As a music producer, he arguably invented reggae in the late 1960s and early 70s, and he inarguably invented dub in the mid 1970s at his famed Black Ark Studio in Jamaica. He was Bob Marley's mentor, producing some of his first recordings.
The Upsetters was the name given to the house band for Jamaican reggae producer Lee "Scratch" Perry. The name of the band comes from Perry's nickname of Upsetter, after his song "I Am the Upsetter", a musical dismissal of his former boss Coxsone Dodd.
He was among the first Jamaican producer-musicians to use the studio as an instrument, and he pioneered the reggae instrumental form known as dub, in which sections of a rhythm track were removed and others emphasized through echo, distortion, repetition, and backward tape looping.Mar 24, 2022
Perry gained his nickname from his first recording, “Chicken Scratch”, cut in 1961, but his other nom de plume, the Upsetter, is perhaps more fitting. “My style is to criticise, to warn with rain and fire,” he says. “Is a fire-style! I am the burner.”Aug 29, 2021
August 29, 2021Lee Perry / Date of death
“I created my sin, and I burned my sin, and I am born again.” He entered into a deep depression, and at the height of his insanity, Perry blew $25,000 on an antique set of silverware. In 1989, Mireille Ruegg, a Swiss-born reggae-record-store owner, went to Black Ark to find Lee “Scratch” Perry.Jul 8, 2010
Dub is a dance music genre that evolved from the backing tracks of Jamaican reggae. In some circles, it is called “dub reggae” and considered a formal subgenre of reggae music. The style is named for the dubplates used in the manufacture of vinyl records. Early dub songs were instrumental versions of reggae tracks.Feb 24, 2022
85 years (1936–2021)Lee Perry / Age at death
May 11, 1981Bob Marley / Date of death
Paulette Perrym. ?–1979Mireille PerryLee Perry/Wife
He had created a dread studio, and he felt that he wasn't a dread. He suffered a mental breakdown and began his now famous eccentric behavior including covering every surface of the ruins of the Black Ark with cryptic graffiti and small crosses (Sleeper 4).
Toots Hibbert, frontman of the legendary reggae band Toots and the Maytals, has died at the age of 77. One of Jamaica's most influential musicians, he helped popularise reggae in the 1960s with songs like Pressure Drop, Monkey Man and Funky Kingston.Sep 13, 2020