So what's good from the post Black Ark era?
― paolo, Friday, 16 September 2022 08:46 (one year ago) link
Been going through a bit of a LSP phase recently and at least for now I would say he is the greatest musician to come out of Jamaica (sorry King Tubby)
― paolo, Friday, 16 September 2022 08:48 (one year ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zyynfnY3Cw
A recent personal favourite
― paolo, Friday, 16 September 2022 08:55 (one year ago) link
My favourite LP post-Black Ark is probably Time Boom x De Devil Dead, which he made with Adrian Sherwood
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9USR-7opK3E
I really like this Mad Professor dub of I Am A Madman (the original being one of two or three good ones from Battle of Armageddon / Millionaire Liquidator):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kqNBHNMddfM
― Tim, Friday, 16 September 2022 09:15 (one year ago) link
The next Sherwood-produced LP after Time Boom, "From The Secret Laboratory" is an interesting listen if you've been on a Black Ark era jag, it has radically updated takes on a handful of 70s classics; some people love it but I've always found it diverting rather than brilliant.
― Tim, Friday, 16 September 2022 09:31 (one year ago) link
Tim, the 'Secret Laboratory' title track is up there with my favourite things by LSP.
― giraffe, Friday, 16 September 2022 12:58 (one year ago) link
And for good reason I'm sure, I'll give it another go sometime.
― Tim, Friday, 16 September 2022 13:26 (one year ago) link
I’ve fallen into a Scratch hole myself. My favorite discovery so far is “Cheerio” from Battle Axe by the Upsetters. It’s this basic, instrumental thing with a rhythm lifted from something that I can’t quite place. But the way it all clicks together is so perfect! It’s very repetitive and my wife is probably going to ban it soon.
I’m a little stumped for classifying Perry’s stuff in Itunes. My impulse is to label all Upsetters stuff as Perry, so his stuff is all together. Does that make sense? Were they always his project with a fluid membership?
― Cow_Art, Friday, 16 September 2022 13:39 (one year ago) link
I quite liked Rainford too, which I think is/was his last album
― giraffe, Friday, 16 September 2022 14:00 (one year ago) link
“Cheerio” is the “Cherry Oh Baby” rhythm, which might be what you’re thinking of, Cow_Art? Sorry if that’s too obvious.
― Tim, Friday, 16 September 2022 14:07 (one year ago) link
"From The Secret Laboratory" has really grown on me over the years. "Time Boom X De Devil Dead" is all time.
― stirmonster, Friday, 16 September 2022 14:45 (one year ago) link
If you're not too fussy about tags, would it make more sense to hijack a different one that you don't really use (I dunno, Composer)? If I'm pulling together all my scratch stuff for a big shuffle I also want all the things he produced where he's def not the Artist.
Speaking of which, lately I've been getting very into George Faith's Super Eight (aka To Be a Lover) - fabulous deep echoing LSP sound around songs that are more… well this is OTM from Granny Dainger upthread -
And George Faith for the "Jamaican quiet storm" lazy Sunday afternoon vibe.
― woof, Friday, 16 September 2022 15:03 (one year ago) link
Thanks for the recommendations!
Were they always his project with a fluid membership?
I believe so
― paolo, Friday, 16 September 2022 16:16 (one year ago) link
I remember reading a while back that Billy Idol was obsessed w/that George Faith record at the height of his druggy strung-out 80s days
― politics is about vibes and the vibes are off (stevie), Friday, 16 September 2022 16:29 (one year ago) link
time boom is by far the best of the on-u collaborations.however, secret laboratory, has some brilliant tracks on it.'african headcharge in the hackney empire' being an absolute classic.that said, there were a couple of low key LSP vs ON-U releases that happened before things kicked off again due to warpthis album has dreadful cover art, but features roots manuva on the brilliant 'international broadcaster.
https://www.discogs.com/release/1750076-Lee-Scratch-Perry-The-Mighty-Upsetter
― mark e, Saturday, 17 September 2022 22:02 (one year ago) link
and its dub version still hits the spot :
https://www.discogs.com/release/2309885-Lee-Scratch-Perry-And-Adrian-Sherwood-Dub-Setter
― mark e, Saturday, 17 September 2022 22:06 (one year ago) link
Gonna add to the From The Secret Laboratory recommendations... great record.
