I have a stupid question?

Keith Hilton · Post by **Keith Hilton** » 4 Jun 2002 7:28 am

In the last year I have learned the world is not always black and white, but has unlimited shades of grey, and color. For years and years I loved the Ray Price 4/4 shuffle tunes. I recently got hooked on some stuff I used to hate. I bought 4 Bob Marley CD's and got hooked. For those of you who don't know, Bob Marley is Reggi. I suppose what has caught my ear is this type of music being totally different from anything. I keep wondering how a steel guitar would sound with the Bob Marley tapes. Do any of you players do this type of material? Also, how difficult is it mentally to adjust to the wierd beats,after being so used to 2/4 and 4/4?[This message was edited by Keith Hilton on 04 June 2002 at 08:29 AM.]

Rick Aiello · Post by **Rick Aiello** » 4 Jun 2002 8:00 am

When I lived in WPB, FL I used to hang out and play with a couple of Reggae bands .... I play non-pedal steel ... they seemed to love it and I liked the "Fringe Benefits"

The big problem was my almost albino-like complexion... they did what the Hawaiian guys did .. put me in the corner and aimed the lights away from me

[This message was edited by Rick Aiello on 04 June 2002 at 09:05 AM.]

John Russell · Post by **John Russell** » 4 Jun 2002 8:36 am

It should work. Sometime, check out King Sunny Ade's Nigerian band with clean pickin' Telecasters and steel guitar. It's nice! --jr

CrowBear Schmitt · Post by **CrowBear Schmitt** » 4 Jun 2002 9:55 am

Yes King Sunny Ade is great !
so is a lot of African Musik.
Reggea is also great.
Yes Keith ! ain't nothin' wrong w: playin' that kind of stuff.
Marley did contribute to de'Musik all right.
it really is'nt hard to play I shot the Sheriff on Steel is it?
But those African tunes are somethin' else !
Quick, Light, Childish , and Fun !
Here in Europa the Steel is'nt compounded to only Country. Many Styles can prevail...
Sting,BJ Cole, are some of my Favorites. So is Bonnie Raitt...
Steel laid back...

chas smith R.I.P. · Post by **chas smith R.I.P.** » 4 Jun 2002 11:07 am

20 years ago I played B3 in a 13 piece, all-white-imitation-Reggae band. Full horn section and 3 backup singers grinding away in spandex, mighty fine. So if you think of the steel guitar as a horn section, it fits in very well, substituting for the "bubble" on B3 is more difficult, because it's a two-hand rhythm thing. The important thing is thinking in 12/8, which seems to be a more universal rhythm (the white man is stuck in 4/4; yes I know, what's wrong with 4/4?, if it was good enougn for ________, it's good enough for me). 12/8 is thinking in 3 and 4 at the same time.

Glenn Suchan · Post by **Glenn Suchan** » 4 Jun 2002 11:17 am

Yes, I have played reggae on the steel. At one time I was in a band called The Dreadful Grapes. The "Grapes" had a penchant for reggae music by, you guessed it, the Grateful Dead ("Blues for Alah", "Estimated Prophet", "Fire on the Mountain", etc.) as well as Toots and the Maytals, Peter Tosh and others. Along with reggae, we performed other forms of syncopated music by artists like the Nevell Brothers ("Fiyo on the Bayoo", "Brother John" etc.) and Little Feat ("Spanish Moon", "Horizontal Mambo").

One of the approaches I take to playing syncopated rhythyms is to set up a slap-back delay frequency that exactly matches the tempo and add a little envelope filtering. This works well for comping. On soloing, I would play passages with a lot of half note, dotted half note and whole notes with judicious use of glissando in the melodies.

One of the things to remember about playing reggae music is the bass instrument will many times play an underpinning melody and the treble instrument will comp the rhythym along with the percussion instruments. Also, percussion is accented differently from country or rock. Once you get into it, it's really alot of fun on the steel guitar. At one time I worked up a solo version of Bill Wither's "Ain't no Sunshine (when you're gone)" reggae style.

Keep on pickin'!
Glenn

Jim Palenscar · Post by **Jim Palenscar** » 4 Jun 2002 12:43 pm

On my recent "road trip" I had the opportunity to meet fellow forumite Glen Taylor in Denver through Sage Harmos. Glen heads up a band on his pedal steel that has as its center African music and it was fantastic- terrific pedal steel, percussion, etc- as far from N'ville as can be and delightful.

