Strange Fruit

His voice oozing down the line like spilt molasses, bass legend Aston 'Family Man' Barrett wastes no time in getting to the point. “Yes I'm comin' and we're comin' – we're The Wailers! Let them know they must come out early and dance until late,” he booms. “See, I am one of the men who take Jamaican music to the forefront. Me and Bob [Marley], Bunny [Wailer] and Peter [Tosh], we set that standard far and over people before us. Reggae lets everyone know it is the art of the people. It is the universal language and it carries the message of roots, culture and reality!”

Performing Legend, Bob Marley & The Wailers' greatest hits album, the bassist sees these shows as a chance to remind audiences that, the band are all about roots. “Reggae is always being updated. There is a lot of new kinds of gear in the music stores – those sounds can get wild, but you're just buying effects. When time goes by, technology always intrudes but we stick to the roots. We always say that some is leaves, some is branches, but I is the roots.”

Naming himself Family Man after his role as a musical ringleader, it's this inclination, as well as a verbal agreement with Marley over royalties, that saw Barrett unsuccessfully sue Marley's estate, three times, to the tune of $110 million. Despite this, Barrett is happy in his current role. “I think of a different term than bandleader, or boss, or foreman,” he explains. “We have to work and live together, but I is the one who is in charge. I label myself Family Man, and the name became legend! I have to keep all the young people in line so they don't walk on the wild side!”

Barrett clearly knows all about the wild side. Earning his nickname another way by fathering “about 52” children, he feels most at home when touring. “I have so many great memories of these songs. When Bob was alive, we once met up with Stevie Wonder, and he was saying to Bob, 'You've got to release Jammin' as a single!' We knew it was a good song but we didn't think it could be a single. Stevie says, 'If you don't do anything about it, I will!' So he made the song Master Blaster! I loved playing with Stevie.

“The first time I came to Australia was with Bob and we played a lot of great shows. I liked the rainforest. Up there, the forest was so fruitful. I was surprised to walk up on a sweet potato that we fried like a ripe mango. I don't know what it was. It looked like a sweet potato and tasted like a sweet potato but you don't have to cook it. I thought I was in dreamland! You just break it in two and eat it. It was amazing!”