#Lee scratch perry series
#Lee scratch perry tv

Brown”-the tale of a coffin with three vultures perched on top that rolled through the streets of Kingston “upsetting upsetting upsetting the town, asking for Mr.

#Lee scratch perry series

Perry met Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, and Bunny Wailer, members of a successful harmony group known as The Wailers, at Coxsone Dodd’s Studio One, and at the start of the seventies they all began working together at Randy’s Studio 17 on a series of mind-blowing tracks like “Trenchtown Rock,” “Duppy Conqueror,” and “Mr. Imagine if George Martin’s work with the Beatles was just the beginning of his career? It’s a testament to the greatness of Scratch that his production of Bob Marley’s best early material, much of which was re-recorded for the singer’s hugely successful Island Records albums, is not the music he’s most famous for. Bob Marley & The Wailers, Soul Rebels (1970)

#Lee scratch perry tv

Released in the UK via Trojan Records, “Return of Django” hit the pop charts, inspired its own dance craze, and appeared in TV ads for Cadbury’s chocolate.ģ.

More than four decades before Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained, the Django saga played out in a pair of spaghetti westerns focusing on a “coffin-dragging gunslinger, a half-breed prostitute, and a bitter feud between a Klan of Southern racists and a band of Mexican revolutionaries.” Scratch, who drew much inspiration from cowboy movies, borrowed the title for this rollicking instrumental featuring Val Bennett on sax and Gladstone “Gladdy” Anderson on piano, which became a huge hit in the Jamaica on the Upsetter label. And the muscular rhythm broke with the smooth rock steady style that was ruling Jamaica at the time, ushering in a fresh sound that led some critics to call this the first reggae song.Ģ. The crying baby that sets the mood on the intro was pulled from a radio jingle in what may be the first instance of sampling in recorded music. But this record is memorable for more than its rancor. “Now that you reach the top and you turn big shot,” Scratch sings on this passionate diss record targeting his former partner Joe Gibbs, “All I’ve done for you, you not remember that.” The song’s melody is reminiscent of “Longshot Kick De Bucket,” a Scratch production for Gibbs’ Amalgamated label that became a worldwide smash, leading to financial disagreements that inspired the tune. Some of his most memorable songs were diss tracks directed at former partners like “Run for Cover,” “I Am The Upsetter,” and “Chris Blackwell is a Vampire.”Ī 1995 cover story in the Beasties’ fabled Grand Royal magazine described Scratch as “the man, the myth, the Merlin whom many consider to be the greatest record producer ever.” That’s a big claim, but here are some of the records that back it up. He collaborated, innovated, and often fell out with most of the important music makers in Jamaican history-including such late great legends as Coxsone Dodd, Joe Gibbs, King Tubby, and Bunny Lee-as he pushed the evolution of the island’s sound from ska to rock steady to reggae, dub, punk rock, hip hop, jungle, and beyond. Spanning more than half a century, Scratch’s rich catalog of recordings was by turns tender, rebellious, rude, lewd, and sonically revolutionary.

He was as incendiary as he was influential. The visionary producer, performer, and provocateur shaped and reshaped the sound of Jamaican music in the 60s and 70s, creating magical, culture-shifting records with a galaxy of stars from Bob Marley and the Wailers to The Clash and the Beastie Boys-to name but a few.

“My music name thunder and lightning.” Known to one and all as Lee “Scratch” Perry, he had a way of getting straight to the point and pressing that point to one’s neck before breaking into hysterical laughter. “My name is Rainford Hugh Perry,” said the man with bright red hair, matching beard, and fire in his eyes after stepping off stage in New York City many years ago.