Legendary Reggae icon Lee "Scratch" Perry, the Mighty Upsetter has died

Arguably the most influential force in Jamaican music, legendary Reggae icon Lee "Scratch" Perry, the Mighty Upsetter has died.The eccentric artiste/producer died in the Noel Holmes Hospital in Lucea Western Jamaica after battling illness on Sunday morning. He was 85.The Grammy awardee who is regarded as one of the most important creative, artistic and musical figures of the second half of the 1900s, is revered across Europe, where he was constantly booked for tours.

Jamaica’s Prime Minister Andrew Holness confirmed his passing.

“My deep condolences to the family, friends, and fans of legendary record producer and singer, Rainford Hugh Perry OD, affectionately known as “Lee Scratch” Perry,” Holness wrote in one Tweet this morning. “Undoubtedly, Lee Scratch Perry will always be remembered for his sterling contribution to the music fraternity. May his soul Rest In Peace.”

Perry was born Rainford Hugh Perry in March 20, 1936 in Kendal, Hanover. He grew up in the countryside of the island, the third of four children. After a tough and very poor childhood, he started working as a tractor driver, helping to build the first road in Negril, emerging in response to the rise of tourism in the mid-1950s. Perry later said this was the formative sonic impetus of his life. “I was working with rock and hearing the sonic vibrations. I’m sure that’s where everything comes from,” Perry explains on the 2008 documentary The Upsetter. “I learnt everything from stone.” In 1961, he left for Kingston, the heart of the country’s music scene.
In 1962, Jamaica declared independence from UK, and a sense of new freedom pervaded the island. At that point, ska was the native sound, booming with mobile sound systems. Perry worked at all the local studios,initially as a handy man, before working his way up to producing and writing tracks. At Clement Coxsone Dodd's sound system, a sometimes turbulent relationship with Dodd developed, he found himself performing a variety of important tasks at Dodd's Studio One hit factory, going on to record nearly 30 songs for the label. Disagreements between the pair due to personality and financial conflicts, a recurring theme throughout Perry's career, led him to leave the studio and seek new musical outlets. He soon found a new home at Joe Gibbs's Wirl records.

Working with Joe Gibbs, Perry continued his recording career, but once again, financial problems caused conflict. Perry broke ranks with Gibbs and formed his own label, Upsetter, in 1968. His first single "People Funny Boy", which was an insult directed at Gibbs, sold very well. It is notable for its innovative use of a sample (a crying baby) as well as a fast, chugging beat that would soon become identifiable as "reggae" (the new sound did not really have a name at this time). From 1968 until 1972 he worked with his studio band The Upsetters.

The Black arc studio owner made his name in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s known for his innovative production techniques as well as his eccentric character. he produced  more than 1000 cutting-edge recordings by revolutionary artistes during his career. From 1968 until 1972, Perry worked with his studio band, the Upsetters. The band backed Bob Marley on a full-time basis, especially with his 1969 groundbreaking works Soul Rebels and Soul Revolution albums as well as the Small Axe, Duppy Conqueror, Jah Live, Punky Reggae Party, and Rastaman Live Up singles. 

Marley and Perry’s collaborations also addressed the socio-political experience of contemporary Jamaican life,something innovative at the time. Marcus Garvey’s rhetoric in particular had a huge impact on Jamaica during Perry’s life. Garvey’s Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) was founded in 1914 in his native Jamaica and established in Harlem in 1916, where he had moved from Kingston. Reflecting a desire to unite and lift the African diaspora “New World,” Garvey glorified African civilization and Black superiority, and even began practical projects for repatriation to the continent. Although a controversial figure who believed in Black separatism and had even collaborated with the KKK, Garvey still had a huge image. He looked to Black Christian churches that saw Ethiopia as the biblical center of the world; Ethiopia in turn embraced this allegorical image of spiritual fulfillment, “Zion.” Garvey had reportedly said, “Look to Africa for the crowning of a Black King; he shall be the Redeemer.” Haile Selassie was crowned as King of Ethiopia in 1930, seen by many in Jamaica as a living god whose bloodline was supposed to link to King Solomon. Rastafarianism was born. Perry was a true believer, and was among the crowds that greeted Selassie on his visit to Jamaica in 1966. Many of his lyrics and references draw from his religious beliefs.

