Bob Marley and The Wailers in Brussels, Belgium, on their Exodus Tour in Europe. May 11, 1977; Photo: David Burnett

Another piece of lyric ephemera is set to go under the hammer, this time hawked by the 1977 Exodus-era edition of Bob Marley‘s Wailers crew via horn player Dick Cuthell and the tune “Keep on Moving.” 

How Curthell acquired the three handwritten sheets in red felt-tip pen has not been revealed by Bonhams yet, as they prepare to list the item for auction on December 10, but the story of the song is curious, if not telling of the kind of apeshit fanaticism people are capable of — it’s not even an original Marley song. And it’s projected to fetch around £10,000 ($15,000).

Originally recorded in 1964 by Curtis Mayfield and The Impressions, Marley slapped the reggae down-strum on it in 1971 with the Peter Tosh version of The Wailers for the Lee “Scratch” Perry produced Soul Revolution, leaving its wrongly accused pariah threads virtually unchanged.

To the prospective buyer’s credit, these three pages though do show the changes made to the updated 1977 version that Marley undercut with his own narrative, name-dropping two of his kids, Ziggy and Cedela, and most notably swapping, “I’ve been accused of a killing/Lord knows I didn’t do” with “I’ve been accused on a ma mission/Jah knows they shodent do it,” alluding to the kind of persecution Marley fielded for trying to quell political and religious tension in Jamaica. 

Though someone making money off of that is something forever frustrating. Here’s to hoping Cuthell offers the proceeds up to a charity Marley would have supported. Or better yet, something to honor Curtis Mayfield.

Photo: Bonhams/Solent News