Carlton Barrett (17 December 1950 – 17 April 1987) was a Jamaican musician best known for being the long-time drummer for Bob Marley & The Wailers. Recognized for his innovative style, which featured a highly syncopated, broken triplet pattern on the hi-hat, and for his dazzling drum introductions, Barrett's prolific recordings with Marley have been internationally celebrated. He is credited with popularising the One Drop rhythm. Carlton Barrett was born in Kingston, Jamaica, in 1950, the second son of Wilfred and Violet Barrett. As a teenager, he built his first set of drums out of empty paint cans he found on the street. Along with his contemporaries, drummers

Sly Dunbar Lowell Fillmore "Sly" Dunbar (born 10 May 1952, Kingston, Jamaica) is a Jamaican drummer, best known as one half of the prolific Jamaican rhythm section and reggae production duo Sly and Robbie. Biography Dunbar began playing at 15 in a ba ...

Style Scott Lincoln Valentine Scott (29 April 1956 – 9 October 2014), better known as Style Scott, was a Jamaican reggae drummer, famous for playing in the Roots Radics and, later, with Dub Syndicate. He also recorded and performed with Prince Far I, Bunn ...

and Carlton "Santa" Davis, Barrett was heavily influenced by Lloyd Knibb of

The Skatalites The Skatalites are a ska band from Jamaica. They played initially between 1963 and 1965, and recorded many of their best known songs in the period, including "Guns of Navarone (song), Guns of Navarone." They also played on records by Prince Bus ...

. In the 1960s, Barrett began performing with his brother Aston "Family Man" Barrett, under the names The Soul Mates, The Rhythm Force and eventually The Hippy Boys, a line-up that featured Max Romeo on vocals, Leroy Brown, Delano Stewart, Glen Adams and Alva Lewis. In 1969, the brothers joined The Wailers (later Known as Bob Marley and The Wailers). During his years with Marley, Barrett continued to record for many of Jamaica's most well known artists and is featured on solo albums by Bunny Wailer ('' Blackheart Man''), Augustus Pablo ('' King Tubbys Meets Rockers Uptown'') and

Peter Tosh Winston Hubert McIntosh (19 October 1944 – 11 September 1987), professionally known as Peter Tosh, was a Jamaican reggae musician. Along with Bob Marley and Bunny Wailer, he was one of the core members of the band Bob Marley and the Wa ...

('' Legalize It'' and '' Equal Rights'') as well as many others.

Death

On 17 April 1987, a gunman shot and killed Barrett outside his home at 12 Bridgemount Park Avenue in Kingston, Jamaica. He was 36. Carlton Barrett's widow, Albertine Barrett, was subsequently jailed on 18 October 1991, after being convicted of conspiracy to commit murder. Sentenced with her were taxi driver Glenroy Carter, 39, her reputed lover, and Junior "Bang" Neil, 39, a mason, who the prosecution alleged was responsible for the actual shooting.

References

External links

Carlton Barrett Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barrett, Carlton 1987 deaths 1950 births 20th-century Jamaican male musicians Deaths by firearm in Jamaica Jamaican drummers Jamaican reggae musicians Male drummers Mariticides Musicians from Kingston, Jamaica People murdered in Jamaica The Wailers members The Upsetters members The Aggrovators members