Black History Month: Let's Talk About Black Guitarists

Alan Manning said:
What about Bob Marley, influential to say the least!.
Click to expand...

Bob is a great singer and probably one of the biggest influences the earth has ever seen. Cat Moore from Third World has been quoted as saying: "Everywhere I go in this world, I'm measured on a scale of 1 to Bob Marley." that's gotta be a pretty dread thing to live up to when you're such an accomplished musician in your own right.
Bob was an amazing force in music, but most of the real credit for the guitar playing in The Wailers really belongs to a few other guys. I was saving them for a bit later but since you brought the subject up.. Here goes.

There was a parade of talented guitarists that helped add to Bob, Peter, and Bunny's music like Ernest Ranglin, Earl "China" Smith, and random session players, but If we're gonna talk about the Wailers there are three guys that really need to be talked about:

Al Anderson, Julian "Junior" Marvin, and Aston Barrett.

Al Anderson was brought in as the first "real" permanent lead guitarist for The Wailers, before then it was mostly Peter Tosh and session guys. He was a badass on Natty Dread, Rastaman Vibration, and the Live! album that has been continuously bumping out dorm room windows since it was released.
A rough estimate on my homemade "Irie Machine" calculates that over a million yout' have gotten blazed for the first time while listening to his solo on "No Woman No Cry".

He left BMW to become Peter Tosh's guitarist for Legalize It and Equal Rights before returning to The Wailers for Survival and Uprising (the later of which would be my easy choice if I could only listen to one single record for the rest of my life. So yes, I'm a passionate fan.), and then later went on to record with Lauryn Hill for her "Miseducation" record and with Ben Harper.

He was my initial favorite 'cause he looked so Bangin'! with the aviator glasses and Les Paul, he looked militant! When I was a misguided suburban kid with lame white boy dreads he was the guy I pretended to be in front of the mirror. He had an almost country style of bluesy playing and dodged and weaved between skanks while helping to write the template for reggae music.



Julian "Junior" Marvin

I've been listening to The Wailers since I was 10 years old (in '84) when my dad inadvertently brought back cassettes from the caribbean for me, and Junior was my least favorite guy until I hit my late twenties. He was a rocker, he played Explorers, wore leather jackets, and made orgasm faces when he played. I was raised a punk rocker and had reservations about that kind of thing... I didn't think he was all that cool. :rolleyes:

Before he came on with BMW he played with Taj Mahal and did sessions with Steve Winwood along with the "softer" reggae stylings of Toots & the Maytals and others. He's also in the small group of people like Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page, and Ernie Isley who can say that they had Roger Mayer as their guitar tech and friend. Yes, that Roger Mayer.

It was his guitar solo on "Waiting In Vain" that finally got through to me. I remember driving through the Grand Canyon on tour with some band while listening to Exodus. As the rest of the band was asleep and the dawn arose across the mountains something happened to me, I was astounded by nature's beauty and tears just started pouring from my eyes. A player that I had been listening to for the entirety of my musical life had just pierced through my cynicism and landed squarely into my heart and soul. It was a moment I'll remember until the day I die. Jah works.

One of the greatest gifts I have ever received was after I finally got to meet my buddy for life, Shawn Nuthall at EXP 2013 he pulled me aside on Friday and said there was somebody he wanted to introduce me to... Shawn dragged me into the factory toward some little dude in a crooked airbrushed baseball hat that was lookin' like Flavor Flav and said: "Junior, you need to meet Sergio" like it was a gathering of V.I.P's or some sh!t...
We chatted and I got to chill with him and his bassist while perusing PRSi and talk about music, reggae, guitars and his new 408, just a dream come true.

I've been lucky enough and worked hard enough to get to kick it with a bunch of celebrities and artists in my blessed life but, nothing that meant nearly as much to me as that moment. It sounds ridiculous to say but, it was as close to meeting Haile Selassie as I'll ever come. Just the coolest dude.. As I left him to go back to the wine truck in the parking lot he said: "Yo brethren, get my number from Shawn. Call me any time." I never did.

Here's one I know he's proud of.


Aston "Family Man" Barrett

Yeah, he's the legendary bassist for The Wailers and the guy who was the "one" (in reggae terms since drums are all about the "two and four") but he was also responsible for a ton of guitar tracks. If you listen to reggae, you'll notice that the bass line is usually doubled with a rhythm guitar part that follows it precisely. When recording, a lot of times that was Aston.

