He followed that with a run of joyful instrumental singles based on themes from spaghetti westerns and action films.Ĭonstruction of Black Ark was concluded in late 1973, and the studio quickly became a magnet for vocal groups and solo singers. After an unsatisfying stint working with producer Joe Gibbs, Perry formed Upsetter Records and released “ People Funny Boy,” his first hit. Perry was soon scouting for talent - and helping to discover the vocal trio the Maytals. The voices guided him in the late 1950s to Kingston, where he landed a job with producer and Studio One owner Clement “Coxsone” Dodd. When the stones clash, I hear like the thunder clash, and I hear the lightning flash, and I hear words, and I don’t know where the words coming from.” By throwing stones to stones I start to hear sounds. Soon, he explained in the liner notes to “Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry: Arkology,” a set that gathered his Black Ark recordings, “I started making positive connections with stones. Then I put my mind into the machine by sending it through the controls and the knobs.”Īs a young laborer, Perry took a job clearing rocks for a construction project. ![]() His guiding philosophy, Perry said, involved creating what he called “music that can make wrongs right” by “getting help from God, through space, through the sky, through the firmament, through the earth, through the wind, through the fire.” Organized sound, for Perry, had to be “like a living thing,” and the recorder (“the machine”) “must be alive and intelligent. “They who want total control always lose control / Some always lose their soul for silver and gold,” Perry shouted in rhythm during the track. Lee, PhD,” Perry - who at various points nicknamed himself Little, King, Scratch, the Upsetter, Pipecock Jackson, Super Ape, Ringo, Emmanuel, the Rockstone and Small Axe - toasted over a hazy, weed-fueled journey through reverberating organ, bass and drums. Listing his many influential productions for Max Romeo, the Congos, Augustus Pablo, the Meditations and hundreds more might help quantify his contributions, but Perry’s influence extends far beyond reggae and dub. The sounds he shepherded across a lifetime behind the mixing board, though, were sophisticated and driven by a laser-like intent that helped change the course of popular music.Īlthough half a decade prior, George Martin and the Beatles had made grand, studio-built experiments in world-class rooms, Perry in the early 1970s constructed technological workarounds that multiplied the potential at a fraction of the price. With his colorfully dyed hair, jangly jewelry, bedazzled hats and neon outfits, Perry, who died Sunday in Lucea, Jamaica, at age 85, presented himself as an eccentric island mystic. He wrote songs that dissed his old mentors, and those tunes became hits in Jamaica.Asked about the revolutionary rhythms and songs created at his Black Ark studios in Kingston, Jamaica, reggae producer, dub innovator and studio icon Lee “Scratch” Perry described a cosmic process occurring deep within his early four-track studio tape recorder.Īlthough the machine afforded only use of four tracks during production, “I was picking up 20 from the extraterrestrial squad,” he said, adding matter-of-factly, “I am the dub shepherd.” ![]() "He created a record label and formed a band called The Upsetters. "It was clear early on that he was best off as his own boss," reported Christopher Johnson in an NPR profile from 2006 that looked back on the producer's career and is well worth listening to in its entirety. ![]() But Perry fell out with nearly as many people as he promoted and made famous. (His memorable nickname derives from a 1965 song, "Chicken Scratch.") At Perry's storied Black Ark studio in Kingston, located behind his family's home, Perry worked with Bob Marley and the Wailers, the Heptones, Junior Murvin, and many more, crafting some of their most well-known songs. Although he dropped out of school as a youngster, Perry would become a global repository of knowledge about music. He was born Rainford Hugh Perry in 1936, during the height of labor unrest against the British colonial government.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |