Neville Garrick, the Jamaican-born and UCLA-educated graphic artist, photographer, backdrop painter and LD who provided visual accompaniment to reggae icon Bob Marley’s music, died Nov. 14, 2023 at age 73 “after a brief but brave fight with cancer,” family members noted in a statement.
“This brilliant and creative artist created many memorable album covers, logos, and works of art for Bob Marley and The Wailers,” read a statement from the Bob Marley Museum, which Neville co-founded in 1986. “He often traveled with Bob and remained a close and supportive friend of the Marley family for many decades.”
Born in Jamaica on July 28, 1950, Garrick studied at Jamaica’s Kingston College before enrolling at UCLA, where he was a member of the men’s soccer team, which reached the NCAA finals in 1971 and 1972. He moved back to Jamaica and served as art director for the Jamaica Daily News in 1973-74.
After Neville worked on a five-page spread devoted to Marley’s music, Neville’s interest in the Rastafari movement was piqued, and Neville resigned his position at the newspaper to work as art director for Marley’s Tuff Gong record label. There, he created cover art for Marley’s Rastaman Vibration (1976), Exodus (1977), Uprising (1980) and Confrontation (1983) album releases and also provided visuals for Bob Marley and the Wailers’ live shows.
“I just saw lighting as being another way to paint. It was like a new set of paintbrushes and paints for me,” Neville told PLSN in 2019. “It was an extension of my artistic outlook because I never went to lighting school, I was never trained in lighting.”
Along with album covers and stage backdrops that have been credited as a definitive representation of the reggae genre, Neville’s graphic and painting designs continued after Marley’s death in 1981. Neville also worked with an array of other reggae performers including Peter Tosh, Bunny Wailer and Jimmy Cliff while also working with the Reggae Sunsplash festival and other live events.
Neville authored a book, A Rasta’s Pilgrimage: Ethiopian Faces and Places, in 1999 and co-produced a documentary film, Time Will Tell, which featured Marley’s music and taped interviews along with discussions about the growing popularity of reggae music with Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer, in 1992.
Garrick, who married Colette Thompson in 1980 and divorced in 1997, is survived by a son, a daughter and stepson. Shortly before his death, he served as an advisor to One Love, a biopic of Bob Marley that is being produced by Marley’s eldest son Ziggy, which is expected to be released in 2024.
Garrick’s son, Nesta, has followed in his father’s footsteps as a graphic and lighting designer, illustrating and illuminating performances by Bob Marley’s sons Damian and Stephen, among others.
For more details, see “Like Father, Like Son” by Angela Marlett, published in PLSN’s March 2019 issue.
