Lee 'Scratch' Perry Feb 09 2013 7:00 pm iCal
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"I’m an artist, a musician, a magician, a
writer, a singer; Im everything. My name is Lee from the African jungle,
originally from West Africa. I’m a man from somewhere else, but my
origin is from Africa, straight to Jamaica through reincarnation; reborn
in Jamaica..."
Lee "Scratch" Perry (born Rainford Hugh Perry, on March 20, 1936,
in Kendal, Jamaica) is a Grammy award-winning reggae and dub artist, who
has been highly influential in the development and acceptance of reggae
and dub music in Jamaica and overseas. He employs numerous pseudonyms,
such as "Pipecock Jaxxon" and "The Upsetter". Arguably the first
creatively driven, "artist-producer" in modern recorded music, Lee
"Scratch" Perry occupies the highest level of music making - standing
comfortably next to pioneers like George Martin, Phil Spector, and Brian
Wilson.
Perry's musical career began in the late 1950s as a record seller
for Clement Coxsone Dodd's sound system. Working with Joe Gibbs, Perry
continued his recording career, but once again, financial problems
caused conflict. Perry broke ranks with Gibbs and formed his own label,
Upsetter, in 1968. During the 1970s, Perry released numerous recordings
on a variety of record labels that he controlled, and many of his songs
were popular in both Jamaica and the UK. He soon became known for his
innovative production techniques as well as his eccentric character. In
the early 1970s, Perry was one of the producers whose mixing board
experiments resulted in the creation of dub. In 1973, Perry built a
studio in his back yard, The Black Ark, to have more control over his
productions and continued to produce notable musicians such as Bob
Marley & the Wailers, Junior Byles, The Heptones, and Max Romeo.
With his own studio at his disposal, Perry remained behind the mixing
desk for many years, producing songs and albums that stand out as a high
point in reggae history.
By 1978, stress and unwanted outside influences began to take their
toll: both Perry and The Black Ark quickly fell into a state of
disrepair. Eventually, the studio burned to the ground. Perry has
constantly insisted that he burned the Black Ark himself in a fit of
rage, but it has also been said that fire could have been an accident
due to faulty wiring. After the demise of the Black Ark in the early
1980s, Perry spent time in England and the United States, performing
live and making records with a variety of collaborators. It was not
until the late 1980s, when he began working with British producers
Adrian Sherwood and Neil Fraser (who is better known as Mad Professor),
that Perry's career began to get back on solid ground again. Perry also
has attributed the recent resurgence of his creative muse to his
deciding to quit drinking alcohol and smoking cannabis. Perry stated in
an interview that he wanted to see if "it was the smoke making the music
or Lee Perry making the music. I found out it was me and that I don't
need to smoke."
Perry now lives in Switzerland. Although he celebrated his 70th
birthday in 2006, he continues recording and performing to enthusiastic
audiences in Europe and North America. His modern music is a far cry
from his reggae days in Jamaica; many now see Perry as more of a
performance artist in several respects. In 2004, Rolling Stone Magazine
ranked Perry 100 on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.
More recently, he teamed up with a group of Swiss musicians and
performed under the name Lee Perry and the White Belly Rats, and made a
brief visit to the United States using the New York City based group Dub
Is A Weapon as his backing band.
Currently there are two feature length movies made about his life
and work: Volker Schaner's 'Vision Of Paradise' and 'The Upsetter' by
filmmakers Ethan Higbee and Adam Bhala Lough.
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