Michelle
By Jamaica Observer
ROBBIE Shakespeare, who has played on some of the great reggae songs of the past 40 years, has been named Top Reggae Bass Player by the Largeup.com website.
Shakespeare is known to dancehall/reggae fans as half of Sly and Robbie, the formidable ‘Riddim Twins’ that also includes drummer Sly Dunbar.
While he and Dunbar have played on and produced countless hit songs, Shakespeare worked on a number of quality productions prior to Sly and Robbie.
These include The Wailers’ Concrete Jungle and King Tubbys Meets the Rockers Uptown. In the 1970s, he was also a member of two high-profile bands: producer Bunny Lee’s Aggrovators and Peter Tosh’s Word, Sound and Power.
The Wailers’ Aston ‘Family Man’ Barrett, one of Shakespeare’s influences, was named number two while Errol ‘Flabba’ Holt of the Roots Radics Band is at three.
George Fullwood of the Soul Syndicate Band and Boris Gardiner complete the Largeup.com top five reggae bassists.
Others in the top 10 are: Jackie Jackson (of Treasure Isle and Toots and The Maytals), Lloyd Brevett of The Skatalites, Danny Dennis, Derrick Barnett and Tony Gad of Aswad.
Interestingly, there was no place for Leroy Sibbles and Earl ‘Bagga’, two outstanding musicians who worked at Studio One.
In May, Largeup.com voted Dunbar reggae’s top reggae drummer.
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