“This is hands down the best quality of recording I have done in my entire career,” says Gramps Morgan, most known as a member of Grammy Award-winning Reggae band Morgan Heritage.
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With his first solo record in nine years, Positive Vibration, out today (July 23), Morgan polishes up what he’s always done best, reggae-infused pop music with a dash of soul, but has fine-tuned his songwriting in impressive ways. “Normally, we just plug into Pro Tools, and you’re in a hotel room, and you knock out the vocals and send it back to the studio. But to be in a studio of this quality every day and recording… the biggest thing I’ve learned is that I will never record in hotel rooms again.”
In working with producer Johnny Reid, a two-time platinum country artist from Scotland, Morgan strikes gold across 15 soul-warming tracks, from the sea-tossed title track and opener to “All About Love,” an invitation in times of trouble, all largely recorded at Nashville’s Berry Hill. “The chemistry between us is so incredible. My favorite part is to see the process of sitting with a guitar and writing a song,” says Morgan. “You hardly see that. A lot of times people get tracks from producers, and then they write the song─but it’s not created from the ground up.”
An unexpected night out on the town led their paths to cross, and some might even say it was fate. “I was sitting at home when I got invited to a sporting event downtown Nashville. I hardly go out. You know, I live in one of the most amazing towns in the world with some of the most amazing people─songwriters, musicians, and producers. I thought, ‘I need to start enjoying where I live.’”
He took a risk and went out for a few drinks. And it forever changed his life. He started chatting up Reid at a bar, and the conversation was instant. “Johnny asked, ‘What do you want to do at this point in your life?’ And I said, ‘I want to become a better songwriter.’ Of course, we write great songs in the Caribbean islands, but when you hear certain songs, especially in country music, they’re amazing stories. And I wanted to improve upon that.”
Later, the two met up at Berry Hill, once owned by Randy Scruggs and transformed from residential property into Scruggs Sound Studios, and Reid played him a song called “Runaway Bay.” Morgan immediately knew he had to record it, a soothing, windswept getaway that propelled him into the proverbial eye of the storm.
One day fell into the next, and before they knew it, they’d compiled 18 songs for the album. Serving “to remind people of the little and simple things that we can enjoy that we took for granted before,” the towering release carries the listener away, and the problems of the world seem to melt like a dream, even if for just a moment.
With “Float Ya Boat,” a collaboration with Shaggy, Morgan retools the phrase, basically meaning “no problem” or “take it easy, man,” into one of the album’s most enveloping moments, as waves crash and seagulls mew in the background. Sitting in the studio lobby one day, Reid randomly tossed out “float ya boat” in conversation, and “it was so funny to me,” Morgan laughs. “He has that Scottish accent, you know. I thought, ‘It’s a great title for a song!’ We went to his house the next day and sat with the guitar. One line came and then another line came. It’s really the epitome of a beach song─to have no worries in life.”
Sitting in a friend’s backyard in Kingston, Jamaica, Morgan played the full record for Shaggy, a long-time friend, and previous collaborator. It took no time at all, and Shaggy was onboard, elevating the charming, carefree tune into the stratosphere.
The good vibes continue with “Secret to Life,” a family affair featuring his legend-making father Denroy and his son Jemere. “I was on the lake,” Morgan remembers. “Tennessee has many beautiful lakes, not as much as Minnesota, but it has some very nice lakes. In the islands, we go to the beach, you know, but in the United States where you can’t get to the beach, you go to the lake.
“We were down there with my family, and we were going out on the boat on the lake. Johnny played the track for me, and this line just came to me: I can’t help myself but thinking about it. And it just shows you that your environment has a lot to do with your songwriting. Sometimes, it’s going to put you in the space of what is around you and what you’re experiencing. That is the power of songwriting.
“I was just looking at how green and pretty it was, and I was shocked. I had an amazing time with my wife and kids, and Johnny’s wife and kids,” he adds. “Here’s a guy from Scotland, and here’s a guy from Jamaica. And here is the secret of life being enjoyed─those simple things.”
Guitar-heavy “Money” soon follows, offering up an escape from the 9 to 5 hustle for “the everyday working man. He’s not a superstar or a movie star or sports athlete. It’s the guy working at the carwash,” he describes, “those people who go underappreciated and have to wait every day for their check. Sometimes, a check can change you from your dreams. If you get so caught waiting for that check every Friday or top of the month, you begin not to dream anymore. You begin not to be the owner of your own hair salon or barbershop or cleaning company. It’s that song to carry them on─a song of motivation and inspiration. Let them keep dreaming. It will pay off.”
Despite such wild career highs, including taking home the 2016 Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album (for Strictly Roots) and possessing such a rich musical heritage, Morgan isn’t one to let it all go to his head. “You know, I’m not crazy. I like to go shopping, but when I go shopping, I like to see others happy. Simplicity can make you survive. It’s not a complicated thing. I think a lot of times in life, we get caught up on some things and complicate life. So my biggest thing is simplicity─simple things like having a barbecue. If you know me, you know that Gramps will keep a barbecue for just no reason.”
One of the album’s most surprising entries, “My Love” takes cues from such inspirations as Kenny Rogers and Randy Travis, a sticky-sweet love ballad and prime vocal showcase. “We wanted to tip my hat to country music because a lot of people don’t know how big country music is in the Caribbean islands, especially Jamaica,” he says. “This is a story that I wanted to tell for so many years in my career. Even with playing with my brothers and my first two solo albums, you would hear hints of it. But I didn’t want to go all the way there. If you listen to ‘I Hear You Calling’ on my second solo album ‘Reggae Music Lives,’ you’ll hear the steel guitar playing there in the back. And a lot of people don’t even realize that I started to give them the hint from there. It was almost like ‘The Da Vinci Code’ to set them up that this album was coming.”
In writing and recording the song, Morgan went back and studied the greats─“those country artists that I didn’t know about that were mega pioneers that we sometimes seem to forget. What I don’t want to happen is that as country music advances, or any music advances, we forget the people who laid the foundation. I’m picturing myself on a mountaintop in the islands and the moonlight is full. And I’m professing my love to this woman in my life.”
Positive Vibration’s thematic scope returns into focus with “Conkytonk,” a riff on the classic honky-tonk found in lower Broadway in Nashville. “When you go to the Bahamas, they eat a lot of conch fish over there, right out of the conch shell. In Nashville, you hear of the Honky Tonk, and I hope and pray one day that maybe me and Jimmy Buffett can partner on building a ConkyTonk Club,” he says with a laugh. “It’s an imaginary place where you can come and let go of all of your worries and just drink all day and party all night with some of your best friends. If you’re working on Wall Street, or if you’re working on the farm, just come to the ConkyTonk tank and let everything go.”
Positive Vibration, also featuring collaborations with India.Arie and Lybran, is an invitation to let loose and let go of things one can not change. With Gramps Morgan at the helm, it’s one of the summer’s most-needed releases.
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