Drummers - Carlton Barrett
Carlton Barrett Carlton "Carly" Barrett was the
originator of the one drop rhythm, a percussive drumming style. An
essential member of Bob Marley and The Wailers since 1969 along with his
brother Aston "Family Man", Carly co-wrote "Talkin' Blues" and performed
on every Wailer album since. With Carly's beats and his brother Aston's
bass, the Wailer rhythm section planted the seeds of today's
international reggae.
"Field Marshal," as he liked to be called, was born in Jamaica in 1950,
the son of Wilfred and Violet Barrett. As a teenager he built his first
set of drums out of some empty paint tins, and had initially been
influenced by Lloyd Nibbs, the great drummer from the Skatalites. He and
his brother Aston were raised in Kingston and absorbed the emerging ska
sound.
In the late '60's Carlton started playing sessions with his brother
Aston, the pair calling themselves the Soul Mates or the Rhythm Force,
before settling on the Hippy Boys, a line up that featured Max Romeo on
vocals. Leroy Brown, Delano Stewart, Glen Adams and Alva Lewis also
played in the bands fluctuating line up.
The Hippy Boys became one of Kingston's hardest working session bands,
fittingly there first recording was 'Watch This Sound', backing the late
great Slim Smith. They also released a couple of albums for Lloyd
Charmers, 'Reggae With The Hippy Boys' and 'Reggae Is Tight'. As well as
playing on many sessions for Bunny Lee and Sonia Pottinger, the Barrett
brothers also played on two 1969 UK chart hits, 'Liquidator' for Harry
Johnson, and 'Return Of Django' for Lee "Scratch" Perry, with whom they
had now take root.
For Perry, they took the name The Upsetters, and knocked out a seemingly
endless run of killer instrumentals, including 'Clint Eastwood', 'Cold
Sweat', 'Night Doctor', and 'Live Injection'. It was while with Perry
that the Barrett brothers first teamed up with The Wailers, then a vocal
trio consisting of Bob, Peter and Bunny. After recording many now
classic numbers, Carly and Aston decided to team up with The Wailers on
a permanent basis.
The Barrett brothers recorded several singles with the Wailers in
1969-70: "My Cup (Runneth Over)," Duppy Conqueror," Soul Rebel," and
"Small Axe." These songs became part of a double LP set that Perry
released: Soul Rebels and Soul Revolution, and formed the early
foundation of the one drop sound.
Though original Wailers Peter Tosh and Bunny Livingston left the group
in 1973, Carlton and Aston remained with Bob Marley and went on to
record "Natty Dread" in 1974. Carlton has songwriting credits for two of
Natty Dread's songs: "Talkin' Blues" and "Them Belly Full".
A steady presence, Carlton remained with the Wailers in the studio and
on tour until Bob's passing in 1981. His signature style can be heard on
every recording the Wailers produced since 1969.
On April 17, 1987 — Good Friday — just as Carly arrived at his Kingston
home and walked across his yard, a gunman stepped up behind him and shot
him twice in the head. He was dead on arrival at a Kingston hospital at
age 36.
Shortly after his murder, Carly's wife, Albertine, her lover, a taxi
driver named Glenroy Carter, and another man, Junior Neil, were arrested
and charged with his killing. Albertine and Carter escaped the murder
charge, and were instead convicted and sentenced to 7 years for
conspiracy. After just one year in prison, they were released in
December 1992 on a legal technicality.
Equipment
Throughout his tenure with the Wailers and other projects, Carlton used
a standard five-piece drum set consisting of a bass drum, two tom-toms
(mounted on the bass drum), a floor tom-tom, and a snare drum. Each
tom-tom had only one drumhead, which gave the drums a dry sound that was
ideal for the close-miked environment of the recording studio. However,
it was Carlton's snare drum which was perhaps the biggest part of his
signature sound. A photograph on Bob Marley's website of Carlton playing
in London's Island Rehearsal Studios in 1973 shows that the drum was
made of metal, most likely steel. The metal construction of the drum, in
combination with the extremely high head tension that Carlton preferred,
produced a loud, cutting "crack" sound that was a very prominent element
of the Wailers' recordings. Carlton almost always left the snare wires
of the drum disengaged, making the drum sound very similar to a timbale.
It is unknown exactly what make and model of cymbals were used on
Carlton's drum set, although it is very likely that they were made by
the Avedis Zildjian Company in the United States and imported into
Jamaica. Carlton used only a pair of hi-hat cymbals (relatively light in
weight) and two crash cymbals (most likely of medium weight). Due the
nature of Carlton's style, in which the snare drum, bass drum, and
hi-hat cymbals were the primary timekeeping instruments, he did not use
a ride cymbal.
From:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlton_Barrett
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