DOCUMENTARY DEFTLY DEFINES BOB MARLEY.

Byline: David Kronke TV Critic

Our current expansive fascination with ``world music'' may have evolved without Bob Marley, but there's no denying his intoxicating brand of reggae first instilled popular music fans with a hunger for finding out what was happening beyond our - and England's - shores. And Marley's importance and influence in his native Jamaica took on such profound depth that politicians bent over backward to ally themselves with him, just as the American government was hoping to prevent the island from shifting toward socialism.

Which means that Marley was no ordinary musician, and PBS' ``Rebel Music: The Bob Marley Story'' is no ordinary biographical film, digging much deeper than the usual ``American Masters'' documentary portrait. Not only does it interview the usual group of Marley's former band members and surviving loved ones, but it also speaks to Jamaican political leaders, and unearths a former CIA agent who concedes America might have had an interest in silencing the reggae icon. It also unearths much colorful footage from Jamaica of the musician, and offers plenty of his music: ``One Love,'' ``Redemption Song,'' ``I Shot the Sheriff,'' ``Get Up Stand Up,'' ``No Woman No Cry'' and many of his other great songs (longer excerpts would've been appreciated, though, to give a better sense of his artistry).

Marley was the son of a woman whose white husband disappeared after impregnating her in the Jamaican countryside. She moved to Kingston when he was a child and when Colonialist radio stations were loathe to play local music (curious that ``American Masters'' decided to essay his life, since except for touring, he had little to do with the United States, but let's just be grateful that someone took up the cause and made this film). Bunny Livingston, a former member of Marley's backing band the Wailers, recalls having to threaten local DJs to get their records played, but in the meantime, enormous mobile sound systems drove through the countryside playing island music. Marley's 1963 hit ``Simmer Down,'' ``Rebel Music'' tells us, was recorded one morning, pressed that afternoon and was emanating from sound systems that night.

As in America, young musicians were frequently cheated out of royalties. A particularly colorful record producer, Lee ``Scratch'' Perry, encouraged Marley to pursue a more buoyant sound, then sold ``Soul Rebel'' around the world without the singer-songwriter's consent. It did, however, inspire Island Records' Chris Blackwell to sign Marley, and international stardom was around the corner.

Throughout this time, Marley strove to remain true to his roots: His music was both issue-oriented (wife Rita says, ``Music was his M-16''; band member Al Anderson suggests, ``He was a verbal newspaper'') and faithful to the island faith of Rastafarianism. This didn't prevent him from having mistresses, however (Rita resented, reasonably enough, singing backup on love songs he wrote for other women).

But Marley's stardom created burdens in his homeland. Opposing political factions battled one another in Jamaica with guns; both sides, one socialist and one right-wing, tried to use Marley to influence voters. The Ford White House was determined to prevent the socialists from winning; a former CIA agent is seen here conceding there may have been plans to kill Marley, whose politics were idealistic and perhaps naive.

It was this idealism and naivete that led Marley to believe his music could bring the parties together; he was shot just before a unification concert, but performed anyway. Still, he left for exile in England for a time, where tabloids hounded him as a ``wild man'' and he recorded ``Exodus,'' which Time magazine recently declared the best album of the 20th century. He eventually returned, but cancer claimed Marley's life in 1981 at the age of 36.

``Rebel Music'' portrays Marley as an earnest young man who took his role of prophet seriously - one girlfriend remembers falling way down on his priority list if he had a song to record - but, naturally, was fond of his ganja. Interviewees are impassioned and entertaining and articulate discussing his commitment to his music; surprisingly, Marley himself comes off as fumbling and reticent in archival interviews. Maybe it's because of his belief that ``herb's (marijuana) so good for everything''; maybe it's because, as one paramour puts it, ``He communicated everything through his songs. What more was there to say?''

``REBEL MUSIC: THE BOB MARLEY STORY''

What: ``American Masters'' documentary on the reggae icon.

Where: KCET.

When: 9 tonight; also Sunday.

Our rating: Three and one half stars

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Reggae legend Bob Marley is the subject of a PBS documentary tonight.