Lee "Scratch" Perry: The Mad Genius Behind the Sound

Scratch, Pipecock Jackxon, the Upsetter, Jah Lion, Super Ape.No matter what the alias, Rainford Hugh Perry, born in the rural Jamaican village of St.Mary's in 1936,made a substantial contribution to Jamaican music, as well as most of today's popular music, with his innovative use of sound, mixing, song writing, and production techniques. Lee "Scratch" Perry managed to change the shape and sound of Jamaican popular music with the clever use of only a four track recorder and other equipment that was not up to the standards of his record producing contemporaries.Perry is responsible for molding the early "Rasta Revolution" sound of Bob Marley and the Wailers with his innovative production and mixing techniques.By saturating the sound scape with heavy bass and drums,as well as dropping the other instruments of the rhythm section in and out of the mix,Lee "Scratch" Perry became one of the key innovators of the sound known as dub.

In The Beginning...

Lee "Scratch" Perry began his phantasmagorical musical journey in the late 1950's working with Ska singer and sound system security guard Prince Buster selling records for Clement "Coxsone" Dodd,business man, and operator of one of Kingston's most popular sound systems,Downbeat Sound System. According to Perry he was, nothing but a," glorified teaboy...later a fully fledged disc spinner".Back then,the 4'11" Perry was known as "Little" Perry,he found himself the victim of the sound system dancehall violence one getting knocked out during a dance. "Little" Perry soon found himself assisting Clement Dodd in Dodd's Studio One,Jamaica's top ranking studio of the day,producing and recording in the hit factory some 30 songs.Financial problems and personality clashes, as well as Perry's finding out that Dodd was giving his songs away to other singers with out giving him credit,led "Little" Perry to leave the illustrious Studio One to seek greener pastures for his musical outlets.(this would not be the last time Perry would have a falling out with one of his employers, he would develop a hatred for his employers,burning bridges as he moved on).Perry soon found himself working for producer Joe Gibbs on what was soon to be Gibb's Amalgamated Records.

Perry continued to work on his music career,but soon fell out with Gibb's, just as he had done with Dodd,and for the same reasons,financial,and a difference in vision.In 1968,he decided to leave Gibb's and form his own Upsetter label,where he would record the innovative "People Funny Boy", which was an insult song directed to his ex employer, Joe Gibb's.The song, which sold well,was known for it's innovative use of a primitive form of sampling which included the sound of a baby crying.The song is also known for being the first Jamaican pop song to employ the use of the heavy, loping bass line that would be associated with the new beat that would soon be referred to as "reggae",although early on, it was known as "Steppers".People funny boy went from tape, to the plate, and became a hit in one weeks time, introducing Perry to the people as a peculiar vocalist, as a supreme arranger of sound, solidifying his stature as a producer/engineer.

Making a Name,Making Hits

From 1968 through the 1970's,Perry would work at a ferocious rate,recording and releasing a number of instrumental tracks released on several different labels under Perry's control as singles which would become popular in Jamaica as well as in the U.K. on Trojan's "Upsetter" subsidiary label, one of which was 1969's The Return of Django,which became a hit.Other significant hits would be "Clint Eastwood", and "The Vampire".As Perry's success as a producer started to rise, so did his personal appearance and proclamations.Perry churned out all of his work in this period with the use of his outstanding house band, also named The Upsetters.The Upsetters were the hottest band on the island, working with virtually every performer in Jamaica.Perry would often have The Upsetters switch instruments to create a different sound,and feel of the music.The early 1970's would mark the time that Lee "Scratch" Perry would really delve into the world of dub music, using his mixer as another instrument in the studio after hearing the dub experiments of the legendary producer, King Tubby.He would then go on to build his own studio, Black Ark, asserting his creative independence.It was at Black Ark where Perry would record and produce some of Bob Marley's early formative tracks.

