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Looking for songs with just a bit of Reggae tinge

marczellm

By marczellm
in The Keyboard Corner

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marczellm

marczellm

Posted
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A friend of mine wrote a song he wants me to play on. It's not really an authentic reggae tune because of his approach to harmony and also because of the very specific story the lyrics tell. So I'm looking for good examples of what kind of keyboard playing would fit such a song. I could maybe describe it as a songwriter song trying to incorporate a reggae influence. Any listening suggestions?

Life is subtractive.
Genres: Jazz, funk, pop, Christian worship, BebHop
Wishlist: 80s-ish (synth)pop, symph pop, prog rock, fusion, musical theatre
Gear: NS2 + JUNO-G. KingKORG. SP6 at church.

 

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AnotherScott

AnotherScott

Posted
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For "inauthentic" but "inspired by" reggae, I'd think of Clapton's version of I Shot the Sherriff, Oh Bla Di Oh Bl Da (well, more ska, because it's quicker), and half the stuff by The Police.

Maybe this is the best place for a shameless plug! Our now not-so-new new video at https://youtu.be/3ZRC3b4p4EI is a 40 minute adaptation of T. S. Eliot's "Prufrock" - check it out! And hopefully I'll have something new here this year. ;-)

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nadroj

nadroj

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Sounds like the main band I play in. Ska is basically white guy music influenced by reggae. In particular, check out the Specials, they are/were a ska band fronted by both English and Jamaican musicians. They blended English pop, Ska and Reggae like no one else.

 

Some suggestions more on the reggae side (with some that aren't "pure" reggae):

 

A Message to You Rudy (The Specials)

Food for Thought (UB40)

No No No (Dawn Penn)

Rat in Mi Kitchen (UB40)

Pressure Drop (The Specials)

Rude Boys Out of Jail (The Specials)

Monkey Man (The Specials) - the breakdown here is a good reference

You're Wondering Now (The Specials)

Nite Klub (The Specials) - not particularly reggae, but my favourite song to play!

Racist Friend (The Specials)

 

 

In terms of what to actually play:

 

Off beat piano stabs (single, double stabs, sliding from one chord to the next - experiment). The more detuned and beat up the piano sounds the better.

Hammond. Some drawbar settings to try: all of the fundamentals out, 1st and 9th out (mix in the 3rd), just the 3rd. Mixture of stabs, rhythmic comping, pads and lead lines. Expreriment.

Vox is great for this too. Picturing a single manual Vox, all 4 drawbars out, vibrato on. Try with and without amp and rotary sims to taste. Same playing style as above.

 

Lots of Marley's stuff had clav buried way down in the mix. Usually in the lower-mid registers, comping and playing around the bass line. Hard to do without making it sound messy or getting in the way of the bassist, but can be very effective if done right.

 

For proper Reggae, Bob Marley is the obvious one to listen to. His first album with the Wailers is a great reference for the sound you might be after. Good luck.

Hammond SKX

Mainstage 3

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Docbop

Docbop

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Listen to Johnny Nash he had reggae influenced songs going back into the 60's before his big hit "I Can See Clearly Now". The album I Can See Clearly Now has a lot of reggae flavor tunes. The 60's had a number of reggae and ska influenced tunes on the R&B and Rock charts. Millie Small "My Boy Lollypop" was a big Ska hit. But you can give any tune a reggae feel. When I was in music school in improv performance class we'd rehearse for an hour once a week and do Jazz standards and we would always end rehearsal by doing whatever tune we were working on in a reggae style. It was fun but some tunes with lots of changes got challenging.

 

Like everything in music the key is the do lots of listening and go to the early roots of the music in the 60's listen to the creators of the music.

 

[video:youtube]

 

 

[video:youtube]https://youtu.be/z8PN6CLnJXM

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Bill H.

Bill H.

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[video:youtube]

 

For contemporary music with a Reggae feel, Island music is a great resource. Almost all of it is real music played by real musicians - remarkable for today. Here's a go-to track I play as a DJ when the room has the right look. It's well known and works even with non Hawaiians/Samoans. Some nights I'm in this kind of a groove a lot. I've got a bunch of tracks like this if you are interested.

