Reggae Scrapbooking
Los Angeles writer-archivist-DJ Roger Steffens has been one of the most assiduous champions of reggae music for at least three decades. Indeed, Carlos Santana refers to him as St. Peter to Bob Marley's Jesus Christ on the back cover of "Reggae Scrapbook," Steffens's fabulous new coffee-table collaboration with photographer Peter Simon. Over the years, Steffens has known and interviewed everyone who's anyone in Jamaican music, and his scrapbook boasts touching, funny, and illuminating encounters with the likes of Jimmy Cliff, Toots Hibbert, Burning Spear, Peter Tosh, Dennis Brown, and, of course, Bob Marley.
Moreover, "Reggae Scrapbook" almost literally bursts at the seams with memorabilia from Roger's deep reggae archive. In addition to Simon's stunning photography and countless collaged posters, autographed album covers, and other ephemera, the memory book overflows with autographed photos tipped onto pages, perfect facsimiles of "yard party" announcements tucked into pockets, envelopes containing postcards of all things Rastafarian, clever reproductions of autographed singles, and lots more. And the enclosed DVD containing highlights of Steffens's Los Angeles cable-television interviews with Tosh, Judy Mowatt, Luciano, and the Wailers Band alone is probably worth the price. "Reggae Scrapbook" is a rich and colorful testament to one of the more rewarding, strange, and influential eras in the history of popular music.