![]() Perry’s career has had its ups and downs over the years, including a December 2015 fire at his Secret Laboratory Studio. It’s one album from that era I still put on and CRANK it up to 11. The fun was trying to identify the original tunes that Perry Dubbed up. I loved Dub Reggae from the start because it was like Psychedelic Reggae. Chris Blackwell took the original tracks, removed the rough edges, renamed the band Bob Marley and the Wailers, and nothing was ever the same again.įULL DISCLOSURE: I worked for Island Records Canada in the mid-’70s, where my first contact with Lee “Scratch” Perry and Dub Reggae was the amazing LP Super Ape by The Upsetters. ![]() Perry produced some of the earliest tracks for the Wailers, before they signed with Island Records. In 1970 Perry produced and released The Wailers track “Mr Brown” (1970) with its unusual use of studio effects and eerie opening highlighting his unique approach to production. He soon became known for his innovative production techniques as well as his eccentric character. 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 United Kingdom. From 1968 until 1972 he worked with his studio band The Upsetters. Similarly his acrimonious 1967 single as Lee “King” Perry Run for Cover was likewise aimed at Sir Coxsone. ![]() It is notable for its innovative use of a sample (a crying baby) as well as a fast, chugging beat that would soon become identifiable as “reggae” (the new kind of sound which was given the name “Steppers”). His first major single “People Funny Boy”, which was an insult directed at Gibbs, sold well with 60,000 copies sold in Jamaica alone. However, Gibbs’ money woes had him strike out on his own and Perry started up his own label, Upsetter Records in 1968. ![]() That relationship, rocky as it was, lasted longer. However, Perry and Dodd didn’t get along, so Perry moved on to Joe Gibbs and Amalgamated Records. During his short time there he managed to record some 30 songs for the label. ![]() There he performed a number of chores for owner Coxone Dodd, including selling records. Celebrating his 81st birthday today is the Grandfather of Reggae and the father of Dub Reggae, Rainford Hugh Perry, aka Lee “Scratch” Perry.īack in the days before the word Reggae even existed - when it was still called Ska, or Bluebeat, or One Drop - Perry apprenticed at Kingston’s Studio One. ![]()
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