping carry it to a global audience.
A modest man, but his work will live on forever.
Photo of Family Man on the left with Bob Marley on the right, taken by Roger in San Diego, 1979.
Bob Marley was known on the streets as “Tuff Gong,” a nod to his toughness and ability to stand his ground. But that name itself goes further back, echoing Leonard Howell, often called “The Gong,” or "The First Rasta", one of the original architects of the Rastafari movement.
Howell wasn’t just a preacher; he was a disruptor. In the 1930s, under the pen name G.G. Maragh, he wrote The Promise Key, a radical text that helped shape early Rastafari thought. Drawing on earlier writings such as The Royal Parchment Scroll of Black Supremacy, Howell reframed the narrative in a way that would define the movement.
Most importantly, he identified Haile Selassie I and Empress Menen as “King Alpha and Queen Omega,” a shift that became central to Rastafari belief.
For that, he was arrested, imprisoned, and targeted by colonial authorities. His commune was later destroyed, and much of his work was burned. He died in 1981 under unclear circumstances.
From Howell’s early resistance to Marley’s global voice, the name carries a history of defiance, identity, and belief.
When Marley carried the name “Tuff Gong,” it wasn’t just attitude. It was lineage.
Bob Marley was known on the streets as “Tuff Gong,” a nod to his toughness and ability to stand his ground. But that name itself goes further back, echoing Leonard Howell, often called “The Gong,” or "The First Rasta", one of the original architects of the Rastafari movement.
Howell wasn’t just a preacher; he was a disruptor. In the 1930s, under the pen name G.G. Maragh, he wrote The Promise Key, a radical text that helped shape early Rastafari thought. Drawing on earlier writings such as The Royal Parchment Scroll of Black Supremacy, Howell reframed the narrative in a way that would define the movement.
Most importantly, he identified Haile Selassie I and Empress Menen as “King Alpha and Queen Omega,” a shift that became central to Rastafari belief.
For that, he was arrested, imprisoned, and targeted by colonial authorities. His commune was later destroyed, and much of his work was burned. He died in 1981 under unclear circumstances.
From Howell’s early resistance to Marley’s global voice, the name carries a history of defiance, identity, and belief.
When Marley carried the name “Tuff Gong,” it wasn’t just attitude. It was lineage.