Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry: 10 of his greatest recordings
When I moved to Kingston, Jamaica, in 2003 for a job, it was in the month that Lee “Scratch” Perry won the best reggae album Grammy for Jamaican ET, a record that, in true Scratch style, contained everything including the kitchen sink.I remember tuning in to a call-in radio programme during which Jamaicans were wondering who this guy was. It was not entirely surprising – Perry, though arguably the most influential Jamaican artist (and therefore arguably one of the most influential artists ever), is most renowned for his work as producer rather than frontman.
In truth, Perry – who has died aged 85 – was astoundingly skilled and prolific in both roles, and so it would be laughable to attempt any comprehensive “best of” or representative listing of Perry’s work (though you could turn to this good primer by David Katz, author of the exhaustive and essential 2000 biography People Funny Boy: The Genius of Lee “Scratch” Perry). The music he created seems to expand – perhaps explode – all notions of what music can be, so it is more prudent to pick some standouts that demonstrate his breadth and depth than a definitive greatest hits.
Bob Marley – Small Axe
Though Perry’s career reaches back to the 1960s, and his first single People Funny Boy, it might be best to start with Bob Marley. Reggae and dancehall scholar Sonjah Stanley Niaah was clear when I asked about Perry’s best songs: “Scratch was such an influence that my favourite is not about a particular song but the body of material, especially the Bob Marley and the Wailers material which he was instrumental in producing.” As Perry put it, he “gave Bob Marley reggae as a present”.
The Upsetters – Blackboard
Jungle Dub (Version 1/Black Panta)
If Perry gave away reggae, it’s because he had dub up his sleeve. The track often referred to as Black Panta, on the album Upsetters Dub 14 Blackboard Jungle, first released in 1973 in Jamaica, is exemplary of the genre. With the studio as his instrument, alongside the Upsetters band, he was able to construct thickly layered tracks that contain sounds and textures that throb and pulse.
Junior Murvin – Police and Thieves
It’s impossible to speak of Perry without referencing the Black Ark, his not particularly technologically advanced studio, where he was able to act as, in his words, a “miracle man”. Between 1973 and 1978, he produced work that is nothing short of magical. Max Romeo’s War Ina Babylon, the Heptones’s Party Time and Junior Murvin’s Police and Thievesare the canonical records of this period. The latter sounds like it exists on a different plane, revolutionising the sound of reggae.
The Congos – Children Crying
Perry was also a master of ambience. The whole of 1977’s Heart of the Congos is a masterpiece, but Children Crying (complete with mooing cow, thanks to the use of a children’s toy) is stunningly, dazzlingly beautiful: bouncing rhythm and vocals that sound as though they are floating through the bluest of blue skies over the greenest of hills.
The Upsetters – Tell Me Something Good
From a dub perspective, explore