― visiting, Saturday, 17 September 2022 22:17 (one year ago) link
There's a YouTube channel called Black Ark Nuggets and there is unsurprisingly some absolute gold on there
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sryk65q51_8
I mean how about this then
― paolo, Friday, 14 October 2022 17:29 (one year ago) link
So on the label of that record it says it was produced by Yabby You. If that was inded recorded at the Black Ark does that mean Scratch was letting other producers use his studio?
― paolo, Friday, 14 October 2022 17:30 (one year ago) link
I always assumed the Yabby You stuff was done at King Tubby's. Wasn't Vivian Jackson/Yabby You known as Tubby's favorite to work with? I read somewhere that Tubby personally worked on the Yabby You stuff while farming out some other things to Scientist or whoever was his assistant.
― brotherlovesdub, Friday, 14 October 2022 17:43 (one year ago) link
I only love about half of the forty-track version of King Scratch (Musical Masterpieces from the Upsetter Ark-ive) on Spotify, but/and that's enough to make it ballot bait for sure. Fave is the 12 " mix of Junior Murvin and Jah Lion, "Police and Thief (Police and Thieves." New to me: Susan Cadogan, whose tracks are great here, and Drugs A. Money assures me her album is dope too.
― dow, Friday, 14 October 2022 17:53 (one year ago) link
xpThat's on the old B&F Jesus Dread comp and the liner notes do indeed state it was recorded at Black Ark
― rob, Friday, 14 October 2022 17:54 (one year ago) link
^^ which rules
― sleeve, Friday, 14 October 2022 17:57 (one year ago) link
it does! Sadly OOP, but I think Pressure Sounds has put out a bunch if not all of this same stuff as expanded album reissues since (?)
Also meant to add that in fact none of the rhythm tracks (on Jesus Dread) were recorded at Tubby's, only the voicing and mixing was done there. The productions were all recorded at Black Ark, Dynamic, Randy's, and Channel One
― rob, Friday, 14 October 2022 18:00 (one year ago) link
Would love to know what it was like in the room when Tubby and Lee were working together. Tubs the neat freak and Perry trying to rub cow shit on the tapes.
Reggae odd couple!
― Cow_Art, Friday, 14 October 2022 18:40 (one year ago) link
Live Trap / Death Trap rules like fire. Are there many tracks with flute in the reggae canon? Tommy McCook absolutely kills it.
I kind of lose sight of Yabby You on record. There are so many variations and compilations out there. I stick with Jesus Dread, which is one of the greatest collections of any kind, anywhere. Just a monstrous achievement. Back in the day, I saw a NM vinyl copy for £60 and baulked at the price. I can't even bear to look at how much it goes for now.
― Shard-borne Beatles with their drowsy hums (Chinaski), Friday, 14 October 2022 19:01 (one year ago) link
Things I will do when I rob a bank pt38: buy the entire Blood and Fire catalogue.
― Shard-borne Beatles with their drowsy hums (Chinaski), Friday, 14 October 2022 19:03 (one year ago) link
I love Yabby You, so continue to buy the Pressure Sounds reissues despite the well being bone dry, but I did luck into a copy of Jesus Dread on vinyl four years ago for well under discogs prices at the time because the box corners had been separated. The vinyl was barely played but something had split the corners of the box so it didn't close properly. It was sitting on a pile behind the counter and I managed to snag it pretty cheap.
― brotherlovesdub, Friday, 14 October 2022 19:18 (one year ago) link
There's a YouTube channel called Black Ark Nuggets and there is unsurprisingly some absolute gold on therehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sryk65q51_8I mean how about this then― paolo, Friday, 14 October 2022 18:29 (four hours ago) bookmarkflaglink
― paolo, Friday, 14 October 2022 18:29 (four hours ago) bookmarkflaglink
holy shit
― Tracer Hand, Friday, 14 October 2022 21:52 (one year ago) link
for the record I am reacting to Tommy McCook & Prophets - Death Trap (prod Yabby You i think?)
