Aston Barrett | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Aston Francis Barrett |
| Also known as | Family Man |
| Born | 22 November 1946 Kingston, Jamaica |
| Genres | Reggae |
| Occupation(s) | Songwriter, musician, arranger, record producer |
| Instruments | Bass guitar, guitar, keyboards, percussions |
| Years active | 1962–present |
| Associated acts | |
Aston Francis Barrett (born 22 November 1946), often called "Family Man" or "Fams" for short, is a Jamaican musician and Rastafarian.
Born in Kingston, Jamaica, Aston "Family Man" Barrett was one of the Barrett brothers (the other being the younger brother on drums Carlton "Carly" Barrett) who played with Bob Marley and The Wailers, The Hippy Boys, and Lee Perry's The Upsetters. [1] He was the bandleader of Marley's backing band, as well as co-producer of the albums, and the man in charge of the overall song arrangements. [2]
Kingston is the capital and largest city of Jamaica, located on the southeastern coast of the island. It faces a natural harbour protected by the Palisadoes, a long sand spit which connects the town of Port Royal and the Norman Manley International Airport to the rest of the island. In the Americas, Kingston is the largest predominantly English-speaking city south of the United States.
Carlton "Carly" Barrett was a Jamaican drummer and percussionist. His musical development in the early years was with his brother Aston "Family Man" Barrett as a member of Lee "Scratch" Perry's "house band" The Upsetters. The brothers joined Bob Marley and The Wailers around 1970. He co wrote the well known Bob Marley song "War" and with his brother Aston co-wrote "Talkin' Blues". Carlton Barrett is featured on all the albums recorded by the Wailers. Barrett popularised the one drop rhythm, a percussive drumming style created by Winston Grennan. With Carly's beats and his brother Aston's bass, the Wailer rhythm section planted the seeds of today's international reggae. Barrett was murdered outside his home in Jamaica on 17 April 1987.
Robert Nesta Marley, OM was a Jamaican singer and songwriter. Considered one of the pioneers of reggae, his musical career was marked by blending elements of reggae, ska, and rocksteady, as well as forging a smooth and distinctive vocal and songwriting style. Marley's contributions to music increased the visibility of Jamaican music worldwide, and made him a global figure in popular culture for over a decade.
Barrett continues to tour with and lead The Wailers Band. He has great support from Marley's fan base to this day, despite his legal wrangling with the Marley family.
The Wailers Band are a reggae band formed by the remaining members of Bob Marley & the Wailers, following the death of Bob Marley in 1981.
Barrett was the mentor and teacher of Robbie Shakespeare of the duo Sly & Robbie. [3]
Robert "Robbie" Shakespeare is a Jamaican bass guitarist and record producer, best known as the one half of the reggae rhythm section and production duo Sly and Robbie. Regarded as one of the most influential reggae bassists, Shakespeare is also known for his creative use of electronics and production effects.
In 2012 he received a Lifetime Achievement award from Bass Player magazine. [4]
Bass Player is a magazine for bassists. Each issue offers a variety of artist interviews, lessons, equipment reviews, and a complete transcribed bass line from a popular song. The magazine was founded in 1988 as a spinoff of Guitar Player magazine, with Jim Roberts as its first editor. It began as a regular edition magazine in 1990. The headquarters of the magazine is in San Bruno, California.
Barrett plays a Fender Jazz Bass guitar, Acoustic 370 bass amplifier.
The Jazz Bass is the second model of electric bass created by Leo Fender. It is distinct from the Precision Bass in that its tone is brighter and richer in the midrange and treble with less emphasis on the fundamental frequency. It has a more focused tone than the Precision Bass, with less low end and low midrange. The sound of the Jazz Bass has been fundamental in the development of signature sounds in certain musical genres, such as funk, disco, reggae, blues, progressive rock, heavy metal and jazz fusion. The body shape is also different from the Precision Bass, in that the Precision Bass has a symmetrical lower bout on the body, designed after the Telecaster and Stratocaster lines of guitars, while the Jazz Bass has an offset lower bout, mimicking the design aesthetic of the Jaguar and Jazzmaster guitars.
In 2006 Barrett filed a lawsuit against Island Records, the Wailers' label, seeking £60 million in unpaid royalties allegedly due him and his now deceased brother. The lawsuit was dismissed. [5]
Barrett's "Family Man" nickname came about before he had any children of his own. Aston foresaw his role as a band leader and started to call himself "Family Man". He has fathered 41 children since. [6]
Robbie Shakespeare (Sly & Robbie, who has been estimated to have played bass on 200,000 tracks [7] ):
Ali Campbell (UB40 frontman):
Keith Richards (The Rolling Stones):
Ziggy Marley (Bob Marley's oldest son):
John Lennon (The Beatles, discussing his plans for a comeback album in early 1980 while listening to the album Burnin' ):
Rhythm guitar
Keyboards
Organ
Lead guitar
Guitar
Synthesiser
Percussion
Piano
Melinoco[ clarification needed ]
Bass drum
Horace Swaby, known as Augustus Pablo, was a Jamaican roots reggae and dub record producer, melodica player and keyboardist, active from the 1970s till his death.