Dave Ristrim · Post by **Dave Ristrim** » 4 Jun 2002 12:53 pm

Ah yes, da Reggae mahn. Gotta love it. Toots had a steel player on a few tracks. I can't remember the name of the cuts. One was something like Island Women, I think. I have the LP and will look for it.

And Keith, of course, "There are no stupid questions"!
Dave

Donny Hinson · Post by **Donny Hinson** » 4 Jun 2002 2:07 pm

I've only done a couple of Reggae numbers, "...Clearly..." and "One Love" with a band, but like Keith, I have always had a certain fascination with Reggae music. Since the first time I heard the few Reggae-style songs that crept into mainstream music ("Hold Me Tight", "I Can See Clearly Now", "Stir It Up", and "I Shot The Sheriff"), I've liked it. I see it a little more differently than Keith does. Most of the bass lines I notice are quite simplistic, often just repeating one note for several measures. It's definitely more rhythm-oriented than typical pop music. Emphasis is on the feeling as much as it is on the song, per se. Melody lines aren't complex, but do contain a lot of syncopation (think like Willie Nelson!

).

No doubt the thing that's most novel about Reggae is the accents. Where we're used to hearing the accents on the downbeat, the Reggae accents are almost always on the upbeat. This may account for the "happy" characteristic that the music seems to have. Don't get me wrong, there are some rather "dark and moody" numbers (mostly in true authentic "Jamaican Reggae"), but mostly, it's quite light-hearted music, especially the stuff that's done for the stateside and tourist market.

There are some country songs that translate well to the Reggae style, and I've been thinking of doing one Country/Reggae number on my upcoming CD (which is in the early planning stages right now).

One thing for sure, the feeling I got when pulling into port on a big cruise ship down in the Carribbean (hearing the strains of Reggae music) was quite a satisfying experience.

"Don't Worry, Be Happy!"

Keith Hilton · Post by **Keith Hilton** » 4 Jun 2002 6:58 pm

Donny you are correct about Willie Nelson. If you listen close to Willie you will break time for sure. His feel for timing is on the edge. I suppose what is in my ear the most is the Jamaican style of Reggae. Everything is different, the timing, the bass lines, the drum beat. The bass lines interest me the most. The Bass lines repeat over and over, but are very syncopated and out in left field rhythmicly. I have noticed that most of these Jamaican Reggae tunes are about the same speed. Looks like it would be difficult to get the feel that is in some of these tunes if the speed got to fast. Bob Marley is dead. Is there any other Jamacian I should listen to?

Mark Herrick · Post by **Mark Herrick** » 4 Jun 2002 7:10 pm

Toots and the Maytals did a reggae version of "Take Me Home, Country Roads".

Zayit · Post by **Zayit** » 4 Jun 2002 8:10 pm

This is a long way from the Wailers Keith, but David Lindley has done some Reggae-flavoured numbers using Weissenborn lap-steel as the principal instrument. Check out his latest album. I think 2 of the reggae-style cuts were: Quarter of a Man, & Sport Utility's Suck.

nick allen · Post by **nick allen** » 4 Jun 2002 11:50 pm

I believe Willie Nelson actually has a reggae album in the can - though whether it will ever appear is a good question - I think it was recorded at least 4 years ago...
As far as country songs going reggae (or vice versa?) "Love of the Common People" was a big reggae hit in England - I forget the name of the artists.
Nick

Del Rangel · Post by **Del Rangel** » 5 Jun 2002 5:57 am

Jimmy Cliff would be good, Toots and the Maytals as has already been pointed out.
Culture
The Mighty Diamonds
Augustus Pablo (His stuff might be good w/Steel--died in 1999. Played a melodica with some cool results)

For old school maybe some Desmond Dekker,
Peter Tosh (Dead but like Marley a HUGE influence)
Harder stuff would include artists like Mutabaruka or Yellowman. (More politically charged)
Dub poets like Lynton Kwesi Johnson offer another vein.
Newer groups like Gondwana are infusing Latin "ridims" into Reggae and Dub once more as are domestic groups like Big Mountain
"de ridim haffe rule"

Oh yeah don't forget World Music w/ folks like Taj Mahal,
Third World,
Fela Kuti
Zap Mama
Ali Farka Toure
and as before King Sunny Ade[This message was edited by Del Rangel on 05 June 2002 at 07:06 AM.][This message was edited by Del Rangel on 05 June 2002 at 07:13 AM.]

