Peter Tosh: Rebel in life, rebel in death

Tosh

ONE of the biggest surprises of my life happened the night after Peter Tosh was killed.

The main 6 p.m. news on the giant American TV network NBC was led by the news of the murder of Peter Tosh the night before in Kingston. Wow! Was Tosh that big?

Just a few weeks before, I had sat with Tosh and his companion, Marlene Brown, at their Barbican home and listened as he dished out samples of his prior life. The main course he said was being kept for his proposed book, Red X.

Tosh never lived to finish Red X, although Wayne Jobson acquired some of the 60-minute audio tapes he recorded his story on and made the docufilm Stepping Razor, the most important visual testament of his struggles so far.

Jobson's film wasn't a huge success, but he was in discussions with VH-1 to produce a special on Tosh up to recently. Jobson interviewed Brown, Tosh's former drummer Carlton 'Santa' Davis, who escaped the bloody night with gunshot wounds, Joy Dixon, widow of broadcaster Jeff Dixon who was also killed in the incident and Dennis 'Leppo' Lobban, the man convicted of the murder who is still locked up in the General Penitentiary.

Lobban, who was found guilty in June, 1988, of murdering Tosh and his visitors, was sentenced to death. He is still in jail, however, as by the time his appeals were exhausted he had served more than five years on death row. He still insists that he is innocent.

Three people were killed in the incident - Tosh, Wilton Brown, a herbalist and Dixon, who was also known as Free I Jasiani Kabakajari --- Brown and Davis escaped with minor injuries.

Lobban had a record of imprisonment at the time of his arrest. In May, 1974, he was convicted on two counts of robbery with aggravation and sentenced to 10 years on each count plus a flogging. In July the same year, he was convicted of the illegal possession of a firearm and assault with intent to rob and was sentenced to an additional 5 -25 years. He was, however, paroled in October 1986, just under a year before the Tosh murder.

In order to interview Lobban for the film Jobson, dressed as a lawyer accompanied by a friend, claiming to be representing Amnesty International's interest in Lobban's case, was allowed to visit him in his cell in August 1990. He smuggled a tape recorder inside a notebook and taped his interview with Lobban.

Lobban claims that Jobson came back in March 1991 and attempted to visit him in his cell armed with a camcorder but was stopped by the Superintendent of the Prison.

Jobson, a former member of the group Native, now works with a satellite radio station in Los Angeles. He admits that he has not given up on further interviewing Lobban. His last attempt was during the 1999 gas riots when he sought permission from the Ministry of National Security and Justice but was refused. Lobban has been upset with Jobson's portrayal of him in Stepping Razor. He told us, in a recent letter from his cell, that he was betrayed by Jobson. He said that he would not have granted the second interview, even if the Ministry had approved, as he claimed that Jobson's documentary had prejudiced his case before the UK Privy Council and likened the film's treatment of him to, "Judas who betray Jesus for thirty pieces of silver." He is also demanding royalties from the film.

Jobson's 1999 visit was not a total loss however. He not only won an award at the Jamerican film festival but also found and interviewed Steve Russell, the man who was accused of driving the getaway car from the murder scene. Russell, now a pastor in Spanish Town, admitted driving the car, but said that he did so because a gun was held to his head. Jobson still hopes to complete a full-length film about Tosh's life.

Tosh was buried in a sepulchre at his original home in Belmont, Westmoreland. His children hope that one day they will be able to transform the property, on which his mother Elvira Coke still lives, into not only a monument to him, but also a tourist attraction.

The property had become rundown over the years, due to the lack of resources. Very little money trickled into the estate since 1987, until last year when an agreement was reached with the estate of the late Bob Marley, freeing up some US$2 million previously tied up in court wranglings over the ownership of the masters of Tuff Gong Records company which had been founded by Tosh, Marley and Bunny Wailer in the 1970s.The release of these funds has encouraged the spokesman for the family, Tosh's son Dave McIntosh, an accountant who grew up in Houston, Texas, to organise family support behind the formation of Tosh Intel Diplo, which is now handling most of his father's legacy, including music and image rights.

This has opened the way for the release of his 13-album collection, one of the highlights of this year's celebration of his life and death.

The legal battle has not been concluded. Tosh's cousin, Pauline Morris, insists that the late artiste had turned over his holding company, Intel Diplo, to her prior to his death. The legal battle which, virtually, exhausted the family, is continuing hence the decision to form a new company, Tosh Intel Diplo.

Tosh Intel Diplo was conceived on October 28 at Belmont, when Tosh's 10 children, their mothers and their lawyers met, after the celebration of Tosh's 56th birthday, to look at the future of the estate.

Dave says that the formation of the company, "is a critical task in the realigning of his heritage with the history of Jamaican music."

"We want to make sure that nothing is released without our permission," he said. "We want to ensure that the estate maximises the benefits of our father's works."

Instrumental in this development as well as the current promotion behind Tosh's anniversaries, is Negril-based promoter, Worrell King, head of King of Kings Promotions.

King, who has been staging the only anniversary event in memory of Tosh, "Tribute To Peter Tosh," for the past 10 years, said that his vision was always to see Tosh's legacy promoted on an international level.

"What is happening now is only a speck of what I envisage. I would like to see the rights to all movies and music associated with him come under the umbrella of Tosh Intel Diplo," he said.

However, he said that, in the past, his efforts to help raise Tosh's visibility in the entertainment market was hampered by the lack of legal cohesion.

"I couldn't invite important people to support the effort without any legal rights and our first aim was to straighten that out. It is not fully straightened out yet, but it is getting there," he explained.

This year's celebration of Tosh's life, between October 11 and 20 (he was born on October 1944), is the biggest posthumous promotion of his achievements. King says that it should set the stage for his rebirth.

He is again behind the main event of the period, the annual "Tribute To Tosh," scheduled for the newly refurbished Central Park in West End, Negril and which is expected to feature Tosh's singing son, Andrew, as well as Mykal Roze and Everton Blender.

The other highlight will be a symposium on Tosh's life and work to be organised by Dr. Clinton Hutton on the Mona campus of the University of the West Indies.

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