Peter Tosh’s Former Manager Copeland Forbes To Release Book ‘Reggae My Life Is’
Iconic artiste manager Copeland Forbes, former manager of Peter Tosh, who in the past administered the musical affairs and tours of some of Reggae’s biggest icons, has announced that his long-awaited memoir titled Reggae My Life Is, will be released within a matter of weeks.
The book, which is more than a decade in the making, is the first-ever to be published under the auspices of Downsound Books, the new literary publishing arm of businessman Joe Bogdanovich’s Downsound Entertainment, promoters of Reggae Sumfest.
“I am privileged and honoured that my first book, will be put out on Downsound Music publishers. Joe (had) approached me and said listen you have the stories and you should initiate the launch of my publishing company,” Forbes, who could be described as a walking encyclopedia of Reggae, said.
“So we gonna have a local launch within the next month, and then at Sumfest you will have the book ready, all autographed. And then we go overseas in August to celebrate Jamaica 60 with a book launch in London, and at Rototom Sunsplash where they will host an international book launch of the book and we have put together a showcase to travel with the book launch and it’s headed by Sly Dunbar and the Revolutionaries. And other artistes to come,” the Jones Town native added.
Reggae My Life Is, which is a play on Peter Tosh’s song Reggaemylitis, has been in the making since 2008.
In October that year, Forbes had indicated that the book, which traces his musical career and growth was almost complete, but was being split into two volumes because of the large quantity of information it contained.
The book, which is anticipated to be one of the most insightful literary forays into Jamaican music culture, is expected to provide readers with a unique view into Forbes’s experiences with Reggae icons such as Bob and Rita Marley, Peter Tosh, Dennis Brown, Jimmy Cliff, Bunny Wailer, Gregory Issacs, Chris Blackwell, Mick Jagger, among others.
Forbes had also told The Gleaner newspaper, in 2008, that the publication, which was being ghost-written by Shocking Vibes executive, Clyde McKenzie was going to be “very interesting and unusual” and that he had felt compelled to write the book based on his years of experience in the industry.
“It’s going to be like an encyclopaedia, like a referral so that people in the industry can find out info about artistes and their history, how to negotiate contracts and the types of structure that we need in the industry to be successful. It will also show what can happen if you don’t do it the right way,” he had explained at the time.
He had also said that there was a strong a possibility that a movie would be filmed based on the book, as he had already received two offers.
Forbes’ sojourn within the Jamaican music industry has been described as “long and colourful”.
He entered the music industry at age 16 years old, as part of The Harmonicats and then formed the Coasters, a vocal and dance group in 1967, which went on to tour the United States and Canada.
He became the lead singer of the Mighty Mistic band later on and toured with the group for several years.
His biggest break came when he entered the amateur competitions at the Apollo Theatre in New York, and met American singer Johnny Nash, who asked him to be a dancer on the popular Soul Train, which he did for a few years.
Forbes’ shelved his performing career when he got his first real managerial opportunity in 1972 as the road manager for The Wailers.
Three years later in 1975 he managed The Mighty Diamonds, and later became personal assistant, then became road manager, tour manager and, eventually manager of Reggae legend Peter Tosh, which he described as one of his greatest experiences.
Forbes went on to manage Jimmy Cliff, Black Uhuru, Sly and Robbie, Third World, Dennis Brown, U-Roy, Marcia Griffiths, Frankie Paul, Morgan Heritage, I-Three and Luciano.
He was also tour manager for many other huge names in Reggae, including Sizzla Kalonji, Ziggy Marley, Andrew Tosh, Freddie McGregor, Beres Hammond, Chaka Demus and Pliers, Junior Reid, Sugar Minott, Mutabaruka, Half Pint and Maxi Priest.