Bob Marley and The Wailers,Black Ark,and Going Dub Crazy

In 1970,Bob Marley showed up at the doorstep of Lee "Scratch" Perry, after returning from Delaware,he also needed a place to stay.Marley sang one his songs to Perry, My Cup, and Perry offered Marley a back room where he could rest his head.Marley was already a young rising star in the Jamaican music scene,and had already "sighted up Rasta", converting to Rastafarianism from his original Catholic upbringing after returning to Jamaica from Delaware and sought out Perry, well aware of his reputation as a top ranking producer.His band, the Wailing Wailers, consisting of Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer, had also had a falling out with the legendary producer, Coxsone Dodd.Perry became Marley's teacher, schooling him on phrasing and writing songs with him.The Wailers would go on to record some of their most important work with Lee "Scratch" Perry sitting in the captains seat, using his house band the Upsetters, which included the Barret brothers, bassist Aston "Family Man" Barret, and Cartlon Barret on drums as the rhythm section.With the guidance of Perry, and the backing of the Upstters,The Wailers recorded formidable Reggae classics such as "Lively Up Yourself","Mr.Brown", "Duppy Conqueror", "Sun Is Shining", "Kaya", "African Herbsman", "Trenchtown Rock",and "Small Axe".

Once again,there was a falling out, and once again it was over finances, which would become a reoccurring theme throughout Perry's career.Perry had sold the tapes of the Wailers sessions to Trojan Records with out the consent of the Wailers,and pocketed the money!This breached the agreement that the band had with Perry that everything would be split down the middle.The Wailers caught wind of their popularity in the U.K. which provoked an ire in the band as they had not received any of the fruits from their labor,leading them to want to cause Perry bodily harm!The issue over the Trojan tapes would surface throughout Bob Marley's career.

Word about the Wailers popularity in the U.K. would soon reach the ear of Island Records executive,Chris Blackwell who would soon sign the Wailers to an exclusive contract, and the rest is history.After leaving the Perry camp,taking the Barrett brothers with them,Bob Marley and the Wailers would go on to be world renowned. Perry often referred to Blackwell as a vampire, with Marley being his abettor in spreading cultural imperialism, as Blackwell was a white Englishman.According to Perry, Marley would still be alive today, if he had listened to him.Bob Marley and Lee"Scatch"Perry would continue to work together though, throughout Marley's career,collaborating on such Marley classics as, "Punky Reggae Party", "Smile Jamaica", and "Rastaman Live Up", which is said to be written in Lee Perry's backyard "record garden"(Perry had broken records"planted" in flower pots in his back yard), when Marley went over to Perry's yard to confront him, and possibly beat him up.

The departure of The Wailers and the Barrett brothers left Perry without the key elements of his house band, and a singer-songwriter of strong stature.Perry was down, but he was not out, he would soon reassemble another house band using the young and hungry talent of the island, he also found another singer-songwriter whom he felt was as strong as Bob Marley, the new singer-songwriter was Junior Byles.The work done with Byles over a five year period starting in1971 is considered some of Perry's best work. "Beat Down Babylon", "King of Babylon","Place Called Africa", and "Rub Up Festival"were some of the songs that earned Perry and Byles big acclaim."Festival Da Da"earned Byle's second runner-up in the Festival Song Contest in 1972. Byles's biggest hit with Perry was a 1972 cover version of Peggy Lee's "Fever".Byles would suffer from depression in 1975 after the announcement of the death of Haile Selassie,causing him to attempt suicide.Eventually he would be admitted to Bellevue Hospital,but his health would continue to decline.Though he continued to work on and off while being plagued with ill health,his work with Perry ended in 1975.

