Words of Wisdom from Lee Scratch Perry - Because I feel like

[canikickit]

Everyone know I think Lee Perry is a genius. Here's the interview:

http://incolor.inebraska.com/cvanpelt/lsp.html


D: Had everything stopped growing at Black Ark Studios? Is that why you burned it down?

LSP: I did make a dread studio, and said I'd make a righteous studio and a Godly studio, and it was even too dread for me. Too much dread was there. I had to burn it down to get rid of that dread vibration. It was too dread. I should have put it off. Soul and a half dread. I forget that I was a soul man. It was a dreadful equation. Too dreadful for me.

(Edited by canikickit at 2:06 am on Feb. 1, 2003)

[canikickit]

I can't resist, I must post more:

D: So, if you had five minutes with the Pope, what would you say to him?

LSP: Tell the Pope that he only deserve constipation and stoppage of water. He don't deserve anything more. That is the only blessing I could give to the Pope. Also to the Bishop. Make him want to piss and can't piss. Let them twist up.

[synthesis]

I love this.

D: Are things changing?

LSP: Of course. (lights his spliff) Vampire can't find no resting place. They are complaining to Satan , the trolls and the demons who are worshipping Satan. They are saying to Satan, 'We are very cold', but Satan said to them, 'there is nothing I, Satan, can do.' Until they can see the angel who programmed the meter to be so for the next two thousand years.

[Dhul Fiqar]

IT's a great interview with a man who makes great music, but Lee Perry has long rubbed me the wrong way.

The things he says make it sound like he's smoking too much, basically a jumble of different religions and they all seem to point to him being better than everyone else ;)

Don't get me wrong, I think he's a very special person, I just don't think I could stand listening to him talk about himself and dissing others like that for too long :biggrin:

--- G.

[Dhul Fiqar]

I just finished reading the whole thing, I'm a tad worried about Scratch to be honest. Sounds like he has OCD or something, the Michael Jackson stuff, the bacteria stuff, the isolation stuff, the vampire stuff. It's all very reminiscent of paranoid and OCD (obsessive-compulsive) conditions...

Still, you gotta love the guy :)

--- G.


(Edited by Dhul Fiqar at 5:43 pm on Feb. 1, 2003)

[canikickit]

Lee Perry talks about Chris Blackwell being a vampire in one of his songs, "Judgement in a Babylon":


'I saw Chris Blackwell in Nassau
Drinking the blood of a fowl from a rum glass
At his new studio in Compass Point...
He offer me a cup of fresh blood.
Chris Blackwell is a vampire
Tom Hayes his lawyer is a vampire
His secretary Denise (Mills) is a witch...
They believe in cult voodoo and Obeah
Chris Blackwell is a vampire
Sucking the blood of the sufferers
He killled Bob Marley and take away his royalty
He killed Bob Marley because Bob Marley was speaking the truth...
Chris Blackwell came to Jamaica want to sign up all the artists
Because he want to control Jamaican music
Then he can take the black man music and promote his white artists
But Jahoviah Jah Rastafari say it won't work...
He gives Bob Marley cancer, he couldn't find the answer
He take away his riches, he tyake away his wealth
Chris Blackwell is a vampire...'


Anyway, it's true Blackwell was drinking the blood of a chicken, it's a Jamaican custom.

I got carried away, I just think it's an interesting story and song. But the vampire thing is symbolic. George Bush is a vampire, sucking the life out of Iraqi people.

I don't know if he smoked too much, I think he's just gone a little bit. He used to drink the alcohol that was used for cleaning the tape machine in his studio.

He's been talking shit like that for years (since he burned down the studio, really). It's the pressure; you make one amazing track every 82 hours for ten years and see how your head is doing :biggrin:.

Some say its a cunning ruse to not have to deal to much with journalists, I think that is partially true. He's got a lot of very true stuff to say.

[chamo]

See if you can get the quotes form the Guiness ad, canikickit.

