![]() " was plainly close to Bob Marley himself, whom he trusted implicitly," he said. He noted that Barrett, who cannot read or write, had the "greatest difficulty" in answering questions about business dealings. He said: "I conclude that all the claims that Mr Aston Barrett brings in his personal capacity have been compromised by the settlement agreement." The judge, however, agreed with arguments put by Island-Universal and the Marley family that Barrett surrendered his rights to any further royalties in a 1994 settlement in exchange for several hundred thousand dollars. "It was the Barretts' unique sound which brought the Wailers international success." "Aston Barrett and his brother literally created the sound of the Wailers, though not for a minute to detract from the extraordinary songwriting ability of Mr Marley," Stephen Bate, representing the musician, told the judge. ![]() When you say write, you don't sit there with a pen and paper. "He would be talking and they would be playing and singing and humming. Wittington Winter, a studio assistant at 56 Hope Road, told the court how the Barretts would compose songs together, Carlton - "lyrical, outspoken and often philosophical" - improvising words, he said, while "Family Man" added bass lines. The new group, Bob Marley and the Wailers, included the Barrett brothers and Al Anderson for the first time. In 1974, Marley 's original two collaborators, Neville "Bunny" Livingstone and Peter McIntosh, left. The judge imposed an order barring him from taking any further action without the permission of the court.Īt a hearing in March, Barrett claimed Marley had promised the members of the band equal shares of the royalties from albums including Babylon By Bus, Exodus and Rastaman Vibration.īarrett also said Marley asked for his help behind his studio, 56 Hope Road in Kingston, Jamaica, after he and his brother scored international hits with The Upsetters. He now faces about £2m in legal costs for the trial, forcing him to sell two homes in Jamaica. He alleged that after Marley died of cancer in 1981 - without leaving a will - his widow, Rita, and Island Records had denied Barrett and his brother access to the wealth generated from sales of Marley albums.īut as the high court judge, Mr Justice Lewison, threw out his claim, Barrett - who was not in court to hear the ruling - may have been reminded of one of the songs he claimed to have written along with his late brother - Them Belly Full (But We Hungry). This was the third time the former friend and colleague of the late Bob Marley had sought financial recompense for his contribution to the Marley sound, having undertaken legal actions in Jamaica and New York in the 1980s which, like yesterday's ruling, left him waiting in vain.Īt the high court in London, he claimed that he and his brother Carlton, a drummer in the band who was murdered in 1987, were still owed up to £60m from a contract signed in 1974 and royalties from six songs they had written.
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