THE ARCHITECT OF REGGAE

Referred to as the ‘riddim’ in Jamaica, the drum and base lines of reggae play a central role in the unique pulse of the music style. With its thick and heavy sound, the base provides a pulsing backdrop for lyrics touching on social, political or religious issues such as anti-racism and Rastafari beliefs, while portraying the cool vibe which continues to magically attract people from all over the globe. Few have been more significant to the development of the reggae beat than Aston Barrett, the bass player from Bob Marley’s original backing band The Wailers. Recognized as one of the worlds’ best bass guitar virtuosos, the famous musician who goes by the nickname “Family Man” took us on a fascinating time-travel during his recent visit to Kingston, beginning with the baby steps of reggae.

While the bass guitar typically provides the chord sequence and establishes the beat of a song, the melodic bass line with which Family Man rocks his melodies is one of the most unique pulsations known to reggae. His beat is so catchy that it has been known to steal the limelight from the typically dominant lead guitar, a fact can be easily detected in Bob Marley’s world-renowned Stir It Up and Could You Be Loved, songs which make even a layman understand why this talented musician has been appropriately named the “Architect of Reggae.”

In person, this maestro of music will surprise you with his deep, melodic bass voice and his pleasant, humble persona. Family Man has come a long way since the days he was tinkering on a plywood cutout completed with a curtain rod to make a one string bass guitar. Dreaming of the Fender bass in the window of the “Music Mart” he would pass on his way to work as an apprentice welder, it soon became his goal to possess his very own bass guitar. But not in his wildest fantasies could he have imagined the kind of journey life had in store for him. Some 50 years later, Fender Musical Instruments Corporation specially creates a Family Man signature bass guitar, which is meticulously tested and tweaked by the genius until he finds it satisfactory.

Born in Kingston in 1946, Family Man was still a teenager when Jamaica was going through its transition from British rule to independence in 1962. The island nation was developing in new directions and “Fams”, as he is affectionately called by his closest friends, felt strongly drawn to the music scene. Leaving school early, he joined the Jamaica Youth Corps in the countryside of Manchester parish to stay out of trouble. As the story goes, he met a few other boys and formed the “Drive-In Cracker Boys.” Some homemade recordings were about as good as it got, but importantly, Family Man got his first formal piano, bass and guitar lessons and was exposed to the art of telling a story through music. Remembers the guitarist, “I hated not being able to join the intellectual conversations. Through music, I finally found a way to express myself.”

Family Man has vivid memories of the black, green and gold of the new Jamaican flag displayed all over the city upon his return to Kingston immediately after independence was declared. “It was a time of change and hope,” he says. In Kingston, the music scene was exploding. Influenced by African, Caribbean and American rhythms, the 1960’s melange of pulses evolved into the popular, slower phenomena of ‘Ska’ and ‘Rocksteady’, the forerunners of the music genre that was to become one of Jamaica’s most famous exports: Reggae.

In the capital, rhythms and melodies could be found around every street corner, and the musical talent also reached into the Barrett home. Recalls Family Man, “My grandfather played many instruments and my father was good on the harmonica.” Growing up in the middle of a veritable music revolution and the euphoria of the country’s newly gained independence would greatly influence Barrett.

Together with his younger brother Carly, who was similarly infected by the music bug, the brothers would collect various sizes of paint buckets and pieces of aloy from the streets, which they nailed to a board so that Carly would have a cymbal to whack. And so, “The Hippy Boys” duo was born and by late 1967, the Barrett brothers were practicing hard to develop their own, original techniques on drums and bass guitar. Reminisces Family Man, “Back in those days, people were listening to American music and we got our inspiration from the Bee Gees, James Brown and Elvis Presley, just to name a few.” Perhaps this is where Fams acquired his illustrious musical versatility from.

Not too many years later, the two brothers were to give Bob Marley and The Wailers the unique sound and beat which was to make the band world famous. In 1969, Family Man and Carly were lured away from Lee Perry’s “Upsetters” to join Bob Marley, Bunny Wailer and Peter Tosh, and the two were able to contribute their special touch. Says Family Man, “We were the drum and the bass; the ‘heartbeat’ and ‘backbone’ of reggae.”

Belting out reggae hymns such as Lively Up Yourself, Trenchtown Rock, Duppy Conqueror and many more, Bob Marley & The Wailers was signed by music promoter Chris Blackwell of Island Records in 1971, but it was not until Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer left the band three years later that Fams and Carly became official Wailers on Marley’s international breakthrough album Natty Dread. Together with band members Junior Marvin and Al Anderson on lead guitars, Tyrone Downie and Earl ‘Wya’ Lindo on keyboards and Alvin ‘Seeco’ Patterson on percussion, the two brothers formed the most prominent constellation of The Wailers, performing with “I Three” backup singers; Judy Mowatt, Marcia Griffith and Bob’s wife Rita Marley.