― Tracer Hand, Friday, 14 October 2022 21:55 (one year ago) link
I'm not sure about these days but back in the day if you've got someone who produces a track and then someone else does a dub of it then the person who does the dub would be referred to as the engineer right?
So for example that track above the B-side says produced by V Jackson but on the label it says King Tubby's. So even with the dub Yabby You would be the producer and Tubbs would be the engineer if I'm understanding correctly
― paolo, Saturday, 15 October 2022 08:29 (one year ago) link
The only one I can think of off the top of my head is Concentration by Dennis Brown
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5Lg2p68yTw
You get more flute action on the dub. Lovely stuff
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4hXBOFk_G_Y
― paolo, Saturday, 15 October 2022 08:33 (one year ago) link
Bubble Up by Wayne Jarrett (a Wackies production recently touched on in the Congos poll thread) is a great and thoroughly fluted-uphttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5Xa9ErqeFM
― Tim, Sunday, 16 October 2022 14:04 (one year ago) link
rightly, wow
― J Edgar Noothgrush (Joan Crawford Loves Chachi), Sunday, 16 October 2022 17:16 (one year ago) link
More flute, on-topic for the thread this time:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HucNiALhqx0
― Tim, Monday, 17 October 2022 10:05 (one year ago) link
(for the purposes for a broken-link future, that's Nice and Easy by Susan Cadogan, produced by Scratch)
― Tim, Monday, 17 October 2022 10:06 (one year ago) link
That Susan Cadogan track is fire. And then youtube algorithm gave me the whole album and it's fantastic, never heard it
― Lavator Shemmelpennick, Monday, 17 October 2022 12:56 (one year ago) link
(I love it. Minor trivia point: two off the tracks on the LP are covers of songs from the classic Doris Duke LP "I'm a Loser", it seems lock and odd but inspired choice to find songs so suited to SC's rather ethereal vocal style on a full-throated gospelly southern soul vocal record)
― Tim, Monday, 17 October 2022 13:35 (one year ago) link
Are there different versions of the album? I thought Island just changed the title and cover because they were worried about appearing racist?
― Cow_Art, Monday, 17 October 2022 14:56 (one year ago) link
Check out these tribute mixes! Over six hours of goodness, mostly focusing on Scratch's more obscure output
http://mikusmusik.blogspot.com/2015/08/rainford-rules-strictly-lee-perry.html
― paolo, Wednesday, 19 October 2022 12:46 (one year ago) link
In the blurb it says 'In fact, considering the esteem in which he is now held he supposedly had relatively few big hits in JA, and to some extent it was UK audiences that really clicked with his sound and helped cement his legacy.' Is that correct?
Very cool find. Anyone else have an issue downloading Volume 1? It cuts off after a minute.
― Paul Ponzi, Wednesday, 19 October 2022 13:35 (one year ago) link
And yeah, from the little I've read, that does seem to be a fact about UK audiences, but that was true for a lot of Jamaican artists at that time, none more so than Bob Marley. See also: Mikey Dread
― Paul Ponzi, Wednesday, 19 October 2022 13:36 (one year ago) link
delighted to see The Battle for Armageddon reissued as i could never find a decent recording or streaming version of it (for a long time only had it on cassette taped by a friend at school). not a remaster afaict but it sounds good. https://www.cherryred.co.uk/product/lee-scratch-perry-battle-of-armagideon-2cd-expanded-edition/
― Fizzles, Monday, 15 May 2023 17:26 (one year ago) link
The I Am A Madman dub is quite a thing iirc, I also recall lots of mediocrity on that LP though. “Grooving” is probably my favourite.
― Tim, Monday, 15 May 2023 18:37 (one year ago) link