A recent collab that was fun to write and record. I can get the track info later. Style is ska with a definite reggae groove.

Writers are Herb Hartley and Brandon McLean.

Wonderful Day

Enjoy!

Band is:

Bass 3486
Drums Ska slow classic
Guitar 3492
B3 2619
Steel drums 3527

Brandon is singing and I'm in the background making noises and such things.... and harmony vox.

The verses are almost mono with the exception of the drums n keyboard and sometimes the added vocals.
Might have been worthwhile going full mono.
Nice song but the main voice doesn't sound joyous in the chorus.

I like it.

Cool. Nice uplifting beat. I like the Ska sound. Good work to all involved.

Love it, it's got that 60's west Indian style, which is really bouncy. Bit like the style the fabulous goombay dance band had

A little more info on this.

Yep, it's essentially a rough draft with absolutely no vocal fix. Just a quick and dirty mix for Brandon to use on a project he has coming up. His band is getting a lot of airplay in NC and they are playing in a concert with several other bands...( assuming the C-19 fiasco doesn't side line it ) and they were scheduled to go to the radio station with the other bands to promote the upcoming show and jam to something on the air in the studio...and this was to be that jammable something. Since Brandon's band is very likely going to cover this on their next album project, it will likely not be tweeked much beyond what you hear in this version.

This write took maybe...maybe 30 minutes total... I had a rough idea from Brandon's mp3 recorded on a phone clip, and put a few thoughts together. When we sat down in the studio, it was like hey... how about this? Yeah that works, lets use it. And a few minutes later we had the song written and done. We realized it fit the same style as the song by WAR: Why can't we be friends.... and that was ok with us. Not a typical song like either of us tend to write. Most of my writing is across the internet or alone, so this was the very first time I had set down in the same room to write with someone in decades.

Rayc: I hear what you say. Thank you for the input

dcuny: I'm glad. It's a happy little song. Thanks

jptx3: We all need a bit of uplifting these days huh? Thanks

Furry: I was trying to channel Bob Marley mon.... Guess I needed more ganga... Thanks

A fun listen. Sometimes that is all a song needs to be...

We've long enjoyed a ska/reggae groove.

So it was quite a surprise to hear this song.

Janice said it gave her "happy feet!"

Enjoyed it.

J&B

Whoa-o-o-o, what a wonderful song. You two nailed that sound! Good choices made for tracks.

Are the Ska drums from biab? I saw you listed them but wasn't sure if they were from this or another Library.

I know you mentioned you were trying to channel Bob Marley. I have to say Bob Marley and Herb have always gone together from what I understand.

Hi Guitarhacker,

cool ska song - toe-tapping and good fun. Enjoyed the lisiten.

Stay healthy,

Stefan

Floyd: Yep... sometimes that's all we need. A song to make us smile and forget our troubles .... thanks


Janice & Bud.... "happy feet" I love it.... sounds like you did too... thanks


Hear to Learn: Yep, this is from BB/RB. The style only had 3 instruments so I grabbed 2 more from RB. Thanks for the listen


Stefan: Glad you enjoyed it too. Thanks. Yep, we're hanging out in the woods. Wife is a teacher and they shut the schools for at least 2 weeks. Me, I only go out to do service calls for my customers, check the mail, and train my dog.

Great feel, guys. Try not to dance to this. You make some great background noise, Herb. Great use of the ska/reggae, especially the steel drums. Very entertaining.

My dog Lilly was in the studio with us so she has to get credit for yawns and whining. Brandon laughed at that.

Thanks for the comments

Very cool groove on this. Fun listen. Well done Herb

This was a fun little project. Glad you like it Scott. Thanks

Hay mon, you nailed this!

This is fantastic. You even got those steel drums working, excellent!

Everything about this is top shelf.

'Guitarhacker' and Mr. McClean...

Hm-m-m...between your Wonderful Day, me & 'jptjpt's' That's How Much I Love You, and 'janessan's' The Best and Irresistible, it seems that recently there's been a small-scale eruption of 'island'-style music happenin' on the User's Forum .

You got some high-energy melody and percussion really bursting out of the song. If I was a (sucessful, ha, ha !!) boxer, I could get a serious jump-rope rhythm going on while listening to this infectious (pun intended) song !!!

I don't comment on 'mixes', but self-imposed rules are made to be broken, 'cuz this song called attention to it. If you had faded-in at the beginning and faded-out at the end, and applied a rising-and-falling arc of volume 'tween those two points, I would've sworn that I had heard a live, performing band going down the street -- that's how much 'presence' the recording had.

Thanks for keeping us User's Forum listeners' spirits up, gents !!!

Truly,

LOREN (a.k.a. 'bluage')

Herb,

Really fun tune—pulls you in from the first note. Brandon does a great job on the vocal (as do you with your noises ). Very upbeat, very positive—the kind of song that becomes an ear worm quickly and puts folk in a good mood real easy. Nicely done!

Best regards,

Deej

Mario: Steel drums.... they set a certain groove for sure... thanks That reminds me that I have another much much older song with steel drums in it. I need to find that old thing and drag it out and see if it's time for a facelift. I know it was well before my BB days


Loren: Glad you like it. We were kinda going for a live, jam session kind of feel. Glad you picked up on that.

Deej: Ear worm.... what every songwriter hopes their song becomes. Thanks

Even opened up a different browser for this song, and that one won't play it either. Sorry! Love to hear it! Take care. Greg

This is an excellent song, and very catchy - still got the chorus running through my mind. I read the comments that this was a quick and rough draft, so I'll leave the critical comments out, which were minor in any case. It sounds like great fun, and I think you definitely have tapped into some Bob Marley reggae spirit there. I think this has real potential with some more work, so looking forward to hearing more on this song, and other songs too.