POX: Lee Scratch Perry

which you can get for £4.99 at HMV sale, which i just did.

has anyone ever heard this one? never been able to find it myself.
ihttp://www.roots-archives.com/display_artwork/250.jpg#
For a brief period, Scratch changed his name to Pipecock Jackxon, and with some help from a Dutch record label attempted to resurrect the Black Ark with bizarre results (including a pond in the drum booth). One of the definite results was The Return Of Pipecock Jackxon, a weird but neat album recorded both at the Black Ark and in Holland. Killers include an 11 minute version of the X rated "Bed Jammin'", the nutty "Who Killed The Chicken", and "Babylon Cookie Jar A Crumble".

also, can anyone confirm that his new-ish stuff sucks? i picked up an album of his with a late 90's copyright used and it didn't really grab me, but maybe i didn't give it a chance.

The Congos - Heart of the Congos
Junior Byles - Beat Down Babylon (Trojan CD comp)
Kung-Fu Meets the Dragon
Build the Ark
Open the Gate
Junior Murvin - Police and Thieves
Megaton Dub
Super Ape
Some of the Best
Max Romeo - War ina Babylon

I have a couple 90s era records but barely remember a thing about them. I do seem to recall enjoying Time Boom 'X' De Devil Dead or whatever it's called.

Just been getting into a Lee Perry phase, been semi familiar with him for years but not known him with great depth so wondering what is essential.
Recently got Disco Devil which may have got me mopre into listening him though I've got bits of Arkology and Wonderman years turning up on my walkman pretty regularly.

I concur with Alex in SF's POX above, for the most part

this was my intro and it is amazing

what was Scratch's beef with dreadlocks all about, anyway

hmm feel like i read in people funny boy that at one brief point scratch was starting to dread his hair

I was thumbing through that last night - specifically the parts about the last days of the Ark - and there were all these references to him having problems with dreadlocks, or being given shit by the nyabinghi/boboashanti for not being a dread, being angry about his wife running off with a dread etc. And p much every photo of him shows him w short hair

i'll have to pick up the book again, i never did read it straight through, just parts here and there. i am wondering if scratch was just fed up with the bullshit, "dreadlocks in moonlight / baldhead at sunrise" hypocrisy and didn't feel the need to grow them. i just pulled that out of my ass though

btw "dreadlocks in moonlight" is one of my favorite things scratch has done, specifically the "big neck police" version on roast fish collie weed and cornbread.

that book is really kind of terribly written - its exhaustive in its detail but as a narrative it's just a mess

oh yea all the side tracks and tangents about various musicians. it'll break the narrative to tell 3 paragraphs about some dude that sat in on a session

the author does dj nights though and i bet he plays some great records

I haven't read PFB, but I did like "Solid Foundation" his oral history of reggae that, iirc, reads like a few hundred pages of good liner notes. It being an oral history, those tangents and side tracks don't feel distracting

oh yea they totally work in solid foundation

I just read about this actually. Wish I remembered where. I think it was about the Congos. The two main Congos guys started recording with Scratch, influenced him to start to dread his own hair, then during the course of their collaborations, more dreads started showing up and one may have had an affair with Scratch's wife? There was definitely an arc of 'this is great, I agree with this' to 'these guys are scumbags and I want them out', and I think it centered around the Congos relationship.

Ah, it was here: http://sweetrarereggaemusic.blogspot.com/2012/12/the-congos-heart-of-congos-original.html

that website (^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^) is great.

