Exhibition of photos from the book Babylon on a thin wire (once upon a time in Jamaica) at agnès b. 13 rue de Marseille Paris 10ème from June 21st to July 21st.
Do you know why, although ska is just a beat, a dead simple nagging upbeat, so simple only illiterate Jamaicans can play it, the Rolling Stones never got it right? What did the CIAga graffiti stood for? Why Fidel Castro never stood a ghost of a chance against Big Youth when it comes to chatting ‘pon the mike? What was tram-hopping all about and what made it such a good sport? Bob Marley’s answer when someone had the cheek to ask, “how come a shantytown Rasta like him is driving ‘round in a BMW”?
If you already know the answers to these questions, don’t waste your time here. If not, then you better hurry and grab your own copy of Babylon on a thin Wire, the best book ever written on Jamaica and reggae. First published in 1976, when the world couldn’t care less about the sound comin’ out of Kingston, then republished in 1982 under the title Jah revenge – Babylon revisited when the western medias were desperately seeking Marley’s successor, this seminal book has been out of print for almost a quarter century. Here it comes again and for the very first time, it’s also available in a French translation, and further enhanced with a foreword by Michael Thomas and an updated photo selection containing some previously Adrian Boot unseen shots.
Babylon on a thin wire (once upon a time in Jamaica) 144 pages, dimensions 220 x 290, 30 €
published and distributed by Patate records
http://www.patate-records.net
https://www.editions-allia.com/fr/livre/603/babylon-on-a-thin-wire
