Philip Smart (9 April 1960 – 25 February 2014) was a

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

n music producer based in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

Biography

Born in Kingston, Jamaica, Smart's career spanned over five decades. While in high school, he produced his first record with reggae instrumentalist

Augustus Pablo Horace Swaby (21 June 1953 – 18 May 1999),Thompson, Dave (2002) ''Reggae & Caribbean Music'', Backbeat Books, , p. 200-202 known as Augustus Pablo, was a Jamaican roots reggae and dub record producer and a multi-instrumentalist, active f ...

and vocalist

Lee "Scratch" Perry Lee "Scratch" Perry (born Rainford Hugh Perry; 20 March 1936 – 29 August 2021) was a Jamaican record producer, composer and singer noted for his innovative studio techniques and production style. Perry was a pioneer in the 1970s development o ...

. The transition to recording engineering came when the Augustus Pablo's album ''Java'' was being recorded. Errol Thompson was the project engineer and Smart was taught how to record to sixteen-track tape machines and how to make rough mixes to two-track tapes. This was followed by working with

King Tubby Osbourne Ruddock (28 January 1941 – 6 February 1989), better known as King Tubby, was a Jamaican sound engineer who greatly influenced the development of dub in the 1960s and 1970s. Tubby's innovative studio work, which saw him elevate the ...

, and then for producer

Bunny Lee Edward O'Sullivan Lee OD (23 August 1941 – 6 October 2020), better known as Bunny "Striker" Lee, was a Jamaican record producer. He was known as a pioneer of the United Kingdom reggae market, licensing his productions to Trojan Records i ...

, who gave him the nickname Prince Philip. He was in fact King Tubby's first trainee, recording and mixing such hits as "None Shall Escape" by

Johnny Clarke Johnny Clarke (born 12 January 1955) is a Jamaican reggae musician, best known for his recordings with producer Bunny Lee in the 1970s. Biography Clarke grew up in the Kingston ghetto of Whitfield Town and attended Jamaica College.Yabby U Vivian Jackson (14 August 1946 – 12 January 2010), better known as Yabby You (or sometimes Yabby U), was a reggae vocalist and producer, who came to prominence in the early 1970s through his uncompromising, self-produced work. Biography Jac ...

, and most of

Dr. Alimantado Dr Alimantado (born Winston James Thompson; 1952 in Kingston, Jamaica), also known as ''The Ital Surgeon'', is a Jamaican reggae singer, DJ, and producer.Moskowitz, David V. (2006) ''Caribbean Popular Music: an Encyclopedia of Reggae, Mento, ...

's albums. His HC&F Recording Studio in

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...

was built in 1981 and opened in 1982. The first recording project was with the group

Monyaka Monyaka is an American reggae band formed in Brooklyn, New York that was most active during the 1980s and early 1990s. History Monyaka was founded in 1974 by guitarist/singer Errol Moore as the Soul Supersonics, the members originally from Jamai ...

, titled "Go Deh Yaka", which was an instant hit, and reached number 14 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

. Since that time, the studio had several very successful projects such as Jah Life Productions, which featured such artists as

Sister Carol Carol Theresa East (born 15 January 1959, Kingston, Jamaica, Kingston, Jamaica), known by her stage name of Sister Carol, is a Jamaican-born American reggae musician, recording artist. She has used many other stage names, including Black Cinde ...

, Scion Success,

Barrington Levy Barrington Ainsworth Levy (born 30 April 1964) is a Jamaican reggae and dancehall artist. Career Levy was born in Clarendon, Jamaica. He formed a band called the Mighty Multitude, with his cousin, Everton Dacres; the pair released "My Blac ...

and Carlton Livingston. Smart is also known for work he did with artists under labels other than his own, such as Island In the Sun Productions artist

Horace Andy Horace Andy (born Horace Hinds, 19 February 1951) is a Jamaican roots reggae songwriter and singer, known for his distinctive vocals and hit songs such as "Government Land", as well as "Angel", "Spying Glass" and "Five Man Army" with English tri ...

; Narrows Records artist Mr Easy;

Donovan Germain Donovan Germain (born 7 March 1952 in Jamaica) is a reggae producer, one of the most successful of the digital era. Biography Germain's entry into the music industry was via his record shop in New York City in the 1970s.Larkin, Colin (1998) "The V ...

Productions artists

Audrey Hall Audrey Hall (born c. 1948 in Kingston, Jamaica) is a reggae singer. Biography Hall began her career singing with Dandy Livingstone in the duo Dandy & Audrey.Larkin, Colin (1998) "The Virgin Encyclopedia of Reggae", Virgin Books, They recorded ...

Owen Gray Owen Gray, also known as Owen Grey (born 5 July 1939),Larkin, Colin (1998) "The Virgin Encyclopedia of Reggae", Virgin Books, is a Jamaican musician. His work spans the R&B, ska, rocksteady, and reggae eras of Jamaican music, and he has been c ...

, Tanto Irie, and

Johnny Osbourne Johnny Osbourne (born Errol Osbourne, 1948) is one of the most popular Jamaican reggae and dancehall singers of all time, who rose to success in the late 1970s and mid-1980s. His album '' Truths and Rights'' was a roots reggae success, and featu ...

; and Witty's Music Master Productions artists Shelly Thunder, Junior Wilson and Barrington Levy. With the 1990s came digital recording and the introduction of

Pro Tools Pro Tools is a digital audio workstation (DAW) developed and released by Avid Technology (formerly Digidesign) for Microsoft Windows and macOS. It is used for music creation and production, sound for picture (sound design, audio post-productio ...

' two-track computer-recording program to the studio. The first hit recorded with Pro Tools was

Dirtsman Patrick Thompson (4 March 1966 – 21 December 1993), better known as Dirtsman, was a Jamaican dancehall deejay. Biography Born in Spanish Town on 4 March 1965, Thompson was the son of the owner of the Black Universal Sound System, and was th ...

's "Hot This Year", which was released on Smart's TanYah records. He later produced "Rikers Island" by

Cocoa Tea Calvin George Scott (born 3 September 1959), better known as Cocoa Tea, is a Jamaican reggae singer and songwriter. Biography Born in Rocky Point, Clarendon Parish, Jamaica, Cocoa Tea was popular in Jamaica from 1985, but has become succes ...

and Nardo Ranks. Later that year, Shaggy recorded "Mampie" with Smart; Red Fox and Screechie Dan's "Pose Off"; and "Shot Mek You Wiggle" by Junior Demus, which was later used in the film "Dancehall Queen". From 1993 until 1993

Shaggy Shaggy may refer to: People *Shaggy (musician) (born 1968), Jamaican American reggae rapper and singer *Shaggy 2 Dope, half of the hip hop, horrorcore band Insane Clown Posse *Shaggy Flores (born 1973), Nuyorican poet, writer and African diaspora ...

recorded five albums with Smart, including; "Boombastic" and "Hot Shot". As dance music got bigger in 2000, multitrack Digidesign Pro Tools TDM was in demand, along with 24-track tapes. Mixes such as "Headacke", "All Out", and "Blue Drawers" were synced with 24-track tape and Pro Tools technology to achieve fatness and warmth placing emphasis on digital mixing and editing features. Smart's early Pro Tools and analog technology knowledge gave him a cutting edge in the 1990s, which provided reggae artists with the ability to record Jamaican-quality sound in New York.

Death

Smart died on 25 February 2014, aged 53, in

Port Washington, New York Port Washington is a Hamlet (New York), hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) on the Cow Neck Peninsula in the North Hempstead, New York, Town of North Hempstead, in Nassau County, New York, Nassau County, on the North Shore (Long Island), No ...

from

pancreatic cancer Pancreatic cancer arises when cell (biology), cells in the pancreas, a glandular organ behind the stomach, begin to multiply out of control and form a Neoplasm, mass. These cancerous cells have the malignant, ability to invade other parts of t ...

.Campbell, Howard (2014)
US-based reggae producer Philip Smart dies
, ''

Jamaica Gleaner ''The Gleaner'' is an English-language, morning daily newspaper founded by two brothers, Jacob and Joshua de Cordova on 13 September 1834 in Kingston, Jamaica. Originally called the ''Daily Gleaner'', the name was changed on 7 December 1992 to ' ...

'', 26 February 2014. Retrieved 26 February 2014

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Smart, Philip Jamaican record producers 1960 births 2014 deaths Deaths from pancreatic cancer Deaths from cancer in New York (state) Musicians from Kingston, Jamaica Jamaican expatriates in the United States