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KuruPrionz

KuruPrionz

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Reggae puts the kick on the 2 AND 4, where the snare usually goes.

Try leading with the 5th and dropping to the tonic on the 2 and 4 to get the feel for it. Then, just goof around and see what you come up with.

 

Since you are not trying to play like it is an actual reggae song you really can't do much that is wrong as long as you have the chord changes and key down.

It took a chunk of my life to get here and I am still not sure where "here" is.
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CEB

CEB

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My top 40 Pop Band did this when it was new. 2013-2014 or so. It was big then.

 

[video:youtube]

"It doesn't have to be difficult to be cool" - Mitch Towne

 

"A great musician can bring tears to your eyes!!!

So can a auto Mechanic." - Stokes Hunt

 

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Mark Schmieder

Mark Schmieder

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John Lennon's cover of "Stand By Me".

 

The castrated version of Bob Marley's "I Shot the Sheriff" by Eric Clapton.

 

Throw in some pseudo-calypso with Wings' "C Moon" (huge hit in U.K. but unknown in USA).

 

You could add a bit of reggae lilt to Yes's "Don't Kill the Whale".

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Select Strat, 70th Anniversary Esquire, LP 57, Eastman T486, T64, Ibanez PM2, Hammond XK4, Moog Voyager

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Mark Schmieder

Mark Schmieder

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Oh man, someone brought up my favourite UB40 song, "Rat in Mi Kitchen", which is an ear worm, but of the good variety.

Eugenio Upright, 60th Anniversary P-Bass, USA Geddy Lee J-Bass, Yamaha BBP35, D'angelico SS Bari, EXL1,

Select Strat, 70th Anniversary Esquire, LP 57, Eastman T486, T64, Ibanez PM2, Hammond XK4, Moog Voyager

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Mark Schmieder

Mark Schmieder

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Outkaster, I think the point is that it needs to be "faux reggae", lacking the authenticity of a proper reggae groove. :-)

 

For example, Eric Clapton's version of "I Shot the Sheriff".

 

The term for this used to be "whitewashing". :-)

Eugenio Upright, 60th Anniversary P-Bass, USA Geddy Lee J-Bass, Yamaha BBP35, D'angelico SS Bari, EXL1,

Select Strat, 70th Anniversary Esquire, LP 57, Eastman T486, T64, Ibanez PM2, Hammond XK4, Moog Voyager

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o0Ampy0o

o0Ampy0o

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Ska is basically white guy music influenced by reggae.

Outkaster, I think the point is that it needs to be "faux reggae", lacking the authenticity of a proper reggae groove. :-)

 

For example, Eric Clapton's version of "I Shot the Sheriff".

 

The term for this used to be "whitewashing". :-)

Post-1st wave ska if not at least 3rd wave ska or a few pre's from pre-9th wave ska?

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Docbop

Docbop

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Being we're talking about Reggae one of the pioneer died today Lee "Scratch" Perry. He was a Grammy winner and worked in HipHop as well. Keith Richards called him the Salvador Dali of music. Keith also said "He's a mystery. The world is his instrument. You just have to listen," Richards said. "More than a producer, he knows how to inspire the artist's soul.". Here one of his tracks to listen and learn from....

 

[video:youtube]

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Doerfler

Doerfler

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Outkaster, I think the point is that it needs to be "faux reggae", lacking the authenticity of a proper reggae groove. :-)

 

For example, Eric Clapton's version of "I Shot the Sheriff".

 

The term for this used to be "whitewashing". :-)

 

agreed. Worst f'n cover ever. Wasn't EC's fault. He was/is a recovering drug addict who was being pushed by his contract to make money for his record company. :facepalm:

:nopity:
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MAJUSCULE

MAJUSCULE

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Ska is basically white guy music influenced by reggae.

 

Yeah... sorry my man, but this is wrong. Ska is Jamaican music. Pressure Drop is actually a Toots & the Maytals song. The Skatalites and Desmond Dekker were not white dudes ripping off reggae. 2nd wave is fairly integrated (despite the skinheads) and third wave definitely skews heavily white, but I can't just let that one slide. :cop:

Eric

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