I'm listening to Battle for Armagideon (1986) for the first time and... this seems like the beginning of the end in terms of his quality output, no? It's just so sloppy and half-assed. I recall hearing some of his 90s stuff incl something w Mad Professor back when his initial revival was going on and that stuff wasn't v encouraging either. Sad, it does seem like he had some kind of genuine psychotic break and this is just how he is now.

yea the psychotic break does seem like a real thing that happened. i haven't heard "battle" before but i'm listening now, i really dug the opener! but now i am a few tracks in and yea the quality does seem pretty low.

how the preceding albums?

dunno, the main one I'm interested in is the Return of Pipecock Jacxon, which I recall being fairly highly praised in People Funny Boy

ok i made it through all of "battle" nothing really that good except for "introducing myself"

the main one I'm interested in is the Return of Pipecock Jacxon

found it on youtube fwiw

www.youtube.com/watch?v=qi5vYbQY_CI

Ah man, he lost his Switzerland studio and archive last night.

http://www.okayplayer.com/news/lee-scratch-perry-studio-burned-down.html

I noticed that the Trojan 2cds that I thought had been deleted were back in HMV. Amazon has a 2015 release date for them.
Dub Triptych is talked about upthread. Though I think by content with a link instead of a name. It's Cloak&Dagger, Blackboard and Revolution dub and pretty great.
Ape-ology has the Jamaican versions of the 2 Super Ape lps alongside Roast Fish, Collie Weed and a few stray singles and session tracks.
Dubstrumentals has Kung Fu meets The Dragon and 2 other 70s lps.
Babylon A Fall is also a 2cd compi but I don't think it's lp related.

Somewhere I have a copy of Grand Royal with a buying guide for him.

interview with Lee and his wife about it here. I didn't realise that dude lives twenty minutes from where I work!

His positivity in the face of this loss (on his FB) is incredible.

I almost always prefer the originals to the dubs of Perry's productions. Are there any instances where someone else created dubs of his tracks? Am I forgetting an obvious collab?

I can't think of any off the top of my head. He doesn't seem like the kind of guy that would just pass Upsetters tracks out to other producers.

Only Jamaican-sourced reporting at present, but it appears he died this morning.

https://www.jamaicaobserver.com/latestnews/Lee_Scratch_Perry_is_dead

Wow if true, though of course that guy lived a life.

I thought he still resided in Switzerland?

Youth has posted about it - he heard via friend who lives in Jamacia.

Ah fuck. :(

RIP

What a life. RIP.

I interviewed him once and it was exactly what you'd expect. One part lucid, one part lunacy that you just kind of went with. The entire time there were parrots squawking in the background.

Modestly disappointed at how he's being presented as a Jamaican music pioneer, which of course he is, but his approach to the studio stretched so much farther than just reggae and dub. The guy really knew how to sculpt space.

absolute legend. among the most innovative of alltime. and prolific — the amount of classic music he's at least partially responsible for, holy hell.

R.I.P., just a titan of sound. Agreed that his influence went way beyond reggae.

Anyone seeking a quick way in should try this compilation from 2007 or so:

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/819Id8LOj6L.jpg

This one, which combines Super Ape, Return of the Super Ape, and Roast Fish, Collie Weed & Cornbread on two CDs, is also great.

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81FzmyNXPhL.jpg

been blasting out that huge Arkology comp from '97 which was the first LSP thing I ever bought.

Damn RIP to a real one

The “Arkology” three disc set has been in my ancient car’s 6 disc changer for literally years now. I never get tired of it

ha xpost

Yeah, that Arkology compilation was revelatory to me at the time in terms of understanding the scope of his recordings and influence. (And it doesn't even touch on his Wailers and other earlier work.)

I'm a big fan of the full albums he produced for others, Max Romeo, Junior Byles, stuff like that.

Heart of the Congos and War Ina Babylon definitely among his most amazing work.

I’ve fallen into a Scratch hole myself. My favorite discovery so far is “Cheerio” from Battle Axe by the Upsetters. It’s this basic, instrumental thing with a rhythm lifted from something that I can’t quite place. But the way it all clicks together is so perfect! It’s very repetitive and my wife is probably going to ban it soon.

I’m a little stumped for classifying Perry’s stuff in Itunes. My impulse is to label all Upsetters stuff as Perry, so his stuff is all together. Does that make sense? Were they always his project with a fluid membership?

I’ve fallen into a Scratch hole myself. My favorite discovery so far is “Cheerio” from Battle Axe by the Upsetters. It’s this basic, instrumental thing with a rhythm lifted from something that I can’t quite place. But the way it all clicks together is so perfect! It’s very repetitive and my wife is probably going to ban it soon.

I’m a little stumped for classifying Perry’s stuff in Itunes. My impulse is to label all Upsetters stuff as Perry, so his stuff is all together. Does that make sense? Were they always his project with a fluid membership?

I quite liked Rainford too, which I think is/was his last album

“Cheerio” is the “Cherry Oh Baby” rhythm, which might be what you’re thinking of, Cow_Art? Sorry if that’s too obvious.

"From The Secret Laboratory" has really grown on me over the years. "Time Boom X De Devil Dead" is all time.

I’m a little stumped for classifying Perry’s stuff in Itunes. My impulse is to label all Upsetters stuff as Perry, so his stuff is all together. Does that make sense? Were they always his project with a fluid membership?

If you're not too fussy about tags, would it make more sense to hijack a different one that you don't really use (I dunno, Composer)? If I'm pulling together all my scratch stuff for a big shuffle I also want all the things he produced where he's def not the Artist.

Speaking of which, lately I've been getting very into George Faith's Super Eight (aka To Be a Lover) - fabulous deep echoing LSP sound around songs that are more… well this is OTM from Granny Dainger upthread -

And George Faith for the "Jamaican quiet storm" lazy Sunday afternoon vibe.

Thanks for the recommendations!

Were they always his project with a fluid membership?

I believe so

I remember reading a while back that Billy Idol was obsessed w/that George Faith record at the height of his druggy strung-out 80s days

time boom is by far the best of the on-u collaborations.
however, secret laboratory, has some brilliant tracks on it.
'african headcharge in the hackney empire' being an absolute classic.
that said, there were a couple of low key LSP vs ON-U releases that happened before things kicked off again due to warp
this album has dreadful cover art,
but features roots manuva on the brilliant 'international broadcaster.

https://www.discogs.com/release/1750076-Lee-Scratch-Perry-The-Mighty-Upsetter

and its dub version still hits the spot :

https://www.discogs.com/release/2309885-Lee-Scratch-Perry-And-Adrian-Sherwood-Dub-Setter

Gonna add to the From The Secret Laboratory recommendations... great record.

There's a YouTube channel called Black Ark Nuggets and there is unsurprisingly some absolute gold on there

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sryk65q51_8

I mean how about this then

So on the label of that record it says it was produced by Yabby You. If that was inded recorded at the Black Ark does that mean Scratch was letting other producers use his studio?

I always assumed the Yabby You stuff was done at King Tubby's. Wasn't Vivian Jackson/Yabby You known as Tubby's favorite to work with? I read somewhere that Tubby personally worked on the Yabby You stuff while farming out some other things to Scientist or whoever was his assistant.

I only love about half of the forty-track version of King Scratch (Musical Masterpieces from the Upsetter Ark-ive) on Spotify, but/and that's enough to make it ballot bait for sure. Fave is the 12 " mix of Junior Murvin and Jah Lion, "Police and Thief (Police and Thieves." New to me: Susan Cadogan, whose tracks are great here, and Drugs A. Money assures me her album is dope too.

xp
That's on the old B&F Jesus Dread comp and the liner notes do indeed state it was recorded at Black Ark

^^ which rules

it does! Sadly OOP, but I think Pressure Sounds has put out a bunch if not all of this same stuff as expanded album reissues since (?)

Also meant to add that in fact none of the rhythm tracks (on Jesus Dread) were recorded at Tubby's, only the voicing and mixing was done there. The productions were all recorded at Black Ark, Dynamic, Randy's, and Channel One

Would love to know what it was like in the room when Tubby and Lee were working together. Tubs the neat freak and Perry trying to rub cow shit on the tapes.

Reggae odd couple!

Live Trap / Death Trap rules like fire. Are there many tracks with flute in the reggae canon? Tommy McCook absolutely kills it.

I kind of lose sight of Yabby You on record. There are so many variations and compilations out there. I stick with Jesus Dread, which is one of the greatest collections of any kind, anywhere. Just a monstrous achievement. Back in the day, I saw a NM vinyl copy for £60 and baulked at the price. I can't even bear to look at how much it goes for now.

Things I will do when I rob a bank pt38: buy the entire Blood and Fire catalogue.

I love Yabby You, so continue to buy the Pressure Sounds reissues despite the well being bone dry, but I did luck into a copy of Jesus Dread on vinyl four years ago for well under discogs prices at the time because the box corners had been separated. The vinyl was barely played but something had split the corners of the box so it didn't close properly. It was sitting on a pile behind the counter and I managed to snag it pretty cheap.

There's a YouTube channel called Black Ark Nuggets and there is unsurprisingly some absolute gold on there

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sryk65q51_8

I mean how about this then

― paolo, Friday, 14 October 2022 18:29 (four hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

holy shit

for the record I am reacting to Tommy McCook & Prophets - Death Trap (prod Yabby You i think?)

I'm not sure about these days but back in the day if you've got someone who produces a track and then someone else does a dub of it then the person who does the dub would be referred to as the engineer right?

So for example that track above the B-side says produced by V Jackson but on the label it says King Tubby's. So even with the dub Yabby You would be the producer and Tubbs would be the engineer if I'm understanding correctly

Live Trap / Death Trap rules like fire. Are there many tracks with flute in the reggae canon? Tommy McCook absolutely kills it.

The only one I can think of off the top of my head is Concentration by Dennis Brown

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5Lg2p68yTw

You get more flute action on the dub. Lovely stuff

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4hXBOFk_G_Y

Bubble Up by Wayne Jarrett (a Wackies production recently touched on in the Congos poll thread) is a great and thoroughly fluted-up

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5Xa9ErqeFM

for the record I am reacting to Tommy McCook & Prophets - Death Trap (prod Yabby You i think?)

rightly, wow

More flute, on-topic for the thread this time:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HucNiALhqx0

(for the purposes for a broken-link future, that's Nice and Easy by Susan Cadogan, produced by Scratch)

That Susan Cadogan track is fire. And then youtube algorithm gave me the whole album and it's fantastic, never heard it

(I love it. Minor trivia point: two off the tracks on the LP are covers of songs from the classic Doris Duke LP "I'm a Loser", it seems lock and odd but inspired choice to find songs so suited to SC's rather ethereal vocal style on a full-throated gospelly southern soul vocal record)

Are there different versions of the album? I thought Island just changed the title and cover because they were worried about appearing racist?

Check out these tribute mixes! Over six hours of goodness, mostly focusing on Scratch's more obscure output

http://mikusmusik.blogspot.com/2015/08/rainford-rules-strictly-lee-perry.html

In the blurb it says 'In fact, considering the esteem in which he is now held he supposedly had relatively few big hits in JA, and to some extent it was UK audiences that really clicked with his sound and helped cement his legacy.' Is that correct?

Very cool find. Anyone else have an issue downloading Volume 1? It cuts off after a minute.

And yeah, from the little I've read, that does seem to be a fact about UK audiences, but that was true for a lot of Jamaican artists at that time, none more so than Bob Marley. See also: Mikey Dread

delighted to see The Battle for Armageddon reissued as i could never find a decent recording or streaming version of it (for a long time only had it on cassette taped by a friend at school). not a remaster afaict but it sounds good.

https://www.cherryred.co.uk/product/lee-scratch-perry-battle-of-armagideon-2cd-expanded-edition/

The I Am A Madman dub is quite a thing iirc, I also recall lots of mediocrity on that LP though. “Grooving” is probably my favourite.