The decades-old tapes sat in a cardboard box in the basement of a London hotel for years, enduring water-damage and growing mold.
They were almost sent to the dump. Then, someone realized what they were: 13 original recordings by Bob Marley and the Wailers.
No one seems to knows exactly how the tapes got there, but it’s expected they will fetch more than $87,000 each at auction in Liverpool later this month.
Bob Marley and the Wailers rose to fame in the 1970s with hits like “One Love,” Could You Be Loved” and “Three Little Birds.” The group sold more than 75 million records.
Marley died 38 years ago Saturday, from melanoma. He was just 36. Interest in his music never wavered.
The master tapes, found two years ago, have been meticulously restored. They were produced in the 1970s in London and Paris and include songs like “No Woman No Cry.”
The mobile studio on which they were recorded on was loaned to Marley by the Rolling Stones. It was the only one of its kind in the United Kingdom. Now, it’s is on display at the National Music Centre in Calgary.
Jason Tawkin, who works with the music centre, says it’s a “very cool” piece of history for the public to be able to see.
“It’s one of the first professional mobile studios and it did some historically significant music recordings,” he said.