In 1973,Perry built his own recording studio in his backyard which he called Black Ark.Over the next seven ears,Black Ark would be the studio where Perry would record and produce some of his most awesome and bizarre work.Surrounding himself with Jamaica's cream of the crop musicians, including: bassist,Boris Gardner, Reggae guitar avatar, Earl "Chinna"Smith, singers,Junior Murvin,Max Romeo, and Kiddus,keyboardist, Joe Cooper (from one of Jamaica's top young bands, the Vikings), drummer, Leroy "Horsemouth" Wallace, The Heptones, and The Congos, he would stretch the limits of his creativity, going far beyond the limits of Reggae, even working with English pop/rock acts such as the Clash, and Robert Palmer.Black Ark allowed Perry to spend as much time as he wanted on his creations without the hassle of an employer since he was the sole proprietor of the studio.Most of the work was done on a basic four track and mixing board,Perry's sonic wizardry gave him his own unique sound that was unmatched by his contemporaries.

In 1975,he was signed to Chris Blackwell's Island Records,as a solo recording artist and in house producer.Perry's energetic pace,and his seemingly relentless creativity resulted in him recording, and producing classic Reggae hits such as, Junior Murvin's "Police and Thieves",which was covered by the English rock band, the Clash.When Bob Marley heard the "Police and Thieves" riddim,he loved it so much, that he asked Perry if he could have it.Perry told Bob that Junior Murvin beat Bob to it, which prompted Bob to invert the tunes bass line and put the song out as "Three Little Birds"."Party Time" was a song done by The Heptones that would become another Reggae tour-de- force,as was Max Romeo's "War Inna Babylon".Perry performed some of his wildest techniques and eccentricities in Black Ark,creating his own in house sound effects by kicking trash cans and crash cymbals, shooting pistols, breaking glass, running the tape backwards, creating sounds with his mouth, creating tape samples of crying babies, mooing cows (which was done by having a friend moo through a cardboard tube), and falling rain.It is said that he would clean the tape heads with his dirty tee-shirts,and blow ganja smoke on the rolling master tapes to give the music a "dirty" sound.At one point he built a drum riser atop standing water, cutting a hole in the riser to give the kick drum a deeper sound.

After hearing some of the dub experiments of King Tubby,Perry decided to take them a few thousand steps further.Although the introduction of the dub technique to Jamaican popular music has been credited to King Tubby, Perry has been know to dispute this information, stating that it was HE who was dubs creator.No matter who dub's true creator is, few could argue that it was Lee "Scratch" Perry who became dub's true avatar.Perry produced and released a number of duds showing off his own unique dub prowess while mastering the controls at Black Ark.Perry did eventually, "link up" with Tubby to do some dub-wise wonders with him.

In 1977,Lee perry recorded and produced the album," Heart of The Congos",by The Congos.The Congos started off as a duo featuring "Ashanti" Roy Johnson (tenor),and Cedric Myton (falsetto).The duo was expanded to a trio at the suggestion of Perry,and soon Wally Burnette (baritone) was added to the group."Heart of The Congos" is said to be Perr'ys most brilliant piece of work,and was said to be shelved by Chris Blackwell because it was too much competition for Bob Marley and The Wailers.This caused Perry to release the album on his own Black Ark label.There had already been tension between Island Records and Perry before the albums completion.Black Ark was not as powerful as Island Records in the overseas promotion department,and when"Heart of The Congos" failed to reach the level of success of that other Black Ark artist such as Junior Murvin and Max Romeo, a rift was created between Perry and The Congos.Perry's wife allegedly had an affair with one of the trios members,taking Perry closer to the edge that he was already flirting with.To deter the members of The Congos from approaching him concerning the non success of "Heart of The Congos,which the trio blamed on him,it has been said that Perry took whole round of ham (Rastafarians despised ham), attached it to the antenna of his automobile until the meat was rotten and maggot ridden.This act of deterrence certainly kept the Rastas at bay.

