‘Top 10 Reggae Bass Players of All Time’

By I Never Knew Tv Staff Writers | May, 4th, 2021

While we tried our best to be objective, list creation is a painstaking task that always is influenced by personal taste. This fact proved especially true when we at I Never Knew Tv tasked ourselves with compiling a complete record of the best bass players to pluck strings. When choosing who to include, we used the following criteria: does the average reggae fan know their bass lines, their influence on Jamaican music, and their body of studio work? The result consists of bassists who have made famous bass lines and classic songs during the ska, rocksteady, reggae, and dancehall eras of Jamaican music.

After speaking with numerous singers, musicians, producers, engineers, and managers we proudly present I Never Knew Tv’s Top 10 Greatest Bass Players of All Time.

10. Lloyd Parks

Lloyd Parks began his career as a vocalist, picking up bass later. His band Lloyd Parks and We The People moonlighted as Joe Gibbs and the Professionals, playing on most of the label’s 70s and 80s hits. A Jackie Jackson disciple, Lloyd drives a band like a rock bassist while never straying from the reggae feel.

Hits: Dave and Ansell Collins. “Double Barrel,” Dennis Brown. “How Could I Leave,” Delroy Wilson.“Have Some Mercy,” Cornell Campbell “Boxing,” Culture. “Two Sevens Clash“.

9. Derrick Barnett

Derrick Barnett is the most charismatic, powerful performer in Jamaican bass history. With his band Sagittarius, Derrick defined live dance hall by transferring the dub mixes of sound systems to the stage. His innovations have been copied by literally every reggae band since. Derrick is also a master session player and producer.

Hits: Bob Marley and The Wailers. “Trench Town,” Rudy Thomas. “Key To The World,” JC Lodge. “Make It Up To You,” Beres Hammond. “Irie And Mellow,” Beres Hammond. “Groovy Little Thing”

8. Val Douglas

From rural Clarendon, Val Douglas came to Kingston to study at CAST. He then joined fellow students Geoffrey and Mikey Chung in Now Generation, which quickly became one of the great bands of the ’70s. Val’s sound is precise and defined. His style draws equally from r&b, rock steady, and ska.

Hits: Ken Boothe. “Thinking /So Nice” JC Lodge. “Someone Loves You Honey,” Lorna Bennett. “Breakfast In Bed,” Bob Marley. “So Much Trouble In The World,” Bob Marley. “Top Rankin” Maxi Priest. “Wild World”

WATCH – I Never Knew Tv’s Top 10 Reggae Bass Players of All Time

7. Lloyd Brevett

Skatalites bassist Lloyd Brevett is the root of the reggae tree. An upright player, Brevett drew influences from jazz, blues, mento, traditional Jamaican idioms, and Latin music. His ferocious drive and syncopated Latin-style “hitches” in his walking bass lines were an essential ingredient of ska.

Hits: Bob Marley and The Wailers. “Simmer Down,” Alton Ellis. “Let Him Try,” The Skatalites. “Latin Go Ska,” The Skatalites. “Christine Keeler,” The Skatalites. “Occupation”

6. Donald ‘Danny Bassie’ Dennis

Donald Dennis of the Fire House Crew is one of reggae’s busiest bassists. His relaxed roots feel and big sound connects him to the past. Yet his comfort over the full range of the five-string bass is very much of the present.

Hits: Luciano. “Sweep Over My Soul,” Luciano.  “Your World And Mine,” Sizzla. “Taking Over,” Capelton. “Ton Load,” Luciano. “Give Up My Pride,” Busy Signal. “Come Over (Missing You)”

5. Fully Fullwood

Soul Syndicate bassist Fully Fullwood played on hundreds of ’70s hits. His soulful, beautifully paced lines are a crucial element in King Tubby’s genre-defining dub mixes. Fully’s time and phrasing are impeccable; he never wastes a note.

Hits: Earl Zero. “None Shall Escape The Judgement,” Johnny Clarke. “Move Out Of Babylon,” Johnny Clarke. “Rock With Me,” Gregory Isaacs. “Love Is Overdue,” Dennis Brown. “Cassandra” 

4. Jackie Jackson

A founding member of the Supersonics, Beverly’s All-Stars, and Toots and the Maytals, Jackie is Jamaica’s first great electric bassist. His style is rhythmic rather than melodic, often using open strings. Jackie is arguably the most versioned bassist in reggae history. The Staples Singers built “I’ll Take You There” on his bass line from “The Liquidator.”

Hits: Jimmy Cliff. “The Harder They Come,” Toots and The Maytals. “Pressure Drop,” The Wailers. “Hypocrites,” Dennis Walks. “The Drifter,” “The Liquidator,” Paul Simon “Mother and Child Reunion”

3. Flabba Holt

Roots Radics bassist Flabba Holt dominated the JA charts in the early ’80s. Flabba plays minimalist lines with an enormous sound and a deep roots feel. There isn’t an ounce of flash in Flabba. He’s all about moving air.

Hits: Gregory Isaacs. “Night Nurse,” Freddie McGregor. “Big Ship,” “Entertainment,” Michael Prophet. “Gunman,” Gregory Isaacs. “Front Door,” Michigan and Smiley. “Diseases,” Barrington Levy. “Prison Oval Rock..” 

