Hi Tom! There was some talk on the X about "Family Man" Barrett earning his moniker by siring 41 children. All I could think of was that one loyal woman who gave birth to all those kids. (emoji wink here). Shouldn't there have been a reality TV show? Actually, Barrett is probably the one who broke my hearing, as I was standing next to the bass amp at Max's Kansas City...the whole weekend...when Marley & the Wailers shared the bill with the also little known Bruce S. & the E Street Band in 1973. Sure, I felt it in my hips. Also my head. Talk about a Tuff Gong!
Hi there Wayne! Wow. Would have loved to have been at those shows. That had to be the the ignition point for Marley/Wailers in the US?......I saw that stuff re the size of Family Man's Family and could not verify quickly (do we miss editors? over here we sure do!) so I left it alone. Hope all is well.
Hi Tom! I don't know how I missed your Substack being here. We have some of the same readers, as was often the case. I'm here 2 1/2 years. Yr right, it was the ignition point for Marley/Wailers. Interest had been piqued by screenings and soundtrack for the movie "The Harder They Come, " which Marley wasn't involved with. Editors? They were often nice to have, but if it's them or us, you know, it's us, until we can afford to hire one, LOL!
I was resistant to most reggae beyond The Harder They Come soundtrack for an embarrassingly long time. I dug the general feel of the genre when beloved punk-era artists like The Clash and Elvis Costello & the Attractions referenced it, but the college friends who first tried to turn me onto Bob Marley came from a Deadhead background, which undercut any credibility in my young, punk snobs eyes.
One day, 15 years later, a bassist friend shoved a copy of The Wailers' Burnin' in my hands and said, "You have to listen to this!" He went on to tell me to focus on the bassist, who he claimed was the Secret Sauce of the album. How right he was! (Funny thing was, at that time Phil Lesh was the only player I could appreciate in the Dead.) A whole genre finally started to make sense.
that's awesome. not the first time I've heard that either. to my ears, by the mid '70s Phil was changing his pocket to put it more in that spongey Alston Barrett direction.
ONE DROP.
Hi Tom! There was some talk on the X about "Family Man" Barrett earning his moniker by siring 41 children. All I could think of was that one loyal woman who gave birth to all those kids. (emoji wink here). Shouldn't there have been a reality TV show? Actually, Barrett is probably the one who broke my hearing, as I was standing next to the bass amp at Max's Kansas City...the whole weekend...when Marley & the Wailers shared the bill with the also little known Bruce S. & the E Street Band in 1973. Sure, I felt it in my hips. Also my head. Talk about a Tuff Gong!
Hi there Wayne! Wow. Would have loved to have been at those shows. That had to be the the ignition point for Marley/Wailers in the US?......I saw that stuff re the size of Family Man's Family and could not verify quickly (do we miss editors? over here we sure do!) so I left it alone. Hope all is well.
Hi Tom! I don't know how I missed your Substack being here. We have some of the same readers, as was often the case. I'm here 2 1/2 years. Yr right, it was the ignition point for Marley/Wailers. Interest had been piqued by screenings and soundtrack for the movie "The Harder They Come, " which Marley wasn't involved with. Editors? They were often nice to have, but if it's them or us, you know, it's us, until we can afford to hire one, LOL!
I was resistant to most reggae beyond The Harder They Come soundtrack for an embarrassingly long time. I dug the general feel of the genre when beloved punk-era artists like The Clash and Elvis Costello & the Attractions referenced it, but the college friends who first tried to turn me onto Bob Marley came from a Deadhead background, which undercut any credibility in my young, punk snobs eyes.
One day, 15 years later, a bassist friend shoved a copy of The Wailers' Burnin' in my hands and said, "You have to listen to this!" He went on to tell me to focus on the bassist, who he claimed was the Secret Sauce of the album. How right he was! (Funny thing was, at that time Phil Lesh was the only player I could appreciate in the Dead.) A whole genre finally started to make sense.
that's awesome. not the first time I've heard that either. to my ears, by the mid '70s Phil was changing his pocket to put it more in that spongey Alston Barrett direction.
Thank you for this...Family Man is always on my list of greatest bass players and as an architect of reggae he stands with very few others.