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Bob Marley - what do people think about these?

Any opinions on these Marley's (single and LP)? No provenance. Both seem plausible but I am still sceptical, especially about the LP (second image).

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Permalink Reply by Paul on April 17, 2021 at 8:25pm

Yeah your probably right . Id need to compare them to examplars. They all look very uniform.

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Permalink Reply by a pug called eva on April 17, 2021 at 11:37pm

I was suspicious of these because 1) you don't often see three Marley's of this quality coming up in one auction, 2) these were in a general collectors' sale at an auction house that doesn't have any specialist knowledge of autographs, and 3) the "Is This Love" single looked suspiciously like one that RR Auction sold for $28k in 2018 and suspiciously clean.

If the "Is this Love" is not real I'm amazed that it went so high. I guess it could have been two "green horns" with too much lockdown time and money battling it out. The winner was a phone bidder.

Interestingly, the RR Auction sleeve is also signed by Allan Cole and they say that "their" sleeve was signed in June 1977. Here is a pic of the sleeve:

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Permalink Reply by Johnlow on April 18, 2021 at 6:48am

Is this Love song was released in 1978. Alan Skill Cole was in Ethiopia at that time. Also Road Manager Tony G last tour was 1976. Earl Chinna Smith stopped touring with Bob in 1976 and was not of this record at all. So unless you were a super Bob fan and knew all people and had them sign it separate I wouldn’t touch it. I consider myself a expert on Bob Marley history and not a expert in Autographs. I have done archival work for the Marley family. To have all these people on this item isn’t right. The people who are putting this together do not know the inner workings of the Wailers Band. There are other tells too. I’m afraid if I give the info out that people who fake autographs will read this and change their habits.

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Permalink Reply by Johnlow on April 18, 2021 at 6:55am

Also June 1977 is the wrong time. Bob was in London for the Rainbow Shows. He left for Delaware right after the tour to take a break before his USA tour. His foot would not heal and Blackwell set him up for a Doctors appointment in London and they found out he had cancer. He wasn’t with the Band and those people were not in London. Bob only hung out with Junior Marvin at that time from the band.

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Permalink Reply by Johnlow on April 18, 2021 at 6:59am

I have tried to tell many auctions houses that their Bob Autographs or info isn’t right and I never gotten one positive response. I even explain I was a historian curator at the estate for a few years and they just seem not to care. I not going to get in to a argument with them it’s not worth my time.

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Permalink Reply by a pug called eva on April 18, 2021 at 8:07am

Johnlow, it really is quite frightening to hear of auction houses not listening to you. The RR Auction single was supposedly authenticated by Tracks. I don't really know why Tracks would be the "go to" authenticators for Marley anyway given that they are specialists in Beatles autographs. Maybe they sold it to the vendor or were selling it themselves through RR.

The listing reads:

"Amazing Island Records 45 RPM single for 'Is This Love / Crisis' by Bob Marley & the Wailers, signed on the front of the sleeve in blue or black ballpoint, "Rasta Love, Bob Marley," "Earl Smith, Jah Love," "Love Always, Judy, xxx," "Carlton Barrett, Wailers Drummer," "Rita," "One Love Marcia," "Aston Family Mon Barrett," "Best wishes from, Tony (Road Manager)," and "Allan Cole, Tuff Gong Records, 56 Hope Road, Kingston, Jamaica, don't forget to write to us." Collector's notations to reverse of sleeve indicate that the signatures were obtained at London's Rainbow Theatre on June 3, 1977, during the band's Exodus Tour. In very good condition, with light soiling, moderate creasing (heaviest to the bottom right), a trivial area of surface loss, and partial separation along the bottom edge. The record is included. Accompanied by a certificate of authenticity from Tracks. Released as a single for the 1978 album Kaya, 'Is This Love' became one of Marley's biggest international hits and is now perhaps best known as the opening track to 1984's landmark compilation album Legend, the best-selling reggae record of all time. An incredible offering that boasts a total of nine vintage signatures dating to Marley's self-imposed exile in England and a month before he was diagnosed with a form of malignant melanoma."

At a minimum the "collector's notations to the reverse" must have been wrong if the single wasn't released until 1978. To my eyes the Marley autograph looks a bit odd anyway.

I wonder how the Tracks certificate works when an item bought from them is sold on and later found to be fake. I presume they would only refund the person who bought it from them and for the amount they paid.

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Permalink Reply by michelle on April 18, 2021 at 8:12am

actually that is bad tbh. I think the refund only works for the original buyer.

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Permalink Reply by a pug called eva on April 18, 2021 at 8:20am

I don't suppose RR would be liable either unless they issued a certificate of authenticity. I thought they offered this service for a fee as an add-on but I don't see it offered in these auction particulars.