Before The Wailers there were The Upsetters, and before them were The Hippy Boys. Aston got wrangled into The Wailer's through Lee "Scratch" Perry, and pretty much taught Robbie Shakespeare (the other most significant reggae bassist of all time) the ropes. The man is an amazing musician, when you can get Miles Davis and George Harrison to really pay attention to what you're doing... You must be up to something great.

Listen to all three of them together. The space they leave, never stepping upon each other, always leaving room for the others to shine, always supporting. I can't pick a favorite, but this has to be the most powerful religious song I've ever heard.


 
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Did we miss Lightnin' Hopkins?


Maybe not a chops monster, but my mom spun a lot of Joan Armatrading in our house when I was a kid.

 
sergiodeblanc said:
Bob is a great singer and probably one of the biggest influences the earth has ever seen. Cat Moore from Third World has been quoted as saying: "Everywhere I go in this world, I'm measured on a scale of 1 to Bob Marley." that's gotta be a pretty dread thing to live up to when you're such an accomplished musician in your own right.
Bob was an amazing force in music, but most of the real credit for the guitar playing in The Wailers really belongs to a few other guys. I was saving them for a bit later but since you brought the subject up.. Here goes.

There was a parade of talented guitarists that helped add to Bob, Peter, and Bunny's music like Ernest Ranglin, Earl "China" Smith, and random session players, but If we're gonna talk about the Wailers there are three guys that really need to be talked about:

Al Anderson, Julian "Junior" Marvin, and Aston Barrett.

Al Anderson was brought in as the first "real" permanent lead guitarist for The Wailers, before then it was mostly Peter Tosh and session guys. He was a badass on Natty Dread, Rastaman Vibration, and the Live! album that has been continuously bumping out dorm room windows since it was released.
A rough estimate on my homemade "Irie Machine" calculates that over a million yout' have gotten blazed for the first time while listening to his solo on "No Woman No Cry".

He left BMW to become Peter Tosh's guitarist for Legalize It and Equal Rights before returning to The Wailers for Survival and Uprising (the later of which would be my easy choice if I could only listen to one single record for the rest of my life. So yes, I'm a passionate fan.), and then later went on to record with Lauryn Hill for her "Miseducation" record and with Ben Harper.

He was my initial favorite 'cause he looked so Bangin'! with the aviator glasses and Les Paul, he looked militant! When I was a misguided suburban kid with lame white boy dreads he was the guy I pretended to be in front of the mirror. He had an almost country style of bluesy playing and dodged and weaved between skanks while helping to write the template for reggae music.



Julian "Junior" Marvin

I've been listening to The Wailers since I was 10 years old (in '84) when my dad inadvertently brought back cassettes from the caribbean for me, and Junior was my least favorite guy until I hit my late twenties. He was a rocker, he played Explorers, wore leather jackets, and made orgasm faces when he played. I was raised a punk rocker and had reservations about that kind of thing... I didn't think he was all that cool. :rolleyes:

Before he came on with BMW he played with Taj Mahal and did sessions with Steve Winwood along with the "softer" reggae stylings of Toots & the Maytals and others. He's also in the small group of people like Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page, and Ernie Isley who can say that they had Roger Mayer as their guitar tech and friend. Yes, that Roger Mayer.

It was his guitar solo on "Waiting In Vain" that finally got through to me. I remember driving through the Grand Canyon on tour with some band while listening to Exodus. As the rest of the band was asleep and the dawn arose across the mountains something happened to me, I was astounded by nature's beauty and tears just started pouring from my eyes. A player that I had been listening to for the entirety of my musical life had just pierced through my cynicism and landed squarely into my heart and soul. It was a moment I'll remember until the day I die. Jah works.

One of the greatest gifts I have ever received was after I finally got to meet my buddy for life, Shawn Nuthall at EXP 2013 he pulled me aside on Friday and said there was somebody he wanted to introduce me to... Shawn dragged me into the factory toward some little dude in a crooked airbrushed baseball hat that was lookin' like Flavor Flav and said: "Junior, you need to meet Sergio" like it was a gathering of V.I.P's or some sh!t...
We chatted and I got to chill with him and his bassist while perusing PRSi and talk about music, reggae, guitars and his new 408, just a dream come true.

I've been lucky enough and worked hard enough to get to kick it with a bunch of celebrities and artists in my blessed life but, nothing that meant nearly as much to me as that moment. It sounds ridiculous to say but, it was as close to meeting Haile Selassie as I'll ever come. Just the coolest dude.. As I left him to go back to the wine truck in the parking lot he said: "Yo brethren, get my number from Shawn. Call me any time." I never did.

Here's one I know he's proud of.


