One of the Wailers’ first big hits, “I Shot the Sheriff” is about more than being framed for murder. Family Man made it about supporting the dramatic storyline by knowing when to play and when to hold back. Take a look at the four-bar verse line in Ex. 1. Out of the 16 quarter-note beats, ten have rests, and bar 2 doesn’t have any note attacks at all. When Fams does play, he interjects intriguing melodic bits that coax the rhythm forward.

Like “Sheriff,” “Burnin’ & Lootin’” is from 1973’s Burnin’, and Family Man again finds ways to leave room while nursing the groove. Ex. 2a shows the pre-verse vamp, a complete four-bar phrase that ends with some breathing room. Note the slight rhythm difference in bars 1 and 3; Fams plays both licks loosely, making them more similar to each other than a strict rhythmic reading would suggest. To make room when the singers enter, Family Man drops out altogether in the first bar (Ex. 2b), and shaves a few notes from bar 2.

Ex. 3 shows a typical eight-bar bass phrase from the 1977 hit “Exodus.” Reggae cover bands often get this one wrong, skipping the “one-drop” downbeat rests in many of the even-numbered bars, which help give this one-chord jam its hypnotic rhythmic intensity.

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