Very few characters have managed to capture the public consciousness like James Bond. While Bond’s future is uncertain after the departure of Daniel Craig, his history is extensive and full of surprising pieces of information. Among the latter, Bond’s link to the legendary pioneer Bob Marley has to be one of the most unexpected associations.
Marley’s connection to James Bond has everything to do with Ian Fleming’s history with Jamaica, the place he called his second home for 18 years. Fleming built his famous house, Goldeneye, on the northern coastline of Jamaica. The house is also significant for Bond fans since that’s where he wrote the Bond novels.
During his time there, Fleming also developed a long-term affair with his neighbour Blanche Blackwell who served as a muse for the writer. She was the mother of the reputed ex-record producer Chris Blackwell who became the founder of Island Records. However, Blackwell’s first big break came courtesy of none other than Fleming.
Fleming gave Blackwell the opportunity to source original Caribbean songs for Dr. No. While that brought Blackwell unprecedented fame and success, the more important result was his patronage of the emerging reggae style. In Fleming’s letters to his mistress, he admitted that he pulled strings to get Blackwell a job on the set of Dr. No.
Edward Abel Smith, the writer of Fleming’s biography, told The Telegraph: “There is no question that he was doing this to give Chris an opportunity to raise his profile.” According to the writer, the producers agreed to hire Blackwell to keep Fleming happy since he had a habit of being controlling during the production.
While talking about it, Smith added: “He was quite hands-on for the first two film, before he died, and in some ways was a bit of a nuisance to the producers, for example, canvassing for actors to get roles etc. So when he put forward Chris as a local help in Jamaica, they probably saw it as an easy way to appease him.”
The fame and success that Fleming helped Blackwell achieve enabled the record producer to support Bob Marley’s career since he was the one who first discovered the Jamaican genius. In that way, Marley’s rise to stardom is inextricably linked to the success of the James Bond film series. Not just that, Marley eventually ended up buying Fleming’s Goldeneye property before selling it to Blackwell a year later.