It's anybody's guess how sane Lee Perry really is. Some say he's a sonic genius, some characterize him as a semi-crackpot, and the universally praised recordings he's produced as a long string of fortunate accidents. But his track record, primarily the records he produced in the seventies, speaks for itself. Bob Marley, the Heptones, Junior Murvin, Max Romeo, Augustus Pablo, Gregory Issacs, the Melodians, and I Roy are just some of the artists he worked with in that decade alone. And that was in addition to recording his own solo records.
The Black Ark, his studio, was primitive, with only basic recording equipment. It was his manic style of throwing everything at the wall that made him unique. When it came to mixing seventies era reggae, his template was his own, and as off the wall as some of his techniques were (inserting sound effects, mixing live on the fly), it made his sound hard to duplicate. When other reggae producers were playing it safe, and making cookie cutter records using tried and true methods, he seemed to do whatever he could to break that mold.
A look inside a recording session with the Upsetters and the Heptones, at Perry's former studio, the Black Ark.
By the time the eighties rolled around, the Black Ark was no more. It burned to the ground, with the erratic Perry claiming responsibility. He went to England worked with On-U Sound's Adrian Sherwood, and later the Mad Professor. The quality of his work waned, but he remained in demand. In 1998, he popped up doing vocals on a Beastie Boys album (two cuts on "Hello Nasty") and, after meeting Andrew W.K. in 2006 (oh, to be a fly on that wall!), asked him to co-produce an album that also featured Moby, Ari Up and, as strange as it seems, Don Fleming (from Gumball). Since then, he's been all over the place, and after his music drifted further away from reggae, he was reined in, collaborating again with Adrian Sherwood in 2008 for a return to more straight up reggae, the album "The Mighty Upsetter."
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Music:Lee Perry - Roast Fish and Cornbread mp3 at A Barrel of Nails
Lee Perry - Black Panda mp3 at Quarterlife Party
The Upsetters - Exit the Dragon mp3 at Slutty Fringe
Lee Perry and the Upsetters - Locks in the Dublight mp3 at For the Sake of the Song
Lee Perry - Fisher Man Dub mp3 at For the Sake of the Song
Lee Perry - Psalm mp3 at Superfan2010
Video:
Lee Perry, interview at Black Ark at YouTube
Lee Perry - I Am the Upsetter (in the studio) at YouTube
Lee Perry ranting in 1982 at YouTube
Lee Perry, Guiness commercial (?!?) at YouTube
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1 comment:
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