I can’t imagine Brad’s song writing process. I don’t see him saying let me take a line here and a line there and mix it, seems like these songs were inside of his soul and while grooving they spontaneously came out. I don’t think there will be another band quite like Sublime. We were blessed to have them while we did and the music never dies. RIP Bradley 🙏🏽
The self-titled album, specifically, was composed largely on the spot. The guys would jam, explore musical ideas and improvise, often pulling from their repertoire and influences. Bradley would later record long, stream-of-consciousness freestyles that Paul Leary and Stewart Sullivan masterfully edited into coherent song structures. It's incredible to think (and a testament to Brad's genius) that when they went down to Austin to record their major label debut they didn't have any material prepared. They were just going to wing it, and they delivered one of the most enduring multi-platinum albums of the 90's.
This is partially due to brads upbringing in the Caribbean. When he came back to cali he wanted to play reggae, but his band mates wanted to play punk/rock, so they found a way to blend it all together. None of his covers are direct covers
I also thought it was funny that they were so sample happy that they even sampled THEMSELVES lol. Great music how they managed to put together a bunch of samples/influences and make them even better is incredible to me
And all the artists he covered , covered just as often. And most of the covers aren’t really covers. No one can copyright simple chord progressions like lady Madonna which is in a million songs
I know this is a two year old comment, but I just want to say that unfortunately we lost a very good musical chef and the rest of the band were the top quality ingredients to his musical dishes… idk I’m high
Wrong way is the sequel to Date grape. That song blew up on the radio to everyone's suprise in January 1995. In March 1995, Sublime teased a very early version of Wrong Way in Florida, a few days after shooting the music video for the Date song. Brad seemed to have felt pressure and/or inspiration to write another story driven song after the huge success they had. And it ended up becoming their second most controversial song. Mission accomplished.
bradley also had an affinity for yellowman, greatest hits takes the riff from Zungguzungguguzungguzeng, lou makes friends takes the bassline from wha dat, and roots of creation uses lyrics from mi believe/summer holiday. not to mention he uses fishbone’s “play it boy wonder!” in what happened. love it
Big time Sublime and Nofx fan. Can’t believe I never noticed the Lori Meyers and Seed riffs being so similar and heard them both a lot. Thanks for posting
That is by no means a comprehensive list ..Saw Red is Barrington Levy (who may have even swiped it from someone else) And I know there's a Alton Ellis's Mad Mad riddim in some of their other work. Don Carlos-Lazer beam , Bad Brains etc... when Sublime hit, my first thought was, these guys had access to a college radio station library, because at least in California, back then those were about the only places you could find shelves and shelves of roots reggae albums, and even then, the best DJ's hauled in their own records when they did their time slot.
Especially Jamaican Reggae, they pulled lots of the American STAX catalog and reggafied it, plus Motown, Rock, R&B,and even some country staples. Studio One was innumerable reggae adaptations of American music that were originally produced at high expense. Even Bob Marley is guilty.
You missed one sample. At the end of "What I Got" you'll hear a record scratch. That record is Barrington Levy "You Say You Love Me" starting at 2:03 m.ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-XvQM7acCEog.html 2:03 m.ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-0Uc3ZrmhDN4.html
Reggae often uses the same instrumentals, melodies, rhythms/ riddims and call backs to other songs that inspired other songs. Bradley was just continuing that tradition. Look up sleng teng riddim or stagalag riddim. Elvis Costello said something once that I found really enlightening when Olivia Rodrigo borrowed some of pump it up “It’s how rock and roll works. You take the broken pieces of another thrill and make a brand new toy. That’s what I did.”
That being said would like to clarify that I’m not tryna talk down on ya/ say you’re wrong because music is subjective and everyone’s opinion is right. Hopefully this can help you look at it from a different angle and possibly make you find more magic in the layers of these songs. Bradley was such a knowledgeable and brilliant musician. Very glad we get to hear his music and have a video like this to see what inspired such great songs!!!
Just because two songs use a phrase that it heavily a part of our zeitgeist doesn't mean one influenced the other. You applied that flawed logic to a ton of these. "Brag and boast" is one example
The first sample in April 29 sounds wrong to me... If you cut it down, it sounds more like a rasta and the a distinct Woo Hoo at the end of it. I am working on doing this live and cannot for the life of me figure that one out... Came here hoping to find it. But i do believe your sample is wrong. Do you have a source?
