This is Fresh Air. I'm Terry Gross.

The album that introduced Bob Marley and the Whalers to the US and the UK, Catcher Fire,

was produced by my guest Chris Blackwell for his record label, Island Records.

The second Whalers album Blackwell released, Burning, included this anthem.

Blackwell and Marley continued to work together until Marley's death.

Chris Blackwell was an executive producer of the film The Harder They Come and released the soundtrack

with a now classic title song by the film Star Jimmy Cliff.

But that's just one side of the music Blackwell was behind.

His label recorded U2, Grace Jones, Tom Waits, Roxy Music, Steve Winwood, Kat Stevens,

The B-52s, and many more.

He also founded the film production company, Island Alive, which made the films,

Koyana Scotzie, Mona Lisa, Kiss of the Spider Woman, and the Tucking Heads Concert films stop making sense.

Even before he got into the music business, Blackwell had a fascinating life.

He grew up in Jamaica, where his mother was close friends with Ian Fleming, who wrote the James Bond books,

the great songwriter Noel Coward, and the movie star, Errol Flynn.

Blackwell knew these men and worked as a scout and production assistant on the early Bond film, Dr. No.

Chris Blackwell has written a new memoir called The Islander, My Life in Music and Beyond.

Chris Blackwell, welcome to Fresh Air. It's a pleasure to have you on our show,

and thank you for all the wonderful music that you've released over the decades.

You grew up in Jamaica, you scouted Island music. How did you first hear Bob Marley in the Oilers?

It was in the early 60s. He had started and was produced by a well-known Jamaican producer called Leaperry,

who is really a brilliant guy. That's the person who first started recording him.

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