‘Georgie,’ Immortalized In Bob Marley’s ‘No Woman, No Cry’, Dead At 84
Bob Marley’s four eldest children have paid strong tribute to Georgie, the man the Reggae icon immortalized in his song No Woman, No Cry, and who used to prepare sumptuous dishes for them in Trench Town when they were children.
Georgie, whose given name was George Headley Robinson, died on Wednesday in Kingston at age 84.
On Thursday Ziggy Marley posted a video of his elder sister Sharon tenderly stroking Georgie’s head as he sat in a chair. Ziggy wrote glowingly of the late octogenarian’s culinary acumen, as well as the good treatment he gave to him and his siblings when they were children.
“Have to pay my respects to him. He really use to do exactly what Bob said. Man we enjoyed his cornmeal and sweet potato puddings, his porridge and boil eggs, his stories and yes he always had a fire blazing as youths coming up we gathered around it and ate some good food,” Ziggy wrote.
“JAH carry his energy towards the source the memories of him live with us. “and Georgie would make the fire light…,” he added.
On her own page, Sharon had posted an image of Georgie standing in front of a thatch hut, and hailed him as a “beloved”.
“Rest up Fiyaman…Zion awaits all its fallen soldiers. Thank you for your years of #service and #wordsofwisdom. Jah!! #fireman #georgie #beloved #real #rastaman 🙏🏾❤️🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥,” she noted.
Their younger sister Cedella also posted the video of Georgie and Sharon and paid homage.
“We lost our Georgie who kept the 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥 all through the night. Rest well Georgie. Fly away home💔😢,” she wrote.
Georgie had resided at Marley’s residence at 56 Old Hope Road in St Andrew, which now houses the Bob Marley Museum, for many years.
Stephen, the youngest of the four, posted a photo of Georgie posing in front of a mural dedicated to him, at the Hope Road property, with a spliff betwixt his fingers.
“I remember when we used to sit, in the government yard in Trench Town, oh, yeah and then Georgie would make the fire light,” he noted, quoting the lyrics mentioning Georgie, in No Woman No Cry.
“Keep the fire light Georgie,” Stephen added.
Speaking with the Jamaica Observer newspaper following Georgie’s passing, Sharon described him as “an extension of her father” and said that he was left to take care of the family after the Reggae icon died in 1981.
Like Ziggy, she too reminisced on Georgie’s cooking, noting that he made the tastiest fish tea ever.
“He made the best fish tea. All we had to say wi coming and he would jump on his bicycle and head to Greenwich Town for the freshest fish when the boats come in,” She told the newspaper.
“Then there was the cornmeal and sweet potato puddings… the best. He did the mission that was assigned to him and did it well. His time came to move in to the ancestors. Happy his transition was smooth and it was not COVID or anything like that. We give thanks,” she added.
No Woman, No Cry is ranked at number 37 on Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. It has been covered a whopping 68 time by artistes including Nina Simone, Jimmy Cliff, The Fugees, Boney M, Hugh Masekela, Ken Boothe, PM Dawn and sampled in 18 songs by artistes such as Cocoa Tea, Public Enemy, Sanchez and Alley Cat.
Most of the lyrics were composed by Vincent “Tata” Ford, the man who taught Bob how to play the guitar, after he moved from his native St. Ann to live with his mother in Trench Town.
No Woman, No Cry was recorded in 1974 and released on the Natty Dread studio album.
A year later the live recording of the track from the album Live! which took place at the Lyceum Theatre in London during Marley’s Natty Dread Tour, was released as a single. The song, which eventually became the better-known version, was later included on several compilation albums, including the iconic Legend.