POX: Lee Scratch Perry

https://www.johnlewisjournalist.co.uk/lee-scratch-perry

interview from 2002 when Lee was curating the meltdown festival.

Battle of Armageddon isn't all bangers, but it does have "Sexy Lady" which would by on my POX for LSP, where the sexy lady may actually be his Echoplex effect.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m00WixmHCHE

This video is great, I love the way you can see him constructing the track in real time while it's being recorded.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y651C7aNXRc

Watched that yesterday cause it's my fav clip of him

He's having such a good time.

As a newb to reggae/dub, what produces the wobbly, airy, vaguely electric saw effect in a lot of tracks? Is that a steel drum, a synth, or some post-production effect?

You mean the flexatone?

I guess that's it. Thanks.

Yeah I love how much stuff that sounds futuristic on his tracks is produced by very basic effects.

Listening to lots of this. So many huge tracks.

https://img.discogs.com/XICsVHm9ndh3bm1Angqqn4Bv2b8=/fit-in/600x600/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-510944-1369334962-1775.jpeg.jpg

yep, so good

4xp you don't sound too convinced lol, could be the sound of a spring reverb tank given a good swift kick

Not doubting, just don't know anything in this area. From what I've found online, that spring reverb tank is definitely one of the sounds.

Just the general production on dub stuff is so awesome and weird.

That's a great video, somehow strange seeing Boris Gardiner on bass, a guy who had a No. 1 single in the UK with a schmaltzy lover's rock pop song! The loss of the Black Ark was a disaster and tragedy.

Well, add me to the list of folks who needed daily doses of Arkology in 1997. Bottomless music inhabited by ghosts and spirits both good and evil, ripped the veil wide open. Reading his interviews over the last 24 hours, his conversation reminds me very much of two people I've known who suffer from paranoid schizophrenia. While I don't want to jump to conclusions, it's sad and also remarkable that he lived his best life to the end.

I was just listening to an interview with him from the mid-80s and he was actually perfectly coherent when he wasn't playing up to his self-constructed image.

I got Arkology when it came out, barely knowing who Scratch was, just starting to check out nonMarley reggae. I remember it not clicking for awhile, possibly due to having so many versions of the same riddim in a row. Of tracks that weren't even my favorites. Something that still annoys me today with reggae comps.
But there were 10 or so tracks that eventually made me see his appeal. I'm still mad that "Make Up Your Mind" isn't available streaming. Recently discovered it's a Ricky Nelson cover lol wtf. There's so many American songs that I only ever heard the reggae covers of, for years not knowing they even were covers.

I There's so many American songs that I only ever heard the reggae covers of, for years not knowing they even were covers.

Love how the Island Records press officer refuted his allegations that Chris Blackwell is a vampire. They didn't think "we mustn't dignify this with a response", they thought "we must deny this unequivocally!!" 😂

Did you really repaint Chris Blackwell’s flat because you didn’t like the vibes?

Of course. I also fill up his fridge with rocks. To kaput his energy, confuse his brain, give him big shock. Ha ha!

Check out Perry's Instagram and Facebook accounts - apparently they're claiming he was more or less killed and plan to sue those they're holding responsible. (They're reporting that Perry wasn't sick or anything, which is plausible given that Perry himself uploaded a selfie video the day before he died - he looked otherwise in fine physical health.)

i am completely failing to process his death. the claim that he was more or less killed makes sense to me as surely he was eternal?

Lots of new comments. I don't know if this is credible, but one commenter said he was answering text messages up to the day he died. Details are still sketchy, but whoever's running his account emphatically and repeatedly states he wasn't sick, that something "just happened." Crazy.

Clearly I haven't the first clue whether something dodgy went on but it's worth noting that the person who's running that Insta account now (who may be Scratch's widow?) has a main account linked from that post which is pretty much wall-to-wall conspiracy stuff, including some repulsive bits IMO.

85-year-old smokers do die from heart attacks and strokes sometimes

Clearly I haven't the first clue whether something dodgy went on but it's worth noting that the person who's running that Insta account now (who may be Scratch's widow?) has a main account linked from that post which is pretty much wall-to-wall conspiracy stuff, including some repulsive bits IMO.

Ahhh, good catch. Well, I guess we'll see whether their arguments before the court makes a convincing case (or not).

wall-to-wall conspiracy stuff

lee perry was of course perhaps thee original conspiracy theorist so i guess it makes it all the more fitting. i put him on around the turn of the millenium and he refused to shake hands with any meat eaters as they could transmit hormones, or something....

still sounds as fresh today as it did in 87.

https://www.discogs.com/Lee-Scratch-Perry-Dub-Syndicate-Time-Boom-X-De-Devil-Dead/release/192162

Indeed it does. I saw him perform this album at Kentish Town Town & Country Club (now The Forum). Dub Syndicate started and were then joined by Akabu. Eventually it became apparent that Perry was refusing to come on stage. After much coaxing he finally came on only to announce that he had no intention of performimng and everyone should instead show respect to Akabu and "listen to the ladies sing" which was "much better than listening to The Upsetter", and then off he went. Another awkward half hour or so passed until he finally appeared and performed a few songs off "Time Boom..." before the house lights came up.

thank you for bringing up that dub syndicate album, i had never heard it before and it really rules

I can’t POX with this guy, but just came here to say that one of my favorite magical moments in my memory is one afternoon, in the aughts, I was wandering around Brooklyn with no particular destination in mind and completely randomly stumbled across Lee Perry performing with his band at an outdoor party next to the Gowanus Canal. So surreal and wonderful. He had a small audience but far from what you’d expect for someone of his stature (maybe there are other ilxors who witnessed this?)

https://www.nts.live/shows/optimo/episodes/optimo-7th-september-2021

thank you!

so, was his last album the On-U collab, Rainford and its associated dubbed up variation, Heavy Rain ?
or did he sort out a few extras in the last months?

caught the last half of that NTS show live the other day - good vibes, and felt like stirry was just getting warmed up at two hours in

The Wayne and Wax ; and the Erin Macleod Spotify playlists are worth checking out

You mean this?
https://www.npr.org/2021/09/10/1035510633/the-magic-of-lee-scratch-perry
Couldn't find the second one.

Oh, this, I guess.
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5ZmHhHqG6VKGfWGC8GwvV9?si=d682ee4c55d845e2

Yep

been going back through his catalogue in piecemeal since the summer and stumbled on this. it's not a lost classic or anything, but more from that era is always welcome and it's very cool to hear him work with a female vocalist.

So what's good from the post Black Ark era?

Been going through a bit of a LSP phase recently and at least for now I would say he is the greatest musician to come out of Jamaica (sorry King Tubby)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zyynfnY3Cw

A recent personal favourite

My favourite LP post-Black Ark is probably Time Boom x De Devil Dead, which he made with Adrian Sherwood

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9USR-7opK3E

I really like this Mad Professor dub of I Am A Madman (the original being one of two or three good ones from Battle of Armageddon / Millionaire Liquidator):

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

The next Sherwood-produced LP after Time Boom, "From The Secret Laboratory" is an interesting listen if you've been on a Black Ark era jag, it has radically updated takes on a handful of 70s classics; some people love it but I've always found it diverting rather than brilliant.

Tim, the 'Secret Laboratory' title track is up there with my favourite things by LSP.

And for good reason I'm sure, I'll give it another go sometime.

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?