Aston "Family Man" Barrett

Yeah, he's the legendary bassist for The Wailers and the guy who was the "one" (in reggae terms since drums are all about the "two and four") but he was also responsible for a ton of guitar tracks. If you listen to reggae, you'll notice that the bass line is usually doubled with a rhythm guitar part that follows it precisely. When recording, a lot of times that was Aston.

Before The Wailers there were The Upsetters, and before them were The Hippy Boys. Aston got wrangled into The Wailer's through Lee "Scratch" Perry, and pretty much taught Robbie Shakespeare (the other most significant reggae bassist of all time) the ropes. The man is an amazing musician, when you can get Miles Davis and George Harrison to really pay attention to what you're doing... You must be up to something great.

Listen to all three of them together. The space they leave, never stepping upon each other, always leaving room for the others to shine, always supporting. I can't pick a favorite, but this has to be the most powerful religious song I've ever heard.


Click to expand...
Apart from nicking 2 of my guitarist's for mention i'm loving the passion Serge,in the 70s I was & always have been a massive Bowie nut. I think it was 74/75 a mate had tkts to a concert at the lyceum to see someone called Bob Marley. Imagine. A kid with a Bowie cut at a Bob Marley concert lol, it was amazing I knew who he was after that and it was the first time I walked into a concert & flew out you could smell that gear all the way back to Victoria station.
 
bodia said:
Ahh fachizzle bro...sorry. I'll delete my post for a BFB, a bag o' Chester's Cheezy Cheetos, and an Oh Henry bar.:cool:
Click to expand...

No worries! I'm just glad there's another guy on this forum who even knows who he is. I'm of the opinion that Doc is the most important black rock guitarist between Jimi and Slash.
 
What a great thread! Thanks my friend!

Several of my favorites have already been mentioned, but I'll throw in a few more. (Please forgive me for listing some who have already been talked about.)

Jimi (obviously)
The Three Kings (Freddie, Albert, and B.B.)
T-Bone Walker
Bo Diddley
Lady Bo
Matt Murphy
Bukka White
Blind Lemon Jefferson
Guitar Slim/Eddie Jones
John Lee Hooker
Memphis Minnie
Reverend Gary Davis
J.B. Lenoir

Goldtop Lloyd
 
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Alan Manning said:
Apart from nicking 2 of my guitarist's for mention i'm loving the passion Serge,in the 70s I was & always have been a massive Bowie nut. I think it was 74/75 a mate had tkts to a concert at the lyceum to see someone called Bob Marley. Imagine. A kid with a Bowie cut at a Bob Marley concert lol, it was amazing I knew who he was after that and it was the first time I walked into a concert & flew out you could smell that gear all the way back to Victoria station.
Click to expand...

What a life changing experience that must have been. Did you know what you were in for before hand?

We needn't get worried about people who have already been mentioned, the point of this thread is to talk about these musicians. I really like hearing about people's personal experiences, whether it's getting to see them live, when they first heard them, and what they mean to our membership here. Even if somebody's favorite guy has been posted before, there's still room and a desire to discuss them.

Alan Manning said:
" Bill Withers" and this ain't getting any easier!!!.( brain overload)
Click to expand...

What a guy! Such an incredible songwriter and inspiration, and especially to older males.

It's easy to forget (or never been aware) that Bill was thirty years old before he hit the "big time". I recall seeing a documentary about him where he talked about just up and deciding he was gonna become a musician while working for some airline or something, and being told he was already too old.

Because of his age, he had such a mature sensibility in his lyrics. When he debuted he did it as a man, with a fully and deeply developed message that was, tender, learned, and realistic. His music conveys complete masculinity... In the gentlest and most ernest way while

He wasn't a flashy player but, he provided all he needed to let his songs and stories fill the souls of his listeners.




And always with positivity.
 
+1 on Stanley Jordan. I still remember the very first time I saw him - he was the opener for Wynton Marsalis. I quit playing guitar during his second or third song. Then, when I went home, I started trying to figure out how he did what he did. I still can't figure it out.

A year or two later, I saw him open for Marsalis again. This time, we'd ended up in the front row. What surprised me was how vocal he was when he played - humming, scatting along, grunting.

The last time I saw him, he did two shows in a small club on a Friday night. We were up close for both, and admittedly, after a long week I nodded off for part of one of the shows (I am not a jazz guy), but he was amazing as always. And that was the tour when he first played "Stairway To Heaven", ending it by playing two guitars and standing on two volume pedals rocking back and forth between the two. Just great.
 
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