Rick Aiello · Post by **Rick Aiello** » 5 Jun 2002 7:49 am

Reggae has infiltrated the world of Hawaiian music ... much to the dismay of traditional fans ... they call it "Jawaiian".

I understand it is very popular these days.

I don't know if it contains much (or any) steel guitar though ??

Bob Blair · Post by **Bob Blair** » 5 Jun 2002 7:59 am

Keith, Jimmy Cliff's "Rivers of Babylon" works real well on PSG - I play it from time to time just for fun. It's on "The Harder They Come".

Bill Hamner · Post by **Bill Hamner** » 5 Jun 2002 9:36 am

Hi Keith, Your question has resulted in quite a number of replys, good ones at that!
So just be reminded that the only stupid
questions are those not asked.

Bill

Bob Hoffnar · Post by **Bob Hoffnar** » 5 Jun 2002 9:41 am

On the E9 neck one thing I do when I play African or Reggae music is to avoid the A/B corn pedal riffs. A lick that sounded great in a Johnny Paycheck tune can sound really goofy stuck on top of a 12/8 reggae groove.

One thing is if the chords are major I base by scales and chords off the 9th string. So if a tune is in G I spend my time around the 5th fret with the B pedal in. If the tune is in a minor key I base my scales and chords off the 10th string. So for the key of E minor I'm hanging around the 5th fret again with the B pedal in.

The main thing I do is not play anything at all until I sing it in my head. Once I have a phrase in my head I play it from an alternate place on the neck and go from there.

Bob

Keith Hilton · Post by **Keith Hilton** » 5 Jun 2002 7:54 pm

Bob, I like your approach. I am very familar with "modal" playing and that is similar, in some ways, to your method of using the notes in a position to match the feel of certain cords. I agree that the standard A,B pedals using stock Nashville licks would not fit 12/8, or anything else in Reggae. It would probably be best to pretend you were a "horn" and play single notes. The lead licks and harmonies in Reggae are far removed from Nashville, and I probably need to study them more.

Ernie Renn · Post by **Ernie Renn** » 6 Jun 2002 2:53 am

I did a few shows in Grand Cayman. One was just before Christmas. I went into a store and they were playing Christmas carols in the reggae style. Really fun stuff...

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My best,
Ernie

The Official Buddy Emmons Website
www.buddyemmons.com

Andy Volk · Post by **Andy Volk** » 6 Jun 2002 12:42 pm

David Lindley did some great playing on lap steel over Ska grooves with his 80's band, El Rayo-Ex. Check out bobbrozman.com ...
he's been putting out a plethora (hey I got to use plethora ina sentence!) of CDs in collaboration with musicians from around the world. I'm anxious to hear is DIGDIG CD with Reunion Island musicians. His site has some very interesting explanations of polyrythms, cultural imperialism in music, etc. He has a theory that "colonizing" cultures emphasize the downbeat where "colonized cultures" emphasize the off beats.

Bobby Lee · Post by **Bobby Lee** » 6 Jun 2002 2:51 pm

Nearly any country tune can be played in reggae style. Recently I jammed with a band doing Haggard's "Big City" reggae style. It was great fun - 'Montana' became 'Jamaica', and the intro was a real challenge.

Don't tell Bobbe, though. I'm sure he has no use for that kind of music.

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<img align=right src="http://b0b.com/b0b.gif" width="64" height="64">Bobby Lee - email: quasar@b0b.com - gigs - CDs
Sierra Session 12 (E9), Williams 400X (Emaj9, D6), Sierra Olympic 12 (F Diatonic) Sierra Laptop 8 (D13), Fender Stringmaster (E13, A6)

jim flynn · Post by **jim flynn** » 6 Jun 2002 4:46 pm

Keith- What this really means, ( and it should happen to more of us) is that you are very much ALIVE & WELL. Braindead at the steel guitar is all to common and its alot more fun to break out of the stereo-type
image we sometimes carry. Congratulations!!!
JIm Flynn, LOne Star Steel

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Mike Perlowin RIP · Post by **Mike Perlowin RIP** » 8 Jun 2002 9:59 am

I wish to point out that King Sunny Ade recorded 20 LPs before Demola Adepoju (his steel player) joined the band in 1977, and many of these have now been reissiued over here. If you want to hear Demola's steel work with the band, the CD to get is Called "Juju Music" on the Mango label.

Here is a link to the CD. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000003QI0/qid=1023558544/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_1/002-6528592-2541634