A Poet and a Prophet, Not a Prostitute (part 2)

from the NY Daily News:

"No quantity of sacred herb is likely to pacify Bob Marley's heirs now that they've vowed to stop a plan to turn the reggae legend's freedom songs into ringtones. Bob's daughter, Cedella, tells us, Universal Music 'went behind our back' in giving Verizon Wireless exclusive rights to her father's music. She also charges that the record giant also 'released a compilation of early [Marley] recordings without our knowledge.' Family adviser Chris Blackwell, who'd been in talks with Verizon, adds: 'I'm infuriated. The deal is totally out of order.' A Universal rep calls the dirty-dealing claims 'meritless.'"

Now, as we stated before, we suspect the problem is due to the Marley family not being financially rewarded as amply as they'd like from the Universal/Verizon deal, not the deal itself. If not, why is Chris Blackwell--legendary founder of Island Records who signed Bob Marley to the label in 1971 and produced all of the reggae icon's output with Island--"in talks with Verizon"? Stay tuned.