He was among the first Jamaican producer to use the studio as an instrument, and he pioneered the reggae instrumental form known as dub.Dub was not just a new kind of sound or genre,it was an entirely new methodology. As Erik Davis has written, “dub is not only a musical style, but also an artistic discourse, in the aesthetic act of making dub—a type of remixing that emphasizes the phatic effects of sonic space.” 

His nickname came from his debut recording in the early 1960s, “The Chicken Scratch”.The Kendal, Hanover native also pioneered beat-making strategies including recording garden implements for beats.  He would also bury microphones under trees to get different sounds and blow ganja smoke over tapes and even run the tapes backwards.

It was the following year that Perry got his second nickname. In “I am the Upsetter,” Perry sings, “I am the avenger, you’ll never get away from me / I am the Upsetter.” His vengeful lyrics are a fascinating contrast to an almost upbeat melody. Perry was making a statement, however, as someone revolutionary and radical, not afraid to upset perceptions and transform experience. On the back of the song's massive popularity, he set up a label and group called The Upsetters. In 1970, Bob Marley joined the label's record shop on Charles Street and began to collaborate with the producer. They had known each other since the early days at Studio One; the singer had minor success with The Wailers, but that was waning. Together, they invented a new sound that would transform Marley’s career. Marley had moved in with Perry while they recorded the singles “Soul Rebel” (1970), “Duppy Conqueror” (1971) and “Sun is Shining” (1971)—arguably Marley’s best works. The sound was spacious, layered, and fresh. As Perry later recalled, “I was playing the part of the prophet, and Bob was playing the part of the king to establish the music.” The magical combination fell apart but nonetheless, it did introduce Marley and reggae itself to an international audience.

Marley and Perry’s collaborations also addressed the socio-political experience of contemporary Jamaican life—something innovative at the time. Marcus Garvey’s rhetoric in particular had a huge impact on Jamaica during Perry’s life. Garvey’s Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) was founded in 1914 in his native Jamaica and established in Harlem in 1916, where he had moved from Kingston. Reflecting a desire to unite and lift the African diaspora “New World,” Garvey glorified African civilization and Black superiority, and even began practical projects for repatriation to the continent. Although a controversial figure who believed in Black separatism and had even collaborated with the KKK, Garvey still had a huge image. He looked to Black Christian churches that saw Ethiopia as the biblical center of the world; Ethiopia in turn embraced this allegorical image of spiritual fulfillment, “Zion.” Garvey had reportedly said, “Look to Africa for the crowning of a Black King; he shall be the Redeemer.” Haile Selassie was crowned as King of Ethiopia in 1930, seen by many in Jamaica as a living god whose bloodline was supposed to link to King Solomon. Rastafarianism was born. Perry was a true believer, and was among the crowds that greeted Selassie on his visit to Jamaica in 1966. Many of his lyrics and references draw from his religious beliefs.

Dub was not just a new kind of sound or genre, it was an entirely new methodology. As Erik Davis has written, “dub is not only a musical style, but also an artistic discourse, in the aesthetic act of making dub—a type of remixing that emphasizes the phatic effects of sonic space.” The studio became an instrument. Perry pioneered the use of phasers and drum machines, patching together sound with scratches, feedback, and distortion. The tracks were layered with echo, reverb, guitars, and samples, with voices hovering in space above the backing tracks. The multiple layers of rhythm echoed the polyrhytmic approach of West African religious drumming. Perry’s work fused ideas around identity, history, and religion, reflecting the complexities of the Afrodiasporic experience.

In 1973, Perry built a studio in his back yard, The Black Ark, to have more control over his productions and continued to produce notable musicians such as Bob Marley & the Wailers, Junior Byles, The Heptones, and Max Romeo. With his own studio at his disposal, Perry's productions became more lavish, as the energetic producer was able to spend as much time as he wanted on the music he produced. It is important to note that virtually everything Perry recorded in The Black Ark was done using rather basic recording equipment; through sonic sleight-of-hand, Perry made it sound completely unique. Perry remained behind the mixing desk for many years, producing songs and albums that stand out as a high point in reggae history.