In 1978,Perry released one of his finest pieces of work as a solo artist, the very experimental,"Roast Fish, Collie Weed, and Cornbread".This self produced album, recorded at Black Ark features Perry singing song entirely penned by himself.The album was rejected by Island Records which sparked the contempt Perry had for all of his employers.When Chris Blackwell offered Perry a bigger, more modern Mixing board, Perry threw it in a nearby gully preferring to stick with his tried and true 4-track.It was around this time that Perry started to show cracks in his mental state of health; all of the seemingly relentless work and creativity in the studio, compounded with the troubles he was having with Island Records and The Congos,his wife leaving him, heavy ganja smoking ,mixed with heavy drinking, and a lot of sketchy characters insisting on hanging out at Black Ark was starting to take it's toll on Perry.When Englishman, Robert Palmer took a journey to Black Ark to record "River Stone"(aka "Love Can Run Faster") he was menaced by the hangers on of Black Ark, crowding him as he stood at the mic, bumping into the mic as he would attempt to sing, causing the mic to hit him in the mouth.When Palmer looked to Perry for a bit of help thinking that Perry would intervene and bring order to the session, Perry shrugged his shoulders with a, "sorry there is nothing I can do "look and made Palmer do take after exhausting take frustrating Palmer even more.

Perry was growing more and more tired of Rastafarians, and his behavior was getting more and more erratic.He started to write graffiti all over the walls of Black Ark, some even claim to have seen him down on the ground closely monitoring an army of marching ants uttering something about giving Caesar his dues.The pressure around him was getting to be too much,and the reality of his wife Pauline finally leaving him and taking the kids with her finally sent him over the edge, and in 1979 he touched Black Ark to the ground completely destroying the the studio in a fit of protest.

Lee Perry Meets Seke Molenga and Kalo Kowongolo. Is This When "World Beat" Music Began?

In 1977,hoping to cash in on the hype of Lee "Scratch" Perry, a European wanna-be Reggae promoter took two musicians from Zaire named Seke Molenga to Kingston Jamaica.She soon fell in love with one of the Rastas on the island and disappeared,taking the money for sessions, food, and hotel accommodations with her ,leaving the two Zairian musicians stranded in the odious streets of Kingston Jamaica with very little command of the English language.The two wandered around the streets begging for food, somehow they ended up at Black Ark, in the company of Perry who looked at the arrival of the two as a message from Jah,sending the two Zairian musicians to bless Black Ark with authentic Africans.

Once Perry found out their story,the three sat down to write six songs that would become the album, "From The Heart of The Congo", not to be confused with The Congos "Heart of The Congos"."From The Heart of The Congo" is said to be the first "World Beat" album, fusing the sounds of Kingston, Jamaica with that of the African sounds of Zaire.It was well ahead of its time,with crossover sounds and songs. "African Roots", "Bad Food", and "Mutoya Motema" are three of the songs that are included on the album, as a matter of fact,the Robert Palmer song "River Stone"(aka "Love Can Run Faster") is included on this very album.

21st CENTURY "SCRATCH"

Even though Lee "Scratch" Perry razed Black Ark,he continued to keep busy creating,putting out releases as a solo artist.Hooking up with younger producers whom he paved the way for with his body of work from the 1970's,Perry continued to stretch the boundaries of creativity.Like a true artist,he could care less about the court of public opinion,creating and releasing the work to the world.He has worked with British producer,Adrian Sherwood,and a Guyanese protegee by who goes by the name of the Mad Professor (Neil Joseph Stephen Frazier).Mad Professor took a page out of Perry's book of music,running his own studio,Ariwa Sound,with a stellar house band creating the music.

Perry eventually left Jamaica,and the negativity associated with the music business of the island,first moving to Amsterdam, then eventually settling in Switzerland,where he lives today with his new wife and children.At one point in the eighties, he vowed never to work with Jamaican musicians, or dread-locked musicians.He is still touring at the age of 74, sometimes backed by the New York based, Dub As A Weapon band, with the Mad Professor manning the mixer.Numerous compilations and anthologies of Lee "Scatch" Perry's music have been released throughout the years,some great, some not so good. Perry's indelible influence on music can be heard and felt to this day,and after 44 plus years in the industry, he seems to show no sign of slowing down.