Osbourne Ruddock, better known as King Tubby, was a Jamaican sound engineer who greatly influenced the development of dub in the 1960s and 1970s.
East of the River Nile is a 1977 reggae studio album by Jamaican musician Augustus Pablo. A purely instrumental album, East of the River Nile showcases Pablo's skill on the melodica, and various other keyboards. Also featured are studio musicians famous as members of The Wailers, Bob Marley's backing band.
Lloyd James, who is better known as Prince Jammy or King Jammy, is a dub mixer and record producer. He began his musical career as a dub master at King Tubby's recording studio. His dubs were known for their clear sound and use of effects.
King Tubbys Meets Rockers Uptown is a dub studio album by Augustus Pablo and King Tubby, released in 1976. It features Carlton Barrett on drums, Robbie Shakespeare and Aston Barrett on bass guitar, and Earl "Chinna" Smith on guitar. Pablo produced the album and played melodica, piano, organ and clavinet. The album was recorded at Randy's in Kingston, Jamaica. A distinctly different mix of the title song with vocals and dub, titled "Baby I Love You So", can be found on the Jacob Miller and Augustus Pablo 1975 album, Who Say Jah No Dread.
Heartbeat Records is an independent record label based in Burlington, Massachusetts. The label specializes in Jamaican music.
Blood and Fire is a British reggae record label specialising in reissues of 1970s dub.
Pressure Sounds is a British DIY record label, specializing in releasing reggae music. Run by Pete Holdsworth, it is one of the most enduring reggae labels in the UK, specializing in reissuing obsolete tunes. It was originally a subsidiary of On-U Sound.
Culture Press is an independent record label from UK specialized in Jamaican music.
Harry Zephaniah Johnson, known by the stage name Harry J, was a Jamaican reggae record producer.
Tommy McCook was a Jamaican saxophonist. A founding member of The Skatalites, he also directed The Supersonics for Duke Reid, and backed many sessions for Bunny Lee or with The Revolutionaries at Channel One Studios in the 1970s.
The Aggrovators were a dub/reggae backing band in the 1970s and 1980s, and one of the main session bands of producer Bunny Lee. The line-up varied, with Lee using the name for whichever set of musicians he was using at any time. The band's name derived from the record shop that Lee had run in the late 1960s, Agro Sounds. Alumni of the band included many musicians who later went on to make names for themselves in reggae music. Legends such as Jackie Mittoo, Sly and Robbie, Tommy McCook, and Aston Barrett were all involved with the band at one point or another. Other regular members included Carlton "Santa" Davis, Earl "Chinna" Smith, George "Fully" Fullwood, Ansel Collins, Bernard "Touter" Harvey, Tony Chin, Bobby Ellis, and Vin Gordon. The band recorded Lee's most popular output from the 1970s, with the instrumental B-sides of Lee's single releases on the Jackpot and Justice labels generally credited to The Aggrovators and mixed by King Tubby.
One drop rhythm is a reggae style drum beat.
This article contains the discography of reggae artist Burning Spear.
Earl Wilberforce "Wire" Lindo, sometimes referred to as Wya, was a Jamaican reggae musician. He was a member of Bob Marley and the Wailers and collaborated with numerous reggae artists including Burning Spear.
Earl "Chinna" Smith, a.k.a. Earl Flute and Melchezidek the High Priest, is a Jamaican guitarist active since the late 1960s. He is most well known for his work with the Soul Syndicate band and has recorded with many reggae artists, appearing on more than 500 albums.
Carlton "Santa" Davis is a musician from Jamaica, primarily known for his drumming with bands such as Bob Marley & The Wailers, The Aggrovators, Soul Syndicate and Roots Radics. He has worked with reggae artists such as Jimmy Cliff, Black Uhuru, Burning Spear, Big Youth, The Wailers, Peter Tosh, Andrew Tosh, Wailing Souls, Ini Kamoze, Big Mountain, Michael Rose, and Ziggy Marley.
Delroy Washington is a Jamaican-British reggae singer best known for his releases for Virgin Records in the late 1970s.
Midnight Raver is a website dedicated solely to the promotion and preservation of roots reggae, culture, and dub. Contributors include authors and journalists, historians, record producers, broadcasters, lecturers, archivists, collectors and publishers.