From the start, Perry saw the Ark as a religious space. “I see myself rebuilding the temple of King Solomon,” he said. It was named after the Ark of the Covenant carried by the tribes of Israel to Canaan, the promised land of Rastafarianism. The studio was covered in art and graffiti, a portrait of Haile Selassie above the entrance. Dreadlocks moved in to the space en masse, and vast quantities of white rum and ganja were consumed; more than hedonism, however, the focus was on peace, love, and a positive shift. The mid-1970s was a period of economic distress, gang violence, and social upheaval for Jamaica: cocaine encouraged by South American cartels was flooding the country; Americans in their “war on drugs” were arming the opposition; there was a high level of police corruption. Perry was not afraid to address this in the music he was making, like “War Inna Babylon” and “Chase the Devil” by Max Romeo and Junior Murvin’s iconic “Police and Thieves.”

By 1978, stress and unwanted outside influences began to take their toll: both Perry and The Black Ark quickly fell into a state of disrepair. Eventually, the studio burned to the ground. Perry has constantly insisted that he burned the Black Ark himself in a fit of rage, but it has also been said that fire could have been an accident due to faulty wiring.

 After the demise of the Black Ark in the early 1980s, Perry spent time in England and the United States, performing live and making records with a variety of collaborators. It was not until the late 1980s, when he began working with British producers Adrian Sherwood and Neil Fraser (who is better known as Mad Professor), that Perry's career began to get back on solid ground again. Perry also has attributed the recent resurgence of his creative muse to his deciding to quit drinking alcohol and smoking cannabis. Perry stated in an interview that he wanted to see if "it was the smoke making the music or Lee Perry making the music. I found out it was me and that I don't need to smoke."

The Grammy awardee who is regarded as one of the most important creative, artistic and musical figures of the second half of the 1900s, is revered across Europe, where he was constantly booked for tours.

He won a Reggae Grammy award in 2002 for the album, Jamaican E.T.

 and was nominated on four other occasions; in 2014 for Back on the Controls; Revelation in 2010; Repentance in 2008 and The End Of An American Dream in 2007.He was also the recipient of a Jamaican national honour, the Order of Distinction at the rank of Officer.

Regarded with awe throughout the music world, Lee “Scratch” Perry holds status as one of the most enduring and original reggae producers and artists of all time. One of reggae’s undisputed pioneers, Lee “the Upsetter” Perry  worked with almost everyone from the Heptones to the Skatalites, Junior Murvin, the Congos, Max Romeo, the Clash the Beastie Boys and the Orb.

In December 2019, he released his Heavy Rain album, a 12-track compilation that debuted at number one on the Billboard Reggae Albums Charts. The compilation was his first number one album in his 60-year career, and also made him a record-holder as the oldest artist to top the charts. 

 In his later years, Perry resided in Switzerland with his wife Mireille and their two children. He had four other children.

In December 2020,  however the Upsetter had announced that he would be returning to Jamaica to, among other things,to establish an off the grid community,to enable him to get away from what he described as “this Babylon Madness” in Switzerland, where he lived for several years. He made his return to the island in January 2021 and revealed that he needed Jamaica’s sunshine, that Switzerland was now “too cold” and that the “energy was not right”.

Speaking with The Guardian in 2016, for a piece celebrating his 80th birthday, Perry reflected on the power of music, stating: ‘Music is magic. If you have good music you have good magic. If you have good magic you will be followed by good people. Then they can be blessed by the one God.’ 

Speaking in rhythmic, rhyming nonsense, dressed like a traveling magician-slash-holy man, he could easily come across as the proverbial madman. He is, however, arguably the most important music producer and innovator Jamaica ever produced. It is not hyperbole to say that without Perry, there would not have been Bob Marley, hip hop, or electronic music as we know it today. By accident or intention, he changed the face of modern sound. 

Always one to follow the beat of his own drummers, a huge influence on my musical tastes. the eccentric genius Perry continued to break new ground with the hardest rebel Rasta tunes and the most unpredictable instrumental dubs. Such sad news,but this visionary's magical music which I thank him for,  lives on, and will continue to transform lives. 

May the Mighty Upsetter's' soul fly high and Rest In Peace You can hear some of  his  timeless classic productions and vocal tracks below.

 

Lee Scratch Perry - Disco Devil

 

Lee Scratch Perry-Roast Fish and Cornbread 

Lee Scratch  Perry - I am a Madman

 

 

Lee Scratch Perry - I am a Psychiatrist

Max Romeo - War Inna Babylon

Max Romeo - Chase the devil

Junior Murvin - Police and Thieves

The Heptones - Sufferers Time

Max Romeo-  One Step Forward

The Clash - Pressure Drop

Lee Scratch Perry and Mad Professor -  Mad Man Dubwise

Lee Scratch Perry - Scary Politicians