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Bob Marley's story has been told many times with many different versions of events.
The Life of Bob Marley, a show by reggae journalist and historian, and Marley expert, Roger Steffens, aims to separate fact from fiction and give an insight into the life of one of music's most influential figures.
"There's so many people who believe the CIA killed him, or that he died from smoking marijuana, and I try to address all those things," says Steffens, who became good friends with Marley in the late 70s.
The show, in Auckland on Saturday at MAINZ in Victoria St West, features Steffens' rare and unreleased film as well as his observations and stories about the king of reggae.
This guy is a collector nut: his reggae archive, including the largest collection of Marley memorabilia in the world, covers six rooms of his house.
New York-born Steffens got into rock'n'roll in the 50s, then in the 60s he loved the consciousness of Bob Dylan's music. By the early 70s, he says, rock'n'roll had splintered into many different forms and it had lost its passion and heart.
Then he heard Marley's 1973 album, Catch A Fire, which "had the consciousness of the 60s and the melodies and harmonies of the 50s".
"The poetry of Marley got to me more quickly than his music," continues Steffens. "You listen to stuff on Catch A Fire and Bob reduces the horrors of capitalism to a couplet when he says, 'Good God, I think it's illiteracy; It's only a machine that makes money [on Slave Driver]'. I thought, 'Boy, that's as eloquent as anything I've ever heard in music'. The more I heard of him the more I realised this was a unique figure and I wanted to find out everything about him."
Geffens met Marley in 1978 when Wailers guitarist Junior Marvin introduced him backstage at a gig in Santa Cruz, California. He then travelled with Marley for two weeks on the 1979 Survival tour.
Steffens describes Marley as "the most disciplined human being I've ever met".
"That surprises a lot of people when I say that because they think he was stoned all the time. But he was always the first person on the bus ... "
Steffens remembers one occasion on which Marley did a three-hour sound check by himself - playing all the instruments - before a benefit concert for boxer Sugar Ray Robinson's foundation at the Roxy Theatre in Los Angeles.
"He felt it was going to be a very important show, there would be a lot of Hollywood stars and music industry heavies, and he wanted it to be absolutely perfect. That was one extraordinary day, and the last day I saw him."
Steffens also remembers Marley as a quiet and calm person but one whose presence meant he was always the centre of attention.
"Cat Coore, from Third World, says that everywhere he goes in the world today he is judged on the scale of one to Bob Marley. He set the bar so high and made so many definitive statements on the major themes of rasta music."
Steffens has also just released Reggae Scrapbook, a 150-page book done in collaboration with friend and photographer Pete Simons. Rather than charting the history of reggae it is the pair's own reflections on the scene and its players.
It comes with replica copies of Steffen's favourite memorabilia, such as "sticky bud" post cards, posters, and flyers, and a DVD, which includes a 1987 interview with Wailers members conducted in transit from New Zealand to Jamaica.
Plus there's hundreds of Simon's best - mostly unpublished - photos of reggae greats, from Marley and Jimmy Cliff, to Alton Ellis and Lee Scratch Perry.
Who: Roger Steffens, reggae nut and Bob Marley expert
What: The Life of Bob Marley
Where & when: MAINZ, 150 Victoria St West, Auckland. 12pm. Tickets $10.
Book: Reggae Scrapbook, out now.
