Roots Archives Forum

hi
iam really a hardcore wailers fan,there is no doubt about that and it has to be fams.it might be subjective.but valentine val douglas mr bassie is never talked about even though he is the finest ever.indeed listen to"pave the way''face the music'by cedric myton.he can play melodic lines while being very versatile too.listen to lloyd parks on"planet called ear" by the diamonds,listen to"back to the channel"by the diamonds to appreciate fully fullwood and long life by prince fari listen to bagger walker on"unity is strenght"by joe higgs and rythm guitarist-cu-bass player ranchie mc lean on"wild suspense by the wailing souls.here is my list of the top 5 ja finest bass players:fams,val douglas,fully fullwood,lloyd parks and boris garddener too.haile maskell is not to be forgotten too

What about Boris Gardiner?
And the awesome bassline on Congo Man by the Congos - am I dreaming or did I read that that was actually Winston Wright on bass because Boris couldn't quite get it?

Of course, huge respect to Leroy Sibbles for actually composing so many of the best and most enduring of basslines ever.

George Fullwood...Family Man...Lloyd Parks...Rancy McClean...Errol Flabba Holt in no particular order.

So many great musicians.

i have to second that,Boris Gardiner might not be a deep rootsman,but when it came to the funkier side of Reggae he cooked.His version of Melting Pot is just one of my all time favourites!

with all these great Bass players of the sixties and seventies why was that mr casio so popular in the eighties

@nickfa
ha, ha. Good point! I don't think I ever really understand that part of the history of Jamaican music.

But most discussions on the subject point to (at least) two factors:

1. Jamaicans enjoy 'newness'/novelty and whatever gimmicks and fads might be a part of any new development. Having a new sound was a big deal for a sound system.
2. It was a whole heap cheaper and faster for a producer to build a riddim using a little electronic box rather than employing musicians and paying for studio time.

I'm not sure about this part, but I read somewhere (Reggae Bloodlines probably) that there was a situation in JA in the early 80s which made it very difficult to get new instruments in to the country. Import tax maybe? I always found this strange and have heard nothing else to back it up.

More simply - if the people didn't like the Casio sound, that style would have quickly died a death. As it happened, the people loved it and a new era picked up from where the previous one left off. No doubt leaving some people wondering what the @#$% happened!

I always find it disappointing to hear a JA tune that doesn't have a real bass line - and I'm talking about the bass frequency not just a real player playing the bass line. Electronic bass lines can be good too as long as they're mixed right!

Just my thruppence ha'penny...

Hi,
ACEtone i agree with you 100% i,m not totaly against digital but i cant think of any cuts thats have lasted the test of time.here today gone tomorrow.
Its strange how things repeat them selves when it comes to paying for muscians, one of reasons for the move from from ska to rocksteady was you did not need so band members, still it was nice to see horn sections being used more in the latter part of rocksteady era,though i think that was secondary.mainly ska was to fast to dance to all night long.

familyman barrett
llyod brevett
robbie shakespeare
flabba holt

well, aston barrett and robbie skakespeare.

i can't stand the monotonous lines were nothing changes during the track. some confuse monotonous slow playing with "heavy". many of the aggrovators tracks are more on the fast side but still rootsy and heavy. there should be at least one significant change in the bassline during a track, but it seems not all players have the required technique ....

Informer said "i can't stand the monotonous lines were nothing changes during the track" i see what you are saying But often with Basslines less is more take Ini Kamoze World a music(welcome to jamrock) not much change their but a great Bassline or say Burning spears he prayed.simple but efective.some versions tride to jazz the baline up like lee perries cloak and dagger but still the same bassline and no better.
still i see what you are saying i realy depends on the songs chord structure wich determins if a change of key or bassline is required.sometimes things go the other way and get to complicatedJust my opinion Nick

i agree that on the whole, bass lines sound best with alot of variation throughout the track to keep it fresh and unpredictable (nothign hits harder than an unexpected bassline variation!), but there are tunes where a very reppetitive bassline works very well. For example Late Night Blues riddim, the simplest bassline ever maybe? But very effective on that track/riddim.