Photographer Reveals the Stories Behind Iconic 1977 Bob Marley Photos: ‘One Love’ (Exclusive)

For photographer Kate Simon, going to Europe with Bob Marley and the Wailers on their 1977 tour feels like yesterday, even though it was more than 40 years ago.

“I was covering Bob’s performance at the Lyceum in London for the paper when a friend introduced us afterwards,” recalls Simon of her first encounter with the reggae legend. “I had a good relationship with him from the beginning. You can’t define what makes good chemistry, but we had good chemistry.”

Marley later invited Simon to Jamaica to record the iconic cover for his Kaya album, which is why he asked her to join him and the Wailers on their 1977 European tour. These pictures are part of Simons book, Rebel music: Bob Marley & Roots Reggae, which was re-released on November 7 and features images of the artist and previously unheard stories from those who knew him best.

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Looking back on Marley, who died of melanoma in 1981 at age 36, Simon tells PEOPLE that “he was just so beautiful. Everyone wanted to be around Bob.”

“He was soft-spoken and very disciplined. He would always be the first on the tour bus and at the sound check before the show. He was very serious about his music and everyone around him.”

Marley also had a goofy side.

“I had brothers and he screwed me over,” Simons says. “And between performances he would always play football or ride a bike. He liked to be active. And he was extremely intelligent. He was a real teacher, someone who taught about love, but also how to fight for your rights. I think that’s why his music lasted so long. He sang about these great universal thoughts, feelings and ideas.”

Below, Simon explains what went on behind the six iconic images featured in her re-released photo book.

Bob Marley.

Kate Simon

“This was filmed in Germany,” says Simon. “The Wailers had just finished their sound check—they always used ‘Jammin’ for their sound check. It was in this great huge hall, and whenever there was free time, Bob and Gilly, his cook, and Neville, the art director, they “we’d all be playing football.” She adds: “I just love that picture because I was shooting film, this was before digital, so it was pretty good to shoot football in the air.”

Bob Marley.

Kate Simon

“Bob liked to sit alone on the tour bus, usually with his guitar,” Simon says of the recording. “I love this one because he gives me really good, direct eye contact. I feel like he’s really present in that picture. That’s just Bob. On the tour bus, he’d be really reflective, and even in airports, he’d be reading the Bible. She was it’s just a little travel Bible. He would often talk about interdependence and humanity.”

Bob Marley.

Kate Simon

“When I first met Bob, he was such a joker,” says Simons. “Only when he was working was he really serious and focused. It was at the beginning of the Exodus European tour, and we were in Brussels. He was out on the balcony of the hotel. I can’t say what he was thinking in particular, but I remember said it would be fine if I took all his photos. So that was the start of the tour, and it was a really auspicious start.”

He adds that the fans mostly left the singer alone. “Bob was packing massive venues in Europe, but offstage he’d be playing football and riding his bike and maybe a few kids would ask for an autograph, but it wasn’t like it is now. The publicity era became a much, much bigger thing.”

Bob Marley.

Kate Simon

“This was it Kaya cover,” recalls Simon. “It’s a really famous image. When I go to Jamaica, I see it on billboards, I see it on handbags. I’m always happy to see that. We did that before the Exodus tour. I flew into Kingston from London and stayed at the Sheraton, and I competed in the breaststroke with Chris Blackwell, I was a competitive swimmer, and Chris was really good. It was really watery. So he won. I got out of the pool and there was Bob, sitting at the pool table, and I took my camera and took a picture of him in my bathing suit. I think that laugh was his response to my breaststroke defeat.”

Bob Marley.

Kate Simon

“This picture is interesting because he has that cushion on his toe,” says Simons. “He had some kind of accident in Paris, someone hurt him while playing soccer. He was a really enthusiastic athlete. When I took this picture I didn’t notice it, but now we know it wasn’t cool that he had this on his toe. I think they told him he had a cancerous melanoma there and I think that was the source of his cancer. It looked like he was asleep, but his eyes were open. It was just a moment of contemplation.”

Bob Marley.

Kate Simon

“Bob always wore the same denim top and jeans every day, or sweatpants when he practiced. And then he had a green khaki jacket. That was his full wardrobe, but he always looked really put together. This was getting backstage ready to go on, I forget where but we did it all on this tour. Paris, Brussels, Heidelberg, Hamburg, Berlin, Munich, Gothenburg and Stockholm and then London for five days. Just before he went on stage he smoked plant, and I don’t know how they did it, but it was a sacrament for him and it obviously gave him energy.”

As for what Simon would most like people to remember about the man she was proud to call her friend?

“Just remember that he preached interdependence. As Bob would say, ‘When it rains, it doesn’t rain on one man’s house.’ We should all be in this life together and have one love.”

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Source: HIS Education