Flabba Holt Or Robbie Shakespear?

[MatejkoFarI]

Who do you think is better? And why?
I cannot decide between them, Shakespear has some of the greatest bass lines on Black Uhuru's debut, but in general I prefer Flabba Holt

[gaspar]

when play robbie i like robbie
when play flabba i like flabba

and dont forgot famyliman, clinton fearon. fully, boris gardiner, bagga walker, junior dan.............etc,etc

[kalcidis]

Truly and honestly I couldn't choose. It's like Gaspar says. When I play some Radics it's just the most breathtaking music in my life and then I put on Taxi from the same period and I realise it's the very same feeling.

[dubisamust]

I've been thinking the exact same thing lately. it has to be
Robbie, He combined outside influences with sparse tuff lines. Taxi gang tunes from the early eighties have a swagger to em. i'm a big taxi fan so pretty bias.
my number two would be Boris Gardner, one word sums him up - Heavy

[MatejkoFarI]

Yes, of course there are a lot of others, but it seems to me that these two really invented those heavy heavy basslines... And there is one more bassist I would like to highlight - Jackie Jackson! He played on most of the Maytals albums from 1968 to 1978, I think he is really underrated. His basslines were really ahead of his time. They were heavy, groovy and funky!

[pf]

Jackie Jackson is the man.

[gbougard]

no comparison
career-wise Robbie started in 72 and is still very much in demand nowadays, 40 years after his first session (for Errol Dunkley)
Flabba started a lot later, and apart from Israel Vibration, hasnt been very busy since 86
Plus Flabba hasnt done anything with non-Reggae artists, which would have been nice, and also hasnt done much outside the late rockers, rubadub periods.

Now, dont get me wrong: I LOVE a lot of Flabba's basslines. He and Robbie really ran things in the rub a dub days. Both men dont feel any competition between them, by the way. And Robbie loves to record Flabba on vocals.

I made the only photo where they are together when we were at Anchor during the sessions for Brinsley Forde. I'll look for it and upload it.

[Gabranth]

Definitly Flabba Holt for me. Early 80s Radics is just my favorite music. Familyman is second. Of cause I got nothing against Robbie, but I just don't like his music THAT much.

Same with Sly by the way, great great drummer of cause, but far away from being my personal favorite. But that's just me.

[dubisamust]

The Errol holt tune 'Danger zone' combines these two great musicians beautifuly.
i gotta mention Val Douglas who is also a hugely underrated bassist

[gbougard]

Yes Val Douglas was super bad. I have fond memories of the Pablo Moses album "Pave the way" in which he just shines throughout every song.

I love Ranchie McLean too.