Roger Steffens


Roger Steffens is a Brooklyn, New York-born American actor, author, lecturer, editor, reggae archivist, photographer and, producer. He may be best known for his reggae archives, in particular his archives of Bob Marley.
Six rooms of his home in Los Angeles house his archives, which include the world's largest collection of Bob Marley material. Based on these archives Roger lectures internationally with a multi-media presentation called The Life of Bob Marley. His radio career began in New York City in 1961, and was co-host of the award-winning Reggae Beat on KCRW in Los Angeles and was syndicated on 130 stations worldwide in the 1980s.

Early life and education

Raised in Westwood, New Jersey, Steffens graduated in 1960 from Bergen Catholic High School, where he had competed in public speaking competitions.

Photography

Steffens served in Vietnam and spent a year in Morocco before visiting Jamaica for the first time in 1976. He has a large collection of photographs covering his Vietnam service and Jamaican musicians, including many slides which were digitized and released via Instagram in 2013.
In early 2015 the BBC did a report on Steffens' first collection of photographs, "The Family Acid" S_U_N_). The [Sunday New York Times Style and The Observer both featured his photographs. His work has been exhibited at Paris Photo LA and Art Basel.
"The Family Acid presents his often transcendent vision and life as a psychedelic pioneer on the order of Timothy Leary and Hunter S. Thompson beginning with his work in Vietnam and moving through his ever revolving circle of friends and characters made up of Rastas, beatniks, musicians, artists, gonzo journalists, his family, and himself. The portraits, scenes, and freewheeling experimentation with the medium of photography coalesce into a body of work that both parallels and defines the countercultural ethos of Steffens’ generation."

Acting and narrating

Steffens has been involved with a large amount of acting and narration work, both credited and uncredited. He provided narration in The Flight of the Gossamer Condor and the television documentary , and he portrayed Ben Veelchez in Dean Quixote, Daniel Golan in the 1999 film Deterrence, and a radio technician in Rollercoaster. In addition, Steffens has been involved with many other films and television shows in an uncredited role, including Forrest Gump, Ghosts of Mississippi, CHiPS, and Empty Nest.

Radio

Steffens co-hosted Reggae Beat on KCRW from 1979-87, and Reggae Beat International from 1983-87, which was syndicated internationally to 130 stations.
He served as a syndicated weekly contributor from 1993-97 for Planet Reggae on the radio station Groove Radio 103 in Los Angeles. Steffens also worked on several other radio shows, including Offbeat: The Roger Steffens Show, Sound of the Sixties, Morning Goes Makossa, Future Forward, and Poetry For People Who Hate Poetry.
Steffens was named "Most Popular Reggae DJ in the World" by Martin's International Awards in Chicago, 1985, and "One of the Forty Who Matter in L.A." by the Los Angeles Reader.

Music anthologies

Steffens has contributed to countless music anthologies as a writer and photographer. But surely his most important contribution to the reggae legacy is the ten-CD series entitled The Complete Bob Marley & the Wailers 1967 to 1972. Released in 1998-2003, this 220-track series revealed over a hundred rare Bob Marley & the Wailers recordings to the world, including major songs like Selassie Is the Chapel, and many of them previously unreleased, such as Rock to the Rock.

Audio books

Steffens was a reader for the audiobooks Bill Gates' Business @ the Speed of Thought, The Man From St. Petersburg, Big Two Hearted River: The Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway, and Mother Earth Father Sky. He also provided the corporate voice for Time Warner Audio Books from 1996 until 2003.

Stage

Steffens' stage experience includes work with the Pittsburgh Playhouse, Milwaukee Repertory Theater, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, and his one-man show, Poetry for People Who Hate Poetry which was performed to over two million people from 1966 to 1976 and was used as the basis of TV series 1968-69 Armed Forces Vietnam Network.

Interviewee, advisor or content provider

Steffens has been interviewed and served as an advisor on many television programs, including American Masters three times, VH1's Behind the Music four times, VH1 Confidential: Tosh & Marley, VH1 Ultimate Albums: Bob Marely's Legend, Stand And Be Counted, The Voice on Channel Four, and Soul Britainia on the BBC.

Author or Coauthor