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So i did a search and it looks like there isn't already a thread on Barbelith about Lee Scratch Perry, which, given the magic, madness, uniqueness and massive influence of his musical work, is somewhat surprising...
Anything i could write about Perry runs the risk of becoming hagiography, because he is such a monumental, near-godlike figure to me that he almost transcends not only dub/reggae but music. His music has the power to give me joy and inspiration that is almost undescribable, and to "possess" me so strongly that, if i listen to enough of it, i actually somehow taken over by his persona, his charisma, his reality. I'm no magician, but in Perry's works there is something almost sacred, almost like gnosis for me... to use an analogy which is a bit cliched, but appropriate IMO, Perry is to music what Moore and Morrison put together are to comics in my estimation...
Perry's legendary studio, the Black Ark, was where what most fans regard as not only his masterworks, but some of the music most foundational to (yet transcendent of) the roots reggae phenomenon was produced - names like Max Romeo, Junior Byles, Junior Murvin, The Heptones, Jah Lion, Mikey Dread, The Congos, The Meditations and Dr Alimantado, as well as hundreds of other more obscure groups/artists (many of whom were names invented by Lee Perry for ad hoc groupings he put together out of who rurned up at his studio that day) recorded an incredible body of work there. I could get into the many strange (and often mutually contradictory) stories surrounding its destruction, but i think i'll save that for another post... in any case, the Upsetter undoubtedly managed to do things with sound in a physically tiny studio, with incredibly basic (mostly 1950s-vintage) equipment, which electronic music producers of today have a difficult time to match.
As far as Perry material available on CD goes, there are a lot of compilations around, but many of the cheap ones are bogus, with horrible sound quality or mis-titled tracks (some even have music by other producers mis-attributed to Perry). Good ones include the Island Records Arkology box set, the Trojan double CDs Build The Ark and Open The Gate (unfortunately now out of print, although many of the tracks from them can also be found on various other Trojan compilations), and the several compilations on Pressure Sounds... the most essential CD release (in the whole of reggae IMO) is The Congos' Heart of the Congos, on Blood & Fire (which, really, really shittily, has recently gone bust as a corporation, but hopefully someone will buy it, because it would be fucking criminal to let the music they have dug out of the vaults fade into obscurity again) - the most sonically perfect album, in any genre, ever produced IMO.
Scratch's music ranges from some of the deepest, most intensely spiritual, devotional, dread serious roots ever (the aforementioned Congos, Junior Delgado's "Sons of Slaves", The Heptones' "Sufferers Time") to some of the wildest, wackiest, most demented and nonsensical comic stuff (pretty much anything Scratch himself toasts on), to every spooky, freaky, psychedelic, ludicrously inventive stage in between. He arguably gave Bob Marley the jump-start needed for his international superstar career. Outside the reggae sphere, he has produced tracks for artists as diverse as The Beastie Boys and The Clash (and his influence on both hip hop and punk is immense - many of the studio techniques, such as sampling, without which hip hop, or any "electronic" music, could not exist were pioneered in the Black Ark, and the Sex Pistols were massive Scratch fans).
At over 70, he is still going strong - i saw him live about 2 years ago, and despite the many reports of him "losing it" (which could spark off many interesting debates about creative suffering, neurodiversity, the dividing line betwen genius and madness), and also despute the frustratingly short time slot he had to perform in, he was as amazing live as he is on record.
(The superstitious side of me is actually a bit paranoid about this post reading too much like an obituary - I love Scratch so much that when he dies, as from his age it can be reasonably predicted he will during my lifetime, i expect to be utterly devastated. I actually have a recurring nightmare about Perry dying before Thatcher.)
There are quite a few websites about Perry around: Black Ark.com is, i believe, semi-official, but Eternal Thunder is probably the most comprehensive and the best one for a newcomer to get the best "flavour" of what Scratch is all about; there are also Smokey Room, this from Perfect webzine and others. Lee Perry Classics has Real Audio clips of lots of Perry produced music.
Some choice quotes from Eternal Thunder's "Wizzy" page:
"I am the Upsetter, and I can put my upsetting power into any musician and they become Upsetters."
"This is my brand new song: lightning and thunder, hailstone, brimstone and fire, music, hurricane and tidal wave judgement. Mixed by earthquake, produced by flood."
"If you look into the alphabet from A - Z, you will see L is for Lee, L is for light, and L is for love, and L is for the Lord. S is for the sky, and S is for shit, and for ships. P is for power and the pyramids, and I am the pyramid and the power."
"I discovered that teachers could teach me nothing. I refused to waste my time listening. I go to trees and flowers in the jungle and have them show I what I should know, learn what I should learn."
"I am the internet and I am the winternet. And they don't see nothing yet!"
"All people who love my music will be fully supported. Them that don't love my music shall surely perish."
"This is the voice of the master, laughing in the echo chamber. I repeat: I break the spell and I undo what the wicked have done."
"I, Pipecock Jackson, Jack Lightning, Jesse The Hammer, Lee 'Scratch' Perry, Daniel Dandelion the Lion, Jah Rastafari the crumbler, the ghost of King Arthur, put a curse on BBC radio and television, and BBC government, that they can never undo until they start playing Mr. Perry records morning, noon, and night, and around the clock - tick tock."
"Without music you are all dead; with music you are alive. There
is nothing music can't do."
...so, any other Perry fans on Barbelith? Anyone want to discuss his music, his "madness" or his influence? Favourite tracks, favourite albums, recommendations (I could do with some more post-Black Ark Perry myself)?
I will probably keep coming back to this thread with more to say... there are so many "spin-off" topics from Perry's music, his ideas and his life that i could go on for ever... the resonance and meaning to me of the title "Upsetter" is one thing that i might come back to, if i can put it into words... maybe i'll put some mp3s too... |
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