Multiple Grammy winner Stephen Marley spoke about his collab “Winding Roads,” featuring The Grateful Dead’s Bob Weir and Jack Johnson with Udiscovermusic.com recently.
Marley had all praises and appreciation for his time spent working with the legendary Rock and Roll Hall Of Famer Bob Weir and even drew similarities between the rhythm guitarist his father Bob Marley.
“Jack Johnson and Bob Weir both heard the song from my manager. Both wanted to be involved, they liked the song and felt good about it and was willing to collaborate. ” Marley explained.
“I went to meet Bob Weir at his studio and we jammed quite a few songs, he loves music, but Winding Roads was the one that he was keen on. We had a good time. With Bob, such a great musician and so many years in music, some of it reminds me of my father, you nuh and it was just good to see how simple it was to make music. Not complicated, some great musicians there and just the simplicity of it, like wow,” Stephen said.
Marley explained the creative process of making ‘Winding Roads’ as simple. “Bob wrote his verse and Jack wrote his verse so easy. I was there when Bob write his verse, and again so easy, I still haven’t met Jack. We spoke on the phone and he sang it, and asked what I thought about that and I say ‘yeah man thats’s perfect brother’. I wish others cold see this lesson. How simple it is to get together and create. And me a thank Bob if him see this, thank you Bob.”
Throughout his tenure with the Grateful Dead, Bob Weir primarily played rhythm guitar and lent his vocals to many of the band’s iconic rock & roll and country & western compositions.
Following the Grateful Dead’s disbandment in 1995, Weir established himself and performed with several other musical groups, including Kingfish, the Bob Weir Band, Bobby and the Midnites, Scaring the Children, RatDog, and Furthur, the latter being a collaboration with former Grateful Dead bassist Phil Lesh.
In 2015, Weir, along with former Grateful Dead members Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann, teamed up with Grammy-winning singer/guitarist John Mayer, bassist Oteil Burbridge, and keyboardist Jeff Chimenti to form the band Dead & Company. Their musical journey culminated with a final performance on July 16, 2023, at Oracle Park in San Francisco.
He as induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994 as a valued member of the Grateful Dead.
Meanwhile, Stephen Marley‘s fifth solo album ‘Old Soul’ spent a full week at No. 1 on the U.S. iTunes Reggae chart. The album released Friday September 15, 2023, via Tuff Gong Collective/UMe/Ghetto Youths International is the first debut to do so since Stick Figure’s ‘Wisdom’ last September. Wisdom, released via Ruff wood Records replaced “Legend: The Best Of Bob Marley & The Wailer” for the top spot on the Billboard reggae albums chart the week of September 20, 2022 after selling 13,900 album equivalent units from sales and streaming in the United States during its first week of release via Ruffwood Records.
This includes 9,700 copies in pure album sales, and 5.5 million from streaming in the US, according to our sources at Luminate(formerly Neilson/MRC Data.
‘Old Soul’ is expected to debut in the top 10 at on the U.S. Billboard Reggae Albums Chart tomorrow. ‘Old Soul’ boasts guest appearances from Bob Weir, Jack Johnson, Ziggy Marley, Damian ‘Jr. Gong’ Marley, Buju Banton, Eric Clapton, and multi-platinum artist Slightly Stoopid.
World Music Views gave ‘Old Soul’ a four star review dubbing it “Cross-genre brilliance.”
“You have to be true to yourself,” Stephen says of the body of work. “I refuse to be put into any category. I am inspired by everything. So, if I feel like I want to play some jazz music, I will play some jazz music. Who dig it, dig it,” he continued.
Marley also said, “My creative process is just to absorb whatever the universe sends. I’m inspired by many, many things. It comes out in the music that I make. The inspiration for the initial song was me and my guitar and o’m speaking about not taking the fast route in life and the paved highways, i’d rather take that narrow road, road that will lead me there safe, sound, and collected.”
World Music Views will have the full first week numbers and lifetime numbers for “Old Soul” in the U.S. tomorrow.
