Tuff Gong Studios; Home Of So Many Classics

Tuff Gong International, which was founded by Bob Marley in 1965, moved to the offices at 220 Marcus Garvey Drive, which was previously known as Federal Records, where Bob and Rita used to record before he died. According to Norman 'Bulpus' Bryan, Tuff Gong International's product and sales manager, Rita Marley bought Federal Records after Bob's death and made it Tuff Gong International's base.

It was at this studio that Bob Marley recorded classic cuts No Woman No Cry, Trench Town Rock, Stir It Up, Concrete Jungle, Redemption Song, Buffalo Soldier and Could You Be Loved, just to name a few. Since its inception, Bob Marley and Tuff Gong International have sold millions of records and continue to do so to this day.

Well kept, vibrant and obviously in constant use, the studio combines touches of the modern age with a feel for the old but the beauty in the Tuff Gong studios is the fact that its different from others in that you come here with a talent for singing and can leave with an entire record - made and distributed.

From the studio where you voice and record it into the Gong mastering and digital audio building. According to Bryan, this is where you bring your sound to be edited, mastered and fine-tuned. Engineers were on the job making records for promotional processes.

From there, it is on to where the vinyl records (still a hot commodity in Japan and Europe), cassettes and stamps for the records were made. With the rumblings of the various machines, the process is almost complete. At the record store that is also by the studio, there are posters of local artistes as far as the eye can see.

Tuff Gong International is the distributor for Universal Records in the Caribbean. As such, there are many albums on sale from artistes across the globe, along with local artistes.

Buzzing with a sense of purpose, Tuff Gong Studio remains a symbol of clean and pure music.