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Aston Barrett

#21
Fams has used primarily Fender Jazzes, but there is a pic on TB of him with a Hohner BBass (4-string). Met and spoke with him briefly and is a very pleasant man. At the time he was also supposedly working with Fender on a signature bass, but I have not heard about it since. I've seen him a couple times since then and he was using an Ampeg rig both times.
One of the most important things about Fams is that he is able to get his sound and mix regardless of what he uses. While I'm sure there is a minimum level of what he would play thru, the typical Jamaican bassist is going to use what is available. Fenders are popular for reggae true, but if you go home now, you'll more of everything else BUT Fenders.
I agree with the comment on the vocal element - his playing is very tasteful and musical.
Other bassists that have played on Bob's albums include if I'm not mistaken, George "Fully" Fullwood (electric era) and Cluette Johnson, who was bass player (acoustic) for the Skatalites..
 
#23
Also a huge Family Man fan.

I got to meet my biggest bass hero from my old reggae/rocksteady band days, Fully Fullwood, and it was a great moment.

Fully played on alot of The Ethiopians material, and they as a group were my biggest influence. He was touched that so many of us still love what he called "the ol-time reggae". :D
 
#24
While I don't actually play much reggae music myself (more of a rock player) I would still list Ashton Barret as one of my biggest influences. The way he dances around the beat (ahead or behind it), the syncopation, the note choices, the tone -- all of these were a big education for me. There's something so *primal* about his bass lines. He really demonstrates what the bass is all about.

One of my favorites is Sun is Shining, from Kaya.
 
#25
Gearhead43 said:
Also a huge Family Man fan.

I got to meet my biggest bass hero from my old reggae/rocksteady band days, Fully Fullwood, and it was a great moment.

Fully played on alot of The Ethiopians material, and they as a group were my biggest influence. He was touched that so many of us still love what he called "the ol-time reggae". :D
Click to expand...

Fully is very cool. I did a gig with a local band back in '05 IIRC (Jah Daniel in the Lion's Den) and we opened for Mikey Dread (R.I.P.) who had Fully, Tony Chin (guitar), Jawge Hughes (keys) and the legendary Scientist mixing. My bass has never sounded that good in FOH since!! We opened two shows and the second show, Fully's cord crapped out in a song. I was watching him and threw him mine. The band just went into a "riddim", he plugged in and dropped in just perfectly. Very cool person. Not trying to jack the thread. Sorry! :D
 
#31
Lichtaffen said:
Thanks for the education, One Drop. You said it well.

Ah, Switzerland. Sounds like a great place to be. Any graphic design gigs for out there an English speaking guy?
Click to expand...

Coincidentally, one of my bandmates is an Australian graphic designer as well. he does okay finding freelance jobs here, but this is a ski town with a lot of English speaking residents and visitors. He also part owns a glossy local magazine and his own ski company, so he's obviously a guy who creates his own opportunities.

As you can imagine, we get great gig posters out of the deal.

Sorry for the highjack, and Soundbwoy, keep those stories coming!

edited to add:

I just checked out The Waliers' website to see if there will be any dates near me soon, and noticed it has been updated and refreshed somewhat after being mostly dormant for a while.

There is a great clip of them playing Guiltiness, with superb recorded bass tone and extended shots of Fams playing. There is very little quality footage of him playing out there and this is a little gem. You can really see and hear how he coaxes the most out of every note he plays, and his muting is of course a key element:

http://www.wailers.com

I'm always knocked out by the balancing act he performs between heaviness and nuance, fatness and growl, thickness and transparency, etc, in his tone and playing.

I wonder if that is the classic black block and bindings Jazz he played for so long in the '70s? I think he has been recording with it for ages, but it's great that he's taking such an iconic bass on the road, if so. It makes sense as they are featuring the whole Exodus album on their current tour. Whatever it is it sure sounds killer in that clip.

I know a lot of people say it doesn't matter what bass you play, it's all in the fingers, etc, but I've seen him through the era when he played mostly active Deluxe Js, and I really think he sounded better before and now afterwards, having gone back to passive basses. They just seem to fit his organic upright-style tone so much better, FWIW.
 
#34
dmusic148 said:
Check out the album 'Joy and Blues.' Awesome. In particular 'X Marks The Spot.'
Click to expand...

Is Fams playing on that album?

I'd be surprised as he's not exactly chummy with the Marley clan, having recently lost his lawsuit with Rita Marley, who holds the rights to all the old Wailers stuff, and who refuses to give him any credit or money for his work arranging those records and being the de facto musical director for all those Island albums.
 
#36
Family Man has always been an influence to me. His grooves are legendary. I had the greatest opportunity to open up for the Wailers last year here in Tallinn Estonia. And guess what?....... I will have the same opportunity to open up for the Wailers again this year.

To talk with Aston, as I did last year. He's an easy person to talk with. He's a grounded person. Jamaica is proud have Family Man as their son.
The photo was from last year in Tallinn Estonia summer 2008
67889t11hd5bf.jpg

WailersII-1.gif
 
#38
One Drop said:
Is Fams playing on that album?

I'd be surprised as he's not exactly chummy with the Marley clan, having recently lost his lawsuit with Rita Marley, who holds the rights to all the old Wailers stuff, and who refuses to give him any credit or money for his work arranging those records and being the de facto musical director for all those Island albums.
Click to expand...

Rita and Sharon Osborne should hang out.;) I really don't think Bob would have wanted his name licensed to beach towels and everything else Rita has been doing with it lately, and you know he would have wanted his band taken care of. Money changes everything.
 
#39
Plookie said:
Family Man has always been an influence to me. His grooves are legendary. I had the greatest opportunity to open up for the Wailers last year here in Tallinn Estonia. And guess what?....... I will have the same opportunity to open up for the Wailers again this year.

To talk with Aston, as I did last year. He's an easy person to talk with. He's a grounded person. Jamaica is proud have Family Man as their son.
The photo was from last year in Tallinn Estonia summer 2008
67889t11hd5bf.jpg

WailersII-1.gif
Click to expand...


Interesting that Al Anderson would be on this poster, since he has been playing with "TOW-The Original Wailers" with Junior Marvin as the front man and Rohan Reid on bass....The plot thickens (or maybe it's just a photoshop....)
EDIT> It's probably an old picture. Drummie Zeb is in this pic and last I heard, he was not longer playing with them...
Fams on the Hohner BBass! I have the 5-string version..
 

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