In 1962, a diminutive artist stepped into the Kingston, Jamaica recording studio of producer Leslie Kong, hoping to impress the boss with songs he wrote.
His name was Robert Nesta Marley, known to family and friends as Robbie. Just 17 years-old, the person he approached was James Chambers, whose own career was off to a bright start as Jimmy Cliff.
The same age as Marley, Cliff was playing the piano when he walked into the studio.
"I hear a voice sey, 'dat sound good yuh nuh'. And when I look 'round it was a little youth with him chest push out," he recalled in a December, 2021 interview with Reggae Global Radio.
That day, Marley pitched five songs to Cliff who was part of Kong's Beverley's Records camp which also included singers Derrick Morgan, Toots and The Maytals and Desmond Dekker.
After rehearsing five ska songs Marley wrote, Cliff said he suggested Kong record three of them --- "Judge Not", "One Cup of Coffee" and "Terror".
"Judge Not" became Marley's first released single. The future reggae king would have turned 77 today (February 6).
Cliff remembers Kong being unimpressed with Marley who who was born in rural St. Ann parish but lived in the Kingston ghetto of Trench Town.
"Him sey, 'Cho! Him cyaan (can't) sing mon'. But dat was the start of Bob Marley," said Cliff.
While his boss was not taken with the aspiring singer/songwriter, Cliff saw enough evidence to know he was a rare talent.
"Bob had a great sense of rhythm and he was a poet," he said.
Marley did not stay long with Beverley's Records which produced some of Cliff's biggest hits such as "You Can Get it if You Really Want", "Wonderful World, Beautiful People" and "The Harder They Come ".
Within a year, he formed The Wailers, a harmony group that included Peter Tosh and Bunny Livingston, later known as Bunny Wailer. They scored several ska hit songs for producer Clement Dodd like "Simmer Down" and "One Love".
The Wailers recorded a number of early reggae songs for Kong in the late 1960's but their relationship with the producer ended abruptly over creative differences. Kong died of a heart attack in 1971 at age 37.
Marley and The Wailers on the verge of international stardom 10 years after his debut at Beverley's Records. He became a superstar with a succession of strong albums for Island Records including "Rastaman Vibration" and "Exodus".
Bob Marley died on May 11, 1981 in Miami from cancer at age 36.
Written By Howard Campbell