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Copyright 1999, 2000,200, 2002, 2003, 2004 Reggae Reggae Reggae. All rights reserved. All materials contained in this site are protected by copyright and shall not be used for any purpose whatsoever other than private, non-commercial viewing purposes subject to prior agreement by the author.
GIVE ME POWER - THE COMPLETE DISCOGRAPHY OF LEE PERRY
DAVID KATZ
TRAX ON WAX
A4 PAPERBACK 68 PAGES £12.99
Dave Katz, Perry's biographer, has chronologically listed over 1,000 records split up in to Jamaican, UK and US issues and to say it's invaluable and astounding in its depth would be an understatement in the extreme.
No single producer, except King Tubby, has had such an effect on popular music as Lee 'Scratch' Perry, with his revolutionary use of multi-track recording and spliced tape loops of sound, and that's besides pushing one Robert Marley on the road to super stardom.
Perry started his career in the early 1960's working for Clement Dodd at his Studio One premises before striking out on his own and freelancing for such notables as Joe Gibbs and Prince Buster.
Then came his Upsetter and Justice League labels and later in the 1970's the famed Black Ark Studio where the inspiration really fired.
Now for the first time, every piece of work with the Perry mark has been listed and in the case of albums, each track noted and reissues/revamps highlighted for all to see. The Jamaican music business has always thrived on indistinct ownership and miss credits, but no more for Mr. Perry, as everything whether he be credited on the label or not has been brought to the light of day - many for the first time.
Katz also provides a short biography of Lee Perry's work and the book is illustrated with plenty of graphics, particularly a tasty rouges gallery of colour album sleeves on the inside back cover. I just can't recommend this book enough if you're a reggae vinyl addict like me.
Available from all good reggae shops or mail order from Dub Vendor, London
Telephone: 020 7723 3757. Web: www.dubvendor.co.uk.
Record Buyer July 2001
Al Green -Take Me To The River
As told to Davin Seay
Payback Press
Hardback 345 pages
ISBN 1 84195 016 5 £14.99
Al Green, the early 70's luv god supreme turned church minister recounts his very personal life history. The book is written in the first person and is a tale of hardship, hope and faith, both in himself and later on, God.
Three quarters of the book recount Al Green's early years prior to recording his multi- million selling work under the guidance of Willie Mitchell. It makes fascinating reading as he travels from an impoverished dirt farming family, through to a relocation in a city ghetto, to the bumpy 1960's R&B scene as he strove to give voice to his talent.
The Lord and the Bible are never far from the surface of this book, as in his early years singing with his siblings in church as The Greene Brothers. The only hit with his early vocal group, The Creations, is honestly described as are his internal feelings wanting to be the front man and the star of the group particularly after their only performance at the famed Apollo Theatre in Harlem. We are taken through a seedy relationship with a prostitute, gritty roadhouses, and Al stumbling further down the ladder as he aspired to be a solo singer. This takes us to the fateful meeting with Willie Mitchell who was already a major performer and producer by this time, and Al's nervous approach to the man.
Mitchell's idea of Green as a modern soul singer is superbly underpinned with Al's honest comments at not liking the direction required by the producer. With Mitchell calling for a softer style of vocal and the songs themselves, which were mainly standards or hits already, selected for his debut album rather than using Green's self compositions.
Things change and with a lot of time and effort Al's self penned 'Tired of Being Alone' hits the big time in 1971, fuelled by the blossoming Hi Records sound. With a great deal of help from the superb studio band and Willie Mitchell's vision of the kind of records he wanted to produce, Al Green, soul singer supreme arrived. By this time the inner wrangling of his mind as to which path to tread are becoming intense, particularly after his moving revelation of God in a motel room one night. These passages are sincerely written as he struggles with direction. We all now know now which way he went but back then in the mid 70's Al Green, the superstar, had a lot to lose, as did his entourage of roadies, studio men and background staff. But make that move he did and the book reflects the joy in his new life spreading the Word and how he really felt alive after making the break.
