No Woman No Cry Read Online Free PDF

we actually had a real date. He took me to the Ambassador, our local Trench Town theater, which offered concerts and sometimes live performances as well as movies. The Ambassador was where the people went, where parents took their children, boys met girls, boyfriends met girlfriends. But dating was not on Aunty’s list, so I couldn’t simply say to Bob, “Okay, I’d like to go to the movies with you.” I had to make up some story about a special rehearsal, since she didn’t mind my going to rehearsals because she knew and respected the fact that I had that mission, that I was trying to do something. Of course she said okay, but she couldn’t help adding, “Be back by eight or nine!”
    â€œOh, of course,” I lied. And then it was off to the movies.
    I can’t remember the name of the film because after the first few minutes we were only sort of, but not quite, watching it. Most of the time we were looking into each other’s eyes, just looking into each other’s eyes for a good while—which we had a habit of doing, possibly because of working together and trying to get the music cues right. But the eyes say so much—I used to have to watch Aunty’s eyes to take messages, like to go left with a double wink, or right, move fast. It was the same with Bob, our eyes were always our way of communicating, and instead of looking at the screen we were looking into each other’s eyes and then we were kissing and I couldn’t believe it, I was so blown away! And I could see he was too, totally blown away, but I was in better control and I realized that this could go on to something else that I really couldn’t even think about, so don’t let’s think about it, let’s just look at the screen!
    Those days when we were courting, Studio One was our commitment; we hardly ever went any place else. We would meet there at nine or ten in the morning if there was an early session, and we’d be there until break time, when we’d get something to eat, like a meat patty, with a coco bread and a bottle of soda—that was the daily food, all we could afford, though occasionally Bob’s friends might make porridge or soup (Bunny was a very good cook and made the more daring soup concoctions). Then there were times when we were privileged to be together at concerts. The Soulettes were already a hot female group in Jamaica and the Wailing Wailers the number one male group, with all the girls going crazy over them. And I’m there being Miss Queen, because although all three Wailers made much of me and made me feel special, at the same time I was feeling so sure about Robbie, sure that everybody understood “that one is mine.” Though I didn’t really have to say it because he would never leave me for a moment.
    Among my favorite memories of that time is an event involving Lee “Scratch” Perry, one of the funniest characters to come out of Studio One. Early on, Scratch was the man who did the cleaning up for Coxsone. But like everyone else around the place, if he’d seen any special talent and had an idea that this or that person might make it, he would recommend them. Coxsone was always open to that. Just about the time the Soulettes had begun to think of ourselves as the top background vocalists for the studio, he called us in one day to do some work with Lee Perry.
    I said, “Lee Perry! Scratch? But Scratch is like the yard man, you know?”
    And Coxsone said, “No man, lately he’s been auditioning talents for me, and now he has a hit tune called ‘Roast Duck,’ and it will need some background vocals.”
    So I asked Bob what he thought, and he said, “Well, you don’t need to do it, but it’s not a big thing, if you feel you want to.”
    And I agreed that I wanted to do it out of gratitude, because Scratch was so nice to us, preparing us for concerts and being the roadie guy. So we