2. Aston ‘Family Man” Barrett

Wailers stalwart Family Man Barrett is reggae’s best-known bassist. Ranked #28 in Rolling Stone’s Top Bassist of All Time, his lines feature big spaces and strong melodies, and he lays way back on the beat. Fams has a strong, arranging sensibility. He often shadows the vocal melody of the chorus before creating a counterpoint to the verses.

Hits: The Ethiopians. “Everything Crash,” Bob Marley and The Wailers. “One Love,” Bob Marley and The Wailers. “Waiting In Vain,” Bob Marley and The Wailers. “Kinky Reggae,” Bob Marley and The Wailers. “Lively Up Yourself.”

1. Robbie Shakespeare

Robbie’s decades-long partnership with drummer Sly Dunbar led to the duo becoming the most recorded musicians in reggae. They also worked with the elite of rock and r&b. Ranked #17 in Rolling Stone’s Top Bassist of All Time, Robbie often uses thumb strokes with subtle palm muting for a fat, defined sound that records well. His lines often evoke the rhumba box sound and feel.

Hits: Bob Marley and The Wailers. “Stir It Up,” Black Uhuru. “General Penitentiary,” Grace Jones. “Pull Up To The Bumper,” Dennis Brown. “Sitting And Watching,” The Tamlins. “Baltimore.” 

Danny ‘Axeman’ Thompson

Danny began as a member of the Black Roots Band and has since worked with a who’s who of reggae royalty. Danny uses space very creatively. Even his simplest of lines have rests in unexpected places, rewarding repeated listening.

Hits: Junior Reid. “Original Foreign Mind,” Super Cat.  “Don Dadda,” Richie Spice. “The Plane Land,” Tanya Stephen .“What’s Your Story,” Tony Curtis. “High Grade.” 

Boris Gardiner

Boris started in the ’60s as the house bassist at Studio One. He then played on most of Lee Perry’s ’70s hits. Boris has a huge sound, a relaxed feel, a deep understanding of harmony, and beautiful phrasing.

Hits: The Heptones. “Party Time,”  Junior Byles. “Beat Down Babylon,” Junior Murvin. “Police And Thieves,” Bob Andy. “Too Experienced,” The Congos. “Row Fisherman Row” 

Leroy Sibbles

Best known as the lead singer of the Heptones, Leroy also is a superb bassist who played a run of classic hits for Studio One in the late ’60s. His lines are deep and full, and he often avoids playing on the downbeat.

Hits: “Full Up,” The Abyssinians. “Satta Amassagana,” The Heptones. “I Shall Be Released,” Cornell Campbell. “Queen Of The Minstrel,” Burning Spear. “Door Peep.”

Brian Atkinson

Originally a mento guitarist from Hanover, Brian’s bass playing helped define the emerging sound of rock steady: first at Studio One, then at Treasure Isle before he emigrated to Canada in 1968. Brian plays a solid, root/fifth oriented style that travels well.

Hits: Delroy Wilson. “Dancing Mood,” Ken Boothe. “Puppet On A String,” Ken Boothe. “Moving Away,” Bob Andy. “I’ve Got To Go Back Home,” The Clarendonians.“Rudie Gone A Jail.”

Glen Browne

Though Glen lacks the studio track record of some of the other players listed here, he is easily at or near the top of the list of bassists other JA bass players respect. Currently with Tarrus Riley’s Black Soil Band, Glen has also worked with Ziggy Marley, Freddie McGregor, and a host of other artists. His playing is so precise and accurate it almost sounds quantized, and Glen is a master of tone, deploying the perfect sound at the perfect time.

Hits: Freddie McGregor. “Guantanamera,” Freddie McGregor. ”All In The Same Boat,” The Fugees. “No Woman No Cry (Fugees Remix),” Edi Fitzroy. “Hotel California” 

Bertram ‘Ranchie’ McLean

At first a guitarist, Ranchie picked up the bass when Lloyd Parks missed a session at Channel One. He promptly became a fixture in the hottest studio band in reggae, the Revolutionaries. Ranchie’s propulsive, endlessly inventive bass lines fit perfectly with the era’s “straight four” drum style.

Hits: The Meditations.  “Woman Is Like A Shadow,” John Holt. “Sweetie Come Brush Me,” Culture. “International Herb,” “Dreamland (Marcia Griffiths),” The Revolutionaries. “MPLA” 

Chris Meredith

From the High Times Players to Lauryn Hill to Stephen Marley, Chris Meredith has been a force since the mid-’80s. Chris’s style is characterized by his dedication to the foundation. His lines are deep, wide, and inevitable.

Hits: Frankie Paul. “Kushumpeng,” Dennis Brown.“Slow Down Woman,”  Ziggy Marley and The Melody Makers.“One Bright Day,” Lauryn Hill. “Forgive Them Father,” Stephen Marley. “Hey Baby.”

Adrian ‘Jerks’ Henry

A bright new star of reggae bass, Jerks is best known as the live bassist in Chronixx’s Zinc Fence Redemption. He has not recorded much, but his live work demonstrates a superb command of the instrument, a full wide-range sound, and a powerful groove.