Until his death in February 2024, Aston “Family Man” Barrett probably had deeper reggae roots than any other living musician. Fams, as his friends called him, and his younger brother, drummer Carlton “Carly” Barrett, began their professional careers as the rhythm section in Lee Perry’s studio band, The Upsetters. During the early 1970s the brothers joined Bob Marley and The Wailers. From then on, Family Man accompanied Bob Marley on nearly every Wailers release. He also led the Wailers band, helped Marley arrange songs, and left an indelible imprint on hundreds of recordings by a who’s-who of other reggae musicians, including Peter Tosh,

In this candid, wide-ranging interview, Barrett discusses his musical beginnings and experiences with The Upsetters, Hippy Boys, Youth Professionals, and Bob Marley and the Wailers. He details his instruments, Marley’s approach to songwriting and rehearsing, and his legendary role in bringing bass to reggae. In one of the lighter moments, he clarifies who rolled better spliffs — Bob Marley or Peter Tosh. Near the end of the hour-long conversation, he delves into his spiritual beliefs.

Our interview took place in Ann Arbor in the Wailers’ tour bus on January 9, 2011. To help facilitate our conversation, I brought along a friend, Chewy Fraser, who is fluent in the Jamaican dialect. He's the third person heard from time to time.

It was less than 10 degrees outside that afternoon, but tropically hot inside the tiny back room where I found Family Man, sans his trademark sunglasses, relaxing on a couch. Gracious and accommodating, he looked deep into our eyes and told us of his life and music as he smoked hand-rolled tobacco-and-ganja cigarettes.

A word-for-word transcription of this interview is available on my "Talking Guitar" online music magazine: https://jasobrecht.substack.com/p/ast...

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Thanks to engineer/producer Nik Hunt for filming the intro and enhancing the sound of the original master tape. For more than 150 other guitar-intensive podcasts, interview transcripts, and articles, visit https://jasobrecht.substack.com/. #bobmarley #bobmarleyandthewailers #reggae #reggaemusic #petertosh #jasobrecht #talkingguitar #nikhunt