Aston "Family Man" Barrett on playing reggae bass for Bob Marley and Peter Tosh

[JasO]

I've always loved Bob Marley's music. A few weeks ago, the Wailers played my hometown of Ann Arbor, and I had an opportunity to sit down for an hour with Aston "Family Man" Barrett, who played bass on virtually everything Bob released from the early 1970s through his death. Family Man also played bass on most of the great Peter Tosh recordings, as well as for a who's-who of classic Jamaican reggae.

He was in a very talkative mood, and luckily I brought along a student of mine who speaks rastafari and was able to serve as an interpreter as needed. I loved hearing Barrett's recollections of how he began on a one-string bass, then played a series of rented basses until he could afford his trademark Fender Jazz Bass.

Family Man doubles on many other instruments, so I asked him why the bass is his favorite. "Because the drum, it is the heartbeat, and the bass, it is the backbone," he answered. "So if the drummer is not right, the music is gonna have a bad heart. And if the bass is not right, the music is gonna have a bad back, so it would be crippled." Until the 1970s, he went on to say about the role of bass and drums in American music, "They used to hide it. You’d have violins and voices and ching-ching-ching and a horn section, and the drums was way back. So we says, no. Reggae music, it is the heartbeat of the people. It is the universal language what carry the message of roots, culture, and reality."

Early on, he figured out a way to get a better bass sound on record: "I had a little Fender amp, one at the time. They used two 6L6 output tubes, but they blow so often, so I took out the 6L6 what make the Fender circuit and I use two KT66. So when I put in that tube, it doesn’t get red and burn out. And that make it punch more smoother."

How does he view his role as a bass player? "I love singing also, but I don’t practice my vocal for that. So when I’m playing the bass, it’s like I am singing baritone, so I create a melodic line each time."

Anyway, Family Man had a lot more to say about his instrument, his music, and his friends Bob Marley and Peter Tosh. If you'd like to see the complete conversation, I've posted it here: Aston "Family Man" Barrett: A New Interview About Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, and The Wailers

[StrangerDanger]

Very cool.

+1

[DubSound]

That's awesome man, his basslines are what got me into reggae music

[Budder84]

+1 great interview

[Deluge Of Sound]

Fantastic link!

[RCCollins]

I'm not that big on Bob Marley but DANG Aston has always been a badass cat!

[bass12]

That's really cool. "Rastafari", however, is not a language!

[JasO]

"That's really cool. "Rastafari", however, is not a language!"

It's not a language on its own, but it is one of the most ideosyncratic dialects in the entire English language. And it's a good thing I brought Chewy Frazier along to interpret -- several times I asked Family Man a question, only to be met with a blank stare. Then Chewy would repeat my question, nearly word for word, in that distinctive accent, and Family Man would know exactly what he said. It was almost comic. And when Family Man answered me directly, he used the word "man." When speaking to Chewy, it was always "mon." I've always been good with accents, but without Chewy's help, I would have been unable to transcribe a good 40% of the interview. Rasta-speak is far more difficult to interpret than even the thickest Southern accents, like John Lee Hooker's, or the lyrics I've transcribed off of the prewar blues 78s by Blind Lemon Jefferson, Son House, Blind Willie McTell, Calvin Fraser, and all those Atlanta guys.

[Spino]

Cool interview and funny..... Yeahmon !

[bass12]

Originally Posted by JasO

"That's really cool. "Rastafari", however, is not a language!"

It's not a language on its own, but it is one of the most ideosyncratic dialects in the entire English language. And it's a good thing I brought Chewy Frazier along to interpret -- several times I asked Family Man a question, only to be met with a blank stare. Then Chewy would repeat my question, nearly word for word, in that distinctive accent, and Family Man would know exactly what he said. It was almost comic. And when Family Man answered me directly, he used the word "man." When speaking to Chewy, it was always "mon." I've always been good with accents, but without Chewy's help, I would have been unable to transcribe a good 40% of the interview. Rasta-speak is far more difficult to interpret than even the thickest Southern accents, like John Lee Hooker's, or the lyrics I've transcribed off of the prewar blues 78s by Blind Lemon Jefferson, Son House, Blind Willie McTell, Calvin Fraser, and all those Atlanta guys.

It's called "patois" (not at all restricted to rastas) and, yes, it can be very difficult to understand if you're not from Jamaica!

[Sounbwoy]

Yuh lucky mi neva BLAZE yuh fi seh dat..speaking "Rastafari"! Still a good article.

[doktorfeelgood]

Great interview...Thanks for that. I will agree with the "rastafar-I" speak.
I lived in Bermuda in the 60's and they spoke a similar style to Jamaican which was a LITTLE bit easier to understand after I heard it steady for a couple of weeks. But there were a fair share of Jamaicans there as well and you needed an interpreter to understand those guys. Not only was it "thick", but they spoke very fast, mon, and good luck gettin' any of dat. )-(

[bassobrutto]

Priceless interview, thanks very much. But, man, father of 42 kids. "Neighborhood Man," more like.

[kesslari]

Great interview. Thanks.

[One Drop]

Thanks very much for this, nice job.

He's by far my biggest inspiration on bass, a truly great musician.

[Joshua]

Outstanding!

[Lazylion]

Hey Jas, welcome to TalkBass! And thanks for this interview, and all the many other informative and interesting pieces you've written over the years! I'm a fan.

[The Lurker]

Originally Posted by JasO

"That's really cool. "Rastafari", however, is not a language!"

It's not a language on its own, but it is one of the most ideosyncratic dialects in the entire English language. And it's a good thing I brought Chewy Frazier along to interpret -- several times I asked Family Man a question, only to be met with a blank stare. Then Chewy would repeat my question, nearly word for word, in that distinctive accent, and Family Man would know exactly what he said. It was almost comic. And when Family Man answered me directly, he used the word "man." When speaking to Chewy, it was always "mon." I've always been good with accents, but without Chewy's help, I would have been unable to transcribe a good 40% of the interview. Rasta-speak is far more difficult to interpret than even the thickest Southern accents, like John Lee Hooker's, or the lyrics I've transcribed off of the prewar blues 78s by Blind Lemon Jefferson, Son House, Blind Willie McTell, Calvin Fraser, and all those Atlanta guys.

I was in a meeting last year with a couple guys from Texas with real thick accents, and a Scot with a brogue as thick as peat.... between accents and vocabulary, none of them could understand what the other way saying!

Good interview, though!

[Jerry Ziarko]

Originally Posted by Joshua

Outstanding!

Yes sir!!!!!!!!!

[pbass888]

great interview . i understand a bit of dominican patois and creole living down here in the south but have to stretch and i love this interview.Thankyou

ps first song i learned way back was one drop... still a great bass line