Dub Revelutions

I woke up this morning to the extremely sad news that Lee 'Scratch' Perry died yesterday (29th). The BBC obituary doesn't even begin to do justice to the man's influence, as artist, producer, remixer, collaborator, eccentric and innovator, but how do you attempt to encapsulate a life and career that profoundly changed music and continues to inspire and influence right now? 

I have a deep love of reggae and dub so Perry's work features heavily in my music collection and whilst his output and quality control was less consistent in the 1990s and 2000s, his collaborations with Adrian Sherwood and The Orb in the last decade marked a creative high. I had never managed to see Lee 'Scratch' Perry in concert and planned to see him in Gloucester in November.

I don't have any standalone Lee 'Scratch' Perry mixtapes that I could post here today, so I've hastily cobbled together a tribute selection in the last hour and a half. Some obvious choices are omitted: nothing by Bob Marley & The Wailers or The Clash and no Police & Thieves (although Bad Weed uses the same riddim). I've included some of Perry's more unexpected remixes: Sign Your Name was a #2 hit in the UK in January 1988 and I wonder what TTD's mainstream fans made of the 'Scratch' remix 12", peppered with animal sounds and dub effects. NYC band Gang Gang Dance was also an unusual choice, but Perry toasts over the top and makes it his own. The selection spans his early singles in the late 1960s through to his 2019 album Rainford and last year's appearance on Denise Sherwood's debut solo album. It's only a flavour of the man's genius but given the haste in compiling the selection, I think it hangs together pretty well.

Farewell then to Lee 'Scratch' Perry, Alien Starman and Dub Revolutionary.

 

1) Cloak & Dagger: Lee 'Scratch' Perry & The Upsetters ft. Tommy McCook (1973)

2) Rockhead: Lee 'Scratch' Perry (2008)

3) Bad Weed (Discomix By Lee 'Scratch' Perry): Junior Murvin (1977)

4) Return Of Django: The Upsetters (1969)

5) Chase The Devil (Adrian Sherwood Dub): Dubblestandart ft. Lee 'Scratch' Perry, Coshiva & Emch (2014) 

6) Sign Your Name (Lee 'Scratch' Perry Remix): Terence Trent D'Arby (1988)

7) Doctor On The Go: Lee Perry & The Upsetters (1975)

8) Last Train To Doomsville: Dub Syndicate ft. Lee 'Scratch' Perry (1988)

9) MindKilla (Lee 'Scratch' Perry Remix): Gang Gang Dance (2011)

10) I Am The Upsetter: Lee King Perry (1968)

11) Run Evil Spirit (Album Version By Lee 'Scratch' Perry & Adrian Sherwood): Lee 'Scratch' Perry (2019)

12) Ball Of Fire: The Orb ft. Lee 'Scratch' Perry (2012)

13) Music Shall Live (Album Version By Adrian Sherwood & Vital Elements): Denise Sherwood ft. Lee 'Scratch' Perry (2020) 

14) Dr. Lee, PhD (Album Version By Beastie Boys & Mario Caldato Jr.): Beastie Boys ft. Lee 'Scratch' Perry & Money Mark (1998)

15) Allergic To Lies (Album Version By Adrian Sherwood & Lee 'Scratch' Perry): Lee 'Scratch' Perry & Dub Syndicate (1987)

16) Dub Revelutions: Lee Perry & The Upsetters (1975) 

 

Dub Revelutions (A Tribute To Lee 'Scratch' Perry) (1:15:08)