Al Green comes across as a humble man who has made many mistakes down the long road of his career, also an honest man, willing to admit these mistakes and hope others will learn from his wrong turns. Maybe it's because he's now a minister of God that this book appears so frank, there's no punches pulled, no self gratification in his stardom, and most of all, no swear words, which makes this a refreshing, moving and thoroughly engrossing read.
Record Buyer April 2001
JAMAICAN WARRIORS - REGGAE, ROOTS & CULTURE
STEPHEN FOEHR
SANCTUARY PUBLISHING
ISBN: 1-86074-314-5
HARD BACK 240 PAGES
RRP £15.00
Take a middle-aged, white American, travel writer and plonk him in Jamaica to view the country, politics, people and music and this is the result.
Foehr has a very descriptive style which suits itself to the lush countryside he travels through. This style equally brings home the poverty in the ghetto areas of Kingston which he is determined to visit even though his taxi driver refuses to wait for fear of his vehicle being stripped to the bone.
From Montego Bay to Trenchtown and all points between Foehr visits them observing, meeting and interviewing the people he finds. It's refreshing to read of not only reggae artists but Kuminia dancers, Nyabingh drummers, Rasta priests and Maroon musicians who all have a part in the formation of Jamaican music as we know it today.The author has gone out of his way to find these people and by interviewing them on their home ground has extracted some strong indepth information so usually lacking in reggae guides.
From his meeting with veteran singer Ken Boothe to a brief chat to a drug pusher on the beach at Negril, Foehr seems to swing the conversation through to relevant material irrespective as to who or where he's meeting these people. Perhaps this is just good editing, or that he does have the knack of eliciting the best from a person we'll never know, but all the same it makes a great read for any one interested in Jamaica and it's musical history.
When he visits an all night open air concert which turns into a riot with gunshots fired it's quite disturbing as is the Dj-toaster who takes the stage to warn of gays and lesbians and suggests they be 'removed' from society. To the opposite, his meeting with Rasta elder and philosopher Mortimo Planno and Arnold Howell son of the founding father of the Rasta movement, Leonard Howell, are refreshing. A brief, but clear view of the hopes and aspirations of the movement come forth in easy to digest form. There's historical tit-bits through out the book such as a potted history of the Rastafari movement and the formation of reggae through mento, ska and rocksteady which seems to show Foehr has done his groundwork.
Unfortunately this doesn't apply to reggae music itself where the text is littered with mistakes. A couple of the best guffs have to be calling Studio One boss Clement Coxson 'Dobb' as opposed to 'Dodd' on numerous occasions and Winston Rodney, the Burning Spear, is now Rodney Winston! It would appear obvious that Stephen Foehr has no knowledge of reggae music, but that doesn't matter as this book is a snapshot of Jamaica, and it's people, not a definitive guide to the music and should be treated as such.
If you want to know all about reggae music grab the 'Rough Guide To Reggae' but if you want to see where the music comes from, what contributed to its creation and the people that live it buy this book.
DEEP DOWN WITH DENNIS BROWN
by PENNY REEL
DRAKE BROS. PUBLICATIONS.
104 Pages. UK RRP 16.99. Available from Compendium Books, Chalk Farm, London.
Mail Order from: www.reggaereggaereggae.com or reggae.revive@virgin.net
From the minute 'Deep Down With Dennis Brown' slid from the envelope I knew I was in for a treat. A large format book with embossed gold title appeared before me and as I flicked through glancing at the many colour plates I realised this was no photocopied fanzine but a professionally produced and printed book. Would the text be up to the visual aspect I wondered but as it's written by noted long time reggae journalist Penny Reel, once again I guessed at it being eminently readable.
Starting off Penny Reel discusses his early 60's mod beginnings and guides us through the sixties London clubs highlighting characters and places now long forgotten but so important to the forming reggae scene of the 70's. Into this arena comes our principle character, Dennis Brown, the Crown Prince of Reggae who was taken from us last July at the early age of 42.
This, then, is an over view of Dennis Brown's career as seen from a London perspective drawing in the many and varied UK and JA based labels, artists and producers to weave the tale - and a fascinating tale it is too. A boy wonder who had by the age of 30 recorded more hits than any other reggae artist and worked with just about every producer the little island of Jamaica had to offer plus scoring with 'Money In My Pocket' - a pop top ten entry in the national charts.
He went on to become the most popular grassroots reggae vocalist Jamaica had ever produced in the late 70's to 1980's and should, many said, have taken the crown vacated by Marley on his death. Penny Reel's text is a revelation in information as he chronicles Dennis' record releases and their faring in the reggae marketplace plus the different producers that availed them selves of the Crown Prince's talents.
Supplemented by superb colour and black & white plates of record labels, album sleeves, posters and personalities of the day the book is crammed with information from the reggae scene and is indispensable to not only Dennis Brown aficionados but reggae lovers in general.
June 2000 review
PEOPLE FUNNY BOY
THE GENIUS OF LEE 'SCRATCH' PERRY
by
DAVID KATZ (PAYBACK PRESS)
Rainford Hugh 'Lee' Perry; Scratch the Upsetter; the eccentric genius of reggae music is celebrated by author Dave Katz in his biography "People Funny Boy".
Taking us from an impoverished village in rural Jamaica to a noble villa in Switzerland via Trench Town and the Black Ark studio through to London and all cities west Katz paints a fascinating picture.
Katz was in the privileged position to be able to gain access to Perry's life through film, photographs and unpublished writings plus his key card was to have the honour of interviewing the man himself on many occasions, which is no mean feat. Through out the five hundred odd pages Katz is able to show not only Perry but the outside factors which gave influence on his work. We are taken through his early employment with Clement 'Coxsone' Dodd and slightly later working for Joel Gibson where he was already experimenting with sound, then the meeting with the youthful Robert Marley and further on to the creation of his own studio.
Perhaps the most fascinating observations are from the myriad of other musicians interviewed who not only give their opinion of the producer and his way of working but also reminiscences of how songs and rhythm tracks came about. The post 1980 period is something of an insight and has largely been ignored by other chroniclers of Perry's life. The burning down of his studio, the increasingly strange behaviour and finally the relocation away from his homeland all leave the reader somewhat saddened as this massive talent slowly dissolves into his own dimension and becomes so incomprehensible that no more record deals can be struck and little relevant music made. It leaves you wondering if only Scratch had just stayed on this planet a little longer what music he could have created.
To say Perry is a one off would be an understatement and there has been no other producer to be so influential inside and outside of the reggae industry. Marley aside, this is the first biography of a reggae artist to break into the mainstream bookshops and an excellent piece of work it is too.
Out now.
May 2000 review
JAMAICAN MEMORIES
RECORD SELECTOR 16
Available direct from Majestic, PO Box 103, Addlestone, Surrey KT15 3PH.
Email: majestic@freeuk.com or from all leading reggae outlets.
Price £3.50 plus post. Postage UK 50p per copy - EU postage 65p per copy. Please note cheques must be made payable to 'Roger Dalke' not 'Majestic'.
The Record Selector series are a masterpiece in the research and cataloguing of Jamaican music and are testament to the years of painstaking work put in by Roger Dalke.
The latest issue, number 16, indexes such mouth watering UK 45 labels as Blue Cat, Collins Downbeat, Pressure Beat, Joe and Ska Beat along with a documentary on each label. The labels are chronologically listed with A and B side, title, producer, matrix number and date of issue. Quite often the information on the UK record label was incorrectly printed due to translation difficulties from Jamaica to England or, sometimes, it was just plain deceit to avoid paying royalties to the artist by mistitling the disc. The Record Selector books set the definitive artist, title, producer and release date by way of researching through the Jamaican original issue then tracing it forward to the UK pressing.
For your money you also get the 'JA to UK' connection where some of the original mouth watering Jamaican releases are shown in comparison to their British issues plus some excellent photos of ska and reggae stars - some long forgotten and some still doing the business. Issues covering other labels are still available.
Simply, if you're serious about collecting JA music then you can't do with out these books.
Out now.
May 2000 review
Copyright 1999, 2000,200, 2002, 2003, 2004 Reggae Reggae Reggae. All rights reserved. All materials contained in this site are protected by copyright and shall not be used for any purpose whatsoever other than private, non-commercial viewing purposes subject to prior agreement by the author.