‘Bob Marley: One Love’ Film To Feature ‘Duppy Conquering’ At The May Pen Cemetery In Kingston

The May Pen Cemetery in Kingston, The Wailers rehearsal ground where manager Joe Higgs ordered them to sing at night in order to conquer stage fright, will be featured in the upcoming Bob Marley: One Love biopic, according to executive producer Ziggy Marley.

The Rebellion Rises singer made the confirmation on Saturday after he shared a photo of himself and members of the film crew, which was snapped by broadcaster and university lecturer, Fae Ellington.  Ziggy quoted Pslams 1: vs 1 – 2 in caption, and pointed out that it was “May Pen cemetery Kingston, Jamaica filming of Bob Marley biopic 2023.”

When one of his followers, @braddydread, stated that Ziggy was standing on the “Wailers rehearsal grounds where they conquered the duppy man and the three wheel coffin amongst others 🕊,” Ziggy responded in the affirmative, with a simple “yeah”.

One of the oldest public burial grounds in the English-speaking Caribbean, the May Pen Cemetery, which became a stomping ground for Bob Marley, Bunny Wailer, and Peter Tosh, is located between the Horizon Adult Remand Centre on Spanish Town Road and Tivoli Gardens High School on Industrial Terrace, in West Kingston.

In the 2012 documentary titled Marley, Bunny Wailer, who was then the last living member of the Wailers, had described how their first manager, Joe Higgs, dealt with the group’s stage fright by frog-marching them in the evenings to perform at the 200-acre burial ground in West Kingston.

Higgs, who is described as having assumed managerial duties of the Wailers “as a project,” had the Reggae icons singing to the cemetery’s duppies (ghosts) to instill humility, enable them to handle fame well in the future and overcome artists’ worst nightmare: stage fright.

Higgs’s premise was that if the trio could fearlessly perform before the ‘duppy dem’ within the cemetery, then there was no way they would fear crowds.  In fact, the duppy conquering performances lasted for two years, and on some days, the trio sang and played their instruments in the graveyard all night.

“We rehearsed for about two years – we go sing at the park Downtown for the people… we even go sing at the May Pen Cemetery for the duppy dem,” Bunny had explained in the documentary.

“His (Joe Higgs’s) policy was that great stars mess up when they get afraid and nervous on stage.  So he said if we went to the cemetery at say 2 o’clock in the morning, and sang for those people, then we can’t be afraid when we hit the stage – and we went with Joe – sat on the graves and do it – and several times we do it until he thought we’re brave enough now,” the Ballroom Floor singer had added.   

The Wailers’ nights playing to the dead were not in vain though, as apart from emboldening them onstage, it paid off monetarily with the recording of the classic Duppy Conquerer.

The song was recorded in 1971 and was produced by Lee Scratch Perry.  It appeared on the Soul Revolution II album.

The Bob Marley biopic surrounds the life story of Bob and Rita Marley, with the foundation being the years 1976 to 1978.  It covers the assassination attempt on the couple, the Gong’s subsequent self-imposed exile in London and his later return to Jamaica, and the legendary One Love Concert.

British actor Kingsley Ben-Adir assumed the lead role as Bob, and his compatriot Lashana Lynch, played the role of Rita Marley.

In the comments, Ziggy also took time out to reply to a follower, @socotii, who noted that: “I hope Rita story is told also, she deserves her flowers and is the woman behind the legend. No Bob without Rita. She used to carry his records on her head top in dem early days.”

“Rita Marley is integral to the story you will see Lashana Lynch did a magnificent job representing,” Ziggy replied.

This is the second insight that has been given by Ziggy, about the plot of the biopic titled Bob Marley: One Love and which is set for release on January 12, 2024 via Paramount Pictures.   

Ziggy hinted a few weeks ago that two of Jamaica’s foremost political enforcers of the 1970s era, Aston “Bucky” Marshall and Claudius Massop are featured in the biopic, as well as the then leaders of the two major political parties at the time, and former Prime Ministers: the Jamaica Labour Party’s (JLP) Edward Seaga and the Peoples National Party (PNP’s) Michael Manley.