Some say that Bob Marley would not have gotten the title “King of Reggae” without the original Wailers and their unique beat. However, the various incarnations of the band has been recognized internationally for their talent and long standing contribution to reggae music. To this day, the The Wailer Band is still strongly connected to Marley, and the most popular hymns are still performed at their concerts, triggering fond memories of the charismatic Bob’s presence.

Bob Marley continued to perform with The Wailers until his death in 1981, an unbeaten combination of extraordinary talented people which led to the sale of more than 250 million albums worldwide and over 20 chart hits in England alone, including seven ‘Top 10’ entries. After the world lost the “King of Reggae”, The Wailers continued the icon’s legacy, proudly carrying on its worldwide reggae mission under the leadership of Family Man and Junior Marvin.

Rumor has it that the nickname Family Man was derived from the many children he has fathered, which by his own account are approximately 40. The other version of the story is that Fams acquired the moniker due to his aptitude for unifying the crew and keep “the family” together. Clearly, this particular gift is one of the chief reasons Bob Marley and The Wailers catapulted to superstardom and recorded four albums, I.D in 1989, Majestic Warriors in 1991, JAH Message in 1994 and My Friends in 1995 even after Marley’s untimely passing in 1981.

When tragic circumstances led to his brother Carly’s death in 1987, the continuation of The Wailers’ legacy was left solely in the hands of Family Man. Today, he is the only original “Wailer” who is still active in the group and under his leadership the band continues to perform as “The Wailers Band.”

Besides him, the group is completed by lead singers Elan Atias and singer/songwriter Kevin Davy better known as Yvad, keyboarder Keith Sterling, drummer Anthony Watson, Audley “Chizzy” Chisholm on rhythm guitar, Chico Chin on trumpet, Everald Gayle on trombone, Brady Walters and Cegee Victory as background vocalists.

Continuing to enchant the masses, the band has teamed up with musical greats such as Sting, the Fugees, Stevie Wonder, John Denver, Carlos Santana and Alpha Blondy, as well as reggae legends Bunny Wailer and Burning Spear in the past. As the greatest living exponents of Jamaica’s reggae tradition, The Wailers Band has completed innumerable tours and played to an estimated 24 million people across the globe including new territories such as Africa and the Far East. Their current 300 stop “Exodus World Tour” started in the United States and covers several cities in Canada, United Kingdom, Netherlands, Belgium, Ireland, Columbia, Argentina and Paraguay, before the band heads back to the U.S. in early 2010.

In addition to their many live performances, The Wailers Band is working on a new album, which will bring to light a number of unreleased beats written by Carly Barrett. The album, which promises to be a revelation, will showcase Family Man’s mastery of the traditional roots reggae aspect mixed with the fresh ideas of the other band members. Says Family Man proudly, “We are recording most of the material in Los Angeles using some old recordings of my brother’s drum lines and have built a brand new ‘riddim’ around it.” Fans can look forward to this musical treat in early 2010.

In addition to producing the absolute best in reggae music, The Wailers Band is pioneering a global industry initiative committed in collaboration with the United Nations called the “I Went Hungry program.” Through the program, the band donates part of their compensation (“rider”) and money allocated by the venues for food, beverage or other items to the “I Went Hungry Fund.” During shows, staff members of “Friends of the World Food Program” and volunteers roam the audience in “I Went Hungry” t-shirts, motivating the crowd to help through donations and purchases of US$3.00 “I Went Hungry” rubber wristbands. 100% of the donations are being given to the World Food Program and directed towards the food crisis in Ethiopia. To date, the program has rallied the entertainment industry to feed nearly 100,000 children. Says Family Man: “It takes just 25 cents to provide one nourishing school meal for a hungry child. We are committed to helping.” www.iwenthungry.org.

To this day, Family Man continues to find inspiration from other music genres and artists. He and Kenny Chesney, for instance, share a mutual admiration for each other’s music, a reverence, which led to The Wailers and Chesney performing Chesney’s hit Everybody Wants To Go To Heaven and Marley’s Three Little Birds at last year’s Country Music Awards and a joint music video. And despite working with The Wailers and several other musical greats, Family Man has released three solo albums; Family Man in Dub, Cobra Style: Lost Productions released in 1999 and Alone at the Microphone in 2005.

Follow the band’s latest news on www.wailers.com. Fascinating details about The Wailers Band and Jamaican music are also available in John Masouri’s biography The Story of Bob Marley’s Wailers Wailing Blues (ISBN: 9781846096891).