[Rastafari]

there is a great selection of Peter Tosh interviews at www.boomshaka.com. Lee Perry is just as cool, though.
Has anyone heard the song "Dracula" that Tosh released while still at Perry's studio. That and several others, like "Mr. Brown" are real reggae classics. All of the Upsetters material is pure gold.

[canikickit]

From what I'm aware Dracula was recorded several years later. Not the greatest tune ever anyway, in my opinion.

The riddim to Mr. Brown was called Dracula...anyway, Mr. Brown is one of the greatest songs, as is Dreamland. The Lee Perry stuff the Wailers did far outshadows any of the work ever any of the band ever did. Ever.


There used to be a place to download the guinness ads. I managed to download one of them but it was probably removed for copyright reasons....although it is free advertising...I don't know.

Maybe I'll upload it onto my site...

[Rastafari]

Yeah, I'm not sure I am agreeing with the statement that the wailers did their best stuff under Scratch's tutelage, but his efforts were much greater than those of the vampire Beverly Kelso or even Coxonne Dodd. By the way, I think he also did African Herbsman and Keep On Moving, which later evolved into "Night Shift." His songwriting was great, too, showcased in "Police and Theives" with Junior Murvin, which the Clash covered on their title album, with Perry producing "Complete Control" (either that or Remote Control) on that album. He also cowrote Punky Reggae Party w/ Bob, which marked the decisive collaboration of Reggae and Punk. Oh, and glad to see I am not the only Upsetter follower here

[Dhul Fiqar]

The recordings I've heard from those sessions were of really poor quality, but good stuff nonetheless.

--- G.

[canikickit]

Man, the quality was perfect. Scratch's stuff was definitly the best, it makes all the other stuff seem totally shite. Shite, shite, shite.

Like "I Know" off "Uprising" (or is it "Confrontation") that is pure shit. Crap, crrraaaaaap!

The Island stuff is the worst. Anything else is better. Coxsone, Leslie Kong, their self-produced stuff, much better. Real reggae, not compromised crap.

Punky Reggae Party is a great tune. So is the London version of Keep on Moving. "It's Alright", was the song which became "Night Shift". Keep on Moving is an Impressions cover.

[Rastafari]

Yeah. "I Know", or, as I call it, a disgrace to Marley's memory-his disco career, really sucks. It was on "Confrontation". That and "Turn your Lights Down Low," which is remniscient of a Barry White makeout song, are the only Marley songs that I won't listen too.

[Rastafari]

Yeah...sorry about that "It's Alright" was "Night Shift". "Keep on Moving" was cool, especially the London Version with Third World doing backup. Punky Reggae is cool too, especially the 15 min studio cut on the Exodus 2-Disc Extravaganza. The JAD stuff, where the bastard Johnny Nash stole their music has its ups and downs. Some good and some bad. Like "The Letter", "Soon Come", and "Stop That Train"- one of my favorites actually. Lot of covers during this time, too

[Eastside Revolt]

"Soul Rebel" is a sick song, other than that I'm really bitter about how Lee Perry sold them out.

[canikickit]

You shouldn't be bitter. Bob wasn't bitter.

[Eastside Revolt]

Bob was too stoned to be bitter about anything.

[canikickit]

You're too stupid to realise there's some things you don't joke about!

Or am I being uptight?

[Eastside Revolt]

You mean to tell me that you can be bitter or angry when you're stoned. Everything is on a different level. And yes you're being way too up-tight. It's not like I said he was stupid or something. Hommie, you should see what it's like where I live, the other day I almost punched someone out dissin' Bob.

[Dhul Fiqar]

Peter Tosh was a continually stoned, yet EXTREMELY bitter and angry individual ;)

--- G.

[Rastafari]

seen. Check out the real situation, Red Canada, they didn't smoke herb to chill out. Whenever man smokes herb, a little bit of Babylon falls, besides it is Jah herb that he maketh for the service of man itinually.

[Eastside Revolt]

I didn't say they smoked herb 2 chill-out, it's just that they chilled-out when they smoked herb whether they admit it or not. I know perfectly well that they beliebed it hed religious powers and that they believed it united the people so that they could rebel.