Photos, fun and fights with Tosh

Melville Cooke, Gleaner Writer

Everyone who encountered Peter Tosh, it seems, has a story about the late Stepping Razor. And so does Gary Neita, who went through the cycle of photographing Tosh in performance, having fun with his music - and having a good old cuss out with the singer also dubbed the Bush Doctor.

"My standout experiences from those times, apart from interviewing singers and musicians - some of who have become legends - would be getting to know Tosh. He was an unforgettable character," said Neita.

"We developed a good professional relationship when I was an amateur photographer. I don't know what he did with them, but he bought a lot of the photos I took of him."

Tosh was not, of course, his only subject. Armed with his camera and able to open doors with his credentials, Neita built up a stock of images. He tells The Gleaner, "I was an amateur photographer and with my press pass I could go backstage and photograph stage shows. I built up a good personal collection - Reggae Sunsplash, Superjam, World Music Festival, Peace Concert - a lot of those shows. Somehow, Peter Tosh heard that I had concert photos of him and he asked to meet me. He seemed to like what he saw, bought all of them and I started shooting and selling more to him over a few years."

However, one particularly interesting photograph led to their falling out. Neita says, "There was one in particular from his last Sunsplash performance and he insisted he wanted to use it for his upcoming World Tour. A flock of white doves had roosted in the lighting truss all night. He took the stage as the sun was coming up that morning. The birds flew up just as I took the shot and he was holding out an Ethiopian Cross. He loved it. He said he wanted it for the main artwork for the tour but I had no idea what to charge him."

He got a price abroad. "I went to Holland for a couple months around that time. I showed a professional photographer there and he suggested $2,000," Neita said. That may look like small change now, but Neita put the cash in context, saying, "Remember, in the '80s you could buy a decent car for that kind of money."

selling price

So he says, "Peter called me when got I back and I went to see him. When I gave him my price he let me have a string of bad words. So I cussed back two and walked out with my photo."

It was not the end of their connection, though, as "About three weeks later, I saw him on Half-Way Tree Road across from JBC. He flagged me down like nothing had happened and asked me to come and photograph him at Kingsley Coopers' Reggae Super Jam concert that weekend. He introduced his M16 guitar at the show. This was '83 and it would be his last local performance but, of course, no one knew that. I remember he had a very, very bad cold that night and could barely introduce the songs. But somehow the voice was perfect when he sang. They say it was his greatest performance and I believe it. I still have the prints I took at the show."

Summing up Tosh, Neita said he was "a very interesting guy and I still don't know if I can believe half of what he told me about his mystical experiences touring Africa and the things he said he had seen. But both Culture (Joseph Hill) and Burning Spear have told me very similar things about their own experiences in Africa, so who knows?"