|
 Some
call him a genius, others claim he's certifiably insane, a madman.
Truth is, he's both, but more importantly, Lee Perry is a towering
figure in reggae,a producer, mixologist, and songwriter that,
along with King Tubby helped shape the sound of dub, and made
reggae music such a powerful part of the pop music world. Along
with producing some of the most influential acts Bob Marley and
the Wailers and the Cogos to name but two) in reggae history,
Perry’s approach to production and dub mixing was breathtakingly
innovative and audacious no one else sounds like him and while
many claim that King Tubby invented dub, there are just as many
who would argue (myself included) that no one experimented with it
or took it further than did Lee Perry.
Born in the rural Jamaican village of St. Mary's in 1936, Perry
began his surrealistic musical odyssey in the late 1950s working
with ska man Prince Buster selling records for Clement “Coxsone”
Downbeat Sound System. Called "Little" Perry because of his
diminutive stature (stands four foot eleven inches), he was soon
producing and recording for Dodd at the center of the Jamaican
music industry Studio One. After a falling out with Dodd
(throughout his career, Perry has a tendency to burn his bridges
after he stops working with someone), Perry went to work at Wirl
Records with Joe Gibbs. Perry and Gibbs never really saw eye to
eye on anything, and in 1968, Perry left to form his own label,
called Upsetter. Not surprisingly, Perry’s first release on
Upsetter was a single entitled "People Funny Boy," which was a
direct attack upon Gibbs. What is important about the record is
that, along with selling extremely well in Jamaica, it was the
first Jamaican pop record to use the loping, lazy, bass-driven
beat that would soon become identified as the reggae "riddim" and
signal the shift from the hyperkinetically upbeat ska to the
pulsing, throbbing languor of "roots" reggae.
From this point through the 1970s, Perry released an astonishing
amount of work under his name and numerous, extremely creative,
pseudonyms: Jah Lion, Pipecock Jakxon, Super Ape, the Upsetter,
and his most famous nom-de-plume, Scratch. Many of the singles
released during this period were significant Jamaican (and U.K.)
hits, instrumental tracks like "The Return of Django," "Clint
Eastwood," and "The Vampire," which cemented Perry growing
reputation as a major force in reggae music. Becoming more and
more outrageous in his pronouncements and personal appearance
(when it comes to clothing, only Sun Ra can hold a candle to
Perry’s thrift-store outfits), Perry and his remarkable house
band, also named the Upsetters worked with just about every
performer in Jamaica. It was in the early '70s after hearing some
of King Tubby’s early dub experiments that Perry also became
interested in this form of aural manipulation. He quickly released
a mind-boggling number of dub releases and eventually, in a fit of
creative independence, opened his own studio, Black Ark.
It was at Black Ark that Perry recorded and produced some of the
early, seminal Bob Marley tracks. Using the Upsetters rhythm
section of bassist Aston “Familyman” Barrett and his drummer
brother Carlton Barett. Perry guided the Wailers through some of
their finest moments, recording such powerful songs as "Duppy
Conqueror" and "Small Axe." The good times, however, were not
long, especially after Perry unbeknownst to Marley and company,
sold the tapes to Trojan Records and pocketed the cash. Island
Records head Chris Blackwell quickly moved in and signed the
Wailers to an exclusive contract, leaving Perry with virtually
nothing. Perry accused Blackwell (a white Englishman) of cultural
imperialism and Marley of being an accomplice. To this day, Perry
refers to Blackwell as a vampire, and accuses Marley of having
curried favor with politicians in order to make a fast buck. These
setbacks did not stem the tide of Perry releases, be they of new
material or one of a seemingly endless collection of anthologies.
Perry was also expanding his range of influence, working with the
Clash who were huge Perry fans, having covered the Perry produced
version of Junior Murvin’s classic "Police and Thieves." Perry was
brought in to produce some tracks for the Clash, but the results
were remixed more to the band's liking. All this hard work was
wreaking havoc with Perry’s already fragile mental state, leading
to a breakdown. The stories of his mental instability were
exacerbated by tales of massive substance abuse (despite his
public stance against all drugs except sacramental ganja) which
reportedly included regular ingestion of cocaine and LSD; one
potentially apocryphal story even had Perry drinking bottles of
tape head-cleaning fluid. But these stories, as with much
surrounding Perry, blur fact and fiction. One story that was true
was that Black Ark, and everything in it, burned to the ground.
Perry claims bad wiring as the culprit, but the more familiar and
commonly accepted story is that Perry burned the studio down in a
fit of acid-inspired madness, convinced that Satan had made Black
Ark his home. Whatever the case, the site of Perry’s greatest
moments as a producer had been reduced to (and remains) a pile of
rubble and ash. Soon after the fire that consumed Black Ark, Perry
increasingly fed up with the music business in Jamaica (which by
all accounts is corruption personified), decided to leave Jamaica.
Despite the considerable lows in his career, today Perry remains
busy and, so it seems, reasonably happy. Although he's less in
demand as a producer, his solo work remains very strong, and his
continuing influence can be felt in the contemporary dub music of
the Mad Professor (another former Perry protege that Perry now
treats with disdain), and some post-rave electronica music. Even
the Beastie Boys gave Perry his props in a rhyme on their release
Ill Communication and later added him to the bill of performers at
a concert for Tibetan freedom. The man called Scratch lives in
Switzerland and continues to cook up a psychedelic brew of music
that, along with being ahead of its time, will warp your head, in
a good way, assuming that you're up to the challenge. In 1997,
Island (the label started by the vampire Chris Blackwell released
Arkology, a three-disc compilation of Perry recordings.
A word or two about Perry’s discography: it's massive, unwieldy,
and although there are plenty of great records, there's almost as
much crap. The lack of quality control has little to do with
Perry, but rather with sleazebags trying to rip off his legacy.
After King Tubby’s murder in 1989, his studio was looted, and many
of Perry’s tapes were stolen. Some of these recordings have shown
up on poorly mastered, and expensive, anthologies. Releases on
Trojan, Rounder's reggae subsidiary label Heartbeat, and Island
(and its subsidiary label Mango) are generally excellent and are
the best place to start building your Perry collection. Smaller
labels like Seven Leaves and the French-based Lagoon Records
(which seems like a semi-legit bootleg label) are hit-and-miss
propositions, and those inclined to check out recordings on these
labels are encouraged to proceed with caution. And, avoid releases
on the Rohit label, if only for their lousy production and tacky,
grade-Z packaging. Also, as with King Tubby recordings, purchasing
a Perry release means you might be buying a record he produced,
but not necessarily performs on. That said, happy hunting and
listening.
DISCOGRAPHY
1969
Return of Django
1972
Africa Blood
1973
Cloak & Dagger
1975
Revolution Dub
1976
Super Ape
1976
Roast Fish Collie Weed & Corn Bread
1979
Scratch on the Wire
1979
Blackboard Jungle Dub
1980
Dub Messenger
1980
The Return of Pipecock Jackxon
1982
Scratch and Co.: Chapter One
1982
Mystic Miracle Star
1983
Megaton Dub, Vol. 1-2
1984
Black Ark, Vol. 2
1984
History, Mystery and Prophesy
1985
The Upsetter Box
1986
Battle of Armagideon (Millionaire Liquidator)
1987
Time Boom X De Devil Dead
1988
Satan Kicked the Bucket
1988
Scratch Attack!
1988
Give Me Power
1989
Open the Gate
1989
Version Like Rain
1989
Chicken Scratch
1989
Mystic Warrior
1989
Mystic Warrior Dub
1989
Version Like Rain
1990
Meets Bullwackie in Satan's Dub
1990
Message from Yard
|