A lawsuit initiated by the bassist from Bob Marley's band the Wailers reached the High Court yesterday. He is suing the Marley family and Universal's Island Records over claims he has received only a small proportion of royalty monies he is due.
Aston Barrett and his drummer brother Carlton met Marley in the latest sixties. Barrett was the bassist in the Wailers from 1969 until Marley's death in 1981. During that time, it is claimed, the Barretts played an important role in helping Marley write his music and develop his sound.
Barrett's lawyer Stephen Bate told the court yesterday that the Carltons helped Marley to build on his "extraordinary songwriting abilities" creating a "new sound no one else had got". Bate added: "The chief reason for the musical breakthrough and international acclaim was Aston Barrett and his brother."
Barrett claims he is due royalties from his work with Marley based on a 1974 contract with Island Records and a subsequent 1976 agreement with Marley himself which gave Aston and his brother a 50% share of recording royalties (brother Carlton was murdered in 1986).
Island and the Marley family don't specifically dispute the seventies agreements, but say that this matter was resolved in 1994 when Barrett entered into an agreement which saw him give up rights to further royalties.
The case will continue into next week, with Marley's widow Rita among those expected to give evidence.