Marcia Griffiths has set the record straight on the origins of the I-Threes, making clear that the celebrated harmony trio was her idea and existed before Bob Marley brought Judy Mowatt, Rita Marley and herself into his orbit.
The veteran singer also reflected on how touring with Marley changed the way she understood her craft, turning a love of performing into what she now sees as a mission.
“I brought that group together,” she said plainly.
The story begins at Studio One. Griffiths, Mowatt and Rita Marley each arrived at the studio without any plan to work together, called in to sing harmonies on a track for Horace Andy.
Griffiths recalled that Mr. Dodd had invited Judy as well, so the three ended up laying down the harmonies side by side.
As they were leaving, Griffiths asked the other two to back her for a three night run of solo shows she had that weekend.
At the time she was performing songs like Dreamland and Stepping Out of Babylon, and the women quickly worked out harmonies.
On the final night, the trio slipped into an impromptu jam of songs by the Sweet Inspirations, a popular group in Jamaica, and the audience responded warmly.
That reaction sparked the idea. Griffiths suggested they form a group and proposed the name to Rita. Let’s call ourselves I Three,” she recalled saying, explaining that it was “like saying We Three, but instead of We Three, we say I Three because of the consciousness and everything.”
Bunny Wailer approved when he heard it. “Yeah, man, that sound good,” she remembered him saying.
The timing proved significant. As the new trio landed its first performance, booked by a preacher at the arena, Marley, Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer were in the middle of a major fallout.
Marley heard about the group and called them in to sing harmonies on Natty Dread. Griffiths said they initially thought of it as a single song, but Marley called them back again for Jah Live, and they ended up recording the entire Natty Dread album.
“I always say this was ordained. It wasn’t a mistake,” she said.
From there, the I-Threes recorded on Marley’s subsequent albums and toured with him extensively until the end of his life. “I think it was 7 years we toured,” she said.
Griffiths admitted that early in her career she did not grasp the weight of the work. “I did not understand that when I was starting in the music business. I was just enjoying what I love,” she said.
That changed once she saw Marley’s commitment up close, even though she had gained international exposure before he did.
“I have never seen anything like this in my life,” she said, describing a man who demanded perfection. “Because the music was his life. Nothing came before his music.”
Watching him, she reached a new understanding of her own role. “But this is a serious thing. This is not just entertainment at all. This is a responsibility that you have,” she recalled telling herself.
She pointed to Marley’s trip to Zimbabwe, where he paid his own way and flew in his own instruments to perform, as proof of his priorities. “If money come, money come, but he was not in it for money,” she said, adding that he “lived every word” he sang.
Griffiths acknowledged that some people, including a commenter she saw on social media, have suggested she gave up a strong solo career to sing backup.
She sees it differently. “I’m thankful that I was a part of that experience,” she said. “That was what opened my eyes.”
The lesson has stayed with her. Artists, she noted, can reach the entire world with a microphone, so the message matters, because “once it goes out, it can’t come back in.”
She now describes herself and her peers as “missionaries on a mission from God through the medium of music,” a conviction she says inspired her song I Shall Sing, and her vow to keep singing as long as she lives.
