"Smile Out A Style" - Tribute to Lee "Scratch" Perry

[Ted]

Smile Out A Style

By Lee "Scratch" Perry

Instruments Recorded on Micro BR
Drums, Mix, and Master in Garageband

All things played by Ted

Acoustic bamboo "lood" Guitar (it's a Madagascar thing)
Stratocaster
Acoustic Bass
Vocals

This song is from the album War Ina Babylon, by Max Romeo and the Upsetters – possibly the first reggae album I ever listened to. Lee "Scratch" Perry produced the album and co-wrote some of the songs, but this song is credited only to Scratch.

[Mike_S]

Really nice job Ted. Great vocal and that lovely Reggae vibe is just right, really chilled out. Very cool indeed.

Mike

[Ted]

Really nice job Ted. Great vocal and that lovely Reggae vibe is just right, really chilled out. Very cool indeed.

Thanks Mike!

Couple funny things:

I recorded all the instruments without any vocal reference. I just played that groove for about four minutes (once per instrument), and added the vocals later. I've never done that before. It was actually a kind of mindfulness exercise to try to play the same repetitive thing with intention and feeling. I didn't loop or punch anything, or copy/paste to fix minor flubs. Everything is the first take. All of that is unusual for my process.

The lyrics are in Jamaican Patwah. I looked up the meaning of screwface. It means "someone that has an angry or bad tempered expression on their face." This is the photo they use as an example:

[StephenM]

reminds me of a favorite band and singer.  The Police and Sting.  Even the guitar sounds.  This sounds great Ted.  I really like your vocals on here too.  Sounds like your method worked well.
I generally do takes all the way through and play them over and over and over again until I can.  I can't stand trying to punch things in.  Vocally sometimes I will cut and paste in the DAW during mixing.  I also have ripped parts of songs out and placed them in other places but generally I do take all the way through.

great recording...loved it

[The Gobi Desert Canoe Club]

Although not a fan of ska, reggae or bluebeat this makes an excellent listen.
The Gobi Desert Canoe Club

[Ted]

I can't stand trying to punch things in.  Vocally sometimes I will cut and paste in the DAW during mixing.

I lied. I did one copy and paste.

If you notice the guitar starts the song, and then the drums come in out of time with the guitar, and the guitar has to adapt. The original recording from 1976 sounds like that. What I speculate happened in the original recording – to tape, obviously – was that they recorded that guitar part last, and there was not click or count in. So they backed up the tape and had the guitarist start playing, hoping they'd be in sync when pre-recorded parts came in. That didn't work out, but the guitarist shifted gears and locked in with the rhythm.


I had to make a small extra effort to replicate that. I copied a bit of the guitar from the middle of the song, and then put it at the beginning out of time with the rest of the song. So it sounds more or less like the sloppy beginning of the original recording.

I've never been compared to Sting before. Well... once. I was in a band and someone accused me of doing a bad imitation of Sting's dance moves. Excuse me. That bad dancing is all me.

[Blooby]

That's interesting that you played that guitar riff straight. That must have been some sort of zone from where you emerged. Cool vibe and choice of artist & tune.

Blooby

[BerryPatch]

Quite an achievement to record this all so quickly and without any vocal reference! Sounds absolutely tight, that riff is so catchy and endearing. You have that loose reggae vocal sound down totally. Great listening to the lyrics on this one, great pick!

[SharksDontSleep]

Lee Scratch is definitely a legend in my book.
I like this version, you've done hime proud.   

[Ted]

Lee Scratch is definitely a legend in my book.
I like this version, you've done hime proud.   

I have to investigate Scratch a bit more. I know he's a legend, but I may only have this one album with his compositions on it plus a couple of tracks he produced but didn't write.

In case anyone is curious, this is my lood guitar (bamboo) and the chorus pedal I used for the main hook. If I was more ambitious, I think I could have recorded that part in stereo. (I'm pretty sure there's a way to do that on the Micro BR, and that I've done it before.)