ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, January 28, 1997 TAG: 9701280077
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: KINGSTON, JAMAICA
TYPE: NEWS OBIT
SOURCE: Associated Press
Leroy Gaston ``Papa Roy'' Anderson, the musician who made reggae great Bob Marley his first guitar and taught him how to play it, has died at age 76.
Anderson, the father of Marley's wife, singer Rita Marley, died Jan. 18 at Rita Marley's home in Kingston.
Born in Jamaica, Anderson was best known in Europe, where he spent most of his adult life and where his African roots-style guitar gained a strong following. He retired from the concert circuit a few years ago and moved back to Kingston.
Anderson ``was a musical force and the root of the musical background of not only Rita Marley but Bob Marley as well,'' Rita Marley was quoted as saying in the Sunday Herald. She was in Africa when her father died, local newspapers reported.
She said her father taught Marley to play guitar and had made him his first guitar.
Rita Marley's soul trio, the I-Threes, often accompanied her husband's reggae band, Bob Marley and the Wailers. She continued performing after Marley died of brain cancer in 1981.
Anderson's three other daughters were popular singers on the European circuit too.
Anderson also is survived by four sons, 11 grandchildren and 15 great-grandchildren.
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