Lee Perry has passed.
More Upsetting news….
by 45 Comments
Comments
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Musings on the byways of popular culture
Musings on the byways of popular culture
by 45 Comments
You must be logged in to post a comment.
I’ve been playing a lot of him these past few weeks. There’s going to be some seriously good vibes blasting out in Heaven tonight.
RIP, Scratch and thanks for all the wonderful music
Croaking Lizard
So long Lee, and thank you, you’ve brought a lot of joy into the world. Go easy now.
The best kind of crazy – a genuine visionary. RIP.
My favourite Scratch track – that and Curly locks.
I, be walking backwards today in honour of Scratch.
Maybe not, but it’s gonna be a dub day today
A true maverick has left us. We won’t see the likes of him again.
Listen to Super Ape and marvel at his genius!
I spent the day listening to Superape, Heart of the Congos and the Arkology set. Wonderful stuff.
Arkology is superb. I have that and a 3 album/disc Ape-ology set. Sublime. Apart from Time Boom (which I don’t actually have but know) is there any thing else that’s pretty much essential in his vast catalogue?
There are a number of recommendations in comments on the “Forty-Five Years Of Super Ape” under Features, but this set is a treat and an absolute bargain:
Cheers Tigs. Noted.
This is just tremendous.
https://www.discogs.com/Lee-Perry-The-Upsetter-Essential-Madness-From-The-Scratch-Files/release/610497
Thanks Moose. Also gratefully noted.
After the Black Ark fire – Scratch’s mixing desk.
@fentonsteve bought that. 😉
And I’m still looking for another I can use as a parts donor…
I think that one is the parts donor.
Oh no. I hadn’t heard this at all.
One of a kind was L.S.P.
The Astral Waves will be buzzin’ tonight.
Lee Scratch Perry was so important to me as my musical tastes were forming. When I was 14, 15, it was the late eighties, early nineties and I was beginning to discover dance music. But in those days the chill out rooms were as important as the dance rooms and in the corners of Glasgow that I frequented in those days, dub reggae seemed to feature a lot. This music had “space.” I loved that there were gaps in the music; there was no need to fill up every available space and the silence counted. Blackboard Jungle was the first album of his I heard and what an album it is; depth, mood feeling in abundance. When I look at what I play the most these days; Burial, Boards of Canada, even Bach and Beethoven, I think Lee Scratch Perry was my way in; you want it heavy but not showy? Step right in…
Blackboard Jungle! What an introduction!
What a talent, and my default answer to the question “what does a record producer do?”
He played a free outdoor festival in Cambridge a few years back, on the same weekend he played Latitude festival. I didn’t go as it was raining. I am a berk.
What a life, what a man! There were even some latterday jewels: Heavy Rain, Back on the Controls, Dub Starship Through the Horror Zone. Glad I got the chance to see him live, although it was a bit of a letdown.
I saw him at Roskilde and it was sprawling and chaotic in a good way. And the air in the tent had a very herbal fragrance.
Here’s a BBC Tube clip from 1984
For me, Heart of the Congos was the jewel in his crown.
In his last couple of UK visits he has played fairly close to me, but I have been out off by reports that his live set recently consisted of rambling chatter against a background of a basic groove laid down by his band. I rather regret not seeing him, but I don’t know if I would have enjoyed the performance for its own sake and not just because it was Scratch.
That was my experience. Just to to be in the same room as Scratch was a thrill, but when that wore off you were basically watching a weedy pop reggae band fronted by a bloke with fruit in his hat.
To be fair, though, his genius was as a producer, not as a performer. While it’s true that you can live without the latterday going-through-the-motions frontman stuff, which mainly consisted of him saying things like, “I am the alpha, I am the omega, I am the sun, I am the moon, I am the fork, I am the spoon,” the Black Ark material will always be essential.
I loved the fella. I love bonkers mavericks who pursue their singular creative vision regardless of commercial success or widespread recognition. From Van Gogh to John Otway. And Scratch made some fantastic music along the way. Police & Thieves alone is enough to seal his place in my affections, but a more recent favourite is the Dub Setter album he did with Adrian Sherwood. Taboo is my favourite track on it.
Agreed , Heart Of The Congos is magnificent. An overlooked gem from the Black Ark studios is George Faith’s To Be A Lover. It is an album of mostly soul covers, he has a good voice and the sound is unmistakably Scratch.
Much as I love the music, Heart of the Congos is one of the worst-sounding records I own. I think Scratch pressed the “make it sound like there was a wet sock over the mic” button during mixing.
I have the remixed 2CD set in the ‘still to listen to’ pile.
I have to agree there, Fen. Sounds like wading through mud.
Which version are you talking about?
Not sure, tbh. Am not at home and can’t check, but looking on wiki I think mine must be the “2004 ‘unofficial’ CD release, sourced from the original LP”.
According to an article in Wax Poetics
“the first copies of the initial Jamaican pressing of their album Heart of the Congos arrived in scarce quantities in Britain, featuring a restrained mix with few technical embellishments. Island Records founder Chris Blackwell traveled to Jamaica with his lawyer, Tom Hayes, to negotiate terms; contracts were signed and everything seemed set for Island to give Heart of the Congos an official release overseas. Perry then put a lot of energy into creating an alternate mix: he bathed many of the vocals, keyboards, and guitar in high doses of delay; the piano was made fainter; manic percussion and crashing cymbals were added; and several songs rolled into extended dub portions. Perhaps the most startling new element was a mooing cow sound present on several songs, created by the voice of Watty Burnett resonating through the cardboard center of a roll of tinfoil.” The Island release never happened.
I hadn’t heard of this album before Blood and Fire reissued it, which is the one I have and that sounds fine to me. The second CD just contains dubs which are superb.
There has since been a further reissue on VP which is a 3 CD set. The last CD is the original mix. I would definitely recommend checking out the Blood & Fire reissue. I would be interested to know how different it is to your copy.
I really must get a different copy (I think it was Tiggerlion who advised me to do so many moons ago and I never got round to it). Thanks for the tip.
The B&F issue is long deleted – the 3CD set you mention is the best option currently available – the dodgers have copies in stock; it’s listed as “Heart Of The Congos (40th Anniversary Edition)”.
Assuming yours isn’t simply a shitty copy, isn’t that just the way that it’s supposed to sound? i.e. smoky and damp and earthy. The sound of rural sufferation. I mean, we’re talking Heart of The Congos here. It’s an unimpeachable album. True, not all of The Congos turned up for the covershoot, but even so, we shouldn’t let that overshadow what is absolutely one of Scratch’s greatest artistic achievements.
Scratch had this thing where he’d run out of tracks on his eight track and so have to ‘bounce down’ the tracks and record one over the other. I don’t know exactly what that means, I’ve only read about it, but apparently that was what gave his productions their distinctive muddy vibe.
@fentonsteve – Grab that remix 2cd versh from the ‘to listen to’ pile and let us know if it sounds better.
Although I don’t like the sound on my version, I do like the songs a lot. I don’t find that muddy sound on his other productions.
You don’t hear a sort of saturated, distorted sound in his productions, like you’ve got a bit of dust on your needle? Listen to the opening of the YouTube clip below, the Disco Devil discomix. You’ll definitely hear it on that.
My mistake, it’s the 2017 3CD version including the original Black Ark mix Alias mentions above.
Rural sufferation.
Caused by iration.
In the nation.
He only had 4 track when most other Jamaican studios had 16. If he had used all 4 and wanted to record another overdub, he had to combine the existing 4 onto three or fewer tracks to give him space.
I describe more details of Black Ark here:
When I say I read it, I probably read it (and misremembered, clearly) from your piece! My apologies. Four-track not eight-track.
👍
Incidentally, Scratch’s discomixes* were legendary and have recently been collected on a series of 12-inches from Studio 16. The first track on the first one is of course the full eight minutes of Disco Devil, perhaps the finest discomix ever.
*https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discomix
In case of interest, this is being broadcast today at 8:00 p.m. (UK time):