It's actually Lloyd "Tin Legs" Adams, not Carly B on drums for both "KTMRU" and "Rockers Dub". Also, Errol Thompson (who was the engineer at Randy's studio at the time) engineered some tracks. The credits are a dog's breakfast because Pablo gave the album first to Brad Osbourne to release in New York and Brad simply credited many of the popular studio musicians of that time. The cover photo was taken in Brad's store when Pablo was in town, you can see the New York references in the flyers on the wall. Regardless of the misinformation, the album is indeed a stone-cold classic that never grows old, cheers!
Thnaks David. I appreciate getting that additional info. I've searched all over, and the only reference to drummers for the album is Carly. I found Tin Legs on This Is Augustus Pablo, Black Board Jungle Dub, and others. Is there anywhere you can link for reference? That'd be great if you have it. Thanks for adding the Errol info, too. Cheers
He did many sessions for Scratch and Duke Reid also, and played with the Inner Circle band. That's him on "Cherry Oh Baby', he has a very recognizable idiosyncratic "stop and start" style, and his "hot" snare sound is truly unique and identifiable. Here he is playing on Scratch's production of Junior Byles "Auntie Lulu", you can easily recognize that drum style on KTMRU. He was a very distinctive and underrated drummer. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hO4Qf-BE448
Thanks for the link. The kick drum work sounds very similar and makes more sense when compared to Carly's style. I did get this list of songs/albums he's been on (there are more, just a few to show others)
Notable Songs:
"Drugs and Poison" – By The Upsetters & Lee Perry.
"Beat Down Babylon" – By Junior Byles.
"Natty Natty" – By Reggie "Alva" Lewis.
"Bucky Skank" – By Lee Perry & The Upsetters.
"Black Panta" – By Lee Perry & The Upsetters.
"Any Heart Can Be Broken" – By Delroy Wilson.
Notable Albums:
"This Is Augustus Pablo" (1974) – Augustus Pablo's debut album.
"Black Board Jungle Dub" (1973) – By The Upsetters.
"Guerrilla Dub" (1978) – By The Aggrovators & The Revolutionaries.
"Dubbing at King Tubby's" – By The Aggrovators.
The last sounds like the same drummer (Tin Legs) as on KTMRU
Thanks yes the DI for tightness & control of the signal makes sense. What I've always loved about reggae is how they bring out complex musical ideas with slight voicing changes in the chords. I ignore the complaint of 'Oh reggae all sounds the same ' those people don't know how to listen & besides any popular music has a structure it sticks to & simultaneously breaks that rule in an idiosyncratic way.
A little about me as a curator of my own music collection. Been buying reggae/dub since the 70's among many other genres so of course I love this album too. My question is did they record the Bass Guitar DI or mic an amplifier or maybe both? Also was there a particular 'brand' of Bass Guitar the players prefer for reggae. I'm sure Fender jazz or precision but any others. Great post thanks for the reminder of this classic album. To quote Prince #albumsmatter
From what I've read about Robbie, Family Man, and others, they'd use an amp and DI. It's mostly Robbie on the album, but it could have some Family Man on it used from earlier sessions. Here's what I found
ROBBIE
Mic’d Amp: The bass was played through a bass amp (often a Fender Bassman, Acoustic 360, or similar) with a microphone placed close to the speaker. Common mics at the time were Shure SM57, Electro-Voice RE20, or older ribbon mics like RCA models.
Direct Input (DI): At the same time, the bass was also sent directly into the mixing desk without the amp’s coloration. This gave engineers a clean, full-range signal.
Beautiful words, Jesse! The LCR mixing of the time had such profound consequences, like on the title track where the whole mix leans to one side. Recently, I’ve noticed more folks playing with this “imbalance” and it sounds great!
It's actually Lloyd "Tin Legs" Adams, not Carly B on drums for both "KTMRU" and "Rockers Dub". Also, Errol Thompson (who was the engineer at Randy's studio at the time) engineered some tracks. The credits are a dog's breakfast because Pablo gave the album first to Brad Osbourne to release in New York and Brad simply credited many of the popular studio musicians of that time. The cover photo was taken in Brad's store when Pablo was in town, you can see the New York references in the flyers on the wall. Regardless of the misinformation, the album is indeed a stone-cold classic that never grows old, cheers!
Thnaks David. I appreciate getting that additional info. I've searched all over, and the only reference to drummers for the album is Carly. I found Tin Legs on This Is Augustus Pablo, Black Board Jungle Dub, and others. Is there anywhere you can link for reference? That'd be great if you have it. Thanks for adding the Errol info, too. Cheers
He did many sessions for Scratch and Duke Reid also, and played with the Inner Circle band. That's him on "Cherry Oh Baby', he has a very recognizable idiosyncratic "stop and start" style, and his "hot" snare sound is truly unique and identifiable. Here he is playing on Scratch's production of Junior Byles "Auntie Lulu", you can easily recognize that drum style on KTMRU. He was a very distinctive and underrated drummer. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hO4Qf-BE448
Thanks for the link. The kick drum work sounds very similar and makes more sense when compared to Carly's style. I did get this list of songs/albums he's been on (there are more, just a few to show others)
Notable Songs:
"Drugs and Poison" – By The Upsetters & Lee Perry.
"Beat Down Babylon" – By Junior Byles.
"Natty Natty" – By Reggie "Alva" Lewis.
"Bucky Skank" – By Lee Perry & The Upsetters.
"Black Panta" – By Lee Perry & The Upsetters.
"Any Heart Can Be Broken" – By Delroy Wilson.
Notable Albums:
"This Is Augustus Pablo" (1974) – Augustus Pablo's debut album.
"Black Board Jungle Dub" (1973) – By The Upsetters.
"Guerrilla Dub" (1978) – By The Aggrovators & The Revolutionaries.
"Dubbing at King Tubby's" – By The Aggrovators.
The last sounds like the same drummer (Tin Legs) as on KTMRU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=goOeNNE1cfM&list=PL8XVZQ4j4f6yRRJJgycLpITk0QjoHK41B
Thanks yes the DI for tightness & control of the signal makes sense. What I've always loved about reggae is how they bring out complex musical ideas with slight voicing changes in the chords. I ignore the complaint of 'Oh reggae all sounds the same ' those people don't know how to listen & besides any popular music has a structure it sticks to & simultaneously breaks that rule in an idiosyncratic way.
A little about me as a curator of my own music collection. Been buying reggae/dub since the 70's among many other genres so of course I love this album too. My question is did they record the Bass Guitar DI or mic an amplifier or maybe both? Also was there a particular 'brand' of Bass Guitar the players prefer for reggae. I'm sure Fender jazz or precision but any others. Great post thanks for the reminder of this classic album. To quote Prince #albumsmatter
From what I've read about Robbie, Family Man, and others, they'd use an amp and DI. It's mostly Robbie on the album, but it could have some Family Man on it used from earlier sessions. Here's what I found
ROBBIE
Mic’d Amp: The bass was played through a bass amp (often a Fender Bassman, Acoustic 360, or similar) with a microphone placed close to the speaker. Common mics at the time were Shure SM57, Electro-Voice RE20, or older ribbon mics like RCA models.
Direct Input (DI): At the same time, the bass was also sent directly into the mixing desk without the amp’s coloration. This gave engineers a clean, full-range signal.
King Tubby could blend the two signals during the dub mix — sometimes favoring the DI for tightness, sometimes the amp for vibe.
Beautiful words, Jesse! The LCR mixing of the time had such profound consequences, like on the title track where the whole mix leans to one side. Recently, I’ve noticed more folks playing with this “imbalance” and it sounds great!