Musical icon and pioneer of the dub reggae sound, Lee Scratch Perry, worked and recorded right up to his passing in 2021. His last recorded performances coalesced in the ‘King Perry’ album, produced by Daniel Boyle, and featuring guest spots from Shaun Ryder, Tricky (who also co-produced four of the album tracks), Marta, Rose Waite and Fifi Rong.
Album opener 100lbs Summer featuring Greentea Peng has already enjoyed heavy rotation on BBC 6 Music and strong support on streaming playlists, and on this remix single release, Bristol’s musical melting pot is represented across two remixes.
Massive Attack’s Daddy G teams up with follow West Country production team Robot Club for an brooding digi-dub treatment, whilst another Bristol based talent No 1 Special comes correct with blunted drums and syrupy guitar licks for an alternate mix. Listen to the Daddy G v Robot Club reworking via Bandcamp below or you can listen here.
Prolifically active to the age of 85 with six decades in the music business, Perry’s idiosyncratic vision left a deep legacy and a resounding influence spanning reggae, rock, hip-hop and dubstep. Once described by Keith Richards as “the Salvador Dalí of music” Perry opened profound new depths in Jamaican music. Equally known for his eternally youthful and hallmark chaotic dress sense, he originally earned his “Scratch” nickname from an early recording, The Chicken Scratch, in 1965.
The distinctive creative quality of relentless experimentation combined with a magical guiding philosophy led Perry to collaborate with U.K. producer Daniel Boyle who accurately replicated the analogue specifications found at the original Black Ark studios. The decade-long association began with the Grammy-nominated 2014 album ‘Back On The Controls’, released on the revived Upsetter label, and continued with various productions through to 2019 with the ‘Black Album,’ so called because the location for the recording was Abbey Road’s Studio 2 – where the Beatles recorded the legendary White Album back in 1968.
‘King Perry’ captures the accomplished and creatively charged musician in Perry; joyful, intuitive, and always colourful, alongside guest talent sculpting musical textures through the manipulation of sonic space and rhythmic echoes.
Notoriously eccentric with a lifetime behind the mixing board, Perry should be considered to be among the most innovative producers of the analogue recording era. Perry’s work established the dub and roots reggae sound that Bob Marley made world famous, while his dub production, with its haunting use of space and echo saw his influence extend via the legions of music makers who have since adopted his ground-breaking use of sampling and reinvention of the role of mix engineer; stylistically and technically. Perry made his name in the late 1960s and ’70s for producing some of the most cutting-edge reggae artists, with his Upsetter label helping establish many of the genre’s greats, like the Wailers. As a performer, he won the Grammy for best reggae album in 2003 for his recording “Jamaican E.T.”
Lee’s career can be said to have settled into five identifiable periods, first of all his time at Clement Dodd’s Studio One label as an artist, arranger and fixer, then his movement into production including the launch of one of reggae’s most successful and productive riddim machines – the Upsetters, followed by his role in guiding Bob Marley and the Wailers towards their superstardom and eventual world domination of the reggae genre, then his creation of the Black Ark studios where he would take the sonic capabilities of reggae into new dimensions and higher heights, producing a body of work unparalleled in reggae and unique in modern music.
‘King Perry’ further preserves the memory of a not only a musical visionary but a true collaborator – defined by a reassuring force of power, eccentric to the very end.
100lbs Summer (Remixes) by Lee Scratch Perry feat. Greentea Peng is available via False Idols now.
Tracklist
1. Daddy G Vs Robot Club Remix
